THE LEICA M-A

Tuesday, September 30, 2014



So, apparently Leica decided to make a "new film camera" which was announced in Photokina awhile back. I was informed of this post by Japan Camera Hunter a week ago and couldn't believe that this was actually happening. Seems like Leica and Rollei are still producing these classics.

But I must confess that this isn't really anything new that Leica seems to be releasing these days. It's almost like the Iphone 6/6 plus which has the same features as you would get with a Samsung Galaxy. It functions like any film camera would. It still takes pictures.

The gimmick here is the fact that the camera is fully mechanical. No light meter, no electronics, no nothing. Just an advance lever, rewind knob, and a shutter. The way how a camera is supposed to be made am I correct? Exactly. But it's also the ergononmics that also bring out the appeal of the camera. Does this function like an M3 or does it function like an MP?

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The thing is I already have a mechanically functioning camera. Two of them actually. This is the Canon 7. I sold a couple of lenses and a camera just to get this thing. It was already CLA'd when I got it. It took me a few years to get a proper lens for this camera (Voigtlander Color Skopar Pancake 35mm 2.8) and now it's one of my go to's for the daily. The light meter works like shit on this thing, so, I decided to cover it with some tape. I just use the Sunny 16 rule for all my exposure readings. I'm usually right 99.9% of the time anyway.


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And here's another fully mechanical camera. The Olympus Pen F. This also took awhile to assemble as I got the body in San Francisco and the lens from KEH. The thing is that this camera is half frame so a roll of 36 becomes a roll of 72. Double than what you would get on a regular 35mm. This does not have any light meter what-so-ever so you had to buy those accessories elsewhere. It doesn't even have a cold shoe just like my Canon 7.

It's nice that Leica had developed a nice looking film camera for the public to have. Although the price tag will only be exclusive to the ones who can afford such a diamond it gives hope for the film shooters that film is definitely not going anywhere. It's a nice little kick and maybe Fuji would stop fucking around and start bringing back some film most of their fans love.

All in all I will never be able to afford nor have interest in something like this until I'm ready for it. For now the cameras that I have are the ones that will be used until they can't be used anymore, but I doubt that would happen.

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LIGHT STAMPS - PHONE PICTURES

Monday, September 29, 2014


Reflected Light / East Hartford, Ct / September 19, 2014
It's been awhile since I've dedicated a week of pictures taken from a phone. But alas, here is the first picture of the week. It was taken right before heading to work after eating breakfast. The morning light usually hits the diner hard and for a solid hour it moves around. Right when I stood up from the booth and walked towards the door I noticed this unusual patch of light emitting on the floor. So, I decided to take the picture on my phone as reference of something and it became a post on my Instagram feed. I want to start finding more of these things and actually make a project out of it.

By the way. Today is my birthday and I'm probably doing nothing as we speak. Have a good one everybody!

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PARTY GIRLS - POLAROID WEEK PART III

Friday, September 26, 2014

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Nothing Personal Recepetion / Middletown, Ct / August 2014

I don't know who these ladies are, but I do know that they had such a blast that night. In fact a good portion of people who made it out to the show had a great time. But these girl in particular were drinkin', dancin', and socializing with everyone around. It was a lot of fun and I will be throwing another function like this later on this year.

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WHEN IS SOCIAL MEDIA TOO MUCH?

Thursday, September 25, 2014


Taken by the Huffington Post

I cannot stress enough how much social media has affected me and the rest of the world. I can remember the first time I was exposed to the internet and having it available in our household. Our school was allowing us opportunity to learn new things about it and how we can be part of it. They taught us html coding, Photoshop (which was so much different back then) and every sort of thing that we can benefit from the new platform.

Up until now I'm still here doing almost the same thing I was 15 years ago. Surfing the web, blogging, researching... you know... But things have changed and the power of the internet has taken things to new levels. Relationships, business, ideology, personal lives... Jesus... shit has gotten as far as people getting married in online video game platforms.

At the age of 15 posting something online really meant something. Now people post brainless shit all the time that it sort of wrecks my mood. It's gotten to the point where I get annoyed hearing the word "Facebook". And I'm tired of it. I had actually deleted my Facebook App on my phone and don't really log onto my account as often as I used to.

So, when is social media too much? Well, I think it's when you want to know what's going in other places, your friends, what's trending, who ate what, and all that crap. If you think that's more interesting than your life must suck. Do something about it. Get off your damn phone or computer and figure it out.

