Photographing the Libertarian Party National Convention with my NEX-5n by Judd Weiss

From Steve: Just an FYI. This site allows opinions, photographs and articles from a wide variety of people. Any camera can be discussed, almost any topic can be written about and I let everyone share their thoughts. This is not a political site and I am not even close to being a supporter of the Libertarian Party 🙂 This is an article about Judd’s experience shooting this convention. Two weeks ago I posted abut the Democratic Convention and if anyone wants to submit a story about the Republican convention then feel free to contact me and submit one. 

I did not write this but it is here as a guest post. As they say in TV Land, just because something is posted does not mean I agree with it. I disagree with many guest posts here but I allow the freedom for many to do so even if I disagree. No need to get your panties all in a bunch because this article is a bit different than what is usually here. Anything you do not want to read doesn’t have to be read. Blog posts are easily skipped. 

Complaints about 4 letter words and the theme of this post is nonsense and again, comes from Judd as a guest post. In his style. Thanks 🙂

 

It’s October in an election year, so you know what that means.

It’s Politics Time!

Shooting the Libertarian National Convention with my NEX-5n by Judd Weiss

Embrace it my friends, don’t fight it. It’s good for us once in a while to think about what the fuck the government is doing with our money. Yeah, thinking about this stuff can get aggravating very fast, there’s certainly no shortage of negative energy in the realm of politics. So I actively try to mix in some positive energy into an often very negative world. One of my tools is my camera, which has become pretty much biologically attached to my arm for the last 2 years:

My Sony NEX 5n.

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This was my first time at the Libertarian Party National Convention, and I WAS SHOCKED!! Imagine what would happen if a car company fired all its salesmen and stuck all the car engineers in a room and said “You’ve all helped engineer a truly exceptional car, now we want you guys to work together and agree on this year’s comprehensive marketing and sales strategy for the company within 3 days.” Yeah that’s what the Libertarian Party National Convention was like. All out brutal warfare! Nastier because it’s nerd warfare, and they sharpen their arguments to hit as hard as possible, with no account for the damage and fallout.

I’ve been a Libertarian since I picked up Anthem by Ayn Rand when I was 14. Ayn Rand has inspired a lot of people, and laid much of the foundation for the libertarian movement. Part 2 of the film adaptation of her magnum opus Atlas Shrugged is out in theaters since last Friday (I just reviewed it here). Go to any libertarian event and you’ll see that there are very different elements within the party and the movement. Which is cool, people come to the ideas of liberty from different perspectives and for different reasons, I can only see that as a positive thing.

What I didn’t expect to see was how intense the infighting was for ideological control of a third-party. If you put a bunch of intellectuals together, you know you will get some bickering, no matter what. That’s fine, that’s healthy, that’s cute. This wasn’t that. This was different. There’s a left-right divide within the party, not really regarding any serious difference in views, but over a strong difference in focus. Some want the party to focus its energy and message on economic matters like deregulation, cutting spending and taxes, etc. Others want the focus to be on ending oversees wars and ending the drug war. Fortunately nominating Gary Johnson as the Presidential nominee went pretty smoothly. After all, Gary Johnson was not only a 2 term Governor of New Mexico, but he gives a lot of emphasis on ending the War on Drugs and bringing our oversees troops home, while he also appeals to the Tea Party side of things advocating for slashing our national debt, limiting government’s size and scope and spending, and freeing up our markets with less regulations.That went fine. All hell broke loose during the nominating process for the party’s National Chair position. The more radical faction surprised everyone with a well planned coup to put in very strong Anti-War people into Chair, Vice Chair and executive party positions. Someone paid for busloads of anti-war delegates and many already printed signs encouraging a majority to exercise the “None Of The Above” voting option in order to restart the nominating processes and get their guys in office. And they succeeded. Long term I think that was a very bad play, it caused some bad blood. But I’ve got to hand it to them, that was impressive.

