Single-Serving Photo

I’m sitting on a bunch of material that I will eventually develop into full articles, but in the meantime, feast your eyes on this exquisitely detailed cross-section of a Leica lens. Just in case you were curious why these things are so expensive…

After careful inspection, I can confidently say that these are two photos of the same half of the lens from either side. I have no idea why someone would have one half of a lens and not the other half, perhaps it was just a demonstration piece. I count seven elements, but I’m really not an expert. It looks like the lens has a maximum focal length of 22mm.

Any Leica folks out there who can fill in some blanks? Leave a comment!

Edit: I just learned that this split lens was the result of some kind of educational final project. The engadget post this information comes from says that “Leica students” were permitted to cut a $4,500 lens in half as an art project. I’m not sure what a “Leica student” is, but the halves sold on eBay for almost $1,000.

So I guess if you cut a Leica lens in half, you cut its value in quarters. Or something. Still, a very cool view into the complexity of these instruments that we use all the time.

The old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” has been around since at least the ’20s—according to Wikipedia—and it’s just as true today as it was then. The phrase refers to our ability to absorb information faster in a visual mode than in a reading mode. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that all living creatures are born with the ability to see and to recognize (to varying degrees), but humans’ ability to write is something that we created.

As photographers, we are acutely aware of the truth in that statement. If you had to describe just one of your photographs in enough detail for someone else to draw it, which only touches the very mechanical surface of the depth of content that a photograph can represent, it would certainly take thousands of words. But never was this statement more demonstrably true than this month, May of 2011.

I don’t usually write about current events outside of the photography trade, but in this case I will make an exception because it has significant relevance to us. Only days ago, American special forces raided a compound in Pakistan and killed Osama bin Laden, the man responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers and for countless other acts of terrorism around the globe.

When the military undertakes an operation like this they are very careful to document everything and this case was no exception. It is now well known that at least one gruesome photograph of a shot-in-the-head Osama bin Laden exists, but such a photograph has not been released, under any circumstances or terms, to anyone.

More is shown of the true power of the photograph by this particular photograph’s absence than would ever have been shown by its release.

The Obama administration is acutely aware of what could happen if people were shown this “incendiary image,” as journalist Sean O’Hagan described it in The Guardian last Friday. By every measurement, this type of documentary recording is an area where the photograph has always held at least an assumed power, though the public may not give it much thought. This power is what keeps photojournalists in business and they hone their craft to amplify its effects. Still, if there is any greater moral to this story, it is that photography is a truly influential medium and there could be no higher calling than to use its emotional and instructive abilities for good.

I know it’s been a super long time since I’ve posted, but I assure you that it wasn’t anything you did. Perhaps it sounds like a lame excuse but as much as I enjoy sharing photography news, tips, and ideas with all of you, this blog is just a hobby and life has a way of encroaching on hobbies sometimes.

That having been said, and in the theme of “shameless self-promotion,” I would like to (very, very happily) announce that I finally posted my photos from both the Grand Teton National Park as well as Yellowstone National Park; a trip that I took nearly a whole year ago. I hemmed and hawed over which photographs to use and how to process them for an enormous amount of time.

Here’s one of my favorites from the Grand Prismatic Spring boardwalk at Yellowstone:

Because I am eternally grateful to you, my gentle readers, my loyal audience, for sticking around through months of crappy news posts and half-hearted “copy pasta” articles, I would like to offer all of you guys a special secret discount on all of my prints for the entire month.

If you visit my Yellowstone gallery or my Grand Teton gallery or my main site and you use the “add to cart” link to purchase image downloads or prints of any photo you can use the coupon code “SSP-MAY” to get 25% off your order for the entire month.

Here’s my favorite image from the Grand Tetons, taken at Jenny Lake:

You can use this coupon code as many times as you want on any images you want. Photographic prints are prepared and shipped by ExposureManager, digital downloads are available immediately (have them printed by the shop of your choice if you like).

The coupon code again is “SSP-MAY” and you can start browsing my gallery right here.