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KASEY VIDAUD - POLAROID WEEK II

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

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Nothing Personal Reception / Middletown, Ct / August 2014
This whole exhibition was sort of a spotlight towards Kasey. We wanted to throw an exhibit together before she left to start her yoga career. But I got a chance to photograph her on my Polaroid and forgot that this picture even existed. I sort of put away all these Polaroids in an envelope and didn't look at them until this past week.

She's currently in New York right now following that dream. It's been pretty crazy for her it seems like, but I think it was a good choice for her to get out of here and do something with her life. I hope to follow my own dreams here pretty soon. For now I'm here trying to do the best I can to produce work.

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CHARLIE KIRK IS NUTZ

Tuesday, September 23, 2014


Photo Credit Uchujin

So, I read this "102 things I have learnt about street photography - a slightly flippant and deliberately controversial guide" and I must admit that it had taken my breath away at first. It came to that point that I had to email Blake Andrews about this and get his opinion on the whole thing. He told me this came out weeks ao so I'm pretty late to the party already. He also told me it was humorous for the fact that he thinks Charlie Kirk knew it was absurd to write such an absurd list.

And with Blake he's pretty damn smart and gets things that other people don't get. So, I had to look at this again and I must say that it is rather humorous. Maybe I was in a bad mood and saw this list being something so horrendous. Though, I can't think that way every time someone pokes fun at something that I like. Not that I do that every time, but there are some things I can be passionate about and with someone belittling it can be a bit irritating.

However, I can see this list driving certain crowds away. It's pretty offensive to photographers who aspire to be part of this culture. But it's also true that most of these kinds of photographers do have a chip on their shoulder. And like myself I need to learn how to see things in a different way and not react the way I did reading the list the first time. Everyone has their own opinions right?

I'm sure he's gotten much hate mail for making something like this. The list was supposed to be humorous and I'm sure if you didn't understand what he was trying to do he would think you're an idiot. I guess I can almost be counted in that group.

It's a crazy list. But I'm sure there are crazier ones out there. Like:

Fabio Pires trying to be a street photographer

and

LPV Magazine's post on 10 Oeuvres Aspiring Photographers Should Ignore


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MARK & KEITH - POLAROID WEEK

Monday, September 22, 2014

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Nothing Personal Reception / Middletown, Ct / August 2014
It's been awhile since I've seen these photos. I was goin' around taking pictures of people on my Polaroid camera and I got some good ones of a few people like Mark and Keith. These guys have been best friends since god knows how long. But I'm glad to know these dudes and I glad that these people exist. Miss these guys already.

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THERE'S NOTHING ON

Friday, September 19, 2014

NOTHING'S ON

Change It / Middeltown, Ct / 2013

This was probably on "America's Funniest Home Videos" which we don't watch too often. Or it could be a newstory on what's going on in Iraq. No matter though. TV sucks now. There's nothing on ever.

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WOW ADOBE. YOU REALLY KNOW HOW TO KILL A BUZZ

Thursday, September 18, 2014



Just a few weeks ago I opened up Photoshop and was about to edit pictures when suddenly it says "serial number expired". At first glance my heart sank knowing that this is going to be a big problem. I attempt to call up Adobe to see if I can reinstate the license on my serial number. With at least five redirects and no answer I gave up. I called Academy of Art right after to see if there is a way I can get this resolved and apparently Adobe had sent the entire staff a notification that they were dropping the license. I went on Facebook to post up the situation and seems as though a lot of students and alumni got hit. They're servicing the Creative Cloud now and everything else is out of date.

I find myself figuring out why most of the students/alumni (including myself) had been booted off the program. I'm sure the serial number was bought using our tuition and I'm also sure that it didn't cost as much as our tuition. So, I decided to grab an older copy. I had an "CS4" laying around and I decided to load it up. And honestly... I use it the same way as I would CS6. This is just crazy. I don't even know why I bothered upgrading.

I'm sticking to this program until my computer can't function anymore. It's going to be awhile for that to happen. You should look at Ed Templeton's computer on some of his interviews. You should see the program he's using! I think it's CS2! And he makes great stuff out of it. Fuck you Adobe. You can go and suck a big fuck.

