Eclypso Aspects

Dee Dee Ramone - The Photograph

2011-06-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

Dee Dee Ramone. This is perhaps my most "famous photograph." This photo appears on the Wikipedia "Dee Dee Ramone" page and was also the Facebook "Dee Dee Ramone" page profile pic for awhile. "Dee Dee Ramone" is one of Flickr's "100 Best Live Music Photos" and was also featured on the MRR "Monday Photo Blog." "Dee Dee Ramone" is included in my book, Eclypso which can be purchased as a paperback or downloaded as an iBook. "Dee Dee Ramone" was taken in San Francisco, CA. Shot on Tri-X film with a Pentax ME camera.

A Nice Surprise in a Depressing Book Store

2011-06-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

Ahhh - change. Change is good, right? Sometimes. I took a ride to Barnes and Noble today in search of a book I need (or maybe just want). As I approached the door I saw a sign saying "Store Closing. 50% off." No!!!!

Yes. About forty perecent of the shelves were empty. Depressing! I always loved going to this particular Barnes and Noble and browsing for hours. Now all that will be left is memories.

On the bright side, I discovered a really cool book way in the back. As I passed the music section my radar alerted me to a photography book by Judy Linn. I know that name. Any die-hard Patti Smith fan is familiar with a few of Judy Linn's Patti Smith photos from the early days. I think a few were published in Patti's book "Babel" along with Patti's polaroids and a Robert Mapplethorpe. Well, I don't really remember if any of Robert Mapplethorpe's images were published in Babel, but I know there were pictures of him in the book. Back to Judy Linn, she took the photograph of Patti Smith on the cover of Radio Ethiopia.

I flipped through the book. Ok, I looked at every single photograph. If you like B&W photography or Patti Smith, you may want to check the book out. It's called Patti Smith 1969-1976.

View Judy Linn images.

View Patti's Polaroids

Eclypso - The Book Now Available as an iBook

2011-06-25T06:41:00.000-07:00

The book "Eclypso" is now available as an iBook. Although iTunes offers a free preview to download, the preview does not feature a single photograph!!!!

Here is a description of what is in the book:

"A collection of over one hundred iconic high contrast black and white rock n roll portraits. The images were originally captured on Tri-X film pushed to ISO 1600 and later scanned on a Noritsu 3001. The time was 1980 through 1982. The bands were mostly punk, new wave or power pop. The stage was the San Francisco Bay Area. 999, B-Team, Blurt, Chrome Dinette, The Contractions, The Dead Kennedys, Elements of Style, Girl Can't Help It, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, The J. Geils Band, Jo Allen & the Shapes, Killing Joke, The Lenny Kaye Connection, The Lloyds, The Mutants, No Sisters, The Punts (aka Bonnie Hayes & the Wild Combo), The Ramones, Romeo Void, Sparks, The Squares, The Rolling Stones, SVT, The Fall, The Nuns, The Varve, Translator, VKTMS, and Xmas Eve."

You can Preview the book here (as well as purchase the "paper version"):

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/eclypso-photography-by-catharine-j-anderson/6450586

You can purchase the iBook here:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/eclypso/id443504126?mt=11

MRR

2010-05-04T15:17:00.000-07:00

Anyone who is into punk rock is familiar with Maximum Rock N Roll. I'd like to thank Mark Murrmann who serves as photo editor (and a million other jobs) for including a few of my photos in this week's MRR Monday Photoblog. I also think you should check Mark's website out as he is an awesome photographer and does some really cool B&W work. I'm kind of fond of him as he is a Bay Area Photographer and I'm kind of partial to those guys (especially the ones who are into music). Make sure to take a look!!!

Legendary Rock Photographers: Lynn Goldsmith

2010-04-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

"For me, photography is the one thing I’ve done continuously since childhood."

http://www.RockAndRollPhotoGallery.com/

Although I've looked at thousands of rock n roll photos over the years, the names of the photographers often go unnoticed or are easily forgotten. Not the case with Lynn Goldsmith. Check it out:

Rock and Roll

Look Without Thinking

2010-03-31T09:05:00.000-07:00

Andre Kertesz “Technique is not important, go on and make mistakes. I’ve been making mistakes since 1912, and I am still learning from them.” And he added, “It’s important to think, but it is better to look. It’s even better to look without thinking.”

