Certainly the very first photograph to be taken has to appear in my list, but its impact was not immediately felt around the world. As a matter of fact it didn't even make the Saint-Loup-De-Vanennes, France evening news and truth be known its claim of being the first true photograph began to fade when the image was at the beginning of the twentieth century. Luckily for its creator Joseph Nicephore Niepce the image was located again in 1952 by photographic historian Helmut Gernsheim once again assuring Mr. Niepce's place in history (although I doubt he cared much since he has been dead for 182 years) as the first photographer. The photograph is now housed at the University of Texas's Harry Ransom Research Center in Austin Texas, which seems only fitting since Texas is such a hotbed of photographic history. Detail is rather hard to distinguish in the original plate, but after a little digital magic is applied you can clearly see the buildings and rooftops of a town. Hats off to Mr. Niepce for inventing something that would truly for evermore change the world.
The photographic process made steady progress in the years following Niepce's first attempts, and while it was still a complicated undertaking the images that it was capable of creating when all the right conditions were in place were quite remarkable. By 1861 the photographic wet plate system was ready for prime time and America was about to provide the world with a view of just how brutal armed conflict between nations or in America's case, brothers, had become. Without a doubt Mathew Brady is the most famous photographer to ever live and his name is synonymous with the American Civil War. Brady was born in in Warren County, New York, near Lake George on May 18, 1822. He began his professional life as an artist studying under portrait painter William Page but after being exposed to the new science of photography by his friend, artist-inventor Samuel Morse, he decided in 1844 to open his own photographic studio in New York City circa. His studio was successful and by the time the Civil War started Brady's was able to employ several photographers who he tasked to follow the Union Armies into the field to collect images of the war. In October of 1862 he opened an exhibition of photos taken shortly after The Battle of Antietam ended entitled "The Dead of Antietam." The photos revealed detailed scenes of dead soldiers, animals, and general destruction of the landscape around and on the battlefield. The images of death and mayhem that abounded in the photos shocked and appalled the crowds that flocked to see them, and for the first time in history the complacent general public got a taste of just how savage modern war had become. For his contributions to our social conscious, Mathew Brady's "The Dead of Antietam" gets the Number 9 slot.
The human psyche is a most strange entity, it appears that when we are not the ones being victimized by robbers, killers, and con persons we tend to develop a twisted admiration for these social misfits, and nowhere else was this more evident than during the late nineteenth century. Sociopaths like Jesse James, Doc Holiday, Cherokee Bill, and John Wesley Hardin were morphed into romantic Robin Hood type characters by the so called Dime Novel writers of the day. Young impressionable readers back in the large eastern cities like Philadelphia and New York devoured the embellished writings of men like Ned Buntline who gained fame by his association with Wyatt Earp. Photographers loved to take photos of these folk hero outlaws and the outlaws reciprocated by humbly posing to have their photos taken. You can view numerous portraits of old west criminals both dead and alive by doing a simple internet search. But the one outlaw that to this day seems to garner the attention of modern society and stands hand and shoulders above the rest when it comes popularity is New York City born "Henry McCarty." What's that you say you never heard of him, well he also went by the alias of William H. Bonney, but if that still doesn't ring a bell try his more popular moniker "Billy the Kid." With his seemingly unending popularity in the eyes of the public (a recently found photo of Billy playing croquet might go for as much as five million dollars at auction) Billy's iconic photo taken of him displaying the tools of his trade wins the Number 8 title.
Our next winner deals with the ability of photos, films and videos to influence the mind of the voter and thereby the outcome of elections and government leadership. Following the American Civil War the use of photographs as a political tool to get yourself elected was explored with some marginal success, but in 1898 a bright young Assistant Secretary of the Navy name Theodore Roosevelt was able to utilize the new medium to its maximum advantage. TR as he liked to be called possessed tremendous political ambition and was absolutely obsessed with an adventure of any kind, so when war broke out between the United States and Spain in 1898 TR saw an unique opportunity to further both is obsessions. He resigned his post as Assistant Secretary and joined an all volunteer cavalry regiment dubbed "The Rough Riders" with great expectations of gaining fame, glory and political advancement. Roosevelt was a born patriot at heart and believed the United States had a manifest destiny to fulfill by taking a leadership role in world affairs. The Spanish-American War provided him the very opportunity that he had hoped for. During what would later become known as "The Battle of San Juan Hill" TR led his Rough Riders along with the all black 9th infantry up Kettle and San Juan hills with a determined heroic charge that would prove to be the defining moment in Roosevelt's life. After the battle the Rough Riders posed for a photograph atop San Juan Hill. Roosevelt naturally was standing in their center of his regiment with the American flag flying over his head looking every bit the victorious hero. When this photo ran in the newspapers it made the name Roosevelt a household word and certainly helped TR to win the election for Governor of New York State when he returned from the war in 1898. There was a problem though, the state party leadership disliked and distrusted Roosevelt so they convinced the national party that TR would make a perfect Vice President and thereby remove him from the Governorship and placing him in the largely ineffectual role of Vice President. Roosevelt accepted offer and worked hard for McKinley's successful reelection bid in 1900. All this would seem to have worked out according to plan except McKinley managed to get himself assassinated in 1901 and upon his death the unwanted Governor of New York became the 26th President of the United States. That is why I have chosen Teddy Roosevelt posing with his troops on top of San Juan Hill Number 7 on my list of photos that change the world.
My Number 6 candidate is the first moving picture to get my vote as a world changer, and I know what you are going to say, I know, I know teacher! It's the 1894 Kinetoscope Edison Studio production of the Leonard - Cushing fight's where Leonard beats the tar out of Cushing in the final round, right? Well, that's a good guess but no, although you were close, I chose instead another Edison film, "The Great Train Robbery." Sometimes it's hard for us to envision Thomas Edison the prolific inventor as a movie mogul but in truth he was just that. After inventing the motion picture camera Edison moved onto producing his own short films and I'll bet you can't guess how many features Edison Studios produced, go ahead guess, okay so I'll tell you, 1200! Why that's more than the "Rocky" series of films, of course if Mr. Stallone lives long enough he might eclipse that mark. Still 1200 movies really does boggle the mind considering Edison had so many other things going on like inventing the stock ticker, light bulb, phonograph, carbon microphone, magnetic ore separator, and of course that little matter of trying to monopolize all the electrical power distribution for the entire world. But back to the "The Great Train Robbery", it was produced and directed by Edwin S. Porter who had worked for Edison Studios as a camera man and the film contains many of the production techniques that are still routinely used by modern film makers. As a matter of fact it has been chosen by the Library of Congress to be restored and made a part of the National Film Registry due to its being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically important. And that my fellow film buffs is why "The Great Train Robbery" is my Number 6 selection because its influence on our lives is still being felt today.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Images of World War
The American Civil War was not the first conflict to be documented by photographs, there are several fine examples remaining of the Mexican - American War of 1846-1847 and some really stunning images of the Crimean War of 1853-1856 by the first recognized war photographer Roger Fenton. However the men who photographed The American Civil War were the first to show scenes of war in the modern era which include corpses of soldiers laying where they fell . There were no less than twenty-six photographers actively traveling the battlefields documenting the fratricidal conflict, and although no official count exists of just how many photographs were taken, they most assuredly number in the thousands. A great many of these were personal portraits that the soldiers had taken in uniform so that if they were killed the family would have a remembrance, and if they survived could be boasted about in their old age. What ever the reason The American Civil War was truly the birth of the Combat Photographer and no war or conflict that came afterward would escaped the attention of these fearless reporters.
Of course one of the primary motivations for these men was money since the public clamored for any kind of news from the battlefront especially in photographic form, but I can't help but think that they may have been aware of the impact they were making on history. Already the camera had proven its ability to influence public sentiment with Brady's iconic images of the battlefield, but in 1898 it was fully utilized as a propaganda tool by the "War Hawks" and "expansionists" seeking to transform the United States into a global power. The Spanish - American War of 1898 was brought on by a number of reasons, but it can't be denied that the mysterious explosion the Battleship Maine and her subsequent sinking in Cuba's Havana Harbor had a major effect on public sentiment. The incident was turned into a rallying cry for war by journalists that included Joseph Pulitzer and Randolph Hearst who insisted that the ship had struck a Spanish mine and used photos of the wreck to press home their argument. In reality to this day the cause of the explosion is not known for certain and there are a number of explanations offered that might be true or not including a boiler accident on board the ship. Hearst and Pulitzer were masters of the so called "Spin" and before long the country was clamoring for revenge and war!