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COLD FEET

Wednesday, September 17, 2014



Standing In Line / Middletown - East Hartford, Ct / 2013

I don't know why I chose these images today, but I think that I like the shadows of the chair and the lines that are parallel to Mayliza's feet standing on the yellow line. It's a simple concept really, but it just looks interesting. Something to think about I guess.

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WHAT THE FUCK IS A BLOG?

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

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I've noticed that a couple of people that I follow on Blogspot, Wordpress, and Tumblr are either exclusively using Instagram, Tumblr or just completely out of the loop of blogging. Some of these individuals are not even photographers. I follow a variety of blogs that help me in some way. And thinking about it I've been doing the blogging thing for years. 5 years to be exact. This place was established in 2009 right after I closed my MYSPACE account (man... those were the days). And I've been so consistent about loading pictures and thoughts on what's been going on that it's been sort of an obsession to keep it going. There is so much content that I had put up for all of you to check out.

It's sort of a sketch book of stuff I worked on for years. It's quite amazing how long it's been and how far I've gone photographing and writing whatever's on my mind. I used to put logo's on my work, call myself a "street photographer", did vids on things that talked about photography and music, or whatever came to mind about my art. Now I don't have logos, call myself a "photographer" (because I could do it all and not put myself in one specific thing) and still talk about my inspirations on posts about art and how it's affecting me.

The question is does anyone care that I have a blog or not? Most of the content that I put up on my Tumblr gets the most traffic and gets viewers the chance to see my actual blog. Of course the traffic on Tumblr is a lot easier to work with than a Blogspot account due to the platform structure, but I can't see myself not posting anything on this particular blog. I've built this thing from the ground up and its current look really pleases me.

I don't know when this whole "blogging" thing is going to stop, but I'm going to keep going even if it becomes outdated. Writing my thoughts on the pictures I take or whatever comes to mind has been a practice for many years. I can remember my first website that I created when I took an HTML class back in high school. It was a GEOCITIES account under www.geocities.com/thebrokenpromise. There I would write my thoughts on things on anything I've dealt with in those years in high school. It was a different time to be part of the internet.

So yeah... who the fuck cares if I have a blog right? I should feel this way all the time, but it's something that I would like to share to the people who haven't seen my work before and want to know who I am. I'm putting my life in the internet and it can be scary sometimes especially with the amount of fraudulent people that can use these photos and claim themselves as me. Of course, I don't think anyone could do that because I'm pretty fucking cool and no one can be as cool as me


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I COULD WATCH YOU FOREVER

Monday, September 15, 2014


I Wanted Nothing More / South Glastonbury, Ct / 2013

The fall season has come quite quickly and I'm already getting aches and pains from the cold. My bones don't do so well trying to fight it. Anyway, I was on my way home from work and had a late night. I think I attempted to do some overtime to make a little more money. I decided to take the backroads. I felt emotional. I remembered. But at one point I pulled over and saw this. I know it's not a great landscape shot, but it was a reminder that sometimes the things we see can encourage us to feel better. And I think seeing that made it all the better. I hope to see more skies like this toward the fall.

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TRUST ME. I'M REAL. I DO HAVE A FACE

Friday, September 12, 2014

TRUST ME. I'M REAL. I DO HAVE A FACE
TRUST ME. I'M REAL. I DO HAVE A FACE

Self Portraits / Middletown, Ct - San Francisco, Ct / 2012

Again. I don't remember the exact date of when these were taken, but I do remember how I felt taking them. The bottom shot was from a long night of a party I went to with Theo years ago and had to take the 8:00 am train back to the apartment. It was just crazy that night. The top photo was me trying to find a photograph. It's been a long time since looking at these pictures. How different the work is now..... it's crazy.

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SO WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON LATELY?

Thursday, September 11, 2014

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On top of the usual posts I do every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I would talk about the photographs and some small details of what's been going on. There are very few posts where I would talk about some personal shit that's been happening like last week when I was sick as hell. I never want to feel like that again, but I'm sure in a couple years it's gonna come back.

Really though, most of what I've been dealing with is the fact that I haven't been shooting or editing as often as I should. I have loads of content to show, but there are themes that I go by that make me hesitant to show some of the work I've been producing. I'm barely catching up on editing and still have more rolls of film that need to be developed. Looking at some of the content now it's looking different from what I was producing years ago.