Tri-X Rocks

2010-03-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

A little background info regarding the photos in the Eclypso book. All of the photos were captured on Tri-X film pushed to 1600 and developed in the kitchen sink. I believe I used D-76. Everything was shot with a Pentax ME which was an aperture priority camera. I also had a Pentax MX which I really love but the ME was better for concert photography. The lighting can change in an instant, so the Me changed with it. I shot with an Ashai SMC Pentax 135mm telephoto lens at f/3.5.

Jim Marshall - Legendary Rock N Roll Photographer

2010-03-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

Legendary Rock N Roll Photographer Jim Marshall passed away March 24, 2010. There are only a handful, if that many, legendary rock photographers. Jim was surely one of the best. Please visit his website - it will take you back.

Eclypso - The Motive Behind the Book

2010-03-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

Ok - so why did I do this book anyway???? For money? Come on, do you really think there is much money to be made here? If I make back what I spent I will be happy but I am not holding my breath.

No, I did it for two reasons. First, because I believe photography is to be seen, not stored away in a cabinet for years on end like these negatives were.

Second, legacy. My legacy as well as the bands. Simple as that. Its history and I just want it recorded. Simple as that.

Paul Davis

2010-03-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

After finally finishing my book I decided it would be nice to let some of the people in it be the first to know about it. More than a few years have gone by since my camera captured them live on stage. A little research was certainly in order. Looking for the whereabouts of Paul Davis I was sad to find out that he is no longer with us.

"Paul Davis who played in Bonnie Hayes and The Wild Combo and The Yanks went into a coma after complications with his elbow caused by Carpal Tunnel and he was pronounced dead on Sunday Morning Nov 10, 2007" - Ginger Coyote - Punk Globe Magazine.

Eclypso - The Book

2010-03-22T15:40:00.000-07:00

I have been talking about doing a book for years. "The book" being a book of rock n roll photos from way back when. Well, I finally did it with some help from my good friend Mike Chatham. The design and layout part always held me back. I finally enlisted Mike's help and he helped make my dream a reality.

The book consists of over 100 vintage black and white photographs from the early 1980's. The bands represented in the book are:

999, B-Team, Blurt, Chrome Dinette, The Contractions, The Dead Kennedys, Elements of Style, Girl Can't Help It, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, The J, Geils Band, Jo Allen & the Shapes, Killing Joke, The Lenny Kaye Connection, The Lloyds, The Mutants, No Sisters, The Punts/Bonnie Hayes & the Wild Combo, The Ramones, Romeo Void, Sparks, The Squares, The Rolling Stones, SVT, The Fall, The Nuns, The Varve, Translator, VKTMS, and Xmas Eve.

New Toy - Gossen Luna Pro

2010-03-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

Finally I score a Luna Pro on Ebay! It seemed like every time I found a nice one to bid on, I got out bid at the last second by some antique dealer or collector. I think they try to buy low and sell high, you know? That's cool but I wanted one to actually use for photography!

As I've implied elsewhere, I am pretty much shooting with Pentax M Series lenses from the 1970s. The quality is just awesome. The problem is that the K10D exposure meter does not work after you take the initial reading. I always have to take the shot and then check the histogram and adjust from there. That is okay, but sometimes leads to missed opportunities. Photography is mostly about capturing a moment in time and in many cases those moments are short.

