From the Keyboard of Joe Neckbone: February 2018

Some of you may know, first and foremost I AM a street photographer. I don't do weddings, babies, portraits or even worse, fucking pets. No! No! And Hell No! I'm a street photographer, and my beat is capturing events as they happen on the street. Protests especially are fascinating to shoot because they present many different characters and action that happens spontaneously.

Living in NYC offers some unique opportunities since there is always something going on. In addition, the city itself is a character, often the biggest character, in many of my photos. NY is a photographers city, offering some of the most (and fairly easily accessible) spots to capture the city and its residents in so many ways.

I love New York City, it is my home, my canvas, and my model.

A Little Background

So who the hell am I? A little of my photography background and training is in order. I started off as a film photographer and literally worked my way through college shooting for the Public Affairs office (thanks to your tutelage Bruce O'Hara!). I did more than my share of shooting graduations, donations, celebrations and every other dog and pony shows surrounding and in support of that school. At one point I was spending over 40 hours a week shooting events, then off to the darkroom processing and printing photos to be sent to donors, published, included in press releases, etc.

Needless to say, I burned out and crashed - - hard! It was many, many years before I picked up a camera again. By then photography had transitioned from film to digital, and with the tech advances in photography in the new millennium, piqued my curiosity.

Digital offered new ways of doing old things, and for those of us who grew up and learned with film, this has reinvigorated and reawakened a love for capturing the world through a lens -- again!

My Gear

First off, I rarely, if ever, buy new equipment. Being in NYC you have access to some of the highest quality used gear the industry has to offer. Adorama, B&H Photo, and Unique Photo & Video over in Jersey offer some seriously high quality used gear. And if you are patient you can find top quality cameras and lenses for well under $200.

If I do ever buy new its always lenses. Good lenses are highly coveted by photographers and many digital cameras use older film lenses quite well.

Something to note is that Adorama and B&H Photo are NOT open on Saturdays and close early Fridays as per Jewish custom, so if you plan on shopping with them do it in the week or on Sunday!

For cameras I used a combination of three (all bought used):

Canon EOS Rebel XSi
(Even though this is a small DSLR, it's much bigger than the other two below)

Panasonic Lumix LX5
(a point & shoot and the smallest camera of the bunch, my everyday camera)

Olympus PEN E-PL2
(this guy is also small, not much bigger than the Lumix above)

The Micro 4/3 Standard

For street photography, I can't say enough about the relatively new Micro 4/3 standard. Why? The size and weight! Lugging heavy, expensive equipment around on the subway and bus is no joke, and in NYC having lightweight gear allows you to be out on the street for long periods, with less wear and tear on you! It also lets you hide your gear in times of "stress".

I have been to more than a few protests and rallies where anxious police will literally smash your gear if violence breaks out. You can literally throw this puppy in a bag almost instantly and get the hell out of dodge.

So What About the Bag?
Yep, your bag is almost as important as your gear since it will protect your gear when not in use AND if you have room can be your mobile office. Strategically purchasing your bag should not be done in haste. I use a combination of bags depending on the weather, shooting conditions and gear choice.

I use this bag from Wal-Mart as my go-to daily bag. For $13 bucks it's a steal. It holds my camera, gear and a 15 inch Chromebook, mouse and assorted accessories. You need to add a bit of foam padding to the bottom to protect your gear but it can pack a day's worth easily, including a laptop/tablet and accessories. I use an APE case foam insert to protect my camera gear from bumping around and the elements since this backpack is rain resistant, but not rain or snow proof.

I also use this bag

This is the big boy, the Lowepro Flipside 300. When I want to lug ALL the gear out for a serious day of shooting with various lenses, filters, tripod, etc.