Anyway, yeah, so there was some contention at the convention, and some hurt feelings. Until I posted a Facebook album of convention photos I took. Then something magical happened. People suddenly felt a lot more united again. The photos made them look important. The photos made the movement look important. They liked how there were portrayed. They were proud to be part of that crowd. They saw themselves as part of the same group again, united by the same force. Many changed their profile picture to one of my black and white shots. Seemingly sworn enemies would tag each other and comment on how good the other looked and start making jokes again. It was amazing having a front row seat to this, getting a Facebook notification for every like, comment, and profile picture change.

So that’s my small contribution towards the cause. I want to see these nerds look better and be more cooperative. But I’m not a professional photographer. Never charged for a photo. It’s just a hobby. I’ve only started taking photography more seriously about 2 years ago when I upgraded from a point and shoot to the Sony NEX. I’ve only learned what aperture means about a year ago. So I’m still kind of raw, but I’m building my confidence behind the lens. Especially as I’ve now got over a 1000 profile pictures to my credit. Seriously, that’s insane! That count explodes every time I shoot a convention.

There’s a couple things in my mind when shooting a convention or a conference. First of all I tend to shoot black & white in that environment because I think conferences look very boring in color. This is not a pool party on a sunny day, or a luscious garden. The background is white walls and carpet with nauseating color patterns. Besides, the people who come to conferences tend to think they’re involved in something important, and black and white makes them look more historically significant and epic.

The next thing I think about is being sneaky. I’m trying to capture the person in their moment. I want a part of who they are revealed in the image. Those are more interesting photos to me. That’s my challenge when I shoot. Posed shots of people smiling at the camera are ok, but they’re usually kind of boring because there’s really nothing very interesting about them. Also, when people know there’s a camera pointed at them, their guard goes WAY up, and you lose the authenticity of their personality in the shot. That means I lost my shot, and I’m annoyed. I totally understand, because I’m like that too, I’m not the most photogenic and I get a little uncomfortable when a camera is pointed at me. My only options are to take photos before they realize a camera is around, or to snap off so many damn shots until they become numb to the camera and drop their guard, behaving normally again.

Either way the small size of the NEX is a huge blessing. Having an APS-C DSLR size sensor in a camera that fits in my pocket has been incredibly valuable to me, and opened me up to much more of what photography is about. Because it’s small enough to be with me in normal social interactions, it’s not very intrusive and intimidating, it’s allowed me to capture so many more moments that I would have otherwise not kept visualized. Moments that have brought my friends together to bond over and even help mend their friendships.

Beyond the ideas, an ideological movement has many other pieces of the puzzle needed for resonating and becoming successful. In our digital Facebook age, we can’t over emphasize the importance of photos that capture our important moments and allow us to share our memories with others.

I shot all photos from the Libertarian Nation Convention with a Voigtlander 35mm 1.4 adapted to my Sony NEX 5n.

Be sure you go and visit Judd’s website, HUSTELBEAR.COM

105 Comments

  1. One thing I think people of all political persuasions can agree on is that we need to unite against ugly, lazy typography in politics! How are we supposed to take your party seriously when your national party logo font is a bastardized Century Schoolbook bold italic?

    I say this of course with tongue firmly in cheek; all political typography is hilariously bad. Good post!

  2. Enjoyed the photographs especially as i am looking for a small back up for my K5 … and am looking at X100 /Xe1 and also Nex5n/6 …. good results and i can see that small size much less invasive.

    As regards liberal … it is extraordinary …. certainly in england originally it referred to liberal laissez faire economics …. but more recently to a socially / economically more left wing approach … seems quite complex ….

    thanks for posting

    • Thanks Tom. I’m definitely a fan of the NEX and would highly recommend it.

      As for the word Liberal, I don’t know how the term went from referring to a hands off free market approach into later referring to a rigidly controlled centrally planned approach for social engineering.

  3. Robert Laurence “Bob” Barr, Jr. is a former federal prosecutor and a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Georgia’s 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003.Barr attained national prominence as one of the leaders of the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Barr joined the Libertarian Party in 2006, and served on its National Committee. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 election.

    • This doesn’t seem very relevant to photography or the article, so I feel like this is some sort of spam. In anycase, Bob Barr was a mistake and a clear failure for the Libertarian Party.

  4. Disclaimer: I’m not a photographer; I’m a libertarian who found the site through Judd’s FaceBook wall.

    It’s really, really hard to capture the passion of third-party politics in a photo. How do you photograph an idea? That said, the best two images in this article are the first with the child holding the poster and Starchild.