Well, my Luna Pro arrived today and it is one beautiful piece of equipment. I can see why antique dealers want them. To be honest, one of the reasons I wanted this particular meter over any other is kind of silly. Its because I like the little sun and moon symbols on the dial :-)

Using M Series Lenses on a K10D

2010-01-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

PENTAX: "Pentax K-mount, M-series and S (screw) mount lenses without auto-aperture control (an “A” setting on the aperture ring) can be used in Manual exposure mode using stop-down metering and manual focus. This is the exposure mode which will give accurate exposures when using these older lenses on our digital SLRs. If older lenses without an "A" setting on the aperture ring are used in Av (Aperture Priority) Mode, an exposure error may occur. "

Up until today I had a hard time believing the above statement. Whenever I use manual mode I have to do some compensation. If I use the reading the "green button" comes up with, my images will come out overexposed. I have to adjust my exposures using a histogram to guide me. I have read posts on several sites from people having similar results. If I shoot in Av mode the exposures are right on (contrary to the above statement). The problem is that when shooting in Av mode, you are shooting wide open no matter which F-stop you select.

I thought it odd that the exposures can be so far off in manual mode. A little research shows that the problem is easily resolved by changing a custom setting:

Go to Custom Settings

Step down to Green button in Manual
Press the right arrow and select Tv Shift
Press OK
(This setting allows easy and accurate exposure metering using older lenses without an "A" setting on the aperture ring. When the Green button is pressed in Manual exposure mode, the lens "stops down", the camera's meter measures the light passing through the lens, and an appropriate shutter speed is automatically set based on that measurement).

By default this setting is on "Program Line." Change it to "Tv Shift" and the problem is resolved. For those of you new to this, here are all the settings you need to change:

Press the Menu button

Go to Custom Settings
Step down to Green button in TAv & M (K10D/K20D).
Step down to Green button in Manual (K200D)
Press the right arrow and select Tv Shift
Press OK
(This setting allows easy and accurate exposure metering using older lenses without an "A" setting on the aperture ring. When the Green button is pressed in Manual exposure mode, the lens "stops down", the camera's meter measures the light passing through the lens, and an appropriate shutter speed is automatically set based on that measurement).

Step down to Preview Method
Press the right arrow and select Optical Preview
Press OK
(This setting enables the camera to "stop down" the lens to a selected aperture when the On/Off button is rotated clocwise).

Step down to Using aperture ring
Press the right arrow and select Permitted
Press OK.
(This setting allows the camera to operate with older K-mount or S-mount lenses that do not have an “A” setting on the aperture ring).

If Shake Reduction is enabled when using an older lens, you will need to manually select the closest matching focal length from the Shake Reduction (K10D) or Input Focal Length (K20D/K200D) menu. Press the Menu button, step down to Shake Reduction (K10D) or Input Focal Length (K20D/K200D) then press the right arrow. Scroll left and right to select the closest match for the focal length lens you are using. Press OK, then Menu.

SMC Pentax 50mm F4 M Series Lens

2009-12-16T11:54:00.000-08:00

One of my classic lenses is the SMC 50mm 1.4 which I bought when I purchased my first Pentax ME way back when. That lens is a beauty for sure. So, why would I buy a 50mm F4? Only because it is a close-up lens as well as a prime lens. I took it for a walk yesterday and find it does a pretty good job up close.

SMC Pentax 200mm F4 M Series Lens

2009-12-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year I spent a lot of time on Ebay trying to buy one of every SMC Pentax M Series lens I did not already have. I never finished that project as some of them rarely ever come up for sale (the 20mm for example) or the specifications of a particular lens are too close to one I already have (28mm F2.8 vs 28mm F3.5).

After buying several of them, I became enamored with the 40mm Pancake lens and never bothered using anything else for months on end. I still love that pancake lens but its time to move on! I put the SMC Pentax 200mm F4 on the camera yesterday and took a few shots in the backyard. Pretty remarkable.

The lens is fairly light and compact for a 200mm telephoto lens. Combined with the K10D's image stabilization feature, I was able to shoot some decent photos without a tripod. The flower pictured above is one such shot. Keep in mind, this is a low resolution version of the original. The original was a jpeg (not Raw). ISO 100, F4 at 1/45th of a second handheld. From what I've read, this lens is very sharp and conrasty once you start stopping down.

