Vintage Digital: A Photo Walk w/ Chris Facey… Serendipity… And A Minor Gear Epiphany.
Last weekend went shockingly well. And this good time serendipity extravaganza has continued into this week and shows no signs of stopping. Cool.
Cool.
Exhibit A of the follow up.
Met Chris Facey.
Let me back up. In this space I already documented a good Friday. The Exhibit.
My first ever exhibit and I could have not asked for better. Then the next night my wife and I had a date night, and I could not have asked for that to go better.
So. Back to Mr. Facey. He thought it not robbery to show virtual support for Friday night’s event by way of likes and a positive comment. Dope. Had never met him in person. Then enters serendipity. Well I posted some pics that night and the next day I get a comment from Chris.
Wait… What? If you notice there is a photographer in the foreground of the pic above. Turns out that is Chris. We exchanged a few messages and yesterday we met in person. The registers at the coffee shop we were going to were down… so… photo walk it is.
Had a great time talking with Chris about a great many subjects. A great guy as well as a gifted photographer. In addition to his professional work for many respected publications if you have not already done so I highly recommend that you check out his “The Dad Duty Project”.
On to the photos.
The kit.
I will say it. After many years I have found the personal use image capturing set up I have been searching for. But first the epiphany. Many others came close over the years. A few very close. Honorable mentions.
So close. Not the fault of the camera or the lens.
A camera and lens close to my soul. So close. Not the fault of the camera or the lens.
So close. Not the fault of the camera or the lens.
So close. Not the fault of the camera or the lens.
So, if it was not the fault of the camera or the lens, what was it? Simple. And the answer was right in front of me the entire time.
I wanted a rangefinder camera.
So no matter how good the cameras were above… being an SLR or mirrorless camera, they would not meet my needs. Looking back, this makes “sense”. (All of this is nonsense.) I feel I should have realized this sooner. Like around the time KEH had some manner of lapse and allowed me into the Leica M game for a price I could not refuse on a 12 year old model. Have not seen one priced as low since. So, thank you, KEH. I would say it had to do with favoritism after writing for them for three years, but they had no idea who I was when I purchased it, and it would not have helped me if they did.
I have thoughts as to why it took almost two years for this epiphany to fully take hold.
1.
Similar to the Leica Q above I had a hard time traipsing about with a Leica. If it were not for the prodding of my better half I would not have been able to get it, even at the “reduced” price.
I have only recently gotten over this, as in last weekend, once I realized… what the heck point is there in having a device if I do not allow myself to use it? So I got over myself.
2.
The camera was only half of the equation. I did not put enough stock into the choice of a lens. I had lenses I liked. Two at 50mm, which is my favorite prime lens focal length. But each was for a purpose.
But then I came across a lens that quickly changed things for me. It combined the best attributes of both of the lenses above. But at a wider 40mm it also fired shots at another favorite lens of mine. I talk about this in more detail in a prior post.
So, after finding an all-purpose lens solution and getting over myself this last weekend, I really enjoyed this pairing. Exhibit A was Friday night,…
…exhibit B was Saturday night,…
…and yesterday was exhibit C.
After years of chasing down an AF daily carry solution, it was a rangefinder I was after all along. It reminds me of an epiphany I had around the time of my fourth corporate gig after college.
I started at GE Power Generation Engineering as an Engineer and Programmer. Then I moved to Fleet Services to work on a NY State tax return processing automation solution, then I moved downstate when I worked on prescription processing automation for Merck Medco. From there I moved to MetLife in 1 Penn Plaza working on dental form processing automation. Each time I was unfulfilled and looking for the “perfect job” to make me “happy”. Soon after I arrived at MetLife I realized the flaw in my plan.
I would never find happiness working for a corporate entity primarily seeking profits. More broadly a job was never going to provide me happiness. Then I remembered my Father’s wise words.
“A job is not meant to become your life. It is to finance your life.”
-Ralph Lenard Woods
Do not get me wrong. Some are fortunate to do what they enjoy for income. But some I know have also admitted that pursuing their passion for profit took a bit of shine off of it. Me? I pivoted. Transition to one of my loves at the time of this epiphany? Music? No. While I enjoyed singing for various choruses in NYC I could not see singing being able to translate into anything that would allow me to support and spend as much time as I wanted to with my family. What to do? Where I landed was to keep singing but transition my corporate job track to something different.
A management position with a nonprofit was the target.
As good fortune would have it I was made two offers on the same day back to back by two organizations whose offices were directly across the street from each other on Park Avenue. A Manager of Pharmacy Computer Services position at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and IT Regional Manager position at the Leukemia Society. Walking across the street with my suit and briefcase to entertain their offers was a heady moment for this bumpkin from Upstate NY. I chose MSKCC, they offered me $5K more, and I remained there until we left NYC and I went on to work for UNC Hospital. Still there. My point. What was it now?… Oh yeah.
The problem was not with GE, Fleet, Merck Medco, or MetLife. They were all fine companies. The problem was that I did not want to work for a for-profit entity mainly interested in producing widgets for money. At MSKCC and now UNC anytime frustrations flare up, as they will with any job, I remember that at the end of the day, we are there to serve the patients, not the bottom line. Sure, money must be made to keep the lights on. But that is not the main thing.
With cameras, the issue was not with the cameras listed above. They were all fine SLR and mirrorless cameras. The issue was that I wanted a rangefinder.
Whoo! We made it. Still there? Thank you. On to the photos.
Thoughts.
Do I recommend this for others?
No.
I imagine others are not similarly afflicted as I. With regards to rangefinders anyway.
Outside of KEH’s pricing snafu I would don’t have one.
I definitely could not justify a newer Leica M. I have not ever paid $20K for a car. So paying near or fully half of that amount for something I can not drive to the store is a definite no.
But, if you have a similar rangefinder issue as I and are patient enough to wait years for a minor fiscal miracle then… I still can not recommend this path.
Logically speaking anyway.
With a first gen A7C on sale for an amazing price and fantastic lenses like the Sony FE 40mm f/2.5 G that is the way to go. If you are sane anyway. And there are similar options for every brand.
But this is the way for me. Anyhoo.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 
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