My summer was busier than a selfie camera in Times Square.   Since June, when the camera club season ended, I taught three different classes at Montgomery College, five classes at Capital Photography and spoke at NECCC in Amherst MA.  Soon, I’m jetting off to Paris for a real belated vacation.  One of my goals for the summer “vacation” was to take a wring class to expand my creativity by adding another facet to my photography.  I took a class, but it was too short, and I didn’t get out of it what I was hoping for.  I signed up for another class that’s ten sessions long so there will be plenty of time to explore creative writing. (I hope the editor of the CR doesn’t expect better writing from me in the future!)

While away on vacation I’m certainly going to have the opportunity to create photos. Travelling is enjoyable because we experience new things with all our senses.  As photographers, our sense of vision is stimulated much more than when we’re in comfortable always seen surroundings.  That’s why, even when not travelling internationally, we enjoy club field trips to locations that are out of the ordinary.  The challenge though day in and day out is to continue to see things in a new way.  Sometimes it’s required to place a limitation or restriction on your photography to stimulate the creative process by problem solving.  If, for example you limit yourself to a 50 mm lens what would you do when you see something that you would normally use a 200 mm or 28 mm lens to photograph?  You would need to adapt and solve the problem of creating a compelling photograph using the 50 mm.

I’ve been to Paris many times but not in the last ten years.  I don’t want to carry a large DSLR camera with many lenses so I’m setting a limit of bringing one “real” camera and my iPhone.  The real camera will be a Kodak Retina 1a from the early 1950’s.  I’ll be using Kodak B&W film, either 100 or 400 speed.  My goal is to shoot pictures on the streets of Paris just as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau or Martine Frank did in the good old days.

The sites and scenery will be great, but I’ll use the phone for that.  The phone, as I’ve written in the past, really works well for the way I see the world.  The limits it presents always challenges me to find a better angle, compose with care and edit with wild abandon.  The B&W film camera will be used solely for street photography.  The camera is unique and peculiar for its lack of light meter, lack of focus in the viewfinder and quirky way of loading the film.  Read more about it here: kenrockwell.com/kodak/retina-1a. In short, there will be no lack of challenges getting a good well composed, sharply focused and well exposed picture.  But this is exactly the challenge I’m looking for!  I’m taking pictures for me and if they don’t come out very well then nobody’s feelings are going to be hurt.  I’m going to have fun trying and will cherish each good picture I get.