John Edwin Mason: Documentary, Motorsports, Photo History

Nikon Packs It In, iPhone Bails Me Out: Shooting a Sound Check with the Free Bridge Quintet and Hod O'Brien

No excuses.

When somebody gives you an assignment, you come back with photos.  No excuses.

So, yesterday evening, I'm shooting the sound check for the Free Bridge Quintet's concert "A Celebration of Dizzy Gillespie," and my Nikon D7000 decides that it doesn't want to autofocus with the Nikon 35/2 that I was using or with the Nikon 85/1.8 that I had in my bag.  Each and every image was off -- some by a lot, some by a little, but all unusable.  The only other lens that I brought to the gig was a Nikon 70-200/2.8, a lovely piece of glass, but not exactly the horse for the course.  Manual-focusing?  In dim light with the D7000's small viewfinder, that was simply not going to work.

But I had my iPhone with me.  Thank God.

 

Robert Jospe.  Sound check.  University of Virginia, 21 October 2011.  [All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2011.  Click on any image to see a much larger version.]

I've sung the praises of the iPhone more than once.  Using the wonderful QuickPix app, I've even used it to shoot professional drag racing.  Seriously, check it out.

So, I had an idea that the iPhone might come to the rescue, but I also knew that it likes good light, the brighter and more even the better.  Bright and even doesn't come close to describing the light on the stage of the University of Virginia's Cabell Hall.

 

Pete Spaar.  Sound check.  University of Virginia, 21 October 2011.

Where the light on the stage is bright, it shines down from directly overhead, and sharp contrast between light and shadow would challenge any sensor or film.

 

Guest artist Hod O'Brien.  Sound check.  University of Virginia, 21 October 2011.

Mostly, however, the stage is darker than you'd want it to be, and faces are often in shadow.  None of this boded well for the iPhone, but I had no other choice -- use it or come back with nothing.  My other cameras were at home, far enough away that going to get them was out of the question.

 

John D'earth.  Sound check.  University of Virginia, 21 October 2011.

Turns out that the iPhone saved my behind.  The photos that you're looking at here have been lightly tweaked in Photoshop, but they didn't require more than an couple of minutes each to make them perfectly presentable.  I'm not going to print any of these at 20x20, but they'd make nice 5x5s.

 

Jeff Decker.  Sound check.  University of Virginia, 21 October 2011.

Yes, I should have had a backup body with me.  My D300 wasn't doing me any good lying around my house.  The D7000, however, is new and had performed well, up until last evening.  The D300, on the other hand, is battered and bruised, having seen a lot of heavy action at race tracks up and down the east coast.  It didn't seem possible that that I'd run into trouble during a simple 60-minute shoot.

It occurs to me that most of the shooting that I've done with the D7000 has been with lenses that have built-in autofocus motors.  I wonder if D7000s, in general, have trouble focusing with older lenses.  I'll be happy to hear from anyone who's had similar (or dissimilar) experiences with D7000s.

* * *

By the way, I stayed for the concert, and it was terrific.  Jeff, John, Robert, and Pete, all regular members of the Free Bridge Quintet, played up to their usual high standards.  Robert brought out the Latin side of Dizzy, Jeff occasionally went off in some gloriously soulful, gut-bucket directions, John was elegant, and the foundation that Pete laid down was as solid as rock.

Hod, who once spent many hours listening to Dizzy perform in New York clubs and who has played with everyone from John Coltrane to Oscar Pettiford to Stan Getz, offered a series of dazzling, rapid-fire solos.  But it was the gentle ballad that he played, accompanied by just bass and drums, that was the thriller of the evening.  Damn near brought tears to my eyes.

 

John's Epic Road Trip, Part 3: Route 66, Space-Age Survivors & Art Deco Relics

Americans tell more stories about Route 66 than any other highway in the nation.  The Mississippi portion of Highway 61, the "Blues Highway," probably runs a distant second, but, while Highway 61 is shrouded in dark myths, Route 66 basks in the glow of nostalgia and romance.