Rock City Angels at the Monterey Club

2009-12-16T11:01:00.000-08:00

For once in my life I was in town for a show. I had to go to a Christmas Party the same night of course. After the party I headed for the show. I couldn't find the club. I went home and got directions and tried again. I found it. It was a place I had suspected might be it, but the name on the building was different than what I was looking for. I wanted to photograph the Rock City Angels live but I knew that was not going to happen. I brought my little Panasonic LZ10 instead of my dslr as I knew the lighting would be bad and trying to shoot real photographs would be impossible (as I refuse to use flash). I was right. The lighting was worse than bad, it was horrible. A single blue spot light. Besides, by the time I got there they were playing the last song, "Divine Asylum," in their set. I tried a shot with the Panasonic but it was too dark and too blue. What can you do?
I walked up to Bobby Durango afterwards and held the tiny camera up to his face. He smiled and got major flash in his face. He was a good sport. As for shooting the Rock City Angels live, that will have to wait for another time and place.

Flash

2009-12-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

Back to Rock N Roll. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to use this wall as a background. My friend Flash happened to be sitting in front of it so it all worked out almost perfectly. It may have been perfect if I had my Pentax K10D with me, but I didn't. This one was taken with the little tiny Panasonic LZ-10.
A bit about Flash. He is, and has been as long as I've known him, the singer/songwriter/frontman for "F." He has also been filling in on vocals for the Pork Dukes.

John U. Lloyd State Park

2009-12-05T17:32:00.001-08:00

Christmas 2009 brings me (early) a Florida State Parks annual pass. I used it the first day it arrived. I took my dog, Daphne, to John U. Lloyd State Park so she could get out of the house and I could play with my new toy (camera).

The new camera is a Panasonic Lumix LZ10. Its a nice little point and shoot with a Leica lens. I bought it because it was on sale for $99. I wasn't really looking for a point and shoot, but I could not pass up on that kind of deal. I figure it will be nice to have a little pocket camera to carry around as its not practical to carry an SLR around 24/7.

San Diego Pier

2009-12-05T14:31:00.001-08:00

I grabbed this shot on my way to a ship in San Diego. The artist was focused on his work and provided me an opportunity to take an interesting picture in an otherwise uninteresting environment. I was able to put my suitcase down, get my camera out and take the shot without him ever noticing he was being photographed

Judy Tampa & Bunko Squad

2009-12-03T04:45:00.000-08:00

It's starting to look more like a music blog than a photo blog around here! Thanks to social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook I have reconnected with a lot of people who share my past. Judy Tampa is one such person. Judy and I go back to the San Francisco punk/new wave scene in the eighties. Judy was a musician/graphic artist and I was a photographer.

Judy now lives in Tampa, Florida and doesn't look any different than she did back then.

Judy is as talented as ever. Judy is a fashion designer, painter, musician, so on and so forth. Judy and her band, Bunko Squad, recently released a CD titled "Tainted." Judy sent me a copy and I find its damn good. Its a folksy blend of country, blues and pop (I think). Its refreshingly different than anything I am used to listening to and I have been listening to it a lot. If it reminds me of anyone else I'd have to think of Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons and Alanis Morissette. These are only similarities however. What I like best about the music is the lyrics. They are certainly lyrics that inspire thought. In any case, its an excellent CD and should do well.

Back to photography for a moment. The image above is one I took of Judy at a wedding "back in the day."

Use Once & Destroy

2009-10-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

I met The Rock City Angels in South Florida during their "Glam" period. I used to publish a local music paper (Gold Coast Live!) and promote bands. RCA quickly became one of my favorite local bands. I decided to interview them and give them the cover at one point. The band was growing in popularity and seeking a record deal. Bobby Durango (known as "Bobby St. Valentine" at that point) decided he was tired of playing in front of the same basic audience all of the time. Bobby and the band decided to head for LA. Right before they left, they were "discovered" by Ann Boleyn of New Renaissance Records. Rumors were flying that she signed them and their demo would soon become an album.

