Suspect Photography

Doll with whip, Brooklyn Xpro1 35mm f1.4 B&W jpeg

2013 will forever be known as “The year to try to keep up with”. Innovation found itself at every turn, politics were as contentious as any year in my life I have been aware of, and the now ambiguous smart phone has dominated just about every aspect of life in 2013. Trying to keep up is nearly impossible and requires a devoted assault on what was once known as “free time”. There is no more free time, unless you retreat to a cave, grow your beard (oh wait, the hipsters own beards now), make a conscious decision to quit social media,  isolate yourself,  and avoid at all cost  slew of new cable series that now define pop culture. There is light at the end of the ’13 tunnel, those cables series have become so engaging that reality TV became passé. A lot of shit went down in 2013, and I don’t have time to write about it all, ‘cause I gotta catch up so I’ll break it down with a In and Out list, kinda like In and Out burger.. but much tastier.

Candle Maker, Sugar Load NY Zeiss 12mm f2.8

In– Umami Burger, this LA burger joint opened on 6^th Avenue and all the other burger joints in NYC pretty much took the back seat. The flavors are masterful, and the trick is to just sit at the bar and let the families wait for tables.

Out– MacDonalds, actually MickyDee’s has been out for a long time, but this year even their employee HR website recommended they don’t eat what they serve as unhealthy.

In– Mirrorless Cameras, this got serious in 2013 after Fujifilm in 2012 was the comeback kid. Olympus pretty much abandoned their DSLR line, and Sony stuck a full frame sensor in a Mirrorless camera.

Out– Cameras with the “hump” (DSLR) and sub $200 point and shoot digitals. Yea, cameras that have the hump mean they have a mirror and a mirror is so everything 2012 and past. Forget a cheap digital point and shoot, you got your iPhone for that. The only p&s digitals that can keep up these days have super zooms, something we are years away from with the phone cameras. At least for now.

In– Adobe Light Room 5, pretty much everyone is editing and organizing with this software that pretty much does what we all really need.

Out– Adobe Photoshop CS, It’s cloud based now, and the uproar could be heard in heaven. Adobe had to lower the monthly price and even Scott Kelby was accused of being the bad guy. This move by Adobe will end Photoshop being used by the marginals, and only the pro’s will shell out $50 bux a month for the software. The days of getting serial numbers on youtube pirate vids are officially over. Pony up or just use Capture One Pro 7 or DXO Optics Pro 8 to open up your RAW files.

In– the Afordable Health Care Act, with the promises to lower health care costs and provide coverage for all Americans how can you go wrong? Sounds like such a great idea!

Out– Obamacare, with a clunky website and insurance dropping those who are all ready covered and pretty much those who were happy with their insurance before, now paying more to cover those who couldn’t pay. Much like all good intentions, this is looking pretty crappy now.

 In– Miley Cyrus- I’m not going there.

Out– Lady Gaga- Her new album is so… meh.

In– The Fujifilm 23mm 1.4, and now there is no reason to shoot with any other camera. It’s fast, it’s super sharp, and it’s the perfect focal length.

Out– 18-55 Kit lenses, just go prime. Slow zooms are over, and the everyone knows that to the key to good bokeh, you shoot with a fast prime.

In– The Nikon DF, because retro is cool, its half the price of D4, and who really needs video? Oh and did you check out in black?

Out– The Nikon D800, because who really needs 38 megapixel? It’s over kill and there are way too many buttons on that camera.

In– Bill D’Blasio, NYC’s next mayor. Who really knows how he’s going to do? We all have our collective fingers crossed.

Out– Bloomberg, He did good for the city and lots of rich guys, but hey isn’t that NYC is all about anyway?

In– The Guardian, great journalism that takes chances and it’s free to read.

Out– New York Times, except for the lens blog its clunky to read, who knows if what you’re reading is true or not, and it’s expensive. $20 bux a month!

In– Vine, really my attention span these days isn’t longer than 6 seconds anyway.

Out– Google Plus, despite how much google throws this down our throats, I still only know a handful of people who use it. Yuk.

In– The Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 with its retro style and advanced features, it’s the best instant camera to come along since the SX-70.

Out– The Fujifilm Instax Mini 25 was great until I replaced it with the Mini 90, but still for the money, a great instant camera.

Flat Iron Building Xpro1 18mm f2.0 B&W mode

 So there you have it, my list of the ins and outs of 2013. Suspect Photography is really looking forward to 2014. Workshops, a new book, and all the photographs yet to be taken. Happy New Year folks!

~David