Welcome To Opening Day

No, it isn't baseball (although I love my Arizona Diamondbacks).  No, this new blog is dedicated to all things photography.  I hope to provide a fun interesting read along with lessons in photography, real life reviews reviews of products I use, and just the day to day life of this photographer.  I will try to hit on things that I haven't seen before on the internet, as well as new things I pick up along the way.

So who is the guy behind the keyboard?  My name is Eric Evans, the double E initials becoming E squared, or E2, hence the name of this blog.  :-)  I am a photographer in Phoenix, Arizona.  I have been a landscape photographer since 2005 and have recently moved into portrait and wedding photography.  I have worked with 35mm, and medium format (6x6) film, and more recently digital photography.

Currently all of my Eric Evans Fine Art sites (including this blog) feature a picture of this camera.

Camera: Nikon D80      

Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G

Focal Length: 55mm

Shutter: 1/60

Aperture: f/5.6

Flash: SB-600

There is a reason.  Without this camera, we wouldn't be speaking right now.  The camera before you is a Petri f/1.9.  This camera which was manufactured in 1959 was purchased by a doctor who would bring it with him through the Vietnam War as a medic.  Some time later, he befriended my father who was an airframe and powerplant mechanic maintaining (and flying) this doctors airplanes.  He at some point passed this wonderful small rangefinder camera to my father, and I do remember seeing my father take photos with it.  Over the years I have grown a fondness for antique items, and remembered that old Petri well.  One day, just because of that love of antiques, my father passed the old Petri on to me.  I was ecstatic.  I had dabbled in photography for many years, and did well with what I had, but I couldn't quite achieve what was in my head, so being that I have high standards for myself i was always disappointed.  When I got that old Petri it allowed me to get more expressive and have more control.  With the first roll of film eagerly put in, and armed with an old Sekonic light meter from eBay I was off.  That first roll sold me, don't get me wrong, shots 1-22 fell short of my eye once again, but shot 23...  when I was inside with dim lighting coming through a window, to low of light to register on the old selenium cell light meter...  I winged it, f/1.9 (all the aperture she had) and 1/50 sec shutter speed...  When I got the results they were magic.  When I took the picture I hadn't realized the implications of that wide open aperture yet, but the low key lighting and the short depth of field as my daughter played her game brought her into sharp focus while everything else melted away into a soft blur.  I wish I had the photo to share, if I find the old negatives I most certainly will.

That Petri doesn't get much use now days, but I still love it, and it gave me that spark.  It still sits on display in my living room, it is a piece of art in and of itself.

Thank you for reading.