Shortly after the band left I received a letter from guitarist Jimmy James saying the the band signed with New Renaissance. After that the band just seemed to have disappeared. Jimmy eventually landed back in South Florida and had a new band called Romeo Cowboy. As for the Angels, who knew.

Eventually word got out that RCA signed a deal with Geffen Records. We waited and waited. Finally an an album surfaced in Peaches (the local record store). The album was Young Man's Blues.

After the release of Young Man's Blues the Angels seemed to vanish again. The internet evolved and I eventually made contact with bassist Andy Panik. Andy filled me in on everything that happened since we left off in 1986 (I think it was 1986). Andy told me that the band recorded a new CD called "Use Once & Destroy" and encouraged me to contact Bobby Durango and try to help them get a deal. We launched a Rock City Angels website and did what we could to promote the band.

Bobby sent me a copy of the demo and I thought it was killer. The problem was it wasn't finished. It was raw and Bobby wanted to go back into the studio to "sweeten" it up. He wanted to re-mix, add some horns, and whatever else he heard in his head. A few other people who heard it said it was fine as it it was and started pushing to just release it. I sent it to a few labels hoping to find one who would pay to for the additional studio time and get it out there. Most of them liked it but the bottom line was "send it back after its finished and then we will talk." Time was flying by and it was becoming another "Chinese Democracy."

To make a long story short, I no longer had time to devote to this cause. I let rockcityangels.com expire (as well as a few other websites I ran - nothing personal, just time issues). About two or three months after the site expired Bobby wrote to me telling me it had expired and we needed it back as Use Once & Destroy was finished and soon to be released! Go figure! (and too late as some domain reseller had grabbed the name)!

I finally got around to getting a copy of Use Once & Destroy and listening to it. (I was content with the demo after all). Wow!!! I love this cd. I am so glad that Bobby stuck to his guns and held off on releasing it until it was the recording he meant it to be.

Ok, what does this have to do with photography? Well, when listening to the new cd in my car an analogy popped into my head. My camera (Pentax K10D) is set to underexpose slightly and not to sharpen anything. The original images look a little dull at first. I eventually work on them adjusting levels, curves, contrast, whatever and each image takes on a new life. This is the best way to describe the difference between the Use Once & Destroy demo and CD. The cd is like a photograph that has been tweaked in Photoshop. So when you read all these interviews with Bobby when he mentions that he was being pressured to release the demo as is, you can understand the difference in terms of photography.

Dee Dee Ramone

2009-09-25T16:57:00.001-07:00

This is a rare photo of Dee Dee Ramone. Its not rare because it is of Dee Dee. It is rare because I hardly ever shot in color when I photographed bands. The Ramones, The Rolling Stones, SVT and The Patti Smith Group are the only bands I shot in color back in my film days. This image is a scan of an Ektachrome slide. It was shot with a Pentax Me and a 135mm Pentax Ashai lens. I shot the show in Black & White as well. You can view a few of those on Eclypso.com

Translator

2009-09-23T17:53:00.000-07:00

Rock photography was once my passion. This was back in the film days. I shot Tri-X with a Pentax ME. I developed the film in my kitchen sink. Everything tended to be high contrast. Now it all tends to be somewhat iconic.

One of my favorite bands at the time was Translator (Steve Barton, Bob Darlington, Larry Dekker and Dave Scheff. (That's Dave on the left). Translator played a reunion gig about two weeks ago or so. Of course I missed it. These days I miss all of the good reunion shows. Why? Mostly due to geography. No other reason.

Tonight I was catching up on Facebook. Lots of the usual silly stuff like challenges to take quizzes and that sort of thing. And something special that caught my eye. Steve Barton posted a link to a YouTube video of Translator rehearsing "Necessary Spinning" for the show. Dave is still such a powerful drummer.

Icebergs

2009-09-09T14:09:00.001-07:00

This is a leftover image. I've spent most of my day trying to put together a page called "Ice" on Eclypso. Feeling fussy or something as it took all day and I'm still not really pleased. Oh well. Time to move on. I have to pack my suitcase after all.