It was the road that desperate people took west, during the Great Depression, in search of jobs and opportunity.  It symbolized American optimism and prosperity, during the 1950s, before the tragic burdens of being a superpower became obvious.  It's inspired novels, TV shows, and the wonderful Bobby Troup song that Nat King Cole turned into a true classic (scroll down to hear it).

 

 

Gas station, historic Route 66, Santa Rosa, New Mexico, August 2011.  [Photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2011.  Click on any image to see a much larger version.]

Route 66 was created in 1926.  As Nat King Cole will tell you, it ran from Chicago to LA, more than 2,000 miles along the way.  It was "decommissioned" -- that is, officially removed from the United States highway system -- in 1985.  In the minds of government bureaucrats, freeways had made it irrelevant.  Since its official demise, however, it's become more popular than ever.  States mark the old road with "Historic Route 66" signage.  Old motels and restaurants have been restored (or not).  The travel section of any bookstore contains dozens of books about the highway.  Many thousands of tourists travel portions of it every year, hoping to sample some of the old ambiance.  Even people who have never been near it -- heck, even those who prefer to stick to I-55, I-44, and I-40 which parallel it -- like the idea of Route 66.

 

 

Abandoned Gulf gas station, historic Route 66, Texas, August 2011.

Like a lot of photographers, the right kind of nostalgia can make me go weak at the knees, and Route 66 has plenty of the right kind, especially for a guy like me, who loves space-age architecture, Googies, wacky roadside attractions, and anything that's old and cool.

A few weeks ago, I drove many bits and pieces of Route 66, taking the long way out to the Bonneville Salt Flats, where I shot a story about Robin Dripps, a record-setting land speed racer, who just happens to be a professor at the University of Virginia.

 

 

Nightclub sign, historic Route 66, Santa Rosa, New Mexico, August 2011.

I made some photos that I like, but I was really thinking of the trip as a scouting mission.  With luck, I'll go back next summer and spend as much time as I need finding cool things to photograph.  I made these photos with my iPhone, which I was using to keep a visual diary of the trip.  I was surprised by how nice the photos look (at least on a computer screen).

 

 

Abandoned building (which obviously served many purposes in its life), historic Route 66, Tucumcari, New Mexico, August 2011.

 

 

Deco deluxe.  Restored Conoco gas station and cafe, historic Route 66, Shamrock, Texas, August 2011.

As I was photographing the Conoco station and U Drop Inn, a couple drove up and began to do the same thing.  We got into a conversation, and they told me that they had driven the length of Route 66 in the late 1950s, soon after they were married.  They were having a ball reliving the experience.

 

 

Cadillac Ranch, near historic Route 66, on the outskirts of Amarillo, Texas, August 2011.  [Remember, you can click on any photo to see a larger version.  The amount of detail in the distance, here, is pretty surprising.  Nice little camera, the iPhone.]

I'm only cheating a little bit (I think) by including a photo of Cadillac Ranch.  This famous piece of public pop art was first installed in 1974 -- before Route 66 was decommissioned -- by members of the Ant Farm art group.  A couple of decades later, it was moved to its present location, about two miles down the road from the original.

 

 

 

Nat King Cole first recorded Bobby Troup's "Route 66" in 1946.  Not surprisingly -- given its swinging rhythms and infectious melody -- the song was an instant hit and has been associated with Cole ever since (despite the fact that many of other artists have recorded it).  This video dates from the late 1950s.

* * *

You can read parts 1 and 2 of my road trip series (and see more photos), here and here.

John's Epic Road Trip, Part 2: Churches on Historic Route 66

A week ago, I was on the last leg of an epic three-week 7,150 mile road trip that took me from Charlottesville, Virginia, to the desert southwest to the Bonneville Salt Flats and back.  It was a heck of a lot of fun.

