The Tuxedo Fitting

The Tuxedo Fitting
The Tuxedo Fitting. Temecula, California. June 21, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

I’m not going to explain this photo except to say that I like it a lot – and that you need to click it to see the larger version and then spend a bit of time with it.

keywords: tux, tuxedo, men, fitting, store, mirror, bare foot, lights, clerk, sales, salesman, salesperson, tailor, people, commercial, retail, rent, stock

Cancer Doc Heals Through Photography

I just saw a link to this story about Radiation Oncologist Dr. Bernard Lewinsky and his photography on a Southern California “ABC 7” television news program. The link goes to a short text story and a video about Dr. Lewinsky.

As soon as I saw the text link in my browser I knew that he must be the same fellow photographer I shared a bit of time with last Autumn while photographing fall colors at North Lake in the eastern Sierra. When I’m photographing and I see another photographer at work, I try to guess whether the fellow photographer will welcome the conversation or be distracted from his work. He seemed to be finishing up – and he was in a spot where I wanted to photograph… ;-) – so I wandered over and said, “hi.”

While we spoke a bit about equipment – it seems to be the universal icebreaker for photographers – the conversation soon to shifted to other things, including the beauty of the location and his work as a radiation oncologist. He told me how he works with “very sick people” and that he uses his photography to create a more peaceful and calm environment for them.

I’ve spoken with many photographers in the field, but my meeting and conversation with Dr. Lewinsky has stuck with me.

Unfortunately, I cannot find a web link to his photography, but the story says he has compiled a book of his photographs – which look quite impressive from what I can see on the video – and copies are available for sale with the proceeds to go to the American Cancer Society. For more information Dr. Lewinsky’s office can be reached at (818) 884-1683.

(The linked photo is mine, and was taken as Dr. Lewinski and I talked.)


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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Wide Angle Lenses and Image Stabilization

I often hear people claim that image-stabilization is only of value on normal to long focal length lenses, and is not useful on wide angle and ultra wide angle lenses.

The photograph posted earlier today was shot handheld on a full frame DSLR at 1/25 second at ISO 800 and 32mm. (32mm on full frame is equivalent to using a 20mm focal length on a 1.6x cropped sensor body.)

I had just finished a session of tripod-based landscape shooting on the summit of this dome, had packed up, and was heading down when the lone hiker crossed the ridgeline below me just as some lovely post-sunset light gently illuminated the landscape. Having no time to set up a tripod – hiker and light would have been gone by then – I dropped everything, pulled the camera with image-stabilized 24-105mm lens from the pack, made some quick seat-of-the-pants exposure calculations, and got of three quick frames before the scene was gone. Without IS I simply would not have gotten a usable version of this photograph – a photograph that has since been licensed for use in a print journal.

Even as one who often shoots from a tripod – and almost always carries one – I have found the notion that IS has no value at shorter focal lengths to be a myth not born out in actual practice.

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.