Hasselblad just announced the followup to their medium format X2D camera, the X2D II 100C. The new camera is an improvement in many ways, most notably the addition of continuous autofocus (AF-C) and the lower price. Hasselblad also announced a high-end 35-100mm f/2.8-4 E lens at an unexpected price. Here’s what you should know!
Photography Life
Best wishes to all for a peaceful safe holiday season. And onto ’25! May the pixels be kind to all of us:-)! Peace, love and happiness to all. Be well, and see you in the New Year!
The post Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Best for ’25! appeared first on Joe McNally Photography.
There is hard light. And then there is the diamond edged, stiletto-like sun that careens relentlessly across the Salt Flats of Utah. The cracked, lifeless earth seems to have the only appropriate response. Just, you know, give up.
But photographers like to tilt at windmills, so a hardy group of UPAA photogs gathered out there in the big nothing and set about making pictures. It was fun. I was teaching out there, and honestly it was the first teaching event I’ve ever been involved with that included being filmed by a drone, which was kind of cool. There were, maybe, a hundred or more of us out there, all working under the umbrella of the University Photographers’ Association of America’s annual get together.
Shot the banner pic with a Profoto B10X Plus, and was accompanied by a lovely dancer, Chelsey Carlson. We ran it the other day on Instagram, and I discussed the notion of letting the dancer just be the dancer, and try not to constrain them overmuch. I was shooting wide as you can see, and her arm drifted a bit into the no fly zone of a NIKKOR 14-24mm, but it didn’t trouble me overmuch. I wanted her to feel comfortable in the air, and do what she does best. Had a question on the lack of shadow, and that is courtesy of the raw power of the sun. One would think that using a 500ws flash would create some kind of subject shadow, but the sun was so fierce that the bubbling cauldron of the sun literally ate the shadow up. And my angle of the flash was flat to her. It was not pitched as one might ordinarily do with a dancer.
It was a wonderful faculty to be included on. Greg Heisler, Dan Winters, Rod Mar, David McLain, Melissa Lyttle were members, and I don’t even want to begin counting how many years of experience we have amongst us, not to mention the variety of skills and inclinations. The atmosphere was very giving, open and honest, with all of the participants sharing information and stories. I’ve worked with the UPAA before, and they do an amazing job of supporting the mission of university photographers, who have very unique jobs. Given the varied aspects of campus life, they could be called upon to do portraits, shoot sports, do illustration work and still life, and produce compelling visual narratives about the life and times of higher education in America.
Also did some studio-like work, in a large cafeteria, and was able to blackout the background via f/stop and shutter speed which allowed my friend Derick Turner, the Michigan State photog, to deploy his wide range of wonderfully mischievous expressions. Two light portrait, shot at f/2 with a 50mm NIKKOR, f/1.2.
The event was a terrific learning experience for all concerned, and a highlight of last year. I was able to sit with Greg Heisler and Dan Winters, two of my idols in photography, and basically just shoot the breeze in the company of a couple hundred photographers. Pretty cool. They both are amongst the definitive photographers of our time.
Needless to say, at some point in the future, I’d do it again! Great environment. Lots of support and learning.
More tk…
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I have always loved going to LA, be it for work, or simply a visit. The banner pic was shot on assignment for the National Geographic on the power grid of the United States. It seemed a natural thing to pursue a photo of the famed LA nighttime landscape to illustrate electrical usage. In a chopper, shot with a Nikon D3X and a 24mm lens at ISO 1600. It was back in 2009, before ISO’s with numbers like 5000, or 8000 became the norm.
My strategy has always been to take an early morning flight from the East Coast heading west. You pick up the hours as you traverse the country and arrive feeling that you have the gift of an entire day back. As you walk out of LAX, the intense blue of the sky fills your eyes and opens your heart. Maybe (depending on your generation) Beach Boys music drifts through your head.
If you’re staying by the shore (and why wouldn’t you) maybe it’s north on the 405 to Pico and head west. Or if the trip needs you to be more in the heart of things, perhaps Hollywood or Century City. Wherever you settle, the City of the Angels always has rewards.
Have been grateful for those rewards, and the assignments I’ve done over the years from an LA base have been amongst the best and most vibrant of my forty-year career.
It is heartbreaking to think of it now, scorched and vulnerable.
As always, the photo community is responding as best as it can. The Los Angeles Center of Photography is sponsoring a gear drive: https://lacphoto.org/
Dear friend and Founder of Vital Impacts, fellow Nikon Ambassador, photographer Ami Vitale is offering a printed copy of her beautiful frame of a rhino and a rainbow, a picture filled with hope. Details below from Ami:
As a gesture of hope and solidarity, I am offering a printed copy of my “A Hopeful Sign” to anyone who has lost their home. At this moment, we are able to offer 1,000 prints. We will ship this photograph to you whenever you’re ready to receive it. Please reach out to us at 1000prints@vitalimpacts.org.
And as always, the Red Cross is there. Donations can be made here.
Luck and love to all in need…
More tk…
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This year broke out of the gate like a thoroughbred at the track. So far, I’ve been in Cuba, Dallas, The Amazon Jungle, and now, in Vietnam. Been tough to put, as they say, pen to paper, physically or electronically. An exciting start to 2025 and grateful to be sure!
And very soon, I’ll land in Belfast, Northern Ireland. So anxious to go to this historic, beautiful city. The shipyards there are the stuff of legend. The Titanic was built there, and the port is still active, with numerous ferry services, making the city a wonderful jumping off point for further adventures.
Belfast is also surrounded by beautiful countryside, as we all saw and enjoyed in many an episode of Game of Thrones. I’ll be giving a talk at a wonderful venue, Belfast Exposed, on April 1st. Really looking forward to meeting folks in the photographic community. The talk will be an account of a life involved with light, and the chasing thereof. Many stories will be shared, and after, perhaps a pint or two at a nearby establishment.
The next day is a Photo Walk in the historic Titanic Quarter of Belfast. We will adhere to Jay Maisel’s mandate: “When walking with a camera, walk slowly.” We will walk, talk and shoot our way around and about, looking for graphics, personality and gesture. (Again, from Jay, “Everything has gesture.”)
It’s our job to find beauty and distinction in nooks and crannies and pavement that thousands bypass without noticing every day. We will work with wonderful professional models from a local agency in both sessions, which is terrific. A good model who is confident and experienced can infuse a scene with personality, beauty and story, turning a wall on the street into a performance stage.
Photo Walks teach us how to think on our feet with a camera, and find photos in unexpected ways and places. These walks with a camera seem to be growing more in popularity and I’ve taught quite a lot of them over the past few years. I enjoy them, and especially enjoy the challenge of the problem-solving in real-time with a group! I get asked all the time what goes on in my head when assessing a location, especially working quickly with changing conditions. Though that is a dangerous rabbit hole to go down – revealing what’s in my head – it is helpful to share the process with photographers out in the field.
Remembering a fantastic time in Gdansk, Poland on a Photo Walk last summer for the SwiatloSila 2024 Festival sponsored by the amazing folks at Cyfrowe camera store. Thanks again to Filip Kowalkowski for the BTS photos and such great support and enthusiasm from Tomasz Zienkiewicz and the entire team.
And what’s not to like about a Photo Walk in Las Vegas – have taught many of these over the years.
Looking forward to starting next month in Belfast!
More t/k…
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