Woo hoo ... one last (paid) fling for the old girl! (M8)

Keith · 02-16-2010

Got home today to discover I had an email from the project manager of a government body that handles public art projects in Queensland! She's currently coordinating the project just completed by my sculptor friend Adrian which is being installed on thursday morning at an old heritage listed maximum security prison here in Brisbane. She provided her phone number and asked me to contact her urgently which I did! I was asked if I was interested in documenting the installation of the 'Boggo Road' artwork this coming thursday and would $800.00 be OK!

After I picked myself up off the floor I said "that would be fine!"

This is an absolute unexpected freakin' windfall and although I've wanted to do something like this for ages I just wasn't expecting it to land in my lap like this! Damn ... I was thinking of going out there on thursday and photographing it for nothing other than the experience of doing so!

It will also be a great little send off for the M8 which is soon to be replaced by a D700 ... and the money will go a long way towards reducing some of the shock to my struggling bank balance that the Nikon purchase created!

40oz · 02-16-2010

Good for you. And thanks for sharing the practical results of your talents and hard work.

Pickett Wilson · 02-16-2010

Congratulations! You've been documenting Adrian's work for a while, and it's time someone recognized - with cold, hard cash - your own work!

Sparrow · 02-16-2010

Congrats Keith, nice one

maddoc · 02-16-2010

Great Keith, that is very good news ! ... and of course: CONGRATS !!

gavinlg · 02-16-2010

Awesome score! That boggo road jail is apparently quite haunted - I was reading a lot of interesting stuff about it's history the other day.

rpsawin · 02-16-2010

Great news Keith! Any chance we can see a few pics from the shoot?

Best regards,

Bob

Brian Sweeney · 02-16-2010

Congratulations on the job, Mr. Paid Professional!

So does this mean you are dumping the M8? I briefly considered a D700, especially given that I have so many Nikkor lenses. I just like using an RF too much, so when it came down to the final decision- went with the used M8. Also, I've never forgiven Nikon for encrypting data in NEF files and hiding behind the Digital Millenium act...

BillBingham2 · 02-16-2010

Well done Sir. Very nice work and well timed. Enjoy and share your results. Bring lots of extra batteries and cards.

B2 (;->

pakeha · 02-16-2010

exellent Keith, i hope this-"that would be fine!" - was conveyed with very little emotion, you know just in case they call again

faris · 02-16-2010

Well deserved keith. may you continue to have windfalls like these with your D700.

Good luck.

Michael Da Re · 02-16-2010

I always knew you would be famous someday!

semrich · 02-16-2010

Good for you, glad to see things working out for you like this. The work I see you post here suggests you deserve it.

Dave Wilkinson · 02-16-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith

It will also be a great little send off for the M8 which is soon to be replaced by a D700 ... and the money will go a long way towards reducing some of the shock to my struggling bank balance that the Nikon purchase created!

congratulations on that commission Keith! - but I'm a bit puzzled!.....it seems no time at all since you were sharing your excitement over the arrival of your new M8 and doing gigs in poorly lit galleries etc. with it. Now it has become "the old girl - having a last fling"?

.....I hope the D700 has a more satisfactory 'timescale' for you!

Dave.

Keith · 02-16-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Wilkinson

congratulations on that commission Keith! - but I'm a bit puzzled!.....it seems no time at all since you were sharing your excitement over the arrival of your new M8 and doing gigs in poorly lit galleries etc. with it. Now it has become "the old girl - having a last fling"?

.....I hope the D700 has a more satisfactory 'timescale' for you!

Dave.

It does seem like a very short time ago Dave I agree ... two and a half to three years flashes by in a blink once you pass fifty ... or so it seems! Looking back on the M8 purchase it was done on a whim ... and a bloody expensive one at that and I'd had it a year or so before I was asked to do the odd gallery opening. At that stage I was seriously wondering about the financial sanity of the purchase and was considering baling out of it and wearing whatever loss I incurred!

It's funny to think of a three year old camera as being 'old' ... that's digital and the new age consumer mentallity I guess.

Keith · 02-16-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Sweeney

Congratulations on the job, Mr. Paid Professional!

So does this mean you are dumping the M8? I briefly considered a D700, especially given that I have so many Nikkor lenses. I just like using an RF too much, so when it came down to the final decision- went with the used M8. Also, I've never forgiven Nikon for encrypting data in NEF files and hiding behind the Digital Millenium act...

Thanks Brian.

Deciding what to do with the M8 is already a small issue and as much as I probably should sell it financially, I'm not convinced I will. That camera represents my first foray into serious digital and it's taught me a lot ... dealing with it's limited ISO range and some of it's other short comings has forced me to be inventive in conditions where it and I were both out of our depth!

Often I've wanted to place it on the ground and jump on it but here's where it gets weird ... all the hype about Leicas and rangefinders has some significance occasionally and you realise that the damned thing is unique, warts and all!

Thursday will be a breeze for the M8 ... perfect light and not trying to photograph in a dimly lit environment where every second person seems to be wearing black so I probably wont even bother with IR filtering!

robert blu · 02-17-2010

congratulations Keith, I hope you 'll post some pictures about.
robert

oftheherd · 02-17-2010

Congratulations Keith!!! That is awesome and obviously well deserved. I hope your benefactor doesn't read RFF though.

newspaperguy · 02-17-2010

Way to go, Keith!

May this be the first of many.

leica M2 fan · 02-17-2010

Way to go, Keith! Hope this leads to many more like this or better.

HarryW · 02-17-2010

Congratulations Keith - can't beat getting paid for something that you enjoy doing anyway.
Not sure about the D700

I would have thought the money would be better spent on another FM3a and some primes

Best wishes
Harry

pachuco · 02-17-2010

Woo Hoo!! That is great! Congrats!

Keith · 02-18-2010

Well today was the day ... the first two pieces installed and the remaining one to be done tomorrow morning. The install went like clockwork ... the light was perfect with high even cloud cover!

All I can say is the M8 is near useless for this type of thing ... I would never choose a rangefnder to shoot anything like this ever again! It works well in the gallery openings I do, ISO limitations allowing, but for something where you have limited working space and need accurate framing ... forget it!

Brian Sweeney · 02-18-2010

I probably would have pulled out the 35/2.8 Perspective Control lens if the structure shots were important. "Use in case of Parallel Universe Crisis".

jesse1dog · 02-18-2010

Very pleased for you getting this commission Keith.
I've just caught up and see that you have done one shooting. Possibly get better pictures when there is something of a challenge and you are up against it - brings out the best usually.
Despite the framing and other issues hope you got something that pleases you and satisfies the commission.
When I first read the thread I sort of remembered you stepping back into a trench somewhere on one of your assignments, and wondered if you would do the same again. But there is always tomorrow .......

jesse

Keith · 02-18-2010

[quote=Brian Sweeney;1263347]I probably would have pulled out the 35/2.8 Perspective Control lens if the structure shots were important. "Use in case of Parallel Universe Crisis".[/QUOTE

The problem Brian was caused by a couple of things: Not being able to shoot from positions that made the subject material idealy placed distance wise and the fact that the M8 is damned hard to frame accurately with a 25mm lens ... if you were unlucky enough to be a glasses wearer you'd be in real trouble.

The camera produces beautiful files as you know but this sort of thing is not it's forte. The ideal setup today would have been a (gulp!) zoom lens ... I never thought I'd hear myself say that!

Probably an 18-55 or similar.

Do they have those for the M8 yet?

Bike Tourist · 02-18-2010

Congratulations, Keith!

You'll like the D700. I really enjoy mine but I wish I could also afford an M8, too.