Luminous Landscape Forum
Site & Board Matters => About This Site => Topic started by: Schewe on May 20, 2016, 12:36:21 am
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Folks,
The Sad News thread has it's use to express sadness and grief and no reason to stop posting to it but...
I'm sure that Michael would not want to dwell on the sadness of his passing but in the vein of a New Orleans death march, I suggest we also post a thread that is a loving memory of Michael by posting stories and photos of Michael. I posted a shot in the other thread which is my memory of Michael on that trip but I took a LOT OF TRIPS with Michael.
The shot below is from the second Antartica trip in 2007. I have no friggin' clue where we were but due to the EXIF metadata I know it was 5:01:36 AM on Feb 12 2007. This was the 'long trip" (19 days at sea). The reason I like this shot is the look of love in Michael's eyes. He was seeing something he loved and that's what I loved about Michael...his love and passion for photography.
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/VB7J3762.jpg)
In fact, let me offer a call to action...go through your Lightroom catalogs and look for shots of Mike. That's what I did all afternoon to find that shot posted on the other thread. Post the images and any funny stories about Michael, Chris, Kevin and others on the various trips taken with Mike. I started going through all the trips I took with Michael and Chris and I was shocked at how many times I shot with Mike!
After I did this, I really felt better remembering all the good times with Mike. Hope it works for you too...
P.S. I really, REALLY like the shot of Mike that Nick did and would love to get a print of it...maybe we can trade print of Mike. I shot Mike a LOT (we did a lot of trips and videos together) so I'll keep posting images as I find them.
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Jeff,
Bravo... Wonderful shot, wonderful idea.
Rand
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Did you know that Michael loved hats?
I remember him always wearing hats outside.
This shot was from our trip to San Miguel de Allende (his southern house) to shoot the Lightroom 4 (I think maybe it was LR5) video tutorial.
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/_1040154-2.jpg)
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Jeff,
Bravo... Wonderful shot, wonderful idea.
Rand
Yes!
Smashing idea Jeff!
I really think you have captured the spirit of Michael with your suggestion.
Tony Jay
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Thanks for everything Michael!
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Another Michael shot rather atypical (meaning it's blurry as heck but it's a shot of Mike!)
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_2708.jpg)
If you look close you can see it's Michael...
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I absolutely love the outtake that Kev & Chris posted on the main website of a recent review< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziIisIuzwe0>
There are a ton of bloopers that Michael and did over the years...the problem is there are WAY too many bloopers and it would take Chris a lifetime + to go back and find and edit them...but let me promise you if Chris ever did that, you would be rolling in the isles with the FUBARS Mike and I did...
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Another Michael shot rather atypical (meaning it's blurry as heck but it's a shot of Mike!)
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_2708.jpg)
If you look close you can see it's Michael...
Great idea! I think we can also see he was still using a Canon back then?:)
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Great idea! I think we can also see he was still using a Canon back then?:)
Yet another shot of Mike–he used to kinda hiss at me because I used to shoot a lot of shots of him over the years).
The upside is I have a lot of shots of Mike kinda pissed at me...the downside is I don't give a crap!
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_2929.jpg)
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Another shot of Mike aiming at me–not sure what everybody was aiming at–clearly I wasn't an interesting subject (or was I?)
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/VB7J6668.jpg)
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Another shot of Mike in my studio Jan 2006 shooting some video
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/VB7J0815.jpg)
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Another shot of Michael...June 5th 2010.
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/Mike-003.jpg)
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I never had the pleasure of meeting Michael, although I feel that through The Luminous Landscape, we've been in conversation for many years!
It was Michael and The Luminous Landscape's articles about quality printing that led me into using a Nikon 8000ED to produce huge, beautiful monochrome tiff's from the 6x7cm negatives from my RB67, and then printing those on an Epson R3800. I still use that method for what I like to call "slow photography".
It was articles on Luminous Landscape that enabled me to move the work I did using the Zone System into a digital regimen employing RAW files.
It was comparing against those as a standard that won me over to the X-Pro1, a camera Michael really understood.
I still use Picture Window Pro, after first learning about it, lo, many versions ago, on Luminous Landscape.
So Michael, and Luminous Landscape, eased my transition into the digital realm, and he had a shaping influence on the methods I still pursue in photography today.
Memory Eternal, Michael Reichmann!
