My 1st “Official” Book Puchase

So, after quite a while I finally gave in and bought myself a “photo book”. I have bought photo-magazines mostly (or all of the time) and any photo “book” that I do have, has had a questionable acquiring to say the least.

The reason why I never bought a photo-book is mainly due to the fact that I didn’t see any “reference” value in it… once you finished the book, it was over! Now I am not talking about books that ARE meant for going back and referring to them till u get the trick a 100%. Example of that would be Joe McNally’s Hot Shoe Diaries. Magazines on the other hand, tend to have the “look again, see again, feel again” effect. One might want to look at the pic he/she sees in a magazine once more at a later time just ‘cuz it’s – good to look at !

I have always been very interested in X-Games and more so photographing it. However, with a lot of things in life, they never happen and so I have (as yet) not experienced it. Will I? I certainly plan and hope so!

I came across some shots of Mike Blabac while checking out videos on YouTube and saw someone doing a review of his book. Gorgeous pics, Splendid design, Hardcover, Lot of pages – just had to have it! The book is definitely a collector’s must esp. if he/she is into skateboarding and the like.

I will take snaps of all the photo-books I have as soon as I get my room organized… which apparently is a 2-day ordeal!

 

Salad – O – Shrimp

Was so bored in the evening today that I decided to cook! I do cook but once in a purple moon!!

I wanted to make some shrimps and decided on combining it with leftover salad. I fried the shrimps with veg. oil, freshly squeezed orange juice, orange zest and soy sauce… sprinkled some black pepper while they fried in the pan.

After about 10-15 mins. the shrimps were ready and just laid them on the salad – all ready to eat!

Didn’t expect it to turn out so well… the orange juice and the soy sauce did do the trick. The salad was itself marinated with lemon juice and black pepper.

 

An Encounter With Film – Once Again!

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It had been a VERY long time since I picked up my film camera… and to be honest, it happened because I don’t have a DSLR anymore and to top it off – my digital point-n-shoot got stolen from the car as well.

There was a model-photographer meetup that I wanted to attend, but not having a DSLR was disappointing esp. because I knew I wouldn’t be able to give away the “files” anytime soon. Nevertheless, I head out and bought  rolls of film – Kodak Ektar 100 and Ilford Delta 3200.

I wanted to see if I still “had it in me” … if I could still shoot film – and mind you, I NEVER have used a light-meter. I always have taken educated guess and metered it using my eye. Never has failed!!

I didn’t take lot of shots of Hayley at the meetup but these two were my favorites. Taken with the Ilford 3200 b/w. I did crop it in LR and did do a little bit of touch-up, but not to much.

The colored shots are from the Kodak. The Cat tails and the leaves with the sun peeking… both hand held and I must admit I am proud of myself that I pulled it off without any trouble.

In both the shots with Kodak I used the 50mm f/1.2 Ai-S lens. Whereas with Hayley, I used the 50mm and also 35~135mm f/3.5~4.5 Ai-S lens.

There was the added cost of developing and scanning of the 2 film rolls, it took a whole month before I sent them to the lab! This is something that really annoyed me. I don’t know if it was the cost issue or what… but film does hold you back!

One thing that definitely annoyed me was that I couldn’t change from color to b/w and vice-versa! I had to complete the roll or kill it if I really wanted to shoot in a different mode or film. So different an experience from using digital. But then again, it’s a whole other experience to begin with – Slow and Easy !!

 

Leaves On Fire

Taken with my LG Optimus G (13mp) phone.

 

PRIZED POSSESSIONS

Everyone has a prized collection that he/she for some reason cherishes like no other thing they possess. It can be a $1 million trophy or even a handful of sand from their homeland… sometimes, it is just Faith that people have of what is utmost value to them, letting go of all worldly possessions 

It may sound materialistic and obsessive at first, but it actually is never the price that determines the value of the object in the possession. Two things add value – it’s rarity and the emotions related with it. The rare and/or the more emotionally attached the person is to this object, the more valuable it is to him/her. Rarity brings about a general value that his/her peers and fellow enthusiasts can appreciate – Emotions is strictly personal for the owner.

I too have in my possession such an object, and it is both – very rare and emotional. Its my Minolta Mirror magazine collection dating from 1976 ~ 1993 in mint condition. I have all the editions that Minolta printed except for the 1975 & 1977. (If there’s anyone out there who has these two, please let me know)

Looking at the photographs in these magazines that were all done on film, it gives a sense and a measure as to how much crappy shots are being taken with the advent of digital. I started with film back in ’88 and I still remember thinking twice, thrice… sometimes four times before pressing that shutter. When not shooting, I just held the camera to my eye and tried to see things through the viewfinder. It was like training my eye to see how the camera would see. To pre-visualize a scene and see how it might look if I actually shot it.

The richness of Kodachromes and Velvias among other films that photographers swear upon, can all be seen and appreciated through the beautifully printed photographs featured in the magazine. As someone said in a forum regarding the quality of print and paper of Minolta Mirror “It would cost a fortune to print such a magazine if someone were to attempt it now”. The only magazine that has “dared” to print with such quality has been LensWork. 

I for one, am very happy and grateful, that I’ve had the good fortune of owning such a collection. Ironically, it makes me really sad and breaks my heart when I am reminded that film is no longer a viable option in these fast-paced times. The discontinuation of a giant company like Kodak speaks volumes and is a sure tell-tale sign of the future of film.

It took a lot of work to scan the front and back covers of the 17 magazines and at same time being very careful not to “hurt” my precious!! The worst part is, when I was done scanning, I discovered a website where all that had been done !! Can’t say how frustrated I got, but it sure was a good exercise.

There are still a few MM’s floating around on Ebay… be sure to get your copy while it’s there. You’ll be happy you did!!

 

Street-Fashion-Ography

I was watching DWTV channel early this morning (at around 4am..lol) and saw an interesting episode from their SHIFT series.

They showcased a trend among fashion students in Germany shooting everyday folks wearing anything interesting and fashionable. One might take it as Street-Fashion-Ography by the looks of it!

One person who is well ahead in the game has his website called FASHIONAIRE and his Blog is worth a visit as well. He even sells new and “cool” merchandise and apparels through his website.

 

Experience With The Olympus Mju-II

So finally after buying the Olympus µ-II from Ebay and running two rolls of (unknown) B/W film through it… I finally got the developed film back, scanned on the CD.

I must say, I am a little disheartened by the results; but maybe I shouldn’t be, considering it took me quite an effort getting accustomed to the “parallax”, and then there’s this film I never used and it stood on the table for a while before I sent it out for developing.

Out of 2 rolls of film, I could salvage 4-6 “decent” pictures that I can show around… definitely feeling a really big blow on self-esteem!!

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Let me know what ya’ll think ?!

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