When war was declared in 1898 a young and ambitious Theodore Roosevelt was serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the McKinley administration. Roosevelt was one of the most vocal supporters for action against Spain and didn't fail to recognized the great opportunity that the war would afford for some "bully" adventure and political support. Roosevelt was well aware that the voters adored heroes, and as soon as war was declared he resign his post as Assistant Secretary and procured a Lieutenant Colonel's commission in the Army Cavalry where he became a member of what would latter be called the "Rough Riders." Being the consummate politician Roosevelt always made time for having his photograph taken displaying his dashing style and leadership qualities. To be fair though there was probably no one more qualified to lead men than Theodore Roosevelt (strangely TR as he liked to be called had no middle name), what he lacked in military knowledge he made up for in natural leadership and was loved and respected by his men. He was gifted at organization and logistics which helped to make his men some of the best prepared soldiers in the volunteer units. Perhaps the most iconic photo of Teddy was taken standing on the hill that he and his Rough Riders captured at the "Battle of San Juan." There stands Teddy in the middle of his men with the american flag flying over his head, as I said previously, he was a consummate politician and master of self promotion.
It seems that from the 16th to 20th centuries Europe just couldn't get along without having a smashing good war every thirty years or so, and in 1914 they decided to do up right. Failing to realize that the weaponry used to make war had made such advances that it had become possible to reek devastation of apocalyptic proportions on each others armies. The leaders of Europe embarked on what would later be called "The Great War", although I doubt if you could find very many active participants who thought there was anything great about it. Like weapons of war photographic equipment and processes had also made great advances and the age of the small (in comparison to early tripod models) portable camera was in full swing.
In 1900 a man named George Eastman brought out a little box camera that he called the "Brownie" and it was an immediate success with over 150,000 being sold the first year. Coincidentally for you follow the tried and true motto of never buy a first year product you would have been proven correct. Eastman discontinued the the first model in October of 1901 and brought out the improved "Brownie" No. 2. Thank god the original only cost $1.00, which would be about the same as $30.00 dollars today depending on which inflation index you use. By the start of the First World War the "Brownie" and the "Vest Pocket Expanding Camera" like the Kodak was so prolific in numbers that they could have provided an in depth look at the soldiers life on the battlefront, except that the use of cameras by ordinary soldiers was severely discouraged by the high commands of both sides. On the surface it seems as though this was a missed opportunity for history but it is doubtful that many of the cameras could have survived the conditions of trench warfare since the soldiers who manned the trenches had a hard enough time making it from day to day themselves. There are quite a few great examples of "Vest Pocket Images" that did manage to be recorded and document some of the details of life in the trenches.
World War I also saw the birth of a new tool of warfare, the aerial photograph. Prior to World War I aerial photos were only utilized on a very limited basis due to the fact that someone had to go up in a balloon with a bulky wet plate camera and hope the balloon held steady enough for him to get a good image due to the required long exposure times. Oh yes, and there was that little matter it being impossible for the enemy to miss seeing your enormous balloon which most certainly led to his shooting at you with great enthusiasm. However the advent of the airplane and high speed film cameras coupled with advanced lens changed all that, now you could fly at an altitude that was out of reach by those pesky infantrymen and take photos of the battlefield below, that is until an enemy fighter spotted you and made a picture of his own called "little photo plane all in pieces on the ground." When the war started perhaps less than a hundred photos a month were taken of the battleground, but by the end of the war literally thousands of photos a day were being snapped by the two sides. At one time there was actually a shortage of lens' for the cameras and a campaign was started to get Americans to turn in lens of all types to the government for use in aerial cameras.
When the "Great War" ended the world was convinced that it was the war that would end all wars. A euphemistic view that would be dispelled just twenty-five short years later when once again Germany along with its allies, Japan and Italy dragged the world into a conflict that would eventually claim more than sixty million lives worldwide. Unfortunately the camera is just as comfortable capturing the grotesque and unthinkable as it is in recording kittens playing, babies laughing, and bucolic scenery. That being said, World War II would provide some of the most horrific glimpses into the darker side of man's cruelty to his fellow man ever seen. The photos of the Nazi death camps are terrible in their detailed depictions of what happens when fanatics are allowed to be placated. Perhaps the most disturbing images ever recorded are of what is known as "The Rape of Nanking" that depicted the atrocities perpetrated on Chinese civilians by the invading forces of Japan. I won't provide any links to these photos because quite frankly they are too disturbing and a little to indicative of what is being allowed to happen today, so if you want to view them just do an image search for yourself.
In World War II the ordinary soldier did have more flexibility as far as carrying a camera, although that is not to say that the censorship carried on by our armed forces was pretty strict about what could be sent home or even developed. Happily this did not deter a lot of our service men and women from snapping everything the thought might be important. Also for the first time the United States military employed full time "Combat Photographers" that were in the military and captured unbelievable action while incurring great risk to their lives. I couldn't find the official figures for how many military photographers were killed, but considering there were fifty-four civilian war correspondents killed, I would think that the number who were actually serving in the different branches had to be in the hundreds.
By the time the Vietnam War rolled around the use of photographs and videos was well documented as a propaganda tool. American became deluged with news about the ongoing war in Southeast Asia and finally the politicians decided to capitulate withdrew out troops, and since I have very set opinions on the subject I will leave the subject at that.
In our final installment next time I will list the top ten most influential photos and film-videos of all time, and you are certainly welcome to disagree if you have a better suggestion.
Of course one of the primary motivations for these men was money since the public clamored for any kind of news from the battlefront especially in photographic form, but I can't help but think that they may have been aware of the impact they were making on history. Already the camera had proven its ability to influence public sentiment with Brady's iconic images of the battlefield, but in 1898 it was fully utilized as a propaganda tool by the "War Hawks" and "expansionists" seeking to transform the United States into a global power. The Spanish - American War of 1898 was brought on by a number of reasons, but it can't be denied that the mysterious explosion the Battleship Maine and her subsequent sinking in Cuba's Havana Harbor had a major effect on public sentiment. The incident was turned into a rallying cry for war by journalists that included Joseph Pulitzer and Randolph Hearst who insisted that the ship had struck a Spanish mine and used photos of the wreck to press home their argument. In reality to this day the cause of the explosion is not known for certain and there are a number of explanations offered that might be true or not including a boiler accident on board the ship. Hearst and Pulitzer were masters of the so called "Spin" and before long the country was clamoring for revenge and war!
When war was declared in 1898 a young and ambitious Theodore Roosevelt was serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the McKinley administration. Roosevelt was one of the most vocal supporters for action against Spain and didn't fail to recognized the great opportunity that the war would afford for some "bully" adventure and political support. Roosevelt was well aware that the voters adored heroes, and as soon as war was declared he resign his post as Assistant Secretary and procured a Lieutenant Colonel's commission in the Army Cavalry where he became a member of what would latter be called the "Rough Riders." Being the consummate politician Roosevelt always made time for having his photograph taken displaying his dashing style and leadership qualities. To be fair though there was probably no one more qualified to lead men than Theodore Roosevelt (strangely TR as he liked to be called had no middle name), what he lacked in military knowledge he made up for in natural leadership and was loved and respected by his men. He was gifted at organization and logistics which helped to make his men some of the best prepared soldiers in the volunteer units. Perhaps the most iconic photo of Teddy was taken standing on the hill that he and his Rough Riders captured at the "Battle of San Juan." There stands Teddy in the middle of his men with the american flag flying over his head, as I said previously, he was a consummate politician and master of self promotion.
It seems that from the 16th to 20th centuries Europe just couldn't get along without having a smashing good war every thirty years or so, and in 1914 they decided to do up right. Failing to realize that the weaponry used to make war had made such advances that it had become possible to reek devastation of apocalyptic proportions on each others armies. The leaders of Europe embarked on what would later be called "The Great War", although I doubt if you could find very many active participants who thought there was anything great about it. Like weapons of war photographic equipment and processes had also made great advances and the age of the small (in comparison to early tripod models) portable camera was in full swing.
In 1900 a man named George Eastman brought out a little box camera that he called the "Brownie" and it was an immediate success with over 150,000 being sold the first year. Coincidentally for you follow the tried and true motto of never buy a first year product you would have been proven correct. Eastman discontinued the the first model in October of 1901 and brought out the improved "Brownie" No. 2. Thank god the original only cost $1.00, which would be about the same as $30.00 dollars today depending on which inflation index you use. By the start of the First World War the "Brownie" and the "Vest Pocket Expanding Camera" like the Kodak was so prolific in numbers that they could have provided an in depth look at the soldiers life on the battlefront, except that the use of cameras by ordinary soldiers was severely discouraged by the high commands of both sides. On the surface it seems as though this was a missed opportunity for history but it is doubtful that many of the cameras could have survived the conditions of trench warfare since the soldiers who manned the trenches had a hard enough time making it from day to day themselves. There are quite a few great examples of "Vest Pocket Images" that did manage to be recorded and document some of the details of life in the trenches.