The photos in the "Ice" collection are about five years old now. They are from my pre-DSLR days. They were taken in Tracy Arm Fjord in Alaska's Inside Passage in 2005. They were taken with a Sony Mavica. Funny, alot of my old Mavica shots are making their way onto the site. I may have more Mavica photos than Pentax photos at the moment. Well, time to pack. I'm tempted to keep my 40 mm pancake lens on the camera but may go wider. Thinking about selling off the zoom lenses. Anyone interested? Let me know.

Michael Jackson

2009-09-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

Although I have been in L.A. a few times in my life, I never really saw much of it. A few weeks ago I had a red eye flight back to Florida. I did not fancy spending fifteen hours sitting around waiting in LAX.

I decided to take a bus tour to kill a few hours. We drove all over L.A. viewing the highlights out the windows for the most part.

We got to get off the bus and walk around a small part of Hollywood Blvd. The highlight of this part of the tour was Michael Jackson's star. It was two, maybe three, weeks after his death. The tour guide told us that this area was filled with flowers and stuffed animals not so long ago.

It was still fairly busy around Michael's star. A small candle and photograph of Michael were all that is left from the memorial. People kept kneeling behind the candle and photo and having their pictures taken.

R.I.P. Michael

Pancake Fever Cures Bald Eagle Obsession

2009-09-06T09:08:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post I mentioned my latest lens purchase - the Pentax DA 40 mm a.k.a. "the pancake lens." As I said, I haven't taken it off my camera since I bought it.

I just returned from a trip to Alaska. I've been there before. I usually go armed with a zoom lens. I usually find myself obsessed with bald eagles. I walk around with my head up scanning the trees and the skies for those little white heads in hope of capturing a killer eagle shot.

This year I decided to try something different. I decided to leave the zoom lens home and go with the pancake lens! Yes, I decided to do Alaska with a pancake lens! Is that insane or what???? As luck would have it, I saw whales!!! Lots of whales! And all I had was a 40 mm pancake lens! The result??? The whales look as far away as they were. See the above example (top right).

Now I am home. I loaded one of my whales into Photoshop and attempted a crop job. (See image on the left). Wow - that little pancake lens is so sharp it allowed me to get away with this. If I had tried this with a shot from my zoom (which would most likely had been set at f 5.6) this crop would not have worked in an acceptable way. Too bad I didn't point it at an eagle. I may have finally got the shot I want.

Say It Ain't So Annie

2009-08-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, while browsing news headlines, an article about one of my favorite photographers caught my eye. It was an article about Annie Leibovitz and how she is facing financial ruin. Of course I had to read the article as I was curious as to how a photographer of Annie's stature can have financial problems. According to the article, she owes $24 million dollars to some financial institution. The worse part is that she basically pawned her photo collection!!! Yes, she used her photography collection as collateral on a loan!!!

This is sad. This is really sad. Obviously Annie does not know how to manage her finances. It is a shame that she never hired anyone to do this for her. As a result, Annie's photographs are likely to end up being the property of some Wall Street firm. This somewhat reminds me of The Beatles catalog. Just about everyone knows that Michael Jackson owned the rights to The Beatles songs. Its really sad when the artist who created the art loses the rights (ie: revenue) to his or her own work.

If you'd like to read about it: How Could This Happen to Annie Leibovitz?

Pentax DA 40mm Limited Pancake Lens

2009-08-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I was buying old Pentax M Series prime lenses on E-Bay like crazy. I was trying to collect them all. The 40mm pancake was a challenge as it seems everyone wants that lens and are willing to pay alot more than I was for it.

I was recently in Grand Cayman and came across the DA 40mm pancake at the local camera store. I bought it and am really happy with it. This lense is pretty sharp. The contrast is good. I have not taken it off my camera since I bought it.

Oh, and being that it is so small and light, it is great for hand held photography which is all I do.