    Can’t go wrong with the innocence of a child walking a confetti strewn floor holding an upside-down “Re-elect No One for LNC”. The Starchild photo with motion blur sums up the eclectic nature of the LP. A bit frightening and difficult to grasp.

    Good job, Judd!

  5. I was at the Libertarian convention and you did a beautiful job capturing it, Judd! I’m a big fan of your work and it’s great to see you featured here 🙂

  6. I find the images quite interesting. The narrative adds meaning to the images, whether or not I agree with the politics. Manually focusing a lens that is open so wide is certainly a challenge! Thanks for sharing!

  7. With respect to all the post about the Libertarian Convention photographs, well, I find all very amusing for a variety of reasons.

  8. Judd; I thoroughly enjoyed your fotos-they are great.
    As far as the Libertarians-we need you and them if only for the enterainment value.
    But seriously now there is a need for a third party in this country, I don’t agree with yours. Hopefully things will change.

    • Well, I’m a Libertarian, there’s no doubt about that. But I’m actually not yet sold on the Libertarian Party and its effectiveness. I would desperately like to be 100% supportive of the party, but there’s too much immature foolishness for me to devote my time and energy. I am supporting Gary Johnson, and I hope he denies Romney the presidency. The more devastating Romney’s loss, the stronger the message to Republicans that they can never again consider treating Libertarians the way they have if they ever hope to achieve anything as a party. And I hope the lesson becomes clear that they should never again consider a presidential candidate in the mold of Bush/Dole/McCain/Romney

  9. Steve,

    Love your site. I have been lurking here for a while, and I find what you’re allowing to be post on you site truly represent American Values. We all have different point of views, come from different circumstances, and different political parties, but we can be united under common things such as a love of photography or the fact that we are all Americans (sorry to exclude international viewers – since this is in the context of American politics).

    I’m liberal dem, but I think we all should not be living in our own echo chambers. We all should get to know different point of views so we have a better understanding. With better understanding we can work out the differences and have a compromise the works out better for all sides.

    Judd,

    While I dont agree with what your party believe in 100% of the time, I believe your post was done in good faith to explain the backdrops in the photos and not done to promote or incite. Like Steve said, you’re a good man. I welcome your post.

    • Well thank you Trung, that was very nice of you to say.

      And I agree with you on your approach. I believe that despite differences in opinions, we should treat each other as allies who are genuinely pushing for a better world. As soon as we understand that our goals are in fact aligned, we can have an honest and open discussion brainstorming about a better way to get there. I find this approach lightyears beyond the typical nasty hostility that pervades current political discourse.

      Thank you for your thoughtful comment.

  10. I can see the art for the art. I can rise above and look past the politics as subject matter. As opposed to the troglodytes hiding behind the anonymity the web to spewing their negative comments.

    • Thanks Brian, but I wouldn’t give them a hard time. Right or wrong, they care deeply about what they believe is right, and I can respect that. There is a better way. Hopefully I can help demonstrate that. If not, no matter how misguided I feel they are, it doesn’t do me any good to insult people that, in the end, do mean well.

  11. These comments sections should be eliminated. They are generally depressing and only serve to illustrate what jerks people can be. It’s hard to believe how jack-assity people can get on a free site. If you don’t like the content go somewhere else…

    • I truly haven’t been offended by anything said here. I know how uptight people can get with political discussions, so I understand.
      Let people say what they want to say, polite or not. Best thing I can do is lead by example.

  12. Technically not “great” images but your point was to provide some context and a feel for the moment. Photography is not all about sharpness or following rules. Photography is how we the experience something.

    Too me Judd….mission accomplished.

    This is not like the Democratic or Republican party conventions, where you have the benefit of large scale, big names and catching “famous” moments or people. It’s about what you experienced at the time with the personalities and vibe.

    I do not live in the U.S. so a bit hard for to know the context of this party but the pictures told the story for me.

    Out of focus or not, I like the composition, the journalistic style and got a feel “being” at this convention.

    Ironic these are in Black & White given some of the opinions on this blog!!!

