Folks Of Interest Where In the Hell is David Perry?

Fatlucky was so dreamy! Great night of drinks one Christmas at our historic hotel here about 20 years ago. His mom lived here.

 

The closest I came to meeting David was when I went with my buddy Guido to Tardel's place in Santa Rosa years ago. We were gonna swing by David's place on the way back but he said we could not hang out that day because he was shooting nude models. That right there speaks volumes of being a true professional by not letting some random people show up at an intimate photoshoot and causing discomfort to the models, and I've heard plenty of horror stories of total creep "photographers" that would probably allow such things. He's definitely in a league of his own, no lie.

 

Damn I love this place. Thanks Boss!

 

Yes this is about David, but Ansel Adams is mentioned,,,, I had a friend that mentored with Adams,,, and Adams would do a set-up and yes wait, but while waiting he would shoot shot after shot with a Polaroid test set watching the lighting come into being and just before the allotted time, the assistants would bring out the 5X7 or 8X10 film backs and he would make one maybe two shots,,,,

 

Great stuff

 

I worked with a phtog that did test shots like that as well.

 

Great write-up and interview! David Perry has always been a major influence to me, maybe even THE main influence. His photography made me want to have a traditional hot rod / custom car AND to take photos of it.

 

I shot film for 20+ years and digital, more recently, for roughly the same amount of time. And I still have trouble wrapping my head around the "spray and pray" approach to photography. But I am trying to loosen-up a little bit.

 

a true artist

Good Stuff !!

 

Hello,

The photos are pretty nice and the salt flats version is outstanding. A photographer with digital access and a great choice of film cameras from those times when we all worked as much magic as we could, with what we had. My brother was the first to do many things in family. He was doing stuff when I was just tagging along for ride.

He was the first to get a new 35mm film camera, an assortment of fast, telephoto lenses and a wide variety of accessories. I had no idea that he was "into" photography. This was part of his recovery process from the drag racing incident. But, because he was walking around shooting things, it was an early discovery of how to shoot and what, not just point and shoot.

His stack of photo books and catalogs were piling up as fast as our hot rod magazine collections. At the time, I was the 16mm color movie film guy. But by this time, the movie camera was taking a break and the 35mm cameras started to give me a different way to do something I liked. My brother had an Asahi Pentax camera and was exploring things like never before. The recovery from the burns was an eye opener as far as his developing artistic side was concerned.

A David Perry choice

The Asahi Pentax was the same camera as the Honeywell Pentax in the USA. They were made as Asahi and rebadged/copyrighted as Honeywell Pentax cameras, when they were sold in the USA. But, his choices were still growing and one day, he had a new Nikon 35mm camera with a huge telephoto lens attached in front. In the accessory bag were several other sizes of fast 35mm lenses for a variety of photo situations. (very similar to the Nikon of David Perry.)

Jnaki

So, my brother’s left over camera came as a surprise to me and this allowed me to start exploring with a simple 35mm film camera. The set included, a fast lens for all around light modes and a semi telephoto for distance photography without infringing on some people’s “up close and personal” space.

As I got better in photography, not just a point and shoot, but using composition, angles, experimental lens and F stop explorations allowed me to create different style of photos. But, as those days showed us, what ever we did, we had to wait until the photo store developed our films as small prints.

Now, the digital camera made it easier for those that just point and shoot, as well as multiple shots of the same subject. So, one of the photos is going to be close and accurate enough to make a nice print. But, the main thing is not just point and shoot, but still the basics of photography that we all learned is/was composition. The quality of the photo, not just a point and shoot anything without detracting from the main emphasis, was the key to a good photograph. YRMV

As far as David Perry’s other admiration is concerned, I must say it takes some skills and determination to keep such a fine sailboat in great condition. In our sailing adventures, it took some doing to fight against nature for that best experience available, while out in the deep ocean or coastal cruising. We only had a fast 30 foot sailboat, but to have a large sailboat with two masts and 4 sails takes some skill and finesse to control it in all sorts of situations.

Now, maintenance was another matter. We had an all fiberglass sailboat with perhaps rails and a hatch made of teak. But, they in themselves, presented a major upkeep to have them stay pristine while sailing every week. The larger the sailboat, the more there is to maintain and keep in top shape. So, there are no failures while enjoying the moment of quiet running, in some deep dark blue waters. Kudos to Mr. Perry as his choice of sailboats is to be admired for the skill it takes to handle it and to have the patience to keep up the teak maintenance. Bravo!

Impressive to say the least…

WHERE IN THE HELL IS DAVID PERRY? Take a guess... Where else would he be? My wife and I certainly would be on that teak decking enjoying all the boat and sailing experiences the ocean provides.

 

I did commercial photography in NYC and also worked for Lockheed both in film and digital and never worked in the spray and hope style of photography. I was taught to make ever shot count as film was expensive and yes composition was and is important. I now do printmaking from images of cars that I have taken over the years, and am glad to have payed attention to composition and not wasting my time on hundreds of worthless images. even computers don't have limitless storage

 

My copy of hot rod is in my small shelf next to my bed

inspiring