When you live in smaller town with nothing going on you gotta look for photographs. Most of the images I've been taking are of people I ask to take portraits of or things that just look good in light. I've also developed a new way of shooting (the SEAN CUSTER) as most of my images are being shot in the hip. It's a new technique I've been working on for a bit, but I don't know what the content looks like right now. If the images click then I'll be doing this more often.

Since I've been shooting less I've also been seeing less rolls piling up in my drawer. There are things to shoot around where I'm at, but I'm photographing carefully. I able to afford film no problem, but the content has to jive for me to capture it. I usually shoot on weekends, but I think I need to get back on the habit of shooting in the mornings and shooting at lunch.

I'm also considering shooting black & white this fall. I've been on a color binge for about three to four years and I think it's time I need to look at my work in tones rather in saturation. I've been inspired by loads of photographers who have produced black & white work for years and some of that work is looking so damn good. This would allow me to develop my own film and scan it at my leisure.

Also the next couple of months I'm considering updating my portfolio. I have some series based images backed up in my hard drive that I could use as an ongoing thing. I'm also considering taking some projects or images out and putting new ones in to give the work a bit more flow. I noticed that some of the images in my portfolio don't work anymore, so changing some stuff seems to be a good idea.

My main concern is getting my portfolio tighter than it was last year. I'm also going to attempt to throw another exhibit in Manchester, Ct at this pub/theatre around October or November. I'm not sure yet, but we will see in the meantime.

I hope things get better for me here. I hope that my work gets recognized somehow and I get more people to join in on some more exhibits soon. It's already September and things need to start changing. I think it's time.

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ANYONE FOR TENNIS?

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

ANYONE FOR TENNIS?
ANYONE FOR TENNIS?

Empty Courts / Lowell, Ma / 2012

I don't remember when I took this, but I do remember that I had photographed it with a crappy point-and-shoot camera which kinda gave me some cool results. This was just my usual walk around the block taking pictures of things I thought looked interesting. I like fog when you shoot it in black & white. It makes things look kinda creepy.

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WHAT'S A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER?

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The question has always stirred my mind. I find myself asking what this really means. Photography today has gotten extremely sophisticated with the high end cameras produced and the ridiculous amount of software that can create beautiful images with a touch of a button. It's an industry full of new and exciting things that stir up many debates and increase competition among other photographers. But the more I think about it the more I ask myself if I am a "Professional Photographer." It was hard to even call myself an "artist" for the simple fact that most of the people around me call themselves "artists". These terms were sort of tainted to me, but I got around figuring out a way to deal with it.

Quoted from DIYphotography.net JP Danko explains in a simple perspective what a "Professional Photographer" is.

"The value of a professional photographer is their necessity to run a profitable business.

Let me be frank: if you can’t run a profitable business, then you are an amateur photographer, out there taking pictures for fun.

That’s not to say that you have to be a full time working pro. Or, that you have to generate a full time income.

No.

You can be a part time professional, shooting weddings on the weekends. Or a mom taking baby photos in their spare time. Or surf bum shooting stock.

It doesn’t matter – as long as you treat your photography as a business – then you are a professional photographer – because in order to run a profitable business you need to produce great work, you need to earn a decent income for your time and you need to deliver."

And as I read that I immediately came to terms thinking "yeah... I'm totally not a professional photographer. I'm more of an artist." But artists do get paid don't they? I mean they can sell their work in art galleries, to collectors, or anyone interested in what they have to display. Of course many of these artists do and don't get paid as well as "Professional Photographers" am I right?

To me "Professional Photography" is, like what was stated above, a photographer who runs a profitable business. Someone who can make a living being a photographer. But there are photographers who claim themselves as "Professional" and take pictures of "models" and have nice cameras, and software, and spend money on expensive lenses, and say that they have expensive equipment thus making them a "Professional" at what they do.

On Dictionary.com being a professional at something means:
"undertaken or engaged in as a means of livelihood or for gain"
So, for anyone who is a "Professional" at what they do I give them many props. You're hard at work doing work for people that need your services. As for the artists... I also give you props just for the fact that you are out there creating work for yourself and understanding the fact that some people will get it and some people won't. I guess it's good to be a professional, but I'm just not sure if that's something I want to label myself as.

Of course there is etiquette, being able to present your work in such a strong matter, and displaying something you are so passionate about to people. Am I "Professional" then if I display my work in such way.