Pentax K10D

2008-12-22T15:55:00.001-08:00

Pentax K10d. Pentax upgraded the K100D and K10D replacing them with the 200D and 20D. The 20D is nice but I'd rather wait for a full frame sensor before spending the bigger bucks. The K200D shares many specs with the K10D now, and retains some from the K100D. The price of the K10D dropped because the K20 came out, so I decided to get one. Its a great camera after all. Although it is often stated that the K200D is the new K10D, many reviewers say the K10D is better. With that in mind I decided to get one while you still can (a new one that is). A great deal. A great camera. I haven't really played with it much yet, but will be doing so soon.

Pentax K100d

2008-12-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

My first digital slr. I avoided buying a digital slr because I had two very good film cameras and a few good lenses sitting around doing nothing. I knew if I bought a digital slr I would start back in buying lenses and accessaries again. I didn't want to go there. Eventually Pentax came out with the K100d and the good news was that it can use any K mount lens ever manufactured. I was so excited! I couldn't wait another month or two for the K10d to come out as well. I bought my K100d and couldn't wait to put my old lenses to use. Well, you know what happened? I started buying new autofocus lenses.

My K100d (just mine) is retarded. It cannot autofocus to save its life. When it thinks it is in focus it is actually way out of focus. Not even close. When I focused it, it would refuse to shoot as it said I was out of focus. I stifled the unwillingness to shoot an "out of focus" shot in the settings. I put the camera in manual focus mode and have been manually focusing ever since. I have been using my old manual focus lenses on it and my K100D has basically become a manual camera. Since purchasing a K10d, I think I should sell the K100d. But who is going to wanted aretarded camera???? So I will just keep it as my "manual camera."

Pentax MX

2008-12-22T15:31:00.000-08:00

Pentax MX - this camera is my baby (even though I don't use it anymore). Totally manual. Fits perfectly in my hands. I love this camera and will never part with it even if I never shoot with it again. Does anyone else feel that way about their old film camera?

Pentax ME

2008-12-20T07:36:00.001-08:00

My first SLR was a Pentax ME. I loved this camera. The Pentax ME is an aperture priority camera. I used to photograph bands in night clubs. The ME was perfect for this as the lighting is constantly changing and it would be very difficult to get correct exposures with a manual camera.

Another reason why I liked this camera so much was its size. The Pentax M cameras were small cameras. I'm a small person with small hands. These cameras fit perfectly in my hands making it easier to minimize camera shake.

I had my ME several years. It eventually had a little accident and was damaged. The cost to repair it was more than a new body. I abandoned the camera at the repair shot and bought a used ME Super. I still have the ME Super and may sell it. I am not likely to ever use it again. I am not emotionally attached to it as it is not the camera I used to shoot 95% of my rock n roll photos with. If I still had the ME I wouldn't think about selling it!!!!

If you are curious about what an ME can do, visit eclypso.com

New York CIty

2008-06-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

I was trying to learn a bit about Photoshop. This is a technique I learned (and have since forgotten). Kind of cool.

Xmas Eve

2008-06-29T13:07:00.001-07:00

This is a photo I ran across on a music blog somewhere along the line. It is a scan of an insert from a 45 rpm record (an e.p.) released in the 1980's (1982 I believe). The band is Xmas Eve - a Bay Area punk band. (Jerome Capers, Eric Capers and Bruce Rayburn).

Ok, the reason why I am posting this is because I took it. I am always proud and pleased to see some photo I took on the net. Who wouldn't be?

I have a lot of photos from that day in the California desert.

If you'd like to see Xmas Eve live visit my main site eclypso.com

Mystical Hubbard Glacier

2008-06-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

This is a shot of a piece of Hubbard Glacier in Alaska. What a place! In the color version the ice is a beautiful iceberg blue. I have a penchant for converting to B&W so here you go... Almost mystical, isn't it?

Words can't describe what it is like to stand out in the cold and shoot an iceberg or a glacier. It is an awesome experience and basically leaves you speechless. The only way you can truly share the experience is through photography.

Icebergs and glaciers cause conflicts for me. What kind of conflicts? Color vs B&W - that kind. The ice is such a beautiful blue color that something makes you think it should be left alone. But you do it anyway and get something like this. Interesting in itself.