The Documentary Photographer

What would your ideal camera be? Imagine if you could spec a camera to be built just for you and your shooting style.

For me, the first requirement would be a great viewfinder. I once looked through the viewfinder of a friend’s Olympus OM-10. I think it was an OM-10. Anyway, it was like stepping into the world beyond. I wear glasses, and on my current camera I can’t see the whole frame. I just can’t get my eye close enough. It’s like looking at a distant window. So, item number 1: big and bright. And optical, not electronic.

Secondly, I’d like the camera to be small and light. Not miniature small, but small enough small. The size of an OM-10.

Thirdly, it would be built to withstand professional grade abuse. Most professionals – at least the ones I know, but maybe I move in the wrong circles – don’t treat their gear very well. I certainly don’t. So it must be tough. Are OM-10s tough?

Four, it would be a digital camera and have a nice big sensor. I’d opt for bigger pixels over volume of photosites. 10-15MP would suit me fine for documentary work. The OM-10 is 0MP, so it’s out.

Five, it would have dual card slots to allow instantaneous in-camera back-up. I have no preference between CF or SD cards, though CF cards give me more confidence by virtue of their bulk, but I can’t say either is more or less reliable based on my own experience of using both.

Six, the shutter would be whisper quiet and respond instantly. I press, it takes the picture, no messing. (D’ya hear that Canon? Hm?)

Seven, its lenses would be interchangeable and auto-focus – and it would be able to focus accurately in low-light conditions. I wouldn’t need a zillion focus points as I tend to only use the centre one anyway.

Eight, it would deliver pretty good results at 6,400 ISO.

Nine, its dynamic range would be such that it would hold detail properly in the shadows and the highlights, without blocking up the former and blowing out the latter. 16 bit as well.

Ten, it would have HD video. Actually, that one isn’t strictly speaking necessary. It just helps make up the ten.

Reading that back, I don’t think it’s too much to ask for and well within the capabilities of current manufacturers.

What would your requirements be?

I’ve put myself forward as a candidate for the council of the Irish Professional Photographers Association (IPPA).

I’d love to be elected. There are three seats and six candidates, so I cannot leave it to chance. What follows is a political broadcast to IPPA members.

As professional photographers, we tend to concentrate too much on defending ground that is no longer central to our profession. Meanwhile, the real challenges facing professional photography are being fought elsewhere and often by non-photographers with whom we are not engaging properly.

As professional photographers, we need to realize that we are responsible for the state of our profession. The only reason the business of professional photography is struggling at present is because of things we as professional photographers have done, or have neglected to do.

Accepting that gives us the ability and opportunity to face these challenges positively and constructively.

Blaming others for our predicament, or pointing the finger at external factors, only undermines our ability to do anything about our situation.

By placing the blame elsewhere, we become victims.

By accepting responsibility, we gain control.

We have a wonderful profession. We should be connecting with each other and with our marketplace to enhance professional photography.

I would like to bring a sense of positive engagement to the IPPA council.

Please vote for me.

Is "Project Leica" over before it started? Does anyone care?

I’ve been walking the dog a lot lately. Apart from helping me lose the soft ring around my middle, it is also great thinking time. Too great in fact. As my brain is fed more oxygen, particularly on uphill stretches, I keep having ideas. This is inconvenient. I already have too many ideas.

For instance there is my not-so-very-secret new bridal product. “Project Legacy”.

Then there’s the utterly unsecret desire to switch to Leica. Let’s call that, I dunno… “Project Leica”. Though for the ridiculous cost involved, it may as well be called “Project I’m an Idiot”.

This evening, I had a notion of what should come after “Project Legacy”. An idea so exciting I actually started grinning when it occurred to me.

There is a catch; one that jeopardizes “Project Leica”.

You see, reaching beyond “Project Legacy” simultaneously requires me to arrive at a stage past “Project Leica” before I’ve even embarked on “Project Leica”. I’m quite fond of “Project Leica”. I don’t want to miss out on “Project Leica”, but it currently stands between me and what I have now termed “Project T”. I choose the letter T because it practically never gets used in the Project sense, being so close to the much more high-profile letter X in the alphabet. Nor is it a vitamin, so it loses out doubly. (Incidentally, can you believe there is such a thing as vitamin U, my original choice of project name?).

So what to do?

My choices are:

A – Get a move on with “Project Leica” so that I can get past it quickly.

B – Skip “Project Leica” altogether and go straight to “Project T”.

C – Shut up you big girl’s blouse; nobody cares.

It occurs to me that Leica gear holds its value quite well. Conceivably, I could buy an outfit, use it until the time is ripe, and then sell it for pretty much the same as I bought it for, allowing me to reinvest the money in “Project T”.

Better start saving up then.