With thanks,
DadDadDaddyo
Michael P. Pelikan
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Jeff great idea! To assemble the little gallery and images for the article I went through a lot of trips we had done. It helped with my grief and made me smile a lot and remember the good times. In the end as I am still in Toronto trying to come to grips with things I realize more and more what Michael would have wanted from all of us. A smile a laugh and good times. He would most likely be telling us get off your asses and get out there and take some photos. I have been shooting each day since I have been here and it is the best therapy I know. So, once I finish a cup of coffee I am heading out to wander the street of Toronto with the Fuji X-Pro 2 and a bag of lenses. I'll think of him each step along the way and do him proud.
Jeff, thanks for starting this thread.
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Thank you for starting this thread Jeff, and leading off with such a wonderful capture.
I only met Michael once and don't have any photos, but he gave me some great advice about cropping when he reviewed some of my prints during a workshop at his gallery (ie some times in camera cropping/composition doesn't always get it right .. at least for me!) that I still listen to, to this day.
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Michael had such a great smile and looked so happy, so often. Either the pure joy of seeing and shooting, or the pure joy of discovery.
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The image was from a workshop that Michael held at his old studio in downtown Toronto. I flew up from NYC and as always he was a gracious host.
Several years later I had the opportunity to reciprocate. I had invited Michael to my home for some wine and cheese. I knew he loved good wine and I have a pretty decent collection. When I asked what he would like he said surprise me but that he really likes good red wine. I served him a bottle of terrific California Cab and he was dying to know what it was and who made it. I told him that after we consumed the entire bottle I would tell him. It was from the amazing Greg Gorman.
We had such a nice time chatting about many things, not just photography. I remember that he mentioned that he was off to Hawaii and was very excited about the trip. In addition, I would periodically call him to to see how he was doing through all this travail and he was always upbeat and gracious. That is how I will alway remember him.
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I joined Michael & Jay Maisel in Brazil back in 2007. I can credit Michael & LL for much of what I know and do today.
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Here's Michael trying to herd cats - i.e get a group shot of the participants of the first LL Iceland workshop in 2004. It was fun, exhausting, illuminating, exasperating and exciting all at the same time, and a formative experience for me. Michael was charismatic and engaging but at the same time thoroughly approachable and down to earth. You can see he looks pretty tired - and after 7 days practically without sleep we all were - but 3 days later he repeated the whole crazy experience with another group of willing victims.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7460/27116640555_d1c5366a4d_z.jpg)
I received plenty of sound advice and encouragement during that trip (in particular "there's no shot here", and "two minutes only, no tripods"), and the memories are still vivid.
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What a fine way to honor Michael!!
Thanks to all of you for posting these shot of him.
Chuck
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Wonderful images! Great idea Jeff.
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Proof that Michael actually DID sleep...just not when the light was good. He was a master of finding mid-afternoon naps even here down in Antarctica. From the 3rd trip at Horseshoe Bay in an unoccupied British station.
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/0R5Q0001.jpg)
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The obligitory ColorChecker card shot...shot in Niagara Falls during a shooting trip before doing the LR 3 video (I think). See Michael and his hats...this was a fav but he lost in Antarctica :~(
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/0R5Q0603.jpg)
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Amazing shots, Jeff. I'm so sad you won't do any more videos with Michael. I really enjoyed the humorous interaction of you guys. Kevin does a really great job filling up his shoes, but there was something about you two together, that I simply can't describe.
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One of my Favs of Mike...(yeah, I never said to only post "pretty" pictures of Michael! Taken in Antarctica with my favorite "assault" lens;a 10-22mm on a Canon APC camera from about 6 inches. He laughed when he saw it...it's too ugly not to love it :~)
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/0R5Q4464.jpg)
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Amazing shots, Jeff. I'm so sad you won't do any more videos with Michael. I really enjoyed the humorous interaction of you guys. Kevin does a really great job filling up his shoes, but there was something about you two together, that I simply can't describe.
Yeah it was the "Ugly American" VS the "Polite Canadian" that Michael and I hit on...it actually took a while for us to work that out. I learned about that doing a book with Martin Evening...I played the ugly American and he played the very, very civil Englishman.
Kevin and I work well together but we're both ugly Americans :~)
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Holy Antartica Jeff, that first shot of Michael is stunning, as are many others.
Your photos of Michael help us all to know and remember him better.
Please dig up more and continue posting. Absolutely fabulous idea doing this thread.
