Tag: Camera

When a Tour Group Becomes a Family

Mt. Etna

By Mitchell Slepian

About a month ago, I came back from a tour of Sicily. I was there for about two weeks. I did start my tour solo, as I arrived a few days before the tour officially kicked off. I saw a lot before I met my new “family.”

I went to the conference room in my Palermo hotel, and we walked over to a nice restaurant. I sat with some people that I wound up eating with several more times. I was solo. There was one other solo traveler. I was the tour photographer. I wasn’t hired for it. It’s just that I was one of only two out of 45 people shooting with a traditional camera v. a mobile device. I was using a Nikon Mirrorless 7. 

Ruins

Sicily is beautiful, I became friends with nearly everyone. Of course, the people originally from Brooklyn and the Bronx were the best. Most people recognized I was from Brooklyn as soon as I started talking. That makes me proud. No other place has the Cyclone, the original Nathan’s, the Brooklyn Museum, and fantastic pizza. Sicily’s pizza is better. Way better. For the record, so is Milan’s. 

Pizza made by me

Everyone on the tour was excellent. Yeah, we had some people that I thought were children of the corn. But we all got along and had a great time. We had a WhatsApp group during the tour run by our guide. She was the only one allowed to post. 

Most people wanted to see each other’s photos. Someone made a WhatsApp group for us to use once we got home and went through our shots. It took me a few days to edit with Photoshop. But I posted as I edited. For the next few weeks, we swapped our photos and memories. We all commented. I am happy to say people loved my images.  We are in a new year and still chatting.

I look forward to my next tour. I hope I can make a new family.

100 Years or Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Does Music Make a Difference When Shooting and Editing Photos?

By Mitchell Slepian

Hello, readers. As my regulars are aware, ninety-nine percent of the time, the images in my stories have been shot and edited with my Nikon camera. As Paul Simon sings, I like to take photographs. My Kodachrome sits on a table next to an old Nikon that was a workhorse and is now out of commission.

Sheepshead Bay by Emmons Avenue – Edited to Sir Elton

When shooting and editing, I always have songs in my head. One of my all-time favorite songs is “100 Years,” the opening track on The Cure’s “Pornography” album. It might be the darkest, most goth album of all time. I listen to it nonstop. Here’s a taste of Robert Smith’s (The Cure’s founder, lead singer, and possibly the best songwriter ever) lyrics. “It doesn’t matter if we all die. Ambition in the back of a black car.” I listen to lots of other great artists. Some are happier than The Cure. Of course, some are just as dark. Here’s a partial mix: Bauhaus, David Bowie, Billy Joel, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Sir Elton John, Joy Division, John Lennon (probably the best musician of all time), Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, The Psychedelic Furs, The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, U2 and The Who. And the list goes on.

Red Flower – Edited to Sir Elton

It’s not unusual for me to have some of these lyrics floating through my brain when I’m shooting. “Confusion in her eyes that says it all. She’s lost control. And she’s clinging to the nearest passerby.” – “She’s out of Control,” Joy Division “Girl of sixteen, whole life ahead of her. Slashed her wrists, bored with life. Didn’t succeed, thank the Lord.” – “Blasphemous Rumors” – Depeche Mode “Back to the howling old owls. Hunting the horny back toad” – “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” – Sir Elton and “Before you cross the street. Take my hand. Life is what happens to you. While you’re busy making other plans” – “Beautiful Boy” – John Lennon. He always nailed it. They all do.

One can be sure the songs in my head while I am shooting affect how they are taken. I might adjust the ISO and F-stop based on how I am feeling. In case you were wondering, I do not listen to music on my iPhone. I hate headphones. I used to wear my Walkman’s headphones slightly above or below my ears. Sometimes I still do that with headphones when I am Zooming or watching things on YouTube. Songs always go through my head. It gets me through the days. Or as Robert Smith says, “In Between Days.” That’s on the “Head on the Door” album.

Bees Fetching Honey – Edited to the Cure

The other day, I was editing some images from Emmons Avenue, Sheepshead Bay and the New York Botanical Garden while listening to Sir Elton. Then I switched to a mix of The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, Erasure, and Psychedelic Furs, Siouxie and the Banshees. Erasure brings back memories of camp. The Cure, Erasure, and the Furs bring back old memories of dating and driving around in my old Caddy with the girls I liked. We usually listened to those bands. My first date was to see The Cure with Love & Rockets and the Pixies as the openers. We were too young to buy beer. We shared M&M’s.  I still think about all of this when certain songs play. 

The Hanging Flower – Edited to The Cure

Look at the images and see if you can tell the difference. This was written and edited to Led Zep’s “How the West Was Won.” With final touches while listening The latest from The Cure: “Songs of a Lost World.”