    • Thanks Andy, I appreciate the nice words and the thoughtful tone.

      Yeah, this isn’t my best stuff, I have many photos I’m a lot more proud of and would rather share. But this was relevant because of the Democratic Convention post last week, and the time of this election year. I think there’s some better photos of the convention in the full album here:

      http://hustlebear.com/2012/10/23/photos-libertarian-party-national-convention-may-2012/

      I fear explaining what the party is about for fear of a million angry comments, but hell I’ll just say quickly that the principle is that your life is yours, and you should live and let others live. If you stay consistent with that, you’re a libertarian. I’m glad that there’s a movement that explicitly represents that in our economic life and our social life.

  13. Politics is about votes. to get votes you need money for a campaign. The money comes from coporations and their lobby groups. It’s a system built on bribery..always has been. Those who voted for the reps and the dems have no one to blame but themselves for the mess the country is in now…no one. there are still alot fo folks who think poloticians will actually ” care” about them. I geuss there is no magic show if you don’t have folks who believe in magic.

  14. Judd,
    Looking through the post on the Democratic convention there were numerous comments about getting the shot, type of equipment, etc. There were no overtly political connotations as there were in yours. Two different approaches, two different results in the comments section. I guess it depends on what your motive here is. You are free to make choices, you are not free from the consequences of those choices, to not quote Ann Ryand. Respectfully, Matt

    • Not avoiding consequences. Blast away if you’d like.

      There were no persuasive arguments made. It was just a mention to bring context to the photos of the circumstances surrounding them. If it works people up to see the MENTION of (not argument for) these views, then let them get themselves upset. I’ll continue to remain polite and respectful.

  15. Well, looks we got some controversy here. I never have a problem with that, makes for some engaging blogging!

    Also interesting how posting pictures from the Democratic Convention didn’t create the same firestorm or warrant the same kind of disclaimer, but that’s ok, I can totally understand.

    I’m a daily reader of Steve’s blog, it has inspired my photography, and I attended Steve’s Los Angeles workshop back in January.

    The simple reason this was posted was because I saw the post about shooting the Democratic Convention and I asked Steve if he’d like a post of shots from the Libertarian Convention. He said that would be awesome, so here you go!

    I figured it would be relevant to write about what happened at the convention, and the impact photos could have afterwards on the attendees.

    There’s A LOT more photos of the convention (even some in color) on my original post at my blog:
    http://hustlebear.com/2012/10/23/photos-libertarian-party-national-convention-may-2012/

    To those who are bickering about the mere presence of Libertarians, don’t let me get in your way. Please continue 😉

    Warm Regards,

    Judd

  16. lol. I find it funny how riled up people get about politics. I really like this series of images…the processing is really quite nice imo.

  17. Long time lurker, first time poster.

    I really loved this post. Thanks for allowing stuff like this Steve.

    Don’t really understand why it’s getting so much hate. But then I’m a pinko Canadian :). I can only imagine it’s because of the proximity to the USA election.

  18. I love political debate, in particular the sort fueled by preformed opinions, expressed in insultory stereotypes. Just great!

    Btw, I always found Obama to be more a preacher than a politician, and I stay away from preachers as far as I can.

    Now Romney, he’s completely different…

    • I love it to, but not if it’s reduced to infantile name calling, whining and tantrums, which is sadly what most people allow themselves to do.

      I would much rather have that passion channeled to arguing why no matter how good Leica IQ is, it just ain’t worth it! LOL!

      If I want politics argued like some of the posts have done, I hope Steve sets up http://www.stevehuffpolitics.com. There might be a camera review or two, but it would mostly be a mashup of all caps posts of people venting rage.

  19. Steve I truly enjoy this site and truly appreciate all the effort you put forth to maintain it—– however the photos included in this particular convention article were less than compelling as editorial visuals. (Perhaps they even remind me of secondary school journalism project efforts.) Political conventions, car shows, fish markets, the circus, pie eating contests, passengers at an airport, and 1,000s of other venues can present endless photographic opportunity. In this case I feel each potential image moment was lost. Event portraiture can be difficult to accomplish for even the most experienced. Perhaps Mr. Weiss was too distracted by the energy of the event to critically separate the visuals from the other sensory bombardment factors? I am well acquainted with a now retired national photojournalist that frequently wore earplugs when he worked in busy,noisy, and emotional environments to help produce a greater sense of visual concentration for himself. In this case I have to agree with the single word post “YAWN”.

