But what do you want to DO?

I was talking to a friend of mine while driving home the other night... He'd been very hot to get himself a T1i, the Canon camera that sports HD video capture in a Rebel-esque sub-$1000 body. That day, Gizmodo had an article proclaiming advance information on a newer version of the T1, potentially called the T2i - which would incorporate many 7D features, but in the consumer-style body.

Naturally he was deciding to hold off- to wait until the better featured version would come out. He said "I don't really want to buy a year-old camera - a camera that's already been out for a year." This comment struck me- how can you concentrate on WHAT you're shooting if you're obsessed with WHAT you're shooting on?!

I asked him - "what do you want to DO with whatever camera you eventually get?"

"What?"

"What do you want to do? Do you have some ideas?"

"I just need a camera."

"Yeah, okay but what are you going to DO with it?"

"No, I just need a camera- I just have to have another camera!"

We went along like this for a few more minutes.

My problem is that when we get too concerned with the gear, with having something, with possessing stuff, with the features and the buttons, we LOSE the reason one would want to shoot or film anything- to offer experience of different points of view, or situations, to other people. Not to show how cool our kit is, or which lens we have, or how large our equipment-penis is...

I've been a bit of a camera nerd for years now- and I don't claim to be very good at all - I do claim to (roughly) understand how the things work, and to be able to make my gear perform- but I recognize that I have much to learn, and that photo and video are lifelong pursuits, like painting or sculpture.

It bugs me to no end when I see the material-obsession in useful people. It's like an addiction, it takes precendent over lots of other more direct and important needs (like paying your rent or paying on debts you owe) and is so easy to be consumed with that starting to do creative work becomes almost impossible- you end up "playing with" your gear too much.

It's like the people who post pictures of their computers, their workstations, for others to see how sleek they are- rubbish!

Caught You Pickin' Comedy Videos

So...

I have to admit something.

I've always wanted to make comedy.

We grew up watching The Kids in the Hall, SCTV, and old SNL reruns. These shows all combined to warp my sense of humor, but to make comedy one of my favorite things- there's nothing else like cracking jokes and making people laugh.

That said, we've started to put some sketches on YouTube under the group name "Caught You Pickin'" - composed of John McGhee, Shadiah Sigala, Lou Susi, Sean Kelly, Tom Lato and myself.

Here is FelonDate (the one that most people say is by far the funniest)...

These are all shot on the DVX-100b as well.