December 28, 2012
I’m in Baguio right now, the summer capital of the Philippines. The weather’s great up here in the mountains, crisp, cool, autumn collection weather. I’m armed with three film cameras, an Olympus 35UC, a Ricoh R1 and a Nishika N9000 lenticular.
Film, however, isn’t a medium for instant gratification. For that, I’ve got Instagram. Here are a few of my shots.
Lone Cafe Customer
Want pot?
Casa Corridor
Film Purchase
Camera at Camp John Hay
Chef's Table
Waiting for the rain to stop
September 20, 2011
When you think about it, enjoying photography is kind of like eavesdropping on a conversation or looking over a stranger’s shoulder to see what he’s reading. It’s through photographs that we gaze at a reality only experienced by the person pressing the shutter button. We see a world we have no right to see, since we weren’t there at that precise place, at that exact time! We are voyeurs, peeping toms, mamboboso.
That Being John Malkovich feeling, this is mainly why I like reading photography books – collections or portfolios rather than how-tos. It’s also why I like rummaging through old photos in antique stores and why I am always on the lookout for orphaned rolls of exposed film, whether they be undeveloped rolls found in your grandmother’s baul or mystery rolls you find in thrift shops and junk shops.
A couple of weeks ago, while digging through the stuff at my favorite Japanese surplus store, I came across a used Konica C35 EF. The price was right and the camera was in remarkably good condition, but what sealed the deal was my realization that there was still some film inside. The indicator told me five shots had been taken. What could be on those five shots?
I’ve tried my hand with mystery film twice before, with poor results. The first roll, picked up from an antique dealer, came out totally blank. Another roll that came with my Kiev 88 had really bad photos of someone’s leftover spaghetti. I mean, wtf? Maybe the third time’s the charm?
I think so. Here are the results.
Found #1
Found #2
Found #3
Found #4
May 18, 2010
You know that erupting volcano in Iceland whose name nobody can pronounce? Here’s an AWESOME (all caps and bold because the video deserves it) time lapse video created by photographer Sean Stiegemeier using a Canon 5D Mk II and a motorized dolly.
His Vimeo page is here: Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.
December 28, 2009
My first TTV shot, cropped and adjusted in post.
One of the interesting photography projects in the book Camera Creative (read my review here) is Through The Viewfinder or TTV photography. This is when you mate a DSLR with a TLR camera, focusing and composing with the TLR and using your DSLR to capture the image on the TLR’s viewfinder. Hence, Through The Viewfinder.
Now, one normally needs to build what TTV enthusiasts call “The Contraption,” which serves as the umbilical mount between the two cameras, but I wanted to jump in right away. Here’s my first attempt shot freehand without a DIY mount.
Shooting through the lens of the TLR
November 16, 2009
I tried to do several low light time lapse sequences tonight but had focusing problems. This is the only one I am happy with.
If you go up this road, you will hit McKinley Hill, one of the swanky residential/commercial developments near our condo. Further up (this leads west), you’ll reach several Philippine Army buildings. This is Fort Bonifacio after all.
When I have an opportunity, I will revisit what I tried to shoot tonight but failed to capture.
November 14, 2009
I had meant to either hit the mountain bike trail or go boxing this afternoon, but the weekend call for lazy lounging about got the better of me. Instead of getting physical, I chose instead to flex my photography muscles by setting up this shoot.
Taken from inside our condo, this is about an hour and a half worth of time lapse photos edited as a vertical video. The camera was behind the safety glass, hence the reflections and flare. One of these days, I’ll shoot this from the roof for a really clear view.
Gear used: Canon 350D, Phottix Intervalometer and a Sigma 70-300 f/4.0. Oh, and an el cheapo tripod.
November 2, 2009
Our friends know this: my wife and I love Halloween. It’s one of the few times in the year when we can go crazy designing our costumes and makeup, go out as ghoulish as we want without being tossed in the clink for disturbing the peace. For the last few years, we’ve been going as zombies, including this year, when we went as a matching pair of maneki neko zombie cats.
We partied the night with our friends at the Terno Inferno Halloween party in Mag:net Cafe at Bonifacio High Street. Here are some photos.
Flick Off to Flickr!
October 31, 2009
Early this morning, I was roused from slumber by a gentle shake on the shoulder from my wife. “Look out the window,” she said. “You need to see this.”
I got up, shambled to the window and peered out. A blanket of gray lay upon the scene before me, which looked eerie in the darkness of the early morning. Tropical storm Santi had arrived, its clouds diffusing the light and its winds shrieking overhead. Heavy weather fan that I am, I immediately set my camera up to take time lapse photos of the typhoon.
If I lived in Kansas, I’d be chasing tornados.
June 24, 2009
RIP, KODACHROME
We knew this day would come. Kodak has formally announced that it will discontinue the sales of Kodachrome color film this year. Its last batch, #2672, rolled off a limited production line in July 2008, with an expiry date of 2009.
In 1935, Kodachrome became the first commercially successful film, making it, at 74 years old, the longest-running brand of color film. Kodachrome was used in such iconic shots as Steve McCurry’s “Afghan Girl.”
Here’s a link to the official statement from Kodak.
Here’s a tribute to this photography legend.
June 18, 2009
Image from WIRED.com
Our beloved LOMO turns 25 this Friday, June 19. A quarter century ago, the first batch of LOMO LC-A cameras rolled off the St. Petersburg-Leningrad Optical Mechanical Organization factory and began shipping, making their way, eventually, to people like you and me.
WIRED magazine has a great story on the Cheap Camera That Could, including a brief chronological history of the global phenomenon as well as LOMO images that serve to inspire. Certainly worth a read.
Here’s the link: http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2009/06/gallery-lomo/
Happy birthday, LOMO!