World War I also saw the birth of a new tool of warfare, the aerial photograph. Prior to World War I aerial photos were only utilized on a very limited basis due to the fact that someone had to go up in a balloon with a bulky wet plate camera and hope the balloon held steady enough for him to get a good image due to the required long exposure times. Oh yes, and there was that little matter it being impossible for the enemy to miss seeing your enormous balloon which most certainly led to his shooting at you with great enthusiasm. However the advent of the airplane and high speed film cameras coupled with advanced lens changed all that, now you could fly at an altitude that was out of reach by those pesky infantrymen and take photos of the battlefield below, that is until an enemy fighter spotted you and made a picture of his own called "little photo plane all in pieces on the ground." When the war started perhaps less than a hundred photos a month were taken of the battleground, but by the end of the war literally thousands of photos a day were being snapped by the two sides. At one time there was actually a shortage of lens' for the cameras and a campaign was started to get Americans to turn in lens of all types to the government for use in aerial cameras.
When the "Great War" ended the world was convinced that it was the war that would end all wars. A euphemistic view that would be dispelled just twenty-five short years later when once again Germany along with its allies, Japan and Italy dragged the world into a conflict that would eventually claim more than sixty million lives worldwide. Unfortunately the camera is just as comfortable capturing the grotesque and unthinkable as it is in recording kittens playing, babies laughing, and bucolic scenery. That being said, World War II would provide some of the most horrific glimpses into the darker side of man's cruelty to his fellow man ever seen. The photos of the Nazi death camps are terrible in their detailed depictions of what happens when fanatics are allowed to be placated. Perhaps the most disturbing images ever recorded are of what is known as "The Rape of Nanking" that depicted the atrocities perpetrated on Chinese civilians by the invading forces of Japan. I won't provide any links to these photos because quite frankly they are too disturbing and a little to indicative of what is being allowed to happen today, so if you want to view them just do an image search for yourself.
In World War II the ordinary soldier did have more flexibility as far as carrying a camera, although that is not to say that the censorship carried on by our armed forces was pretty strict about what could be sent home or even developed. Happily this did not deter a lot of our service men and women from snapping everything the thought might be important. Also for the first time the United States military employed full time "Combat Photographers" that were in the military and captured unbelievable action while incurring great risk to their lives. I couldn't find the official figures for how many military photographers were killed, but considering there were fifty-four civilian war correspondents killed, I would think that the number who were actually serving in the different branches had to be in the hundreds.
By the time the Vietnam War rolled around the use of photographs and videos was well documented as a propaganda tool. American became deluged with news about the ongoing war in Southeast Asia and finally the politicians decided to capitulate withdrew out troops, and since I have very set opinions on the subject I will leave the subject at that.
In our final installment next time I will list the top ten most influential photos and film-videos of all time, and you are certainly welcome to disagree if you have a better suggestion.
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Great photos in History - Part 2
In our last episode we left our heroine Nell tied to the railroad tracks...... Sorry, but whenever I think about the old west (or great northwest to be more specific) I can't help thinking about Dudley Do Right and his girlfriend "Nell" from the old "Rocky and Bullwinkle" show. God that was a great time to be a kid! No computers, no cell phones, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Snapchat or any other so called social media to control your every movement. Back then you actually had to use your imagination once in a while and let your fantasies run wild. It was a time when Playboy Magazine didn't show female genitals (at least not until that Larry Flint's "Hustler Magazine" started featuring spread eagle female photos) and if a little boy kissed a little girl at school everyone thought it was cute, not sexist. Oh well every generation thinks that their childhood was less complicated and therefore better and that brings us back to our subject "Great photos in History", you say what did that other stuff have to do with great photos? Well, actually nothing but it's my Blog so I don't have to make sense if I don't want to.
Lets see now where did we leave off? Now I remember, "The Outlaws" and their photos. I suppose man and his so called civilized society have always found bad guys and outlaws romantic for some reason, maybe it's our suppressed desire to cut loose and do something really crazy or just some minor flaw in the our DNA. Whatever the reason. it's true, for example post two videos on Youtube, one showing someone feeding starving children or a cop helping someone at an accident site, then post a video of a band of bank robbers blazing away with automatic weapons as they flee the scene of their crime and see which video goes viral. Maybe it's like old Obi-Wan Kenobi said in "Star Wars" "The force can have a strong influence on the weak minded". No matter what the reason, the "Outlaw" has always been popular with the public especially when they are natural born killers like "Billy the Kid". An old photo of Billy playing Croquette of all things if properly authenticated could bring as much as five million dollars at auction.
It would seem that outlaws of the "Old West" were somehow transformed into Robin Hood characters that really weren't all bad, they were just poor misunderstood sociopaths who if you talked to nicely and gave them what they wanted could be brought be made to see the error of their ways. Gee! Sounds a bit like how we pander to modern fanatics, but that's getting off course. Without a doubt the most popular photo of an "Old West" outlaw is of Billy the Kid or as he was know "William H. Bonney" but was actually born "Henry McCarty" in that famous western town know as "New York City." This photo shows Billy with his trusty six shooter and spiffy Winchester Rifle ready to engage in a contest of skill against an opponent on the streets of old "Dodge City." In reality Billy the Kid was like so many other things a combination of part fact and a lot of fiction. While he was undoubtedly a natural born killer, he probably wasn't born that way, no doubt during his early years he was influenced by the so called Dime Novels about the gunfighters of the American West which led to his leaving New York in search of adventure. If you read his history you will find that he actually had periods where he tried to do the right thing but his past and reputation sabotaged his efforts. I suppose this is why his dastardly ways have been glossed over and he is now regarded as not too bad a fellow, hey why not run him for President, or head of the PTA.
The American public's taste for violence didn't end with the taming of the West, if anything it gained momentum after the turn of the twentieth century. Degenerate criminals like Baby Faced Nelson, John Dillinger, and Al Capone, became celebrities that the Paparazzi of the time fawned over like movie stars. But when it comes to the gold standard of criminal life styles being followed by the public none before or since could top two young Texas killers that went by the names of "Bonnie and Clyde." Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker's gang was credited with the killing of at least nine police officers and several civilians which should have demonized them in the eyes of the general public but again as was the case with the outlaws of the old west the public tended to see them as glamours figures instead of the ruthless killers they were. It would be hard to gauge what effect the pair had on future criminal figures but there is conclusive proof the the general public could be influenced by photos and Hollywood films as was the case in the 1934 Clark Gable - Claudette Colbert movie "It Happened One Night." In an undressing scene that would be considered G Rated now but was rather risque for the time Clark removed his shirt to reveal the fact that he worn no undershirt. It has been said that Gable along with union strikes and textile shortages cause a calamitouss drop in sales for the garment, which seems a bit far fetched until you look at the almost fanatical fan base that Gable had among married women. I guess the ladies thought that if they used a great deal of imagination and had their husbands stop wearing undershirts he might look a little more like "The King of Hollywood" and a little less like "The King of the Road."
One final thought on famous criminals, during Prohibition there was a particularly vicious set of criminals known as "The Purple Gang" who may own the distinction of being the most violent and ruthless of the "Roaring Twenties" mobsters. The little known fact is that the gang was led by the four Bernstein brothers, that's right The Purple Gang was made up of primarily Jewish gangsters. The point of this little anecdote is not the fact that they were Jewish (although that does give you a clue) but where they got the name for the gang, I'd really like to hear some of your thoughts on the matter.
Next time the War years change everything.
Lets see now where did we leave off? Now I remember, "The Outlaws" and their photos. I suppose man and his so called civilized society have always found bad guys and outlaws romantic for some reason, maybe it's our suppressed desire to cut loose and do something really crazy or just some minor flaw in the our DNA. Whatever the reason. it's true, for example post two videos on Youtube, one showing someone feeding starving children or a cop helping someone at an accident site, then post a video of a band of bank robbers blazing away with automatic weapons as they flee the scene of their crime and see which video goes viral. Maybe it's like old Obi-Wan Kenobi said in "Star Wars" "The force can have a strong influence on the weak minded". No matter what the reason, the "Outlaw" has always been popular with the public especially when they are natural born killers like "Billy the Kid". An old photo of Billy playing Croquette of all things if properly authenticated could bring as much as five million dollars at auction.
