Kyle Cassidy's Blog, page 9
July 6, 2016
Fancy Camera Chronicles
So, lately, as in for the past couple of years, I've been mostly shooting everything with a Leica M9 and their followup, the stupidly named "M" (How this fits in the 50 year long naming convention scheme M3, M4, M5, M6, M7, M8, M9..." is a mystery). In the last couple of years the M has only failed me once -- when I was shooting a big poster for Amanda Palmer and the New York Public Library -- I set up the lights, set up the backdrop, hours worth of makeup happened, Amanda Posed, I pressed the button and the back of the camera froze up in purple, green, and pink stripes. I had a Nikon D800 with me and took the photo with that and the Leica never did that again.
I got the "M" (I taped a "10" to the front of it) a few months back and it's seemed reliable, so on smaller shoots I've been taking it and a lens or two alone. But this evening I was off to do production photos for The Yellow Wallpaper and when I arrived I pulled my camera out of the bag and found this.
Something is wrong here. You may clickenzee to embiggen!
What the heck? Somehow, bouncing around in my camera bag, the way that cameras do, the entire shutter release assembly had come undone. I fished around in the bag, found it and screwed it back in. Nothing happened though when I tried to take a photo. Well, not nothing, the buffer LED light flashed five times & then stayed steady for about 3 seconds. I turned the camera off, turned it back on. Nothing. I pulled the battery out and the card out, nothing. The screen wouldn't come on, I couldn't get a menu.
So, I did what anybody else would do and shot the photos with my phone. And, in a 1970's horror movie sort of way, they didn't come out half bad.
Some camera is better than no camera. You may clickenzee to embiggen
Googling around I found that other people had had similar situations where the camera was put in the bag turned on (which is how I put mine in the bag all the time) and it took a bunch of photos, filled up the buffer and locked up the BATTERY rather than the camera. Apparently the battery has some sort of software or hardware switch built into it and it can get flustered and the only thing that will reset it is placing it back in the charger momentarily.
After the shoot I took the camera back home, plugged the battery into the charger for about five minutes and put it back in the camera. It came on, showing a 55% battery charge and no blank frames.
Still no idea what happened, but resetting the battery by placing it in the charger for a few minutes worked. Which is annoying. So, my pro-tip is never take just one Leica to a shoot that's important. It would be nice if the M9 and the M took the same battery, but if, like me, you have one of each, you have to take batteries and chargers for each anytime you travel.
Blah.
But, Yellow Wallpaper, it's scary. Go see it. July 10-15th in Philadelphia.
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I got the "M" (I taped a "10" to the front of it) a few months back and it's seemed reliable, so on smaller shoots I've been taking it and a lens or two alone. But this evening I was off to do production photos for The Yellow Wallpaper and when I arrived I pulled my camera out of the bag and found this.
Something is wrong here. You may clickenzee to embiggen!
What the heck? Somehow, bouncing around in my camera bag, the way that cameras do, the entire shutter release assembly had come undone. I fished around in the bag, found it and screwed it back in. Nothing happened though when I tried to take a photo. Well, not nothing, the buffer LED light flashed five times & then stayed steady for about 3 seconds. I turned the camera off, turned it back on. Nothing. I pulled the battery out and the card out, nothing. The screen wouldn't come on, I couldn't get a menu.
So, I did what anybody else would do and shot the photos with my phone. And, in a 1970's horror movie sort of way, they didn't come out half bad.
Some camera is better than no camera. You may clickenzee to embiggen
Googling around I found that other people had had similar situations where the camera was put in the bag turned on (which is how I put mine in the bag all the time) and it took a bunch of photos, filled up the buffer and locked up the BATTERY rather than the camera. Apparently the battery has some sort of software or hardware switch built into it and it can get flustered and the only thing that will reset it is placing it back in the charger momentarily.
After the shoot I took the camera back home, plugged the battery into the charger for about five minutes and put it back in the camera. It came on, showing a 55% battery charge and no blank frames.
Still no idea what happened, but resetting the battery by placing it in the charger for a few minutes worked. Which is annoying. So, my pro-tip is never take just one Leica to a shoot that's important. It would be nice if the M9 and the M took the same battery, but if, like me, you have one of each, you have to take batteries and chargers for each anytime you travel.
Blah.
But, Yellow Wallpaper, it's scary. Go see it. July 10-15th in Philadelphia.
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July 4, 2016
Welcome to my America
I was overjoyed today to be able to ride with the Lambda Car Club in the Philadelphia Fourth of July parade. We celebrated the fact that King George no longer plunders our seas, ravages our Coasts, burns our towns, and destroys the lives of our people, and also the fact that, at some point, this country opened up her arms to all of us when we were tired, poor, and huddled masses yearning to breathe free. We may all need a reminder that all of us started out somewhere else and were given a chance here.