Again, Dictionary.com states that being a professional can also mean:
"a person who is expert at his or her work"
I think I'm an expert at what I do. I went to school to learn the ins and outs of being a better photographer. I've dived in Photoshop for many years learning the proper ways to produce photographs for web and print. I've done a couple of exhibits to showcase work I am passionate about. So, am I "Professional" enough?

I'm not sure what category I fall into. I do feel that I am an artist and I create this kind of art to let people know what's going on in the world. I take pictures of things that are real and what is happening right in front of me. Sometimes they could be surreal and sometimes they can be just plain photographs, but that's the kind of work I produce. But on the other hand I've had clients who needed my photographic services. I was very "Professional" when it came down to pricing, product idea and finished output. I did what I could to provide them good service and deliver what they needed.

So, what does professional really mean? I don't have a profitable business, but I'm an expert at what I do. I don't make much money doing this, but I take my art seriously.

I think there is a fine line calling yourself a professional or not. I don't care to be called a "Professional" at all because I don't run a profitable business, but I am a "Professional" when I need to be.

Can anyone tell me what the term "Professional" means? I'm still trying to figure out, because I'm at a cross between being an expert at what I do and knowing that I don't run a profitable business. Am I an artist or a professional?









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GOIN' UP. IT'S GONNA BE A LONG DAY

Monday, September 8, 2014

GOIN' UP. IT'S GONNA BE A LONG DAY

I'm Going To Die Here / East Hartford, Ct / Winter 2014

My 8:30 to 5 job has me in repetition for a good year now. I see the same people talk about the same problems in the middle of the floor while I try to figure out how I can give someone insurance coverage on a prehistoric program. But this is my life for awhile and it's stability for the meantime. I'm not going to say that this job is all bad, but it's something that I didn't expect to have something like this right now. I don't usually take the elevator, but this particular day (if I can remember) had me dragging for no fucking reason. I don't want this job anymore, but I need it to help pay for things I need to pay for. Oh well.. I'll give it another year before I start moving on.

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MY WIFE PART II - INTIMATE MOMENTS WHEN WE HAVE THEM

Friday, September 5, 2014

INTIMATE MOMENTS WHEN WE HAVE THEM
INTIMATE MOMENTS WHEN WE HAVE THEM

I Love You / Spain / June 2014

These pictures are just samples of our trip from early summer. I was glad that we took it as I had never been exposed to such beauty before. The buildings, the food, the people, and landscapes are just small variations of what we had experienced that week. Taking that trip with my wife we were both in awe throughout the week. Exhausted at some points, but overall the experience was amazing. Hope to go back someday.

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MY WIFE PART I - IN DETAIL

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

IN DETAIL
IN DETAIL

Hanging Out / West Hartford - Middletown,Ct / 2013

I wanted to take the time and post up pictures of my wife this week since I hardly post stuff of her here. The thing is that she doesn't like the photos I take of her and usually wants the images look like they're from Vogue. I'm obviously not that kind of photographer, but I know that my wife is beautiful and taking pictures of her in the most honest way is what I do. I love her and these pictures hopefully show it.

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FEELING SICK

Monday, September 1, 2014



I'm not sure if you had noticed from last week, but I was incredibly sick. It started out last weekend with the body aches, took some Nyquil thinking it would help, but turned out to be the worst hallucination I've ever endured, and on top of that I had call in sick on Monday. And to top it off trying to work on Tuesday had to be the worse idea I've ever had. So, much of the week up until this point I've been using Vicks Vapor Rub to let the vapors sort of calm my body down. It's been working, but it took awhile to get the sickness to just disappear. Even then I'm not even %100 better.

This whole experience has open my mind up as to knowing that my body should be treated with more respect. I lost a little bit of weight and am able to fit in a pair of pants I'd never thought I'd fit into again. I think I lost a total of 15 pounds and that's not really that good. My breakfast consisted of fruit smoothies, light lunches, and no dinners. I didn't have an appetite for anything and it bothered me for some reason. It still lingers and I find myself eating small bites of the portions I eat. My breakfast was two apples this morning. And I'm drinking tea and occasionally eating some cough supressant candies.

I'm not sure what is going to happen in the next few weeks. I do know that I need to start thinking about all the things I put into my body. I'm not getting any younger and I don't think my wife wants me to start getting bigger. This maybe a wakeup call to finding better health. In the week I'll be posting up some new stuff hopefully. You guys always get to see new stuff coming anyway, but I'm going to find some images that I think work for I felt the whole week. Stay tuned.

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