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mwalker

Subscriber Member
Just got back from Russia..tired, 34 hr travel time... Saturday got arrested with interpreter and three other russians for taking pictures and spent one day at the jail...Bryansk region going backwards.


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Terry

New member
Like Helen's comments, I look forward to viewing your work when you have been able to sleep.
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Nice shots Mike! Did you go anywhere other than Bryansk? I studied Russian history in graduate school -- I lived in Vladivostok for 10 months along with 4 months in Yaroslavl. Unfortunately I was not into photography at the time.

I am not surprised to hear you were detained though. Provincial Russia's first reaction to something strange is to imprison it. The only reason it did not happen to me was that my best friend there was the vice-consul in Vladivostok (he was 26, I was 23)...not many Americans there, so if you are American, you meet all of them. Whenever we got pulled over or questioned by the militsia, his diplomatic credentials got us out of it.

In any case, I am very interested to see your work!
 

mwalker

Subscriber Member
Stuart,

I was in the city of Klinsy two hours south of the city of Bryansk. You are right no Americans go there. They confiscated my camera and I was lead clasped under each arm to the police station. I was interviewed by plain clothes who made me show them my pictures. Then interviewed by uniformed militsia who gave me my camera and sd card back. They asked me why I was there in Klinsy I said because the people are warm and friendly. :)

There is a religious persecution going on there between a small group of Baptists and the Russian Orthodox church. Top officials in the Bryansk government are trying to stomp out any other religion. A professional reporter should jump on this story because freedom of religion is a supposed federal right in Russia....but I'm here to tell you the region of Bryansk has declared war against any religion other than Russian Orthodox.
 
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Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
I would have missed 1/2 the shots if I hadn't had a second M8.
Mike, love your images so far and can't wait to see more! But I did not want to let your simple comment above slide by.

From experience I know precisely what you mean. I almost sold my second M8 to fund some other gear, but that comment summarizes why I decided to keep it and sell some other stuff.

:thumbs:
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Mike Great shots....good luck on the editing process....LOL :D That 2nd M8 makes a difference....otherwise life sort of passes by while you are changing lenses. Looking forward to your collection. I have found Zenfolio to be a good solution for sharing collections. Roger
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Mike That 2nd M8 makes a difference....otherwise life sort of passes by while you are changing lenses.
Or worse, I say to myself, "Screw it, I'm not swapping lenses for that one shot..." and miss the shot totally. And I know myself well enough to know that's exactly what I'd do.

Having one body with the 28 and another with a 50 always mounted makes life easy. For whatever reason, when I have two bodies with those lenses ready at all times, I have no issue swapping one of them to a longer or shorter lens as situations change. Maybe because I know I'll almost always one of my favorites mounted?
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Or worse, I say to myself, "Screw it, I'm not swapping lenses for that one shot..." and miss the shot totally. And I know myself well enough to know that's exactly what I'd do.

Having one body with the 28 and another with a 50 always mounted makes life easy. For whatever reason, when I have two bodies with those lenses ready at all times, I have no issue swapping one of them to a longer or shorter lens as situations change. Maybe because I know I'll almost always one of my favorites mounted?
For normal light ..I go with the 21asph on one and 35/50 or 90 on the 2nd body depending on the location. I am finding for most street/travel work I use the 90 to get the reach across streets , around water on bridges etc..situations where I just can t get closer. Otherwise I try to move in with the 21. In low light ..dawn dusk ..I switch to the 28asph and the Noctilux and sometimes the 35lux. I no longer carry a bag on the street ..using vests,jackets etc to hold lenses 3 and 4.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Obviously there are shooting-style differences :)

I usually have the 28 and 50 on during the day, switching to 21 and 28 combo at night. I pop the 90 on when I need to reach across the street for something; pop the 12 on when I run out of room behind me. I carry the two bodies with lenses mounted and all the other lenses in a Domke J803. I've done the vest thing and don't like it, prefering the grab'n'go features of shoulder bag.

Cheers,
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Obviously there are shooting-style differences :)

I usually have the 28 and 50 on during the day, switching to 21 and 28 combo at night. I pop the 90 on when I need to reach across the street for something; pop the 12 on when I run out of room behind me. I carry the two bodies with lenses mounted and all the other lenses in a Domke J803. I've done the vest thing and don't like it, prefering the grab'n'go features of shoulder bag.

Cheers,
Not that much I bet. On the street I am closer to your ,mix with the 21 and the 50 or sometimes the 35.. but I like to get close to water..the bridge ,embankment etc then the 90 is required cause I can t get closer. I think based on Mike s images ...its a wide angle on one and a 50 on the other.
 

woodyspedden

New member
I used the 28 and 50 Lux mostly outside and the 35 Lux and 50 Lux inside.

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Mike

The more I look at your images the more I am impressed. You have really caught the spirit of the people and places you visited and conveyed the difficulty of the lives led by many if not most.

You may want to think about an electronic book to put all this in one place and hopefully get some people interested in buying it.

Woody
 

Terry

New member
Mike,
These look great so far. I echo Jack. I keep thinking I am going to sell a body and then I gout out and shoot with two and say "what was I thinking". Today I went for extremes.... 12 and 75 cron. Not the most useful focal lengths but it was fun (and hot and humid).
 
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