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June 27, 2016
Never Not Relevant: Armed America at the Brattleboro VT Museum of Art
My book, Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes went up for sale on the day of the Virgina Tech shootings and the issue of guns in America has never gone out of the news cycle. Last week, just a day after the shootings in the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, cards started arriving from the Brattleboro Museum in Vermont about the opening of a show featuring images from Armed America. If you're in Vermont, go see the show. I'll be there in October giving a talk entitled "1/60th of a Second of Truth: Journalists and the complex fight for unbiased reporting."
I like their blurb about Armed America: "For gun owners, Cassidy is an artist who finally shows their point of view in a positive light. For ardent supporters of gun regulation, the book provides confirmation that gun owners are the lunatic fringe."
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I like their blurb about Armed America: "For gun owners, Cassidy is an artist who finally shows their point of view in a positive light. For ardent supporters of gun regulation, the book provides confirmation that gun owners are the lunatic fringe."
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June 20, 2016
Librarians! Are you going to be at ALA 2016 in Orlando?
Hi folks --
I'm looking for librarians from the following states to interview at ALA 2016 in Orlando for my Alexandria is Still Burning project. If you'll be there and you have some time on Friday or Saturday, please let me know. & Please share w/ Librarian friends. Thanks.
Alabama
Delaware
Idaho
Kansas
Maine
Mississippi
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Dakota
Rhode Island
South Dakota
West Virginia
Wyoming
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I'm looking for librarians from the following states to interview at ALA 2016 in Orlando for my Alexandria is Still Burning project. If you'll be there and you have some time on Friday or Saturday, please let me know. & Please share w/ Librarian friends. Thanks.
Alabama
Delaware
Idaho
Kansas
Maine
Mississippi
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Dakota
Rhode Island
South Dakota
West Virginia
Wyoming
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June 19, 2016
Trillian
Trillian Stars has returned from Russia with some high falutin' ideas about tea.
Did you ever use one of these? Does you family have one? I'd love to hear the story.
Clickenzee to embiggen the samovar!
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Did you ever use one of these? Does you family have one? I'd love to hear the story.
Clickenzee to embiggen the samovar!
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June 11, 2016
Project Pitchfork
So, now that I'm obsessed with Project Pitchfork and wondering if they ever sit around in their pajamas looking like normal people I realized that not only did I see them, but I hung out back stage with them when Carfax Abbey was promoting the "It Screams Disease" album (which I shot the album cover for). Looking through all my cell phone photos, I see I was in Canada that morning, then went to the show with Trillian Stars & Nicki Jaine -- there are a couple photos of a pile of Carfax Abbey albums (which had just come out), a really blurry shot of me sitting back stage that kind of looks like a ghost in a fog and this photo of Trillian & Nicki. I 100% remember now that Project Pitchfork were absolutely not wearing pajamas. They looked goth as a pile of black lace bones, but I didn't say a word to them. Possibly because they were speaking German & I had no idea who they are. The one day I seem to have taken no photos. Thanks to Patrick Rodgers for the opportunity to tell this missed connection story.
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June 3, 2016
Portrait of IFM Kiwi.
Portrait of Missy K last night. Leica M10, 90mm f2 Summicron at f2 or 2.8.
You may clickenzee to Embiggen!
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June 2, 2016
Cooking with Roswell
Like it or not, summer's here, which means a lot of sitting out on the back porch with Roswell, watching the birds & the other cats & listening to Smooth Jazz Lady blast horrible music into the neighborhood. But it is also tofunafish season.
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1 block extra firm tofu, mashed or crumbled w/ a fork (i use a potato masher in a colander)
1 stalk celery finely chopped
1/4 small onion finely chopped
4 sweet ghirkens pickles, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, grated
1/4 cup Veganese (or mayo alternative of your choice)
Salt & Pepper to taste.
Eat with someone you love.
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1 block extra firm tofu, mashed or crumbled w/ a fork (i use a potato masher in a colander)
1 stalk celery finely chopped
1/4 small onion finely chopped
4 sweet ghirkens pickles, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, grated
1/4 cup Veganese (or mayo alternative of your choice)
Salt & Pepper to taste.
Eat with someone you love.
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May 27, 2016
The Garden of Allah
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trillian_stars
looking for ghosts.Add me: [LiveJournal] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Google+] [Tumblr]
May 24, 2016
John Carpenter! Live! Plus Big News.
I'm in an airplane at 30,000 feet, leaving Lost Angels after photographing movie director & composer John Carpenter's first live show -- a friends & family practice gig before he goes off on his world tour supporting the two albums "Lost Themes" and "Lost Themes II" (which I am overjoyed to have photographed the album covers for -- and which, if you're an Amazon Prime member, you can stream for free).