It would seem that outlaws of the "Old West" were somehow transformed into Robin Hood characters that really weren't all bad, they were just poor misunderstood sociopaths who if you talked to nicely and gave them what they wanted could be brought be made to see the error of their ways. Gee! Sounds a bit like how we pander to modern fanatics, but that's getting off course. Without a doubt the most popular photo of an "Old West" outlaw is of Billy the Kid or as he was know "William H. Bonney" but was actually born "Henry McCarty" in that famous western town know as "New York City." This photo shows Billy with his trusty six shooter and spiffy Winchester Rifle ready to engage in a contest of skill against an opponent on the streets of old "Dodge City." In reality Billy the Kid was like so many other things a combination of part fact and a lot of fiction. While he was undoubtedly a natural born killer, he probably wasn't born that way, no doubt during his early years he was influenced by the so called Dime Novels about the gunfighters of the American West which led to his leaving New York in search of adventure. If you read his history you will find that he actually had periods where he tried to do the right thing but his past and reputation sabotaged his efforts. I suppose this is why his dastardly ways have been glossed over and he is now regarded as not too bad a fellow, hey why not run him for President, or head of the PTA.
The American public's taste for violence didn't end with the taming of the West, if anything it gained momentum after the turn of the twentieth century. Degenerate criminals like Baby Faced Nelson, John Dillinger, and Al Capone, became celebrities that the Paparazzi of the time fawned over like movie stars. But when it comes to the gold standard of criminal life styles being followed by the public none before or since could top two young Texas killers that went by the names of "Bonnie and Clyde." Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker's gang was credited with the killing of at least nine police officers and several civilians which should have demonized them in the eyes of the general public but again as was the case with the outlaws of the old west the public tended to see them as glamours figures instead of the ruthless killers they were. It would be hard to gauge what effect the pair had on future criminal figures but there is conclusive proof the the general public could be influenced by photos and Hollywood films as was the case in the 1934 Clark Gable - Claudette Colbert movie "It Happened One Night." In an undressing scene that would be considered G Rated now but was rather risque for the time Clark removed his shirt to reveal the fact that he worn no undershirt. It has been said that Gable along with union strikes and textile shortages cause a calamitouss drop in sales for the garment, which seems a bit far fetched until you look at the almost fanatical fan base that Gable had among married women. I guess the ladies thought that if they used a great deal of imagination and had their husbands stop wearing undershirts he might look a little more like "The King of Hollywood" and a little less like "The King of the Road."
One final thought on famous criminals, during Prohibition there was a particularly vicious set of criminals known as "The Purple Gang" who may own the distinction of being the most violent and ruthless of the "Roaring Twenties" mobsters. The little known fact is that the gang was led by the four Bernstein brothers, that's right The Purple Gang was made up of primarily Jewish gangsters. The point of this little anecdote is not the fact that they were Jewish (although that does give you a clue) but where they got the name for the gang, I'd really like to hear some of your thoughts on the matter.
Next time the War years change everything.
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Great photos in History
We have become a society of visual junkies, we rely on our visual senses for our news, education, entertainment, and sometimes even mental health advice. Man has existed in one stage or another for about seven million years, but it is generally accepted that he only attained what scientists call "behavioral modernity" or more simply put the ability to reason and problem solve for about fifty-thousand years. I think I can safely say though that perhaps no other discovery short of fire has brought about more change to man's evolution than the ability to capture, preserve, and broadcast still and moving pictures. With that in mind I thought it would be fun to explore some of the great images that have either shaped or changed history.
I don't think there is anywhere better to start than with the first actual photo image, and for once unlike so many other events in history it can be traced directly to where, when, and who invented it. The time was 1826-1827 in the Burgundy region of France by a man named Joseph Nicephore Niepce and it was titled "View from the window at Le Gras". Of course the image quality leaves a lot to be desired but considering that it took according to researchers it probably took several days of exposure to create the image it really isn't bad. After being exposed to modern photographic enhancement software you can actually make out the building and their roofs. For the next thirty or so years photographic equipment and processing continued to advance but the subject matter that photographers concentrated on seemed to remain stagnant. Most of the photos produced were either a personal portrait, or architectural in nature, but a few intrepid innovators began to move out into the world in search of fresh subject matter.
Then something happened that transformed the photograph from a curiosity to a force that would help change the world, in April of 1861 the United States erupted into Civil War and a man named Mathew Brady embarked on a mission to document it photographically. Immediately following the Battle of Antietam which occurred on September 17, 1862 Mathew Brady dispatched photographers Alexander Gardner and James Gibson to the battlefield to record the battle's aftermath. The photographs taken by Gardner and Gibson were the first ever graphic images of what death on the battlefield looked like, and when Brady opened his exhibition entitled "The Dead of Antietam" at his New York City studio the general public was horrified. Perhaps the two most disturbing images in the exhibition were bodies laying in the "Sunken Road" and along the "Hagerstown Pike" near "The Cornfield." To the general public the images brought out the true nature of battle and the horrific consequences that modern weaponry could inflict upon the human body.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Printers, Paper, and Ink
So you have decided that you want to make a living selling your photographs, well I can't think of a better occupation to apply your efforts too. I too made that same decision about ten years ago and have had some modest success in selling the photo-video products that I produce. Therefore I wholeheartedly encourage you to follow your chosen pursuit of career field. I think that every photographer dreams of taking that fantastic shot that rewards them with fame and fortune, and while may never get the opportunity to take that once in a lifetime photo it doesn't mean you can't find success at commercial photograph. Now days high speed computers coupled with powerful software, and state of the art printers can create works of art from images taken with a hundred dollar camera or even a cell phone, which is good right? Well sort of, you see back when photographers like Ansel Adams treated the world to their amazing photographs they had to be part photographer, part chemist, part engineer, part adventurer, and part businessman. These requirements severely limited the numbers of people willing to embark on a photographic career since the learning process was long, discouraging, and expensive which cut down the field and made your chances of success much greater than today when things have been made so much more simplified. You also have to remember that Adams took photos during a time when nothing was automatic, or self adjusting, and unlike today where you can just keep on snapping photos forever, he was limited to the number of photos he could take at one time by film roll size or the number of plates he had with him.
I know a great many of you won't be familiar with the term Collodion process which refers to using plates of glass that have been specially treated to create a negative image on the plates surface. The plate system of capturing an image made it possible for photographers to carry their trade into the outside world in search of images. Perhaps the most famous of these photographers was Mathew Brady whose iconic images of the American Civil War brought home to average citizens the true carnage created by modern weaponized warfare. These images were created using the wet plate system which requires a great many factors such as exposure time and amount of light available to be spot on in order to produce a good negative. It is a tricky process to work with at best, but when the conditions are all met it can produce images of stunning quality and detail. A good example would be Brady's so called cracked plate photo of Abraham Lincoln. It was taken shortly before Lincoln's assassination and I am not sure today's cameras would be able to capture the emotional complexities contained in Lincoln's face as recorded by Brady's camera.
The process used by photographers like Mathew Brady and Ansel Adams to make prints from their wet plate negatives was time consuming, complicated, and at best hit or miss. Such variables as contaminated or old emulsion, developing time and even weather conditions could effect the quality of the plates and prints made from them. Thanks to today's technology the pitfalls that complicated the early photographic process have been eliminated for the most part, but that doesn't mean that there are not choices to be made if you are seriously considering selling your works. So which type of printer is right for the budding young (or in my case old) photographer seeking to create salable prints. We have several different types of printers to choose from these include inkjet, laser, and digital. I'll save you the time and long winded explanation of the highlights and shortcomings of each type and tell you right off the bat that inkjet is the logical choice. First of all the other two are fine printing mediums but they are primarily business oriented, and secondly when it comes to choosing the varieties of paper and ink used, they quickly fall out of contention.
Now that we have our printer type selected the remaining choices should be easy right? Oh if it were only that simple, you see there are at least ten million makers of inkjet printers, okay so maybe not ten million, but there is a lot of them. Secondly inkjets are separated into several different categories which include, office jet, photo jet, and Giclee printers. Right off the bat we are obviously going to throw out the office jet. that leaves us with the choice between the photo or image inkjet printers and the difficult to pronounce (zhee-clay) Giclee printers. I will now attempt to make the differences between these two types of printers as easy to understand as I can, one is very expensive to use and the other isn't, there that wasn't so hard was it? Not enough information? Okay lets see if I really can explain this simply, there are set parameters that define what can be called a Giclee print and therefore defining what a Giclee printer is. The printer must be able to print at least 300 dots per inch, it must be able to use pigment based rather than dye based ink, the paper must archival rated with a matte finish, and finally the printer will generally utilize between 8 to 12 ink cartridges. The photo inkjet does not have to meet any of this criteria, and therefore is much less expensive to operate.