Along the way, I drove along bits and pieces of the legendary Route 66.  It was something of a scouting mission.  Like every other photographer who has followed that historic highway, I was looking for cool things to photograph.  I found plenty.

 

 

Sacred Heart Church, historic Route 66, Dilia, New Mexico.  August 2011.  [All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2011.  Click on any of the images to see much larger versions.]

On this trip, I used my iPhone to keep a visual diary.  (The photos here are from the phone.)  I can't wait to go back and do justice to these churches -- and to the many other photographic delights on Route 66.

 

 

Abandoned church.  Historic Route 66, New Mexico.  August 2011.

On the other hand, I was surprised by how well the iPhone performed.  I wouldn't want to make prints from the photos, but they look awfully good on a computer screen.

 

 

Church, historic Route 66, Oklahoma.  August 2011.

In the coming days, I'll be posting more photos from Route 66 -- mostly in color and mostly of surviving examples of beautiful space-age architecture from the '50s.  I hope you come back to see them.

 

 

Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church, historic Route 66, Missouri.  August 2011.

John's Epic Road Trip, 2011: Part 1, Monument Valley

Things have been awfully quiet on the blog, lately, but all that's about to change.  I've been on an epic three-week road trip, and I was shooting all the way -- often with my iPhone, which I used as a kind of visual diary.  (The photos here are from the phone.)

 

 

Monument Valley, Utah, August 2011.  (All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2011.  Click directly on any of the photos to see larger versioins.)

When I say epic, I mean it.  It was a 7,150 journey that took me from Charlottesville, Virginia, to Cincinnati, St. Louis, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Shamrock, Texas, Tucumcari and Santa Rosa (both in New Mexico), Santa Fe, Taos, Monument Valley, Salt Lake City, and, finally, the Bonneville Salt Flats, where I shot a story about Robin Dripps, a record-setting land speed racer, who just happens to be a professor of architecture at the University of Virginia.

 

 

Near Monument Valley, Arizona, August 2011.

You might have noticed that on my way out to Bonneville, I closely followed the path of old Route 66.  That was by design.  I wanted to bask in the nostalgia of that legendary highway and to find and photograph as many surviving motels, gas stations, restaurants, and roadside attractions as I could.  I took my time, had a lot of fun.  Sure enough, I found what I was looking for.  I'll be posting some of the photos on the blog in the coming days.

 

 

Monument Valley, Utah, August 2011.  (Shamelessly ripping off Lee Friedlander.)

The trip home was hectic -- Salt Lake City, Laramie, Wyoming, Cheyenne, Omaha, Des Moines, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati (again).  I had to be back in the office on Monday, giving me four days to drive about 2,000 miles.  I did it, but it was the only part of the trip that involved almost no fun at all.

* * *

Next post:  Photos from Route 66.

An iPhone at the Races: The ADRL at Maple Grove

It was a crazy idea -- shooting motor sports with an iPhone4.  Anyone who's ever used the iPhone's camera would tell you that it can't be done -- it's too slow, too inflexible, too cumbersome.  And they'd be right.  Out of the box, the iPhone's camera is crippled.

A couple of weeks ago, I downloaded the QuickPix app, and it changed the camera (and my thinking) completely.  QuickPix cures most of what ails the iPhone's camera -- it speeds it up, allows you to shoot bursts, and gives you control over the exposure.  It also infected my mind, and I began to have ridiculous dreams.  Cover a drag race with an iPhone?  Well, fine, I said to myself.  Let's see what happens at the American Drag Racing League's [ADRL] race at Maple Grove Raceway.

 

 

Richie Stevens, Jr., performs a burnout, Maple Grove Raceway, 7 May 2011.  (Photo copyright John Edwin Mason, 2011.  Click on the image to see a larger version.)

The first thing to say is, yes, you can shoot drag racing with an iPhone4 and the QuickPix app.  There are some limits, of course, but the overall results blew me away....

You can read the rest of this post and see many more or the photos on my racing blog, here.