ALL POSTS INDEX
A hyperlinked index of every ULTRAsomething post in descending chronological order
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Clutterbucking
Cluttered houses. Cluttered photos. Cluttered minds. ULTRAsomething photographer, grEGORy simpson reveals, in one tidy little article, how to deal with all three.
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The Most Dangerous Game
In 1924, Richard Connell wrote “The Hounds of Zaroff,” better known as “The Most Dangerous Game.” It told the story of General Zaroff, who had become so bored with hunting traditional prey that he turned to hunting the most cunning and clever prey of all — man. In 1948, Eugen…
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The Contextual Lens
Every year, a new generation of neophyte photographers become victims of nomenclature — mistakenly assuming that wide angle lenses are an ideal choice for photographing wide, scenic vistas. As an obsessive neologist, I examine how wide angle lenses are actually used, and wrestle with what designers should have named them.
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That Golden Glow
On the afternoon of February 28th, in the final event of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, the Canadian men’s hockey team beat the USA in a nail-biting, overtime gold medal game. If this country was a living organism, hockey would be its heart. It’s a home grown sport that touches everyone…
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“Winter” Olympics
With precipitation levels low and the temperatures high, Vancouver’s cherry trees welcomed February with a display of delicate pink blossoms that, in years past, remained hidden until April. In marked contrast to most of the Northern Hemisphere, winter never arrived here, and spring has already sprung. It’s a glorious time…
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Flame Frenzy
So much for professionalism. Rather than keeping a cool, detached “street shooter’s” eye, I joined the swarms of snappers and chased the Olympic flame around downtown Vancouver for 24 hours prior to the opening ceremonies. Sometimes you just need to be a tourist in your own town.
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This is Going to be Fun
Its inevitability has, for a decade now, been forced into my consciousness and my subconsciousness. It’s become a part of my Id, my Ego, and my Super-Ego. Its costs, benefits, politics and promise have permeated local news outlets since I first moved to Vancouver at the dawn of the 21st…
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DagNAMMit
This is an article about photographing the culture, chaos and cacophony that surrounds the NAMM music products show in Anaheim California. It includes several photos from the show, plus a link to a multimedia presentation about NAMM. The article also discusses the current state of photojournalism, and the difficulties facing…
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The Megapixel Thief (Part 2)
Out there on the mean streets of photography, it’s a digital world. So what possible good can come from shooting with a 50 year old Yashica-Mat Twin Lens Reflex medium format camera? How about 50 megapixel scans, square negatives, and a classic “analog” look? Dive into this article to discover…
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The Megapixel Thief (Part 1)
Common wisdom tells us that “the bigger the sensor, the better the image.” Micro Four Thirds (MFT) cameras, though 3 times the price, have a sensor 9 times larger than a point-and-shoot. Great value! The sensor on a full-frame “35 mm” digital camera is 4 times larger than MFT and,…
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Year One
This photo-laden article displays several previously unpublished photos from 2009 and invites the readers to tell me what they do with their own orphaned, unpublished images. It discusses the philosophy behind the ULTRAsomething photography blog, and why I try to achieve a balance between equipment reviews and articles designed to…
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The Self Portrait
Most people would define “self portrait” as a photograph in which the photographer, himself, is the subject. This article discusses how, over the last couple of years, I’ve come to define “self portraits” in an entirely different way. To me, a “self portrait” is a photograph that reveals something about…
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‘Tween the ‘Weens
Those of us who photograph the human experience spend 364 days a year trying to be ‘the invisible man.’ But for one glorious day each calendar year, we street photographers can drop our disguise, emerge from the shadows, and proudly hold our cameras aloft. All Hallows Eve is our night.…
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The ‘Match Technical’ Advantage
Last year, the Leica rangefinder replaced the SLR as my ‘go to’ camera for reportage, street, documentary, candid, travel, and just plain ‘fun’ photography. It changed the way I approach these subjects, and made me a better photographer for it. I took to the Leica instantly — coming to grips…
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What Color is Happy?
“We humans are quick to embrace new technologies, aesthetics, techniques and trends. We are equally adept at discarding the old ones. And, while few of us would choose to live in the past, its wanton abandonment comes with a heavy price — ignorance.” This article discusses why Black & White…
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The Mythical Invisible Shield
Cameras have an odd psychological effect on me. They have a way of heightening one form of reality, while diminishing others. With my camera in hand, I’m singularly focused on creating the perfect image — one with the potential to entertain, enlighten, inform, or influence those who view it. When…
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Alaskan Cruise Photo Gear Guide
Have you ever hunted through a photography forum for answers to such questions as, “What lens should I take on my Alaskan cruise?” or, “Should I bring a tripod on my Alaskan cruise?” If those forums left you with more questions than answers, I suggest you grab a cup of…
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Listen to Your Leica
A simple little story about heat stroke, and the way it makes you do crazy things. Like, say, photograph fireworks in black and white on a dark beach in the middle of the night — hand-holding a Leica M8 while using ridiculously long exposures without benefit of a tripod.
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Geeking Out with a 50 ‘Cron
There are geeks and then there are photo geeks. In the old days, geeks worked in carnivals and were oddly entertaining folks who swallowed swords, hammered spikes into their nostrils, and decapitated chickens and snakes without benefit of a cleaver. The photo geek, by contrast, is not nearly so riveting.…
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Torment of the Innocuous Query
“What do you photograph?” Inevitably, when someone discovers that I’m a photographer, this is their Pavlovian response. It’s a question framed in an expression of utmost earnestness — as if they were asking a medical doctor to state his specialty, or an actor to enumerate the roles they had played.…