It is a good day here in San francisco but it’s been raining a lot lately. I’ve been missing Mexico. The heat, the humidity, the food, the relax and calm life.
I have the feeling that simplicity is going to be a constant from now on, not only in this blog but in my life too
Also I’ve been changing. Photographically speaking. Not since the rain started but in the last years. More and more I’ve been aiming to a more simple and pure approach to photography. This is something that lately has been in my mind constantly. In the last two years my DSLR set it’s been most of the time in the bag. To be honest I can’t remember when I’ve used it last.
Nowadays we have high end compact cameras with APSC sensors that are amazing. Full frame mirrorless cameras that are small, rugged, and with an outstanding image quality. But what is the solution for that “simplicity” that I’m talking about? The truth is that there is not a straight answer but I’ll try to give you one with my next posts.
I have the feeling that simplicity is going to be a constant from now on, not only in this blog but in my life too.
But going back to Mexico. I took this photo something like two years ago. Before that trip I was trying to keep it simple on my vacation trips too and bring one camera with one lens or a really good compact camera with a luminous zoom (like the Fuji X10). But I was always afraid of not having the right lens, so a zoom was kind of a “good” compromise, a jack of all trades. But this trip it was a short one, all I wanted, actually all I needed, was to lay by the beach or by the pool for four days before going back to work. I had zero photographic expectations. So i decided to keep it as simple as I could. Ricoh GR, one memory card, three batteries, and a charger. Done.
I’ll be honest. I was a bit afraid. I felt “naked” without a more versatile option. At the same time I have used GR series cameras for quite a few years now and I know I can trust that camera like a Swiss Army knife. It has it’s limitations but there is so much I can do with it! Also, I’m so familiar with it that I can operate almost eyes closed.
I had one camera with a fixed focal length and I had to make it work. So I did
So what happened when I came back home and I downloaded the images? Well, first of all the images were all cohesive. Keeping the same focal length all the time made all the images work together well. The images were better than they probably would if I had with me a DSLR with multiple lenses. Why? Because the gear was not in the way. I didn’t have to think about it. I had one camera with a fixed focal length and I had to make it work. So I did.
The Black Brick 