Hopes & Desires 2012 ~ ????

Well, it’s been hell of a long time since I actually “wrote” something on my blog and so today I decided to do just that.

I have been all this, however, watching trends and going “ooh!” and “aah!” over camera gear ranging from Medium format to DSLRs to Rangefinders and even the most popular Mirrorless compacts.

I have been day-dreaming and making a “wish list” (more of a goal), that I hopefully will meet, and money wasn’t the (main) deciding factor since my list was made to cater for LIFE… as long as I would live and continue shooting, I know I wouldn’t need anything else and the gear would not break on me.

Its a bold statement, but I honestly believe that if you know what you want and more importantly why you want (that specific thing), you can find contentment and peace of mind that few of us have actually been blessed with these days esp. due to the aggressive marketing of camera companies.

So anyways, the first step to how I came to recognize what I want came from knowing what kind of shooter I am and what kind of tools are required for the job. Now, this might be a tricky question since one CAN do the same job with varied tools/camera system or one may want to use something that’s an overkill and not even know it’s an overkill. For example – a macro shot of a flower (that’s intended for personal use) can be taken by a point-n-shoot or a mirrorless camera, or DSLR or even a top of the line digital medium format. What should one in this case use?! The thing that would determine is the print size. Most point-n-shoots are now well equipped with excellent optics and image quality that would suffice personal use. But you ask “What if I have the money to buy and use a medium format?!” Well, that is where I think is the “overkill” part comes to play!

Therefore, I made a list of the camera gear I will need and that I can use regularly and not be overwhelmed by deciding “which one do I use?!”. Instead of buying a couple of the same bodies (not talking about or referring to professional shooters here, but just hobbyists that splurge on equipment), I’d rather buy a single body that is the next step or better than the two I was buying and invest more on glass.

So here’s My List that includes all camera bodies and lenses – and all formats : -

POINT – & – SHOOT

Fuji X-Pro1 (w/ all the 3 lenses on offer)
Ricoh GRD IV
Minolta TC-1
Olympus Mju II
Nikon 28Ti

SINGLE LENS REFLEX

Nikon D4
(w/ these lenses)

17~35mm f/2.8D
24~70mm f/2.8D
70~200    f/2.8D
CZ Makro-Planar T* 100mm f/2

RANGEFINDERS

Minolta CLE
Hasselblad XPAN II

MEDIUM  FORMAT

Pentax 645D with manual focus lenses

COMPUTER SYSTEM AND ACCESSORIES

CPU/Desktop   : Mac Pro G5
Monitor            : NEC MultiSync PA271W

Printer   : Canon PRO-1
Scanner  : Epson V750-M Pro

Ext. HDD : DROBO S 2nd Gen

Equipment Storage   : XDry CS-151SS
Lighting Equipment  : PROFOTO Acute B2 600 Air S

Everything on this list is an outcome of long, long, long sleepless nights and dreaming and researching. I have not chosen “best of the best”, but rather tried to balance practicality, budget concerns and quality.  I am not sure when I will buy the Pentax, but when I do it’ll be the last piece of my arsenal. The only reason I want to go for Medium format is for doing landscapes. Choices can definitely make you go crazy!!

So far, I have managed to acquire just the Oly Mju II, and I was lucky enough to find one in a very good condition and at a very good rate. I am just being lazy and haven’t had the time to sell my stuff I already have and invest that money into the list.

Well, thanks for reading all of this if you did… I would be grateful if you could give me suggestions and voiced opinions!

 

Shots From The Passenger Side

Shot with my HTC Incredible from the passenger side window. Came out pretty neat I’d say… Wouldn’t you?! :-)

 

Street Shot of an Unusual Kind

Shot this from the hip… came out pretty nicely I think!

 

Camera Wars

A Super War!!

 

Between FILM & DIGITAL Camera

It’s been a struggle between photographers and critics alike as to which is a better “medium” – film or digital. As digital camera technology grew and became more and more convincing, the photographers also lend it a hand and gave it a shot. Critics, however, took the safe side and voted for film. This “war” between the two has lasted for almost 8 years now, and I can very safely say that digital sensors have made their mark, if not making film obsolete – yet!