Who uses the Giclee process and printers? Well quite a lot of people actually, you see a properly printed Giclee print can carry a color life of up to 300 years, and their color reproduction is touted to be identical to the original digital image. That makes it the choice of museums, college archives, print galleries, graphic artists, high end photographers and anyone else who demands the absolute best reproduction of images that money can buy. So is it right for you, that depends on what your goals are, who you are selling to, and what price range you are demanding for your work. If you intend to create a portfolio of high end photos or graphic art intended for galleries and wealthy clients then the Giclee process is a natural choice. On the other hand if you are going to be taking photos of grandma's little darling or processing other peoples images for framing and your price structure can't be so high as to discourage potential clients, then the photo inkjet is the way to go. It's only a seat of the pants guess at the cost difference between the two processes but I would venture to say that Giclee is about five time as expensive as the photo inkjet. One more piece of advise, a bare minimum in printer size would be the wide format 13X19 models, after that output size is a matter of project need.
Now that we've covered printers lets move on to something straightforward like inkjet paper! I moved out of my chair for a moment after that statement just in case a lightning bolt came down through the roof and hit that spot seeing as I had just told a real whopper. The world of inkjet paper is so complex and diverse that I couldn't possibly cover all the options and alternatives in a post of ten thousand words so I will try and boil it down to a few basics. First of all glossy prints are fine if you are looking for nothing more than a stack of 3X5 prints to show off to the office acquaintances or your are paying a visit to your grandparents who don't own one of those new-fangled computers, in other words don't use it. Matt paper of varying degree of thickness, opacity, and texture is probably the most popular choice for prints intended for wall display. Luster finished paper is also widely used by many wedding photographers as it shows well in the classic wedding album plastic sleeves. That being said this time I am not kidding when I say that there are literally thousands of paper finishes and textures to choose from, my advice is it to check out the examples paper companies have on the internet or request samples from them. What do I use for the vast majority of my work? The answer is Epson Premium Matte Presentation Paper, but that is just what I like and certainly not an advertisement for Epson, just my opinion of what works best for me.
That leaves us with what inkjet ink printer is right for you. As I said, if you want to create prints that will outlive you then the only choice is pigment based ink, but if not then there are a lot of options available to you. Printer manufacturers all make proprietary inks for their machines to use and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. But they are always expensive and sometimes hard to get. So many photographers resort to using third party knockoff inks. Needless to say the companies making the printers want you to buy their inks and some manufacturers go so far as to make it impossible to use third party cartridges. A quick search on the internet should let you know who does and who doesn't allow the use of third party inks. As to what the difference is in a manufacturers cartridges and the third party replacement cartridges there have been numerous comparisons that have been done on the internet for you to look at. Personally, if there is a difference in color or quality I can't see it, but that can only be said for the standard ink cartridges. I use Epson printers and their cartridges are all (according to Epson) supposed to last in excess of 200 years, whether that is true of course can't be verified since inkjet printers have only been around for about 30 years. I can tell you this, that using third party cartridges is about one third the cost of buying OEM ink and some of the third party companies will even give you specs on their ink attesting to how long it will last. All of this of course depends on the paper you print on, in order to achieve these remarkable times of longevity the paper must be of archival quality. The last thing I will impart to you is that all of this is subject to where the printed photo is to be kept or displayed, if it is not in a climate controlled setting it drastically effect its life span. Lastly, and I can't stress this too much, direct sunlight will kill the most sophisticated ink and paper. So in conclusion what kind of printer, what kind of ink, and what kind of paper you use it still dependent on who you are selling to, and what price you are selling you product for. Good luck and remember as Dr. Albert Schweitzer once said, "success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be a success."
Now that we have our printer type selected the remaining choices should be easy right? Oh if it were only that simple, you see there are at least ten million makers of inkjet printers, okay so maybe not ten million, but there is a lot of them. Secondly inkjets are separated into several different categories which include, office jet, photo jet, and Giclee printers. Right off the bat we are obviously going to throw out the office jet. that leaves us with the choice between the photo or image inkjet printers and the difficult to pronounce (zhee-clay) Giclee printers. I will now attempt to make the differences between these two types of printers as easy to understand as I can, one is very expensive to use and the other isn't, there that wasn't so hard was it? Not enough information? Okay lets see if I really can explain this simply, there are set parameters that define what can be called a Giclee print and therefore defining what a Giclee printer is. The printer must be able to print at least 300 dots per inch, it must be able to use pigment based rather than dye based ink, the paper must archival rated with a matte finish, and finally the printer will generally utilize between 8 to 12 ink cartridges. The photo inkjet does not have to meet any of this criteria, and therefore is much less expensive to operate.
Now that we've covered printers lets move on to something straightforward like inkjet paper! I moved out of my chair for a moment after that statement just in case a lightning bolt came down through the roof and hit that spot seeing as I had just told a real whopper. The world of inkjet paper is so complex and diverse that I couldn't possibly cover all the options and alternatives in a post of ten thousand words so I will try and boil it down to a few basics. First of all glossy prints are fine if you are looking for nothing more than a stack of 3X5 prints to show off to the office acquaintances or your are paying a visit to your grandparents who don't own one of those new-fangled computers, in other words don't use it. Matt paper of varying degree of thickness, opacity, and texture is probably the most popular choice for prints intended for wall display. Luster finished paper is also widely used by many wedding photographers as it shows well in the classic wedding album plastic sleeves. That being said this time I am not kidding when I say that there are literally thousands of paper finishes and textures to choose from, my advice is it to check out the examples paper companies have on the internet or request samples from them. What do I use for the vast majority of my work? The answer is Epson Premium Matte Presentation Paper, but that is just what I like and certainly not an advertisement for Epson, just my opinion of what works best for me.
That leaves us with what inkjet ink printer is right for you. As I said, if you want to create prints that will outlive you then the only choice is pigment based ink, but if not then there are a lot of options available to you. Printer manufacturers all make proprietary inks for their machines to use and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. But they are always expensive and sometimes hard to get. So many photographers resort to using third party knockoff inks. Needless to say the companies making the printers want you to buy their inks and some manufacturers go so far as to make it impossible to use third party cartridges. A quick search on the internet should let you know who does and who doesn't allow the use of third party inks. As to what the difference is in a manufacturers cartridges and the third party replacement cartridges there have been numerous comparisons that have been done on the internet for you to look at. Personally, if there is a difference in color or quality I can't see it, but that can only be said for the standard ink cartridges. I use Epson printers and their cartridges are all (according to Epson) supposed to last in excess of 200 years, whether that is true of course can't be verified since inkjet printers have only been around for about 30 years. I can tell you this, that using third party cartridges is about one third the cost of buying OEM ink and some of the third party companies will even give you specs on their ink attesting to how long it will last. All of this of course depends on the paper you print on, in order to achieve these remarkable times of longevity the paper must be of archival quality. The last thing I will impart to you is that all of this is subject to where the printed photo is to be kept or displayed, if it is not in a climate controlled setting it drastically effect its life span. Lastly, and I can't stress this too much, direct sunlight will kill the most sophisticated ink and paper. So in conclusion what kind of printer, what kind of ink, and what kind of paper you use it still dependent on who you are selling to, and what price you are selling you product for. Good luck and remember as Dr. Albert Schweitzer once said, "success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be a success."
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Motorcycles I have owned, Part 2
Well here I am back again, seems like only the day before yesterday that I was talking about, oh yeah, it was the day before yesterday, sorry getting old is hell! Ahhh, now I remember, I was recalling the motorcycles I have owned and had just finished talking about our Suzuki dealership and our carefully calculated decision (my brother in law read about a new six cylinder motorcycle in a magazine) to acquire a Benelli franchise. Now don't get me wrong, when it comes to motorcycles and hot cars, and gorgeous women the Italians are hard to beat. When you start throwing around names like Ducati, MV Agusta, Aprilia, and Bimota you are breathing the rarefied air of racing thoroughbreds and to be honest with you Benelli did have some racing success in their background. The problem was unlike the other Italian makes their racing efforts did not carry over to their consumer motorcycle offerings. The result of which was that while we patiently waited for the arrival of the six cylinder superbike the Benelli Sei 750 we were forced to accept the most deplorable collection of two wheel vehicles ever produced.
