AI the way it should be / April 5, 2023 by David Korchin

Image created by Dall-e 2. Prompt by David Korchin.

Glitchy, surreal and not of this world. I’m trying to avoid perfectly rendered imaginings done by a mystery hand—keeping this output to a lo-fi experiment, means (for me) ensuring the viewer will always know who and what is behind the image-making.

These photos were not created through a lens of my own taking—a machine generated the scenes. I wrote the prompts, converted the results to B&W and removed the watermarks. It left me thinking about collaboration; no longer with assistants and models and producers and retouchers (don’t forget editors and reps) but with lines of code, with a system beneath my touchpad and at the end of a wire.

Though I had less to do with bringing these subjects into the world, I feel empathy with who they are (or were; the algorithm assembles from images it’s fed). But I asked a machine to usher them onto the screen. I guess I feel responsible for how they’ll inhabit this world.

night walks / January 23, 2023 by David Korchin

Backyard strolls on Shelter Island, NY. I’m always surprised how smartphone cameras are able to see at night.

Lumix GF1, an appreciation / January 9, 2023 by David Korchin

**Panasonic Lumix GF1 + 20mm f1.7 ASPH circa 2009—still a Beautiful User.**

I watch with amusement the rediscovery of image making with 20-something-year-old point-and-shoot cameras. Celebs, GenZers and Influencers are rooting through eBay and their grandparents' desk drawers in search of an authentic PowerShot, EasyShare, Cyber-Shot, or CoolPix experience, bolstered by social media snappers using these older tools to tell their stories today. Bravo! The best camera is the one in your hand, as the saying goes.

**Lumix GF1 20mm ASPH f2.8 1/2000th ISO 100**

The trend reminds me that good tools still have teeth, when cared for and used judiciously; that you don't need to forever chase pixels, sensors and software to create work that communicates your vision. So I'll probably chew through another dozen memory cards before I part with my Panasonic Lumix GF1 from 2009. It was the third member of the Four-Thirds G-line from the brand, supports a wide range of lenses and mounts (I have used both Nikon and Leica glass on the camera) and, crucially, shoots RAW files. Autofocus is always an adventure, the battery lames out early, and card read/write is unspectacular.

**Lumix GF1 20mm ASPH f2.8 1/1250th ISO 125**

I use the tilting Lumix DMW LVF1 electronic viewfinder for better aim—the line resolution feels like watching an old Trinitron. This compact EVF gives the rig a better feel for street shooting at odd angles.

**Lumix GF1 20mm ASPH f2.8 1/1250th ISO 160**

**Lumix GF1 20mm ASPH f2.8 1/320th ISO 100**

The GF1's chief attraction, though, is its tiny dimensions, about the size and heft of a deck of cards, and the 20mm f1.7 Lumix ASPH lens keeps the package thickness to a minimum.

**Lumix GF1 20mm ASPH f2.8 1/125th ISO 100**

Only a year later the Fujifilm XT line would figure out how to jam triple the power into something just as compact. These days I shoot on a number of platforms, but always with me as a wandering fellow traveler is the 14 year old GF1—a coat-pocket friendly camera with tight specs that still shoots fantastically well, even for 2023.

Venezia, bianco e nero / January 5, 2023 by David Korchin

Ponte dei Sospiri (“*Bridge of Sighs*”), Venice IT

It’s probably one of the most visited—and photographed—cities in the world. Winter, I thought, would be a good time to point a lens and without throngs of tourists becoming part of the scene, though there are many great photographers who make crowds the essential subject. My first hours were pretty snap-happy, having never visited before. But after a few days I felt if I ever shoot another gondola scene again it’ll be too soon. Here are a few night time frames, gallery views and isolated moments.