    • The earplugs are a very good tip. I often wear in-ear headphones attached to an iPod when out taking pictures. Most of the time, the iPod is not “on”, I just keep the headphones in my ears in order to lower the sound level, so I can concentrate on visual input. In some situations I do play music for inspiration. In any case, when you have earplugs in your ears, you must always pay attention to your environment, because combining the reduced sound and the tunnel-vision of the viewfinder can be dangerous. When out and about, it can be very easy to get hit by a car or fall down a sidewalk if you don’t pay attention.

  20. It is posts like this that keep me coming back to your blog Steve. We all have different views, but we all have photography in common.

  21. Maybe if the left wing cries enough Obama will fit in free Leica’s for everyone in his scramble for a last minute platform… You have journalistic media, entertainment, music and education completely dominated by the left, and a guy posts some pictures of a socially liberal but fiscally responsible party and the lemmings freak out.. In a panic yet???

    • Maybe if Americans would only elect Randian morons like yourself we can have a Social Darwinist paradise where the old and sick who don’t have a government safety net can simply go die quietly in the streets. Where the über-rich can pretend to themselves that they accumulated their obscene wealth all by themselves and didn’t really need all those government tax incentives, government loans, government contracts, government roads, government bridges, the internet, public utilities or employees educated in public schools. Wouldn’t that be lovely.

    • patrick and doug,

      May I suggest that you both agree to go to a chat room, hit the caps key, and yell at each other?

      http://www.stevehuffphoto.com – a website devoted to the LOVE of photography. If you want to piss on each other, AOL can help with a padded room. You can’t love photography while pissing on someone…. Well, actually you can, but that’s a whole different thing.

      • I’m all for the love of photography. What I’m not for is someone using an article ostensibly about photography as an excuse to slip in a plug for Ayn Rand’s sociopathic philosiphy.

        • GOD FORBID the name Ayn Rand is brought up regarding shooting a Libertarian Convention!

          You’ve plugged her on this page a lot more than me, my friend 😉

          • I exited the thread when the emotional intensity of posters like Doug reached a peak. His reaction is the problem with hyperpartisanism (is this a word?) – he’s more interested in talking than listening.

  22. Funny. “Slashing the national debt”. As far as I remember, it took a succession of Bush presidents with gigantic military spending to create that debt.

    • Yeah that statement is mostly correct if your head has been in the sand the last 4 years…

    • Sad that you come to a photography site, focus on 1/3 of an article that pissed you off, and vent your anger about it.

      Why can’t folks just chill and take it for what it is?

      I mean for crying out loud!

      • Jeff, I’m not sure if that remark was aimed atbme, but if it was, I wasn’t pissed off, I was just raising a question.

    • As far as I remember, Bush wasn’t a Libertarian. And Libertarians were protesting him in the streets. AntiWar.com is run by a bunch of Libertarians.

      Point is that I agree with you. We’re on the same side with this

  23. I’m a yellow dog democrat but while reading this it did not occur to me that this was posted for partisan reasons. People, we are in a political time, and photography has always been an integral and important part of our collective political discourse. The photographer may well be trying to endorse a political point of view, and … so… what? If so, kudos for not sugar coating the truth. While the images don’t show the tensions the OP describes, I found this peek (both in words and pictures) of the machinations of a marginal political party interesting nonetheless.

    • Yeah, I clearly do endorse a particular view. But I was merely bringing context to the shots by explaining the wider circumstances. And yeah, I think I didn’t whitewash anything, openly documenting the good and the bad. Thanks for the thoughtful comment.

    • Thanks, Omer, for your well-written comment. I agree with you. Photography is also about documenting what’s happening out there, the social processes, the political currents, the tensions that shape cultures. And Steve is right to include documentary photography – shots with some bite, not only children’s portraits and travel photos. A bit of temperature doesn’t hurt this site. By the way, I am a social democrat.

      I read the article with interest. Photographing conventions and conferences I find difficult – because of the often garish colors and screaming patterns from carpets and stuff. Pretty good shots, considering Judd’s experience. And despite focus issues, I do think the photos convey some of the hustle and bustle-atmosphere from a political convention.

      • I like how you’ve framed this Vegard. Thank you. This isn’t my favorite set of photos, but I like them, and I hope to develop more edge in my future photography.

        A lot has been said about focus. And I agree. I’ve got better focused shots in the full album on my blog and certainly in other albums. But like you said, shooting conventions can be difficult. When people are moving and you’ve got a shallow depth of field with a manual lens, missing the focus will happen, but it doesn’t always mean it’s not a memory worth sharing. Often this is the very best I could do when I see a fleeting moment I’d like to capture, and I quickly put down whatever may be in my hands, pull the camera out of my pocket, turn on the camera, pull off the cap, focus quickly and start shooting before I miss the shot.

  24. Neither the photographs or the topic do a lot for Steve’s website which I follow daily. But, well done to Steve for being unprejudiced.

    • Thanks Tom. Not my political party but I allow freedom here and Judd is a good guy. I found his article quite different than what is usually posted here, and sometimes that is a good thing wether you agree with the topic/subject or not.

  25. I would have welcomed the opportunity to photograph an event like this one, and agree with the usefulness of documenting it. But please, do it right. I would have taken one or two of my Nikon or Contax slr’s, loaded with pushed Tri-x or HP5+, a 24, a 50 and an 85, and would have tried (and maybe failed at) to make some meaningful images. Get that political sixties look, but do it right.

    • Well, we’ve all got our own style and techniques. I feel like I’m still developing mine.
      I’ve never shot film, probably never will. I’m excited by the improvements coming in digital and can’t wait for affordable full frame interchangeable mirrorless to become available.

  26. Photos were nice for someone with that limited experience level. Focus not quite there, should use the magnify as well as peaking for best sharpness with MF lenses. Somewhat sneaky way to get a political opinion or two across, not really needed on a site like this, especially at this time of year.

    • Yeah nailing manual focus on unsuspecting fast moving people is a challenge I’m still working on improving at, especially with a shallow depth of field. These were shot mostly on the aperture setting between the 1.4 and 2 markings, so guess that’s around 1.7?? Shooting with the 35mm Voigtlander at 1.4 is too soft to my liking.

  27. No problem with the 4 letter words, and just because Steve has this on his site, does not mean he endorses the Libertarian message, and even if he does, that’s his call. I think it’s important to see contentious views/opinions, rather than a bland message we can all agree on.

    • You’re absolutely correct. It’s Steve’s inalienable right to alienate anyone he pleases. But seeing as this is a site that depends on commissions generated by people who click on his links when they purchase camera gear, one would think he’d want to attract the widest possible following and avoid political controversy.

      • I am creating ZERO political controversy. This article was written by Judd, not me. I allow a wide and diverse set of subjects here on this site and there have been many posts I have disagreed with. Doesn’t mean they can not be posted. Judd is a great guy and his post is welcome here just like any others. If you don’t like it, you do not have to read it. His beliefs are not my beliefs. Far from it.

    • Thanks GT. Due to all of the anger I put up a little disclaimer. The bottom line is I allow guest writers freedom to express their views wether I agree or not. This is quite different than the Democratic Convention post but still relevant. I dont play favorites. I just saw a passionate guy shooting with a camera many of us shoot with at a crazy event 🙂

    • Really? I am about as ANTI Right wing as they come..believe me. I already responded to some of these angry comments but there is no need for there to be angry comments. I am not a Libertarian or a Libertarian fan, at all..but I allowed Judd to post his photos and experiences just like I do when someone writes about Leica being horrible when I am a huge fan.

      • Sorry you’ve had to bear some controversy for this Steve. I do appreciate the opportunity to share my shots, even if the circumstances surrounding them cause some tension. It’s a tense time in America right now. I hope the controversy adds to the engagement of your blog.

        I’m certainly honored because I’m a fan of you and what you’re doing.

        Thank you.