Though this thread is about fun and games, my heart goes out to you and Kevin and Chris for the loss of your dear friend and colleague, Michael. There's no shot here. But there were many shots there.
Mark
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Please dig up more and continue posting. Absolutely fabulous idea doing this thread.
Michael and Kevin in the Palouse fall of 2011...The Palouse is a weird area of modern towns and 60's towns and farms. Spring or fall are the best. We were there 2x ad the cover of the first edition of The Digital Negative was shot there...
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_0217.jpg)
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Michael with butterfly from the Niagara Falls trip...kinda funny how the butterflies congregated on Mike. Maybe something about pheromones?
Jeeesh...I didn't check focus...really sucked :~( I'll look for another take.
Edit: to remove a bad shot
So, I didn't find a good shot of Michael with a butterfly but I got a shot of one on Chris and another of Michael shooting a butterfly.
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_2542.jpg)
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_2543.jpg)
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Chris and Michael in the Falkland Islands on rip 2 to Antarctica.
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_1876.jpg)
If you never traveled with Chris and Mike it's hard to explain. Chris has the type of personality that he accepted everything with aplomb. Mike on the other hand had ZERO patients. Mike would always drive and it was kinda scary because he was looking for the shot and not the road. Mike would stop, get out, see nothing and get back in by the time I barely got out to look.
And everywhere they went (and I mean EVERYWHERE) Mike had a still camera and Chris a video camera. I don't remember ever seeing Chris with a still camera unless he was using it to shoot video.
I wonder if they ever estimated how many miles they traveled together...
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Michael on set for the original Camera To Print videos...
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_5343.jpg)
That shoot was very, very hard. We were using an app for capturing screen shot movies. The problem was it had a real propensity for crashing just before the video was saved. Which meant we had to reshoot the whole thing. The problem was is sometimes we shot for 15-20 minutes and the compression time was 2x the real time. So, we wouldn't know if we got a good saved take for 30-40 minutes–and we couldn't move to a new shot and relight until we knew we were safe. One nite we had so many crashes we were shooting till 2AM.
Which brings me to another issue when shooting with Michael– he had to do his stuff in the morning while he was fresh because by the afternoon rolled around he could barely stay awake. In fact Chris said cut because in Mexico shooting LR 5 vids, Mike actually fell asleep on camera. Would love to have that blooper...
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Please dig up more and continue posting. Absolutely fabulous idea doing this thread.
+1
Absolutely the right thing to do. Much appreciated, Jeff.
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A shot of Michael in Miami while shooting a video Where the @%#&$ are my photos! Seth was kite surfing and Mike and I were shooting him...didn't get anything worth posting other than this nice, subtle shot of Mike...
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_0616.jpg)
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Behind the scenes with Michael and Eric Chan of Adobe...
First the shot for public consumption:
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/_1050863.jpg)
Then the real MadManChan shot:
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/_1050862.jpg)
Eric was an early fan of Michael and LuLa before working for Adobe. Mike & I loved shooting segments with Eric because he was so fun to work with...this was from the LR 5.5 additional features where Eric was talking about the LLC correction script for correcting lens cast and fall off.
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To Jeff,
thanks for that, wonderful idea for a thread in deed! I had great difficulties choosing one that stands out for me, but I think in the spirit of Michael and this thread, this nails it. From 2008, 10 days with Michael.
To Michael:
Thanks for always maintaining a "balanced view" <grin>, and many thanks for the 10 days in Algonquin, quite some wonderful memories.
One last question, I know, I asked so many, but this will stay with me as well.
What camera did you choose to take along? ;D
G.R. Baumann
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We drove to a Computer place cause I wanted to pick up an external drive for my MBP, I was looking for one of those rugged fw800 Lacie’s. We were discussing all kind of things, jumping from one subject to the other, and Toronto was fairly busy.
Michael managed to overlook a ‘No right turn after 4PM’ post, I did not see it either, and of course, around the corner waits the cop with his tickets ready to make the till sing it’s sweet song for the taxman.
Michael lowers the window of his Q7 and asks; ‘What did I do wrong officer?’
The cop points out the NO RIGHT TURN and already fills out his ticket. His bodylanguage and serious face leaves no doubt, not a chance that he would back off, and he asked Michael to show him papers, insurance etc.
Passing him the papers Michael made some remarks that the cop did not like, and I can already hear something like ‘Sir, please step out of your car!’, but well, this is Canada not the US. <grin>
Nevertheless, all of the sudden the cop makes a face that leaves even less doubts, handing Michael back the papers and informing him with a "Judge Dredd" face that the Insurance expired already two years ago in 2006.