As I stated in the last paragraph Suzuki finally began the switch from two stroke engines to four stroke engines in 1976 with the introduction of the "GS750" and the "GS400" models. They still kept the two stroke GT line which featured the 750, 550, 380, and 250 models as in 1975. The shame is that by this time the GT models really were well built motorcycles, but like the Stanley Steamer car their time had come and gone. I never got to demo a "GS750" due to the fact that they were in short supply and they sold like hotcakes, but in subsequent years I rode quite a few of them and they really were ahead of the competitions comparable displacement models. Unfortunately another maker named Kawasaki had come out with a little number called the"Z1 900" in 1972 and the "my engine's bigger than your engine" gauntlet had been thrown down. Honda introduced the "GL1000 Goldwing" in 1974 which featured a horizontally opposed four cylinder motor with shaft drive. A forgotten fact about the Goldwing was that it was originally intended to be naked performance bike, but somehow its 584 pound dry weight kept it from being serious competition to the superbikes that were about to show up on the streets of the world. Yamaha was having so much success with their dirt bike line that they didn't show market a superbike until 1978 when they introduced the "XS1100" which featured shaft drive and did reasonably well racing but was discontinued after three years of production due to lack of consumer interest.
Unfortunately shortly after the introduction of the GS line our business was faced with another of the numerous ongoing financial policies that crippled or destroyed many small business's during the waning years of the twentieth century. First it was the infamous fuel shortage. We sold everything we had on the showroom floor in two weeks which was good, but then could not beg, borrow, or steal another bike from Suzuki for the next six months which was bad. Later we found out that Suzuki was still supplying the larger dealers with bikes while giving the proverbial shaft to the smaller dealers, then during the winter they sent in all the old orders for motorcycles that we were told were cancelled. Somehow though we made it through that and still manage to stay afloat, but the final straw came with what was called the credit crunch. This was a purely uncalled for policy put forth by the large financial lenders to require nearly unheard of credit scores and age in order to get financing for a motorcycle. Our average buyer back then was twenty-one to thirty-five years of age and the credit companies wanted buyers over the age of forty with five star credit and a sizable bank balance. This last hurdle was more than our already weather beaten business could handle and we closed the doors in 1982. Writing this post has brought back it's share good and bad memories but all things considered everything is a learning experience and I suppose that is how I have learned to look at things.
After our motorcycle business failed I guess you could say that it left a bad taste in my mouth for motorcycling in general, they say that you should never go into business selling something that you love. Well, for me it certainly proved to be true for a number of years, I lost complete interest in them and my wife and I dedicated ourselves to getting my son through public school and then five years of college. By the way this is a little off the subject, but have you noticed that American colleges are now providing sub par educations in relation to the rest of the world, and they charge a fortune for a degree that is usually five to ten years behind other countries? They then convince your offspring that they should take all the time in the world to make up their minds as to a major, of course that depends on how long they or their parents can pay the tuition fees? And what about post grad school, it used to be that a Masters Degree, or Doctor of Philosophy Degree, was something to be held in awe. It seems to me that they award them now if you send in ten cereal box tops and write a short paragraph on how I spent my summer vacation. I personally know one case where a teacher I know literally couldn't come to grips with that higher math concept know as simple fractions but somehow now has obtained a Masters Degree in Education.
Sorry for that. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century, my ideals and expectations seem to be more suited to the nineteenth century, not the twenty first. So, where was I, oh yes we had closed our motorcycle business and time had moved on, and believe me when I tell you that once you pass thirty the pace picks up exponentially. But back to my motorcycles. After my wife and I nursed mine and her parents through to their deaths we decided to move away from the now overdeveloped Annapolis area where we were raised and move to a much less populated area in the mountains of Western Maryland. After building our home and starting a one man photo and video production business I started to yearn for the good old two wheel days of my youth and decided to purchase a motorcycle. I explained to my wife that it was strictly to be used for business, and of course she did not believe a word of it but went along with it for my sake.
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| My Bonnie |
I guess the best thing about owning the retro T100 though is the stories you hear. I don't think I have ever gone on a ride where I stopped for some reason or other that a total stranger didn't walk up to me and begin to relating his Bonneville story to me. Sometimes it is about owning one and at other times it's about how they wanted to own one, but nearly always you can tell that seeing the reincarnated Bonneville brings back fond memories to them. I think my favorite Bonneville story was told to me at a restaurant one day by another old codger like myself who happened to see me ride in. He said that back in 1969 he was pretty strapped for cash but he had developed a great lust for two things he felt that he must have. One was a brand new silver and black "650 Bonneville," and the other was an cute little eighteen old five foot four inch red head with a body that would stop time. Well, he said, "I didn't have enough money for a motorcycle and a proper honeymoon so I did the only honorable thing, I eloped with my red headed baby doll and proceeded to take a two week motorcycle honeymoon riding from place to place and camping out in a small tent." He went on to say, "we must have made love at least three times a night every night laying there under stars with only nature to hear our sounds of passion, yep I sure was in love." I was so moved by his story I couldn't help but ask how his wife was to which he replied, who? you don't mean the little red head, hell we got divorced a month after we got back, just after she found out just how poor I was. When I said I was in love, I meant with the "Bonneville!"
Sunday, November 29, 2015
The Motorcycles I have owned
My Bikes
I guess in order to tell the story of my motorcycle history I should start by saying that before I enlisted in the U.S. Army I really never really had and great desire to own or ride a motorcycle. As a matter of fact I didn't even think about them until it was almost time for me to be discharged, and then it happened. I feel like this is the beginning of one of those Hallmark Channel love stories that my wife just adores. "I didn't mean to fall in love, I wasn't even looking for romance, I didn't want any attachments or anything to hold me down once I was out of the Army. But then one day there it was, a brand new 1970 Norton 750 Commando in metal-flake purple looking like it was ready to fulfill all my fantasies" Okay so now it's sounding more like the adult cable channel. In reality it belonged to a friend of mine and fellow GI who had just plunked down a good bit of his hard earned combat pay which he had gleaned from his all expense paid visit to that Asian paradise know as South Vietnam.
It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and I decided right then and there I must have her, uh! I mean it. Just one problem though, when I asked him how much it had cost him I realized that when I got out and returned home I would be about $400 short of my dream to place a Commando between my legs, alright now that sounds just downright creepy so enough of the sexual fantasy metaphors. Anyhow I started looking at Triumphs which were slightly less money but again I found that my first choice the 650 Bonneville was still out of my price range by about $200. Now I know what you are thinking $200 that's chicken feed, but if you adjust it to today's dollars it would be about 1200 bucks, and I was just getting out of the service and had no permanent job yet.
So did I go back to work and save up the other $200, you are kidding aren't you? I was like the seventeen year old boy out on a date with the easiest girl in his class, you might conservatively say I was hot to trot! I looked around the showroom and sitting back in the corner was a black and red Trophy 500 with the biggest set of side pipes I had ever seen, (I'm sorry, I did promise to knock off the sexual metaphors). Why there was enough chrome on those babies to do complete Buick Roadmaster. It wasn't the Norton or the Bonneville, but it was love at first sight or sit if you prefer because when I got on it I knew it was for me. Luckily the dealer took pity on me and agreed to deliver it to my home free of charge which was fortuitous since I had never ridden a motorcycle in my life much less had a license to drive one.
I consider myself lucky that I was allowed to grow up on a farm which I must say came in handy for learning to ride your first motorcycle. The kindly dealer warned me that the shift lever on a Triumph was on the right side of the bike, and that I should be careful at first while I adjusted to the fact that positioning of the shifter was opposite to every other motorcycle in the world. In my case that didn't really matter much since I didn't know what the hell I was doing anyhow. So after the bike was delivered I made preparations for my inaugural motorcycle ride. I had a helmet and boots, I had a set of Malcolm Smith goggles, I had a make believe dual purpose 400 pound motorcycle with side pipes and trials universal tires, I had a ten acre field, and I was 22 years old, what could go wrong? We won't go into details but needless to say I limped into the Triumph dealer the next day and purchased new shift and brake levers to replace the old ones that I just didn't care for any longer, twisted metal levers just never look as nice as straight ones. To say the least I was lucky and learned a valuable lesson from my experience, and that is that motorcycles should come with a warning lable, THIS MACHINE HAS HIDDEN TEETH AND IF YOUR ARE NOT CAREFUL IT WILL BITE YOU ON THE ASS!