I too stood back and watched back in the days when either fate of film and digital was in question and decided. However, I did take the plunge and bought myself, first a digital point & shoot, and later in 2006 the Nikon D200. Was most happy and satisfied I might say… but the quench for the “ultimate” never left. Always greedy for newer gadgets, always keeping an eye for the newer body that would come out and dreaming about it even though not having the means to afford one. I found this surprisingly common among photographers – professionals and amateurs alike, to lust over newer bodies and always so very eager to find fault or reason to buy the next thing that hit the shelves. As I would like to believe, this was not the case in the old days of film. One bought a camera and stuck to it for at least a few years before he/she went on to something new. The purchase of newer lenses then was the thing back then, not camera bodies. It was buying a “system” and not just “features”… you went for Canon or Nikon or Minolta .. and built that “system” with it’s lenses and accessories. Now, it’s all about getting newer bodies and doing away with the “old” one.

I believe one of the biggest factors for this change of attitude is the amount of advertising and publicity the product receives, sometimes even before anyone has even seen the product eg. in the case of Nikon D4?! Its been just over a year the D3s came out and everyone want something new already.

I think it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the “joy of capturing a moment” has deteriorated to “recording a scene”. Shooters shoot just about anything, no limits, no fixed number of frames, no thought process involved – just pressing that shutter!

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Totally Blue

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To see the photos in full grandeur… check this “link“

 

 

 

 

Blonde Grass

Took this shot with my HTC Incredible phone … edited in LightRoom 2

 

Another One In Blackness

A silhouette of a tree against the sky… taken with HTC Incredible using the Retro Camera app

 

The CMYK Look !!

Oh! well, looking at LOADS of pictures on Flickr! and other websites just makes one more and more frustrated… esp. if he can’t do his art the way he likes and wants to!! I guess that’s what happened to me the other day, sitting on my bed, and started shooting the bedsheets!

Seemed really bizarre at first, but then I thought what the heck, who cares and who’s gonna say anything anyways… but yeah, I put it out on the internet for all to see and let me know what they think 

 

A Visit To Tahoe

 

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It was a very longed for trip that I took with my parents to Lake Tahoe recently. I had been wanting to go and see Lake Tahoe in Nevada, USA for a very long time. The beauty and grandeur the place had earned had always beckoned me for a visit.

Unfortunately, however, I was without any “decent” camera that I could take along and shoot to my heart content. All I had was my Ricoh GX200 that I could use. The whole plan to go to Lake Tahoe was so sudden that I didn’t even get time to rent a camera. Life is so ironic I thought to myself, that all these years of waiting and wishing to visit the place and I being a photographer, didn’t have a camera to myself!

Well, so be it I thought, of course with a lot of anger and regret to say the least. I consoled myself by saying that this wasn’t going to be the ONLY visit I could or would make and there will be more visits.

So with whatever I had, I took these snaps and yes my Ricoh did make me happy as much as it could… I hope that you will enjoy the shots as much as I do !!

 

* You can see the images bigger on my Flickr! page… My Flickr! *

 

Retro Tree

Taken with my HTC Droid Incredible… Retro Camera app

Posted from WordPress for Android

 

The Road On Fire

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I am working on a project called “Road On Fire” It’s about abstract and surrealism, a play of light and darkness. where colors rule and set the mood of the viewer.

Shooting with my trusty Ricoh GX200 I am finding this really amusing and interesting how these patterns and “images” form. I hope you enjoy!

More to come.. hope you keep coming back!!

~ Dont forget to comment & link back!! ~

 

China Town

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So I was in San Francisco the other day… particularly in China Town. Took some snaps, although didn’t have a Hasselblad or D3 or 1Ds Mk II, but I did have my Ricoh GX200… I’d say it served me well – wouldn’t you?!

 

Cheers To The Sky!!

Ricoh GX200

ISO 64 – RAW- Edited on Adobe LightRoom 2.0

Usually, the most simplest of images are the hardest to create or emulate. This shot was by accident. I was out on my balcony and was having orange juice… The blue sky, orange in the juice, and the clear white railing all came together in my mind’s eye.

I think one has to surround him/her self with images and art if he/she wants to “see” more… we all have numerous occasions that can turn into master pieces, but we fail to see them because we haven’t trained our eye to see… and it goes without saying that the eyes only see what the mind knows!

 

Moon of Shabaan

RICOH GX200

Edited on LightRoom 2

So I stepped out in the balcony the other day and was greeted with this spectacular view!! This is the moon on the 3rd of Shabaan, which is the 8th month of the Islamic calender.

 

SAILAWAY…

Shot from my Kayak in Visona Lake Park in Los Gatos, California

 

Hanging Future

 

Cloud # 9

RICOH GX200

Shot in Afternoon….

 

Raddish Me Good !!

Ricoh GX200

 

SINGLENESS

RICOH GX200
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA - USA