Geeze, by now, the ‘Please step out of your car Sir!’ turned into a rather realistic option.
But of course, Michael just forgot to "update his wallet" with the latest papers, and the cop refrained from incarcerating us. LOL
This trip ended with 80 something canadian bucks plus taxes, nice one. I felt guilty because this trip was only for my harddrive, so I paid for a brunch dinner at the italian, and started whistling while we drove to the restaurant .... "Always look on the bright side of life...da da..... dadudadadada.... "
Michael laughed and we both whistled the Monthy Pyton.
Later that day, back in his studio in Toronto we compared A3 prints from a Hasselblad and the Canon G10. It should turn into perhaps one of his most acknowledged articles later, and was indicative of his free mind and excellent balanced views.
The world is poorer without you Michael...
I was honored to have spent 10 days alone with him in Canada, and later he invited me to his lovely cabin at the lake for a few days, where I managed to drop a half glas of whiskey onto the carpet.... Geeze ;D
I'll never forget!
pax tecum
Georg
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I knew Michael only from the LL site and his videos with Jeff.....and I missed his presence in the last videos of LR6: the chemistry between Michael and Jeff involved a secret formula impossible to reproduce.....I liked to see and revisit the videos (even nowadays) not ony from the educational point of view but also because I enjoyed (and enjoy) the dialogues between Jeff and Michael.....in 2013 I visited Mexico for the first time and one of my desires was to visit San Miguel de Allende, for me an iconic place closely associated to Michael.....should I say that it was a marvellous day in SMA that I still remember? (and, couriously, in these days one of the images that I took there is participating in a collective exhibition in my city)....thanks Michael for your contribution to my photography and thanks Jeff for the images and thoughts about Michael!
Agustin
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This is very sad news. RIP Micheal Reichmann.
I never met the man, but have greatly enjoyed his honest and practical camera reviews on this site for many years.
A large part of my decision to switch to the Nikon D800e from Canon was after reading the original review.
LL is the best photography site there is and that's clearly down to Michael - well done.
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Not done yet!
Antarctica is one of the most forlorn and forbidding places on the planet. I just can't imagine the hardships that Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton) and he crew endured...
Here Michael is outfitted with the latest cold weather gear and camera covers...yet he doesn't seem "happy" (actually I think he was–he was just pissed I was shooting another shot of him:~)
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_8114.jpg)
Edited to fix typos
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But, don't think it was all doom and gloom down there...
Here's a shot of Michael holding our favorite beer while on board ship Beagle Beer! (http://www.welcomeargentina.com/ushuaia/beagle-brewery.html). It was surprisingly good (which was a good thing since the other beers they had was crap).
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/_MG_5494.jpg)
As I recall there was a major crisis...we ran out of Beagle beer on board. As I recall there was some bartering on the high seas; seems another Quark ship had run out of toilet paper and they had plenty of Beagle beer...so there was a covert Zodiac boat exchange to trade our TP for their Beagle beer. A fair trade! (we apparently did not use TP as much as the other ship).
More to come...I invite others to post pics too, please!
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Great thread, keep m coming!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Fun in Mexico . . .
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Michael at his best having fun and explaining . . .
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(https://luminous-landscape.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/cds_MR-9-800.jpg)
Something about this one that speaks to me of time spent with MR in Mexico. It was taken in the town of Bernal in the state of Queretaro during a marvelous trip through the Sierra Gorda with Lars Svanstrom & Michael. As always I was a guy with a camera behind the guy with the camera
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But, don't think it was all doom and gloom down there...
I remember he once blasted a book (first and foremost, images in it) about the effect global warming had on Antarctica. He argued images were manipulated (they quite apparently were), and that Antarctica was never gloomy...
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He argued images were manipulated (they quite apparently were), and that Antarctica was never gloomy...
Heh, I live in Chicago...we have a lot of gloomy days. So does Antarctica. But it also has some stunningly beautiful days. What I love is the contrast. And due to the prevailing winds, nothing seems to last long...doom and gloom one day and sunny the next.
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The thing I remember most about Michael was his intensity towards getting the shot. In that regard he was almost had a touch of Asperger's Syndrome–focused to the point that the outside world ceased to exist and the only thing that mattered was what he saw in the view finder and the precise moment to capture the image.