John directed & did the scores for Halloween, Christine, Assault on Precinct 13, They Live and others and started a whole sound of 80's soundtracks. A few years ago he thought it would be fun to make a record of original music with his sons Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies, so they went into the studio and their first effort "Lost Themes" went to #1 on the billboard dance/electronic charts. Not only that, it's a great album with some really astounding design work by Jay Shaw. A second album and a world tour were inevitable. I came out to photograph the second album cover sometime in late 2015.
At this point, there are still seats available to the Philly show at the Keswick, Saturday July 9th, 2016. You should go. Seriously.
Clickenzee to Embiggen!
Apart from the tour, of course, the big news is that John is on board for a remake of Halloween. The franchise has had a lot of action from people who were not John Carpenter in the last few years -- it's nice to know that finally, someone who cares is back at the helm.
Trillian Stars came out too this time and she's been wandering around Hollywood looking for old silent movie stars homes. We tried to find Nazimova's old house "The Garden of Allah" on Sunset Boulevard but it's been turned into a warehouse. She wanted to find Rudolph Valintino's house "The Falcon's Lair" but that was torn down in 2005. It amazes me that a town that lives, to some great extent, on it's history is so quick with a bulldozer.
(Photo geekery: I shot the show kind of oldschool with a Leica M9 and a Leica M10 with a Zeiss 50mm f2, a Leica tele elemarit 90mm and Canon 135mm f3.5. The Canon's a stop slower than I'd like, but the M10's higher ISO sensitivity let me shoot with little noise at 1600, the M9's pretty much useless past 400.)
The show itself was incredible -- imagine those movies, and that music, but now powered by a full band, two keyboard players, drums, bass, and Daniel Davies hammer and tongs rock guitar on top of it. It was freaking wonderful. You have to see this show. They've got a projection system that shows movie clips behind them so if you don't know what movie the song is from, you've got the visuals to remind you.
Cody (left) & John (center) Daniel (right)
Eventually somebody's going to figure out (if they haven't already) how to take all these cellphone videos and make a 3d movie that you can zoom in and out of and experience a show in incredible defintion from multiple angles. I'm looking forward to that.
Daniel Davies
Cody CarpenterAt some point during the evening Adrienne Barbeau (star of The Fog, Escape from New York, and, you know, Cannonball Run) put her hand on my arm and said "I love your work!" and my mouth hung open for a second and I blurted out "I love you too!" as my 13 year old self dropped dead.
Trillian Stars, me & Freaking Adrienne Barbeau. Dh00dz.
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John directed & did the scores for Halloween, Christine, Assault on Precinct 13, They Live and others and started a whole sound of 80's soundtracks. A few years ago he thought it would be fun to make a record of original music with his sons Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies, so they went into the studio and their first effort "Lost Themes" went to #1 on the billboard dance/electronic charts. Not only that, it's a great album with some really astounding design work by Jay Shaw. A second album and a world tour were inevitable. I came out to photograph the second album cover sometime in late 2015.
At this point, there are still seats available to the Philly show at the Keswick, Saturday July 9th, 2016. You should go. Seriously.
Clickenzee to Embiggen!
Apart from the tour, of course, the big news is that John is on board for a remake of Halloween. The franchise has had a lot of action from people who were not John Carpenter in the last few years -- it's nice to know that finally, someone who cares is back at the helm.
Trillian Stars came out too this time and she's been wandering around Hollywood looking for old silent movie stars homes. We tried to find Nazimova's old house "The Garden of Allah" on Sunset Boulevard but it's been turned into a warehouse. She wanted to find Rudolph Valintino's house "The Falcon's Lair" but that was torn down in 2005. It amazes me that a town that lives, to some great extent, on it's history is so quick with a bulldozer.
(Photo geekery: I shot the show kind of oldschool with a Leica M9 and a Leica M10 with a Zeiss 50mm f2, a Leica tele elemarit 90mm and Canon 135mm f3.5. The Canon's a stop slower than I'd like, but the M10's higher ISO sensitivity let me shoot with little noise at 1600, the M9's pretty much useless past 400.)
The show itself was incredible -- imagine those movies, and that music, but now powered by a full band, two keyboard players, drums, bass, and Daniel Davies hammer and tongs rock guitar on top of it. It was freaking wonderful. You have to see this show. They've got a projection system that shows movie clips behind them so if you don't know what movie the song is from, you've got the visuals to remind you.
Cody (left) & John (center) Daniel (right)
Eventually somebody's going to figure out (if they haven't already) how to take all these cellphone videos and make a 3d movie that you can zoom in and out of and experience a show in incredible defintion from multiple angles. I'm looking forward to that.
Daniel Davies
Cody CarpenterAt some point during the evening Adrienne Barbeau (star of The Fog, Escape from New York, and, you know, Cannonball Run) put her hand on my arm and said "I love your work!" and my mouth hung open for a second and I blurted out "I love you too!" as my 13 year old self dropped dead.
Trillian Stars, me & Freaking Adrienne Barbeau. Dh00dz.
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