Okay, on the Captialism you like, I was about to ask JD what he shoots with and decided that rather than drag that thread OT I'd start a new one here.
For those who do shoot on a semi-regular basis, what kind of setup(s) do you have and what style(s) do you shoot?
Re: Photography
For years I ran an old K1000 35mm but recently upgraded to a new(to me) Canon D300. Still working on fleshing out my lenses and still working with my ancient flash off my Pentax. I got a good deal on camera, two lenses, a pelican case and other assorted goodies so I figured the D300 was an affordable way to break into Canon but not break the bank just yet.
"Still, though, being fat isn't some kind of moral failing. Unless you're fat from, like, eating the people you murder...then it's probably a moral failing of one sort or another." -- Timothy
Re: Photography
Well, since you ask... I'm using an Olympus E-300 body with a custom split-prism focusing screen from Katz Eye Optics. For lenses, I'm mostly using the kit 14-45mm and 40-150mm lenses, but I also have an OM-type f/1.4 50mm (effective 100mm) that I really like for portraits. I also own a 20mm OM lens (effective 40mm) and a 500mm catadioptric OM lens (effective 1000mm!) that I picked up on the cheap, but I'm not so crazy about them.
Other than that, I use an Olympus FL-36 flash (love it) with either a Lumiquest softbox (not so crazy about) or my new Sto-fen Omnibounce (so far, I like it). I'm a big believer in getting the flash off the camera, so I have an assortment of cables for the purpose. I also own a couple umbrellas and lightstands I picked up on the cheap, plus a couple cheapy optical slave triggers and some hotshoe-to-household adapters. I have a whole bunch of gels ("sample pack", which cost about 59 cents and are the perfect size for a flash) because I like to experiment with colored flash.
Going further afield, I own a Minolta X-700 35mm SLR, which is a nice old semi-classic, although I don't really use it these days. I also own a Miranda Sensoret, an oddball 35mm rangefinder camera, the only rangefinder Miranda ever made. I put one roll of film through it just to see if it worked and was pleasantly surprised, but I don't really foresee using it much. Still, it might be fun for some outdoor portraits or something.
My equipment jones is mostly satisfied for now, although I am still thinking off and on about an autofocus portrait lens, and I was drooling over the E3 this weekend; a mere $1700... I keep wondering if it would be worth it to pick up a used E1 body. The main thing about the pro-level bodies is that the viewfinder just seems a lot better.
Style-wise, I mostly like doing portraits and performance shots. Nothing wrong with a nice landscape, and I will do that when the mood strikes me, but I like stuff that seems a little dirty, dangerous, and unreal - which is why I like shooting burlesque. It's showy and different and the community is pretty small, so you get to know people quickly. I mostly do color. I don't understand some people's aversion to it. Yes, shooting B&W helps you learn a lot about non-color factors: composition, texture, tones, etc. But there's nothing "invalid" or "non-artististic" about color, and it can be hugely important for emotional impact. I have a bit of a thing for hard light that comes from an unusually low angle - see the first and last photos below - and for some reason I tend to like pictures of people with their mouths open, go figure.
In the near future, I'm really hoping to do more and better burlesque work, and to do some serious portrait sittings. Here's my Flickr site - I warn you that due to the burlesque photos, it's kind of work-questionable, although there isn't actually any nudity as such.
A few of my favorites: (all photos are links, so click for bigger versions)
Nasty Canasta at Union Hall, Brooklyn:
An iconic shot of the wedding of two of my friends:
Sunrise from Brooklyn Heights:
Self-portrait with gas mask (proud of this one on a technical level because I got the slave flash just the way I wanted it):
Gigi La Femme at the Living Room, Brooklyn:
