About The Pictures
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Of Art and Fetish.
I will be the first to admit that part of my fascination with photography is with the equipment. There is something undeniably cool about a machine that can produce an image in a fraction of a second, where the process of creation is all about the preparation and nothing about the physical act itself. But when you realize that the camera is nothing more than a lens, a box, and some film, you begin to wonder what all the fuss is about. There is an enthusiasm about gear in general that can only be understood when you see them as fetish objects. This is, of course, something that only an amateur like myself can indulge in. If I were a real photographer, I would have less cameras and more pictures; I would create art from an oatmeal box.

The Gear.

LEICA M6-TTL .75x CAMERA: Pure indulgence. I have no legitimate reason of owning one except perhaps that I am a doctor and I waste too much money. But what a beauty. I will speak nothing of the pictures because I cannot live up to it.

LEICA 50mm/2.0 SUMMICRON M: The best lens in the world, and I have it. Let's go out and put some scratches on it.

LEICA 35mm/2.0 SUMMICRON M ASPH: Another winner. Another $1500 poorer...

CANON EOS D30: My trusty dSLR. Made me a better photographer. Made me a dumber photographer. Gotta learn the hard way. Gotta go back to film.

CANON 28mm/2.8 USM LENS: Ah, primes. Only after owning a Leica did I realize that primes are the way to go. They are good because they are limited, which means you can't be.

CANON 50mm/1.8 MKII LENS: My fastest, longest, and cheapest lens. Since when can you say that about a lens? Funny how things work out sometimes.

SIGMA 15-30mm/3.5-4.5 EX ASPHERICAL DG DF LENS: If I had the money I would have bought the Canon 16-35mm L lens. Still, I can throw this around without feeling too bad about it.

SEKONIC L-308BII LIGHTMETER: Still working out the kinks of metering, but so far I am getting much better results than with my on camera meter. Especially with slide film.