After some continued practice at a somewhat reduced speed and cautions cornering I became a more proficient and careful rider, which was good since I did not think that my body or my wallet could stand too many more death defying encounters with mother earth. I practiced in the field for about a week and then started sneaking out on the road at night to get and a feel for road riding before I went for my drivers test. It was just after this that I discovered that the Trophy was much more suited for the street than the back roads and trails. It didn't take long before the bike and I became homogeneous and I will always remember those warm summer evening rides on the back roads around my home as some of my the most enjoyable experiences I have had on two wheels. What can I say, I am sure you are familiar with the old adage about your first love, I guess it is the same with your first motorcycle. Unfortunately I was force to sell it when a few years later when my young wife became pregnant and I needed the $750 to pay for the hospital and doctor bill when my son was born. Can you imagine a time when it only cost that much to have a child, no wonder the world is overpopulated.
My next motorcycle was a 1972 Harley Davidson Sportster, well actually it was my wife's motorcycle. Yes my little sweetie was a Harley Mamma! But there is a perfectly rational explanation for her riding a Sportser, it was the only bike she was completely comfortable on and could hold up properly when she came to a stop. In the long run though I rode it a lot more that she did and therefore can say unequivocally state that it was an engineering nightmare connected by two wheels. How do I begin, first of all it was slow and when I say slow I mean it could be trounced by a good running CB 450 Honda, oh who am I kidding the Honda could have a hole in one piston and still manage to embarrass the Sprotster. Ah, but what it lacked in speed it made up for with bad handling. My brother in law bought an identical Sportster to my wife's except for color and one night he was following me home form a local watering hole when his Harley decided that it wanted to become a dirt bike. It seems that while he was negotiating a curve he suddenly sneezed and started the infamous Sportster head shake (which if you have ever experienced it you'll never forget it) when unseen demons take over control of your handlebars. The best way I can describe it is that the front end becomes a victim of demonic possession, and starts whipping back and forth against the steering stops in an effort to commit murder/suicide. The end result was that my brother in law went straight thru the curve careening off into the woods. I remember looking in my mirror and seeing his headlight performing some really amazing feats of gymnastics as I tried to figure out if it was the alcohol we had consumed or he was just showing off. After the dust cleared we managed to pull the bike out of the woods and luckily his Sportsers imitation of a rodeo bull had not done any permanent bodily damage. He placed the Sportser up for sale the next day and it wasn't too long afterwards that my wife and I decided to sell ours. Now you are probably thinking that the Harley folks out there will be getting mad at me. Well the truth is even the most ardent HD rider will tell you that the AMF Harley years were a dark time for the venerable old company. The bikes produced during the AMF onership were some really bad motorcycles and the Sportster might just have been the worst of the lot.
It was around this time that my brother in law, father in law, and myself all fell victim to mental Suzuki Motor Corporation. So much for the unanimous vote thing. I won't go into details about our excruciatingly painful ten years in business, lets just say that I won't be buying a Suzuki product any time soon or looking to go into any other businesses with family.
illness and decided to open up a Motorcycle business! We originally started with a repair and accessory shop which to our great surprise actually began turning a profit. We were so pleased with our new found success we decided to send my brother in law to mechanics school for advanced training in order to take on more complex repair jobs. When he returned he informed us that we would surely fail if we did not obtain a motorcycle franchise of some kind in the immediate future. I thought this a bit strange since our store was already making money, but we decided to put it to a vote. When we went into business we agreed that any vote had to be unanimous in order to be carried so when I voted no that was the end of it, except that my father in law and brother in law voted yes and two months later we were signing a dealership agreement with
The whole thing was a giant waste of time except for the fact that I got experience riding some really great bikes and some of them were even Suzuki products. When we got our first delivery of bikes the three of us each took a GT750 as a demonstrator, it was the first legitimate water cooled motorcycle, and it was immediately dubbed by nearly everyone "The Water Buffalo." If water cooling wasn't radical enough the GT750 was powered by a two cycle motor, which was barely tolerated in this country on outboard motors, chain saws, Toro lawn mowers, and dirt bikes, but thoroughly looked down on by the average motorcyclist as a Gran Torismo machine. The oil was fed to the motor from a tank that fed an injector system that shot oil into the crankcase which was then scavenged through ports to be burned along with the gas and oil, thereby creating a lovely little trail of blue smoke whenever you applied large amounts of throttle. To make matters even better the initial motors came with defective crank bearing seals and proceeded to self destruct at their earliest opportunity. Gee, lets see ridiculed for being water cooled, blues smoke in the faces of your fellow riders, and a motor that blew up almost immediately after being delivered, not exactly a great start.
As I said it was painful to live through those early days, but things did get better, Suzuki fixed the problem with the cranks, we discovered synthetic two cycle oil (no thanks to Suzuki) which eliminated the smoke and Suzuki began equipping the bikes with dual disc brakes up front that made the GT stop on a dime. I owned two of these machines and I can tell you that they were an absolute pleasure to ride. Being a two stroke the motor had no hard braking tendencies at all, unlike our in-line four cylinder four stroke competitors bikes that nearly threw you over the handlebars if you chopped the power too fast. It had good power and would cruise all day long at seventy miles per hour. Perhaps the most extraordinary thing was the bikes torque, you could let the RPM's drop down to 2500 and then with just a twist of the throttle it accelerate straight up to red line with an uncanny smoothness that seemed almost electric like. All in all it was just a rider friendly bike, and it will always have a place in my heart a motorcycle that I really enjoyed riding.
Suzuki GT 250 for a while which boasted a two stroke motor, six speed transmission, and magnificent handling for its time. The GT 250 was actually just an updated and dressed up version of Suzuki's beloved X6 Hustler, which early on was their largest displacement production motorcycle. The Hustler enjoyed mild success with the general public but it was a smashing hit on road racing courses and can still be seen dressed up in its GP style bodywork at vintage motorcycle races throughout the world. Next time we'll examine another of our shrewd business moves as my all knowing brother in law decided we should take on an Italian line of motorcycles in order to really get our business rolling, here's a hint, it wasn't Ducati, or any of the well known Italian manufacturers.
I guess in order to tell the story of my motorcycle history I should start by saying that before I enlisted in the U.S. Army I really never really had and great desire to own or ride a motorcycle. As a matter of fact I didn't even think about them until it was almost time for me to be discharged, and then it happened. I feel like this is the beginning of one of those Hallmark Channel love stories that my wife just adores. "I didn't mean to fall in love, I wasn't even looking for romance, I didn't want any attachments or anything to hold me down once I was out of the Army. But then one day there it was, a brand new 1970 Norton 750 Commando in metal-flake purple looking like it was ready to fulfill all my fantasies" Okay so now it's sounding more like the adult cable channel. In reality it belonged to a friend of mine and fellow GI who had just plunked down a good bit of his hard earned combat pay which he had gleaned from his all expense paid visit to that Asian paradise know as South Vietnam.
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| Wow look at those mufflers! |
I consider myself lucky that I was allowed to grow up on a farm which I must say came in handy for learning to ride your first motorcycle. The kindly dealer warned me that the shift lever on a Triumph was on the right side of the bike, and that I should be careful at first while I adjusted to the fact that positioning of the shifter was opposite to every other motorcycle in the world. In my case that didn't really matter much since I didn't know what the hell I was doing anyhow. So after the bike was delivered I made preparations for my inaugural motorcycle ride. I had a helmet and boots, I had a set of Malcolm Smith goggles, I had a make believe dual purpose 400 pound motorcycle with side pipes and trials universal tires, I had a ten acre field, and I was 22 years old, what could go wrong? We won't go into details but needless to say I limped into the Triumph dealer the next day and purchased new shift and brake levers to replace the old ones that I just didn't care for any longer, twisted metal levers just never look as nice as straight ones. To say the least I was lucky and learned a valuable lesson from my experience, and that is that motorcycles should come with a warning lable, THIS MACHINE HAS HIDDEN TEETH AND IF YOUR ARE NOT CAREFUL IT WILL BITE YOU ON THE ASS!
After some continued practice at a somewhat reduced speed and cautions cornering I became a more proficient and careful rider, which was good since I did not think that my body or my wallet could stand too many more death defying encounters with mother earth. I practiced in the field for about a week and then started sneaking out on the road at night to get and a feel for road riding before I went for my drivers test. It was just after this that I discovered that the Trophy was much more suited for the street than the back roads and trails. It didn't take long before the bike and I became homogeneous and I will always remember those warm summer evening rides on the back roads around my home as some of my the most enjoyable experiences I have had on two wheels. What can I say, I am sure you are familiar with the old adage about your first love, I guess it is the same with your first motorcycle. Unfortunately I was force to sell it when a few years later when my young wife became pregnant and I needed the $750 to pay for the hospital and doctor bill when my son was born. Can you imagine a time when it only cost that much to have a child, no wonder the world is overpopulated.