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_0701.jpg)
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Course, that's not to imply that Michael was not a social person...he was. Always a gracious host (although he liked Merlot :~(
This was shot in his backyard after a particularly grueling tutorial shoot.
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_5396.jpg)
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However, in the lounge of the boat on our return trip from Antarctica it was time to
rewind UNWIND and let off steam and lounge around drinking that vile merlot.
Ah fun (and Inebriated) times...(again Mike was giving me the stink-eye for shooting him).
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_8614.jpg)
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Thanks so much for helping us to get to know Michael better, Jeff.
These are wonderful. Please keep 'em coming.
-Eric
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Here's another shot of Michael focused in on the subject...however, I'm pretty sure this was Artist's Drive, Death Valley National Park. What you are not seeing are the 3 or 4 lovely "models" Kevin had imported from Vegas to serve as subjects to a bunch of landscape photographers.
Sadly I don't have any of the shots of the girls on my laptop but when I get home (it'll be a while-I'm on the road) I'll show you what Mike was aiming at :~)
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_0562.jpg)
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On of the funny things about shooting with Michael and Chris is when we were in the middle of nowhere, if we found cell service we would stop to take a pee & email break. Chris was doing LuLa admin biz while Mike was checking sports scores (just kidding, he didn't care about sports scores–I have no idea what he was checking)
You would be surprised just how much LuLa business was done from the middle of nowhere if there was cell service!
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_0766.jpg)
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Michael was not shy about pulling practical jokes as shown by this shot of Mike and Kev.
(http://schewephoto.com/misc/IMG_4633.jpg)
I wanted a nice shot of the two of them and this is what Michael gave me...
:~)
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Jeff, such nice shots! Please keep them coming. I regret that I only had those 2 I've previously posted from the dinner in NYC.
Kevin in CT
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As I go through various archives, I keep popping up photos of Michael. This is one of my favourites taken on our trip to the Kimberley, Oz. I have no idea who took it.
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Same trip: MR with Thomas Knoll & Bruce Pottinger
Shot by Cheryl Dimont I believe
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Hi,
I remember the early era of digital photography back in 2000 and 2001. Michael was one of the first pros with an extensive experience in analogue photography who approached the new technology openminded on the one hand and without overwhelming euphoria on the other hand. His attitude was realistic and pragmatic.
As I never had the luck to meet Michael in person, I want to contribute two early examples of this attitude. For me they are a kind of historical memory.
In 2000 (afair) Michael compared a DSLR (Canon`s D30) and film. He had an methodological approach but that was based on real world photos and samples instead of pixel peeping and technical gibberish. He had an opinion and he could justify it. One of his essential evaluation criteria was, how the final product - the print - would look like. He remained true to this principle for all the years and I'm glad, that Kevin shares and continues this philosophy! I have found an early copy of "D30 Vs. Provia 100F" on web.archive.org, so you can enjoy it in the old charme of Luminous Landscape:
http://web.archive.org/web/20020803213950/http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/d30/d30_vs_film.shtml
The second example I want to contribute is his wonderful comparison of Canons D30 and D60 with 35mm and medium format film. Man, how many hours have I stared at theese skyline-photos :-) Enjoy "Canon EOS D60 vs. Medium Format": http://web.archive.org/web/20021004073638/http://luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/d60/d60.shtml
Best regards from Germany,
Heiko
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I love that Wayback machine! So great to see that stuff without the formatting glitches often added by modern web authoring & browsers. BTW all those LLVJ videos exist for all members to view in the Video area of the site (https://luminous-landscape.com/videos/).
Chris
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BTW all those LLVJ videos exist for all members to view in the Video area of the site (https://luminous-landscape.com/videos/).
Thanks, Chris -- did not know D30 review was in LLVJ! Here's direct link for those interested:
https://luminous-landscape.com/videos/luminous-landscape-video-journal-issue-1/canon-eos-d30-review/
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I clearly remember first reading that D30 vs. Provia piece, along with watching the related print evaluation on the first LuLa DVD (which I still have! I also remember needing to fax my credit card info to Chris so I could get it). That piece nudged me over the hump & fully into embracing electronic photography.
-Dave-
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Jeff, and others, thanks for posting such wonderful and evocative photos of Michael Reichmann. This is really a fitting celebration of his life. In our family, we ease the pain of passage by celebrating the life of........It does not erase the sadness, but it helps us face the inevitable and see the goodness in our beloved departed ones.