The Avengers Dress-Up

For those of you who have not seen The Avengers (are there any people left who have not seen it?) you are missing a great popcorn flick. While not a great movie, it certainly is a fun film and therein lies its merit. 

I was surprised by how much I liked it - my fear of an unfocused vision was unrealized by the director in a deft display of...direction. 

Hulk stole the show. Captain America and Thor and Loki were really good. Hawkeye was meh. Iron Man felt forced. Black Widow was wooden. 

Anyway, the above shot was taken at Sakura Matsuri 2012 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden before The Avengers was released. Amazing costume. The unfortunate thing is that the chrome film shifted and thus the yellowish hue of the image. Maybe I will cross process my other roll since they should have expired around the same time. 

Bronica SQ-A 

80mm Zenzanon PS f/2.8 

Lomo X-Pro 

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Turning People Down

This is one of the few pictures I was able to get where no one else is in the background, thus image is stronger because the focus is solely on her without any distracting element.

I approached this girl and asked if I could take a picture.  She and her friend started getting ready to pose, but I said in the least possible offensive way "I am sorry, but I meant her alone."  The friend understood and helped this girl prep for the picture by adjusting the bow and flower.

This girl was spectacular and considering that I only can take 12 images on a roll of film I need to be very selective.  I knew what I wanted and made it happen. 

 

I am really curious about her real hair.

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Parasol? and Prints

Sakura Matsuri 2012

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Bronica SQ-A

80mm Zenzanon PS f/2.8

Fuji Velvia 100F

I really dig this image as radiance emanates from this girl's smile.  I am not sure if her accessory is exactly a parasol, but she was using it as a shade from the sun.  

Beautiful kimono as well.

I got great shot after great shot at this Sakura Matsuri and it must have to do with my attitude and demeanor.  A big honest smile and a little banter will go much farther with the subject than creeping about with a camera all clandestine-like.  Get close and let all of the other photographers wait a second to make that extraordinary person feel a little more special.  Sell off your zooms!

The Bronica also helps break the ice, I think - it is a funky, but toothsome camera.

In other news - I just dropped some cash on printing photos that I have always wanted to have printed.

Finally, the bare walls in my office will be spruced up with awesomeness.

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This is Naruto...Leave a Message [Dattebayo]

 

Sakura Matsuri 2012

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Bronica SQ-A

Fuji Velvia 100F

I saw this character use the phone and rushed over to take a picture because I like the idea of a person in elaborate costume doing normally mundane things, thus making the mundane extraordinary.

He got off the phone before I could make a shot and another photographer took a regular shot, but I asked if he could pretend like he was on the phone.

Though a little quizzical, he agreed, and got on the phone and gave an intense pose like he was talking about something super important.  It really added to the image and I thanked him for playing along.

The other photographer mentioned that he was specifically waiting for the guy to get off the phone.

An unrelated story to the image: there were so many photographers at the Sakura Matsuri and naturally, most shot digital.  There were a few film-o-philes on hand shooting 35mm.  One other guy had a medium format camera - perhaps a Mamiya RZ or RB 67 - so I tipped my Bronica to him and the amazing thing is that his face expressed that he completely understood everything I said without saying a word.

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Free Fix to a $100+ Problem and Ancestors

Before Saturday (Sakura Matsuri) I had not used my Bronica SQ-A in months and months because there was a wretched light leak that was for the longest of times unidentifiable.

I took the camera to my hook ups at Lens and Repro to see if they could figure out where it was coming from and come up with a solution for me.  The resident repairman looked and identified the source most likely, but  told me he did not have the necessary parts to fix the camera and it might be best if I were to just buy a new back. 

Surprisingly the 120 back on this model is hard to come by.  And when found the price is moderately staggering: $120-$150.  Disgusting.

A 220 back can be had for $25 cuz 220 is hardly made any mo'. 

So instead of shelling out a fat wad I took matters into my own hands in the truest of true DYI methods: electric tape the bastard.

Taking a page from my Holga modification, all I did was tape over the possible light leaks and voila - problem solved.

Today I present an image that most reminds me of images that might go on the mantle or family shrine in a Japanese home:

Bronica SQ-A

80mm Zenzanon