    • I don’t think so. I don’t like extremists of any sort, but would have welcomed the opportunity to document the occasion. I just would have done it differently.

    • You must have glossed over Steve’s intro. Did you not read it? He made it pretty clear where he was coming from.

      Please, calm down.

  28. I thought these (for an occasion like that) remarkably unremarkable images were made with an old analog camera with Tri-X, by a person with focusing issues…

    Yeah, and the use of 4letter words. Trying to draw attention?

    • It’s one word used one time. Four innocent letters, used in a non vulgar way. If that’s a problem these days, then I’m worried.

      Sorry if you didn’t like the shots. I’m not pretending I’m not pretty new to this. I certainly welcome constructive input. I’m learning, and I can see there’s a lot involved in this world of photography.

  29. I like the photographs. I don’t like the fact that this site now endorses the use of 4-letter words and extreme right wing political views in its articles.

    • Extreme right wing? Actually, the Libertarian party is more Liberal (left) than the Republican party.

      The Republican party is right wing economically *and* socially. The Libertarian party is ring wing economically and LEFT wing socially.

      For the most part they are probably more LEFT wing socially than most democrats which makes them interesting.

      • The Libertarian Party may in fact cover a broad spectrum of political thought, but I was objecting the author’s plug for Ayn Rand, who was anything but liberal.

        • Actually Ayn Rand is a liberal. Back in her time, her views were known as liberal. Now it’s referred to Classic Liberal. But that’s semantics. Truth is that she’s secular and socially tolerant and makes a lot of common cause with people who call themselves Liberals these days.

          • Did you not see the title of the article? It’s a shame you felt the need to vent your anger over the 3 of 9 paragraphs. You didn’t have to read it.

            You had a choice. Now you’re upset.

            How has this served you?

          • Americans have two choices, Republican or Democrats..period. A two party system just like a two football team league. You can’t win the game whent he game is fixed and it sure as hell aint a competition when only two teams are allowed to play. And yest people still trust people in government. I geuss that’s why serial killers exist, because people will believe anything and anyone.

    • Oh, you don’t like seeing other views? Tell me more about being one of those open-minded, tolerant liberals. Do you have a coexist bumper sticker?

        • This is actually a post from my blog, Steve shared it to his audience. I simply mentioned Ayn Rand as an explanation for my being there. Incredible how the mere mention of her creates such hostility. But I understand. If you feel like being upset, please don’t let me stop you.

    • That’s true actually, I had an NEX 7 with me as well as my NEX 5n. I was giving a talk at the convention and I brought 2 cameras with me because I wanted to record the talk and hand the other camera to someone to get some shots. I realized that I actually like shooting with an NEX 5n more because it’s a bit smaller and more pocketable, but I was playing with the NEX 7 a bit, so yeah some shots were taken with an NEX 7. This was back in May so I may have forgotten that, but I don’t think there’s any noticeable difference in the results.

  30. The Transvestite image shows that it is not the RNC convention.

    Shooting in Black and White is a perfect statement about our current political climate.

    • Yeah that would be Starchild. He does whatever he can for attention. Definitely wouldn’t be welcomed in the Republican Party. And I do think he should be welcomed in the Libertarian Party, but that guy got voted into the Executive Committee for the party for no other reason than a bunch of Libertarians thought it would be funny. The Libertarian Party needs a lot of work…..

  31. I don’t much agree with your politics, but I sure do agree with your photographic method. I love my Olympus E-PL1 for just the same reason: I can take pictures of people without their having that “I’m being photographed!” response that just wrecks a photo. My favourite lens on it is a Canon 50mm, which is equivalent to a 100mm on a 35mm. This means I can get lovely close pictures of people in unguarded moments while they’re not really even conscious of a camera being pointed in their direction. It does require manual focusing, but that just makes it more of a craft.

    • Yeah, these were all shot with manual focus on a Voigtlander 35mm 1.4, which is definitely tricky as people move constantly and ruin the shot. It’s a skill I’m still working on improving. Thanks for the comment James

    • I shot with the “High Contrast Monotone” NEX picture effect setting. There are a bunch of color shots from the conference on my blog, but I guess Steve only picked the B&W shots.

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