Positively 14th Street
Originally posted September 14, 2013
A good photo can be a salve for a lot of things. Back in April, after 19 years as a hobbyist and 1 year as a part-time pro/assistant, I was on the cusp of going full time as a photographer, at once eagerly awaiting and terrified of the challenges that lay ahead.
As my girlfriend Toni and I were returning to her apartment, the snow that was drifting downwards on Denver had increased in its urgency. The cars parked along the street and the wintry scene reminded me of the cover of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan,” so I pulled it up on my phone and asked Toni if she’d be game to make a photo in the 30 minutes we had before I had to leave for the airport. I don’t remember if it was 2 degrees outside or if it just felt that way, but she agreed — I love that girl — so I went to work.
The first order of business was to park facing the opposite direction of the wind so that the snow wouldn’t blow into the back of her SUV (from where I’d be shooting). She did that while I went upstairs to grab my camera. All I had on this trip was my K-30 equipped with an SMC Takumar 50mm f/1.4. My best guess is that the Dylan cover was shot on 35mm film with a 28mm lens and then cropped a bit, so I’d have to make do and just try to get in the ballpark.
I wanted to get the exposure correct while I was upstairs and warm. I guessed that at f/8, I’d be at ISO 400, at 1/125th of a second. I fired a couple test shots, metering through the window. I was a bit off — I needed to be at 1/80th at the same ISO/f-stop combo.
Back outside, Toni was keeping warm in the SUV. After I had struggled a bit to balance the camera at an acceptable angle on the ledge of the of the opened tailgate, she magically produced a gas can that provided the needed lift.
Knowing that at f/8 on a 50mm lens I’d have a little more than 7 feet of acceptable focus with a focus distance of 13’ 4”, I put one middle finger at the focal plane, eyeballed where my other middle finger extended to, and did the same thing over again from that point. 13’ 4” is exactly twice my wingspan. Your own wingspan is a handy measurement to know when using manual lenses — anyone can get sharp focus without AF in an unplanned situation like this, or when shooting in near darkness. The DOFMaster smartphone app will do the math for you. $2 well spent.
The Dylan shot is Bob with his then-girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, standing in the middle of a New York City street — I’d guess 4th Street, but I’m not positive. With no tripod, we didn’t have the option of standing in the middle of the street (and, also, safety first), so I tried to frame it in a way that the viewer could still see that the street extends behind us. I gave Toni her mark and showed her a picture of the cover on my phone to refresh her memory. I went back to the camera, hit the shutter (on a timer), and — BAM!
It was not good. The second and third attempts were marginally better, but we got a good one on the fourth attempt. And with the temperature having dropped further from before, when it was already infinity below, I called it a wrap with 12 minutes to spare. Why let perfect be the enemy of good when you can barely feel your eyelids?
What I ended up with is, at best, merely reminiscent of the original. The similarities ended up being just a few: snowy street, parked cars, and a Hebrew guitar strummer with his gentile girlfriend. But it’s a favorite of my personal photos, a little reminder that brings me back to that day and of my girlfriend’s unwavering faith in my abilities. On those days when that creeping self-doubt — sadly endemic to most of us creative types — gets a toe-hold in my conscience, I just look at that photo, breathe deeply, and remember the words of another Bob: Everything is gonna be alright.
