2024 09 24
Sometimes the accidental shots are the best shots. I made this one while strolling through the farmerās market practicing zone focusing on the Ricoh. Yes, itās out of focus, and blurry, and full of sensor dust (most of which I removed in post), but I still enjoy the image. Itās got a bit of rizz. Not much, but a touch of rizz.
This lesson in zone focusing was sort of the nail in the coffin for this camera, which Iāve been abusing for two or so years. Most of the images posted to this blog have been made using it. The problem, now, is that I canāt shoot with it unless the aperture is wide ass open, otherwise all the sensor dust fills the frame. Luckily, when you shoot wide open, you can make things invisible, allowing me to continue using the camera longer. Just not with zone focusing. Anyhoo.
Iām still months behind on photo editing and life bureaucracy. We have our wedding documents tho, finally, so thatās official and off the to do list!
-Clayton
Dogs on the prowl. Logan Square Farmers Market. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Sometimes the accidental shots are the best shots. I made this one while strolling through the farmerās market practicing zone focusing on the Ricoh. Yes, itās out of focus, and blurry, and full of sensor dust (most of which I removed in post), but I still enjoy the image. Itās got a bit of rizz. Not much, but a touch of rizz.
This lesson in zone focusing was sort of the nail in the coffin for this camera, which Iāve been abusing for two or so years. Most of the images posted to this blog have been made using it. The problem, now, is that I canāt shoot with it unless the aperture is wide ass open, otherwise all the sensor dust fills the frame. Luckily, when you shoot wide open, you can make things invisible, allowing me to continue using the camera longer. Just not with zone focusing. Anyhoo.
Iām still months behind on photo editing and life bureaucracy. We have our wedding documents tho, finally, so thatās official and off the to do list!
-Clayton
2024 07 20
I think a lot about how great trains are and how regrettable it is that this country doesnāt have a robust network of trains like most of the developed world does. Sure, cars are fine, but thereās something nice and freeing about being able to venture out into the big city and not have to worry about where to stash your rolling metal box. Imagine a world with high-speed trains connecting all the great midwest towns and cities. We could wake up in Chicago, do lunch in Detroit and dinner in Toronto with almost no effort! Instead, just getting to Detroit from Chicago is basically an all-day affair, likely by car, or possibly on the six-hour, thrice-daily, āhigher speedā train.
As someone who loves to explore new places, the train is the ultimate tool. While sitting at the bar early one evening in Union (beautiful photos on their website, btw! š) and hearing CTA trains roar overhead as they made a stop across the street at the blue lineās California station, we invented a game. Weād ask the bartender to pick a random number two through ten and use that number to guide the rest of our night. She picked four, so we settled our tab, crossed the street and whatever the next arriving train would be, weād take it four stops down the line and explore any new-to-us businesses in that part of town. It was a nice little way to get out of our routines and see something new.
Later, we made this game into a full day and doubled down. One random number picked from a stranger led us to Bridgeport and another random number from a stranger led us to Chinatown, where we enjoyed some delicious steamed buns that wouldāve never been on our agenda had we not ridden the rails and used the trains as our city guide. We were adventurizing!
-Clayton
El train in the night over Logan Square. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
I think a lot about how great trains are and how regrettable it is that this country doesnāt have a robust network of trains like most of the developed world does. Sure, cars are fine, but thereās something nice and freeing about being able to venture out into the big city and not have to worry about where to stash your rolling metal box. Imagine a world with high-speed trains connecting all the great midwest towns and cities. We could wake up in Chicago, do lunch in Detroit and dinner in Toronto with almost no effort! Instead, just getting to Detroit from Chicago is basically an all-day affair, likely by car, or possibly on the six-hour, thrice-daily, āhigher speedā train.
As someone who loves to explore new places, the train is the ultimate tool. While sitting at the bar early one evening in Union (beautiful photos on their website, btw! š) and hearing CTA trains roar overhead as they made a stop across the street at the blue lineās California station, we invented a game. Weād ask the bartender to pick a random number two through ten and use that number to guide the rest of our night. She picked four, so we settled our tab, crossed the street and whatever the next arriving train would be, weād take it four stops down the line and explore any new-to-us businesses in that part of town. It was a nice little way to get out of our routines and see something new.
Later, we made this game into a full day and doubled down. One random number picked from a stranger led us to Bridgeport and another random number from a stranger led us to Chinatown, where we enjoyed some delicious steamed buns that wouldāve never been on our agenda had we not ridden the rails and used the trains as our city guide. We were adventurizing!
-Clayton