It was around this time that my brother in law, father in law, and myself all fell victim to mental Suzuki Motor Corporation. So much for the unanimous vote thing. I won't go into details about our excruciatingly painful ten years in business, lets just say that I won't be buying a Suzuki product any time soon or looking to go into any other businesses with family.
illness and decided to open up a Motorcycle business! We originally started with a repair and accessory shop which to our great surprise actually began turning a profit. We were so pleased with our new found success we decided to send my brother in law to mechanics school for advanced training in order to take on more complex repair jobs. When he returned he informed us that we would surely fail if we did not obtain a motorcycle franchise of some kind in the immediate future. I thought this a bit strange since our store was already making money, but we decided to put it to a vote. When we went into business we agreed that any vote had to be unanimous in order to be carried so when I voted no that was the end of it, except that my father in law and brother in law voted yes and two months later we were signing a dealership agreement with
As I said it was painful to live through those early days, but things did get better, Suzuki fixed the problem with the cranks, we discovered synthetic two cycle oil (no thanks to Suzuki) which eliminated the smoke and Suzuki began equipping the bikes with dual disc brakes up front that made the GT stop on a dime. I owned two of these machines and I can tell you that they were an absolute pleasure to ride. Being a two stroke the motor had no hard braking tendencies at all, unlike our in-line four cylinder four stroke competitors bikes that nearly threw you over the handlebars if you chopped the power too fast. It had good power and would cruise all day long at seventy miles per hour. Perhaps the most extraordinary thing was the bikes torque, you could let the RPM's drop down to 2500 and then with just a twist of the throttle it accelerate straight up to red line with an uncanny smoothness that seemed almost electric like. All in all it was just a rider friendly bike, and it will always have a place in my heart a motorcycle that I really enjoyed riding.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Does size really matter?
Does size really matter?
A few posts ago I alluded to the fact that motorcycles with more than 100 BHP may be close to going the way of the Dinosaurs, Dodo Bird, and chastity belt. Well that doesn’t seem to be on the horizon yet, but the trend towards smaller more versatile motorcycle platforms does seem to be gaining a little momentum. While the motorcycle giants are still locked in a battle for the title of “Horsepower King” (Kawasaki seems to be winning by the way with the Kawasaki Ninja H2 Turbo boasting a mere 300 BHP) they all seem to be hedging their bets by producing lighter, smaller displacement machines for the commuter and casual enthusiast.
Probably the most surprising effort has come from Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. who built their reputation and owner following on race bred machines that roar around race tracks throughout the
world. But this time Ducati dipped into their past to bring back a name and a look when it introduced the new Ducati Scrambler 803 Classic, and you would have to look hard
and wide to find another motorcycle introduction that has met with this much success. Following up the phenomenal sales of the 803 the Italian motorcycle maker is introducing a smaller version of the same style with a 399 cc
L-Twin power plant called the Scrambler Sixty2. To give you an idea of the impact these models have had, company profits are up 22% for the first half 2015 and they have sold 50,000 units (a company record for a single year) as of November 11, 2015. Now to be sure the fact that the price of the 803 which starts at just $8495 is certainly a big part of the sales surge, you have to remember, they are called Scramblers, which infers partial off road use.
Ducati’s new found success in the mid-size motorcycle market has sent minor shock-waves through the industry but only time will tell just what effect it has on designs, but I think one can see a trend beginning to deve
lop. Motorcycle manufacturers were already producing ever growing numbers of multipurpose motorcycles with BHP ratings under the controversial one hundred mark. Suzuki for instance has just announced a new and improved SV650 sporting a new aluminum frame and enhanced fuel injection. The SV650 is a stylish bike with descent power that is designed to attract a wide demographic rider base. BMW Motorrad who has built a reputation for large horizontally opposed road cruisers, now offers no less that nine models of 800 ccs’ or less, including the new G310R that will be powered by a 313cc single cylinder motor and will probably go around the world on one tank of gas.
Honda has announced newly updated models of the NC750X and the ve
nerable CB500 now designated as the CB500X. Honda also now makes five so called scooter designs including the all new “Metropolitan” the good looking grandchild of the slightly successful Honda Super Cub which has sold to date somewhere around a mere 80,000,000 units and still counting. Even the rejuvenated Indian Motorcycle Company has just announced a new Indian Scout that boasts a downsized 999cc motor that puts out 74 horsepower.
So what’s driving this trend to downsize motorcycle engine size? Well like many other trends there are a lot of forces that are influencing the manufacturers. First of all we need to look at the technology equation. Fifty years ago it took 1000 ccs to produce 75 BHP, today manufacturers achieve the same horsepower out of a relatively tame motor configuration of around 650 cc’s not to mention the 600 Sportbike Class that makes insane amounts of power for its engine displacement size. Secondly consumers are getting more and more insistent about wanting vehicles that will server more than one function mirroring the rise of the Sport Utility Vehicle class of automobiles. Next is the fact that the emerging economies of Asia don’t have the room or the road systems for one liter sportbikes or even cruisers for that matter, and manufacturers are just salivating over the astronomical number of potential buyers found in these regions.
So is the liter plus motorcycle a dying breed, well not unless the governments of the world decide to demonize them in the minds of the public for political purposes, or as I remember from the muscle car days of my youth, insurance companies make them just too darn expensive to own. I feel if there is a change in the ratio of large displacement machines verses the lighter smaller displacement models it will probably come from the tastes and demands of the buying public. But then what do I know, if you had told me twenty years ago that riders would go wild for 1200 cc dual purpose Enduro style motorcycles sporting 150 plus horsepower power-plants, that they actually rode on the dirt, I would have called for the boys in the white coats to come and take you away.
and wide to find another motorcycle introduction that has met with this much success. Following up the phenomenal sales of the 803 the Italian motorcycle maker is introducing a smaller version of the same style with a 399 cc
L-Twin power plant called the Scrambler Sixty2. To give you an idea of the impact these models have had, company profits are up 22% for the first half 2015 and they have sold 50,000 units (a company record for a single year) as of November 11, 2015. Now to be sure the fact that the price of the 803 which starts at just $8495 is certainly a big part of the sales surge, you have to remember, they are called Scramblers, which infers partial off road use.
lop. Motorcycle manufacturers were already producing ever growing numbers of multipurpose motorcycles with BHP ratings under the controversial one hundred mark. Suzuki for instance has just announced a new and improved SV650 sporting a new aluminum frame and enhanced fuel injection. The SV650 is a stylish bike with descent power that is designed to attract a wide demographic rider base. BMW Motorrad who has built a reputation for large horizontally opposed road cruisers, now offers no less that nine models of 800 ccs’ or less, including the new G310R that will be powered by a 313cc single cylinder motor and will probably go around the world on one tank of gas.
nerable CB500 now designated as the CB500X. Honda also now makes five so called scooter designs including the all new “Metropolitan” the good looking grandchild of the slightly successful Honda Super Cub which has sold to date somewhere around a mere 80,000,000 units and still counting. Even the rejuvenated Indian Motorcycle Company has just announced a new Indian Scout that boasts a downsized 999cc motor that puts out 74 horsepower.
So what’s driving this trend to downsize motorcycle engine size? Well like many other trends there are a lot of forces that are influencing the manufacturers. First of all we need to look at the technology equation. Fifty years ago it took 1000 ccs to produce 75 BHP, today manufacturers achieve the same horsepower out of a relatively tame motor configuration of around 650 cc’s not to mention the 600 Sportbike Class that makes insane amounts of power for its engine displacement size. Secondly consumers are getting more and more insistent about wanting vehicles that will server more than one function mirroring the rise of the Sport Utility Vehicle class of automobiles. Next is the fact that the emerging economies of Asia don’t have the room or the road systems for one liter sportbikes or even cruisers for that matter, and manufacturers are just salivating over the astronomical number of potential buyers found in these regions.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Pan and Zoom Use
Pan and Zoom
Today’s videographer has a plethora of options when it come to video editing products. Your choice of video a matter of preference and is strictly up to you, but I will say that all video editors are n |
| Which one do I choose? |
Now, that being said here is the sad truth, no amount of software gimmicks, can make up for basic camera work and project preparation. The content you choose for your film is up to you and I don’t propose to tell you that any one subject is better or more likely to succeed than another. If I could do that I would be laying beside a pool in Beverly Hills counting my billions. There are however some constants that I feel will always be inherent to a good film or video production.
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| Blue Breasted something or other |
In conclusion it takes practice to become efficient at making video or film products, but there are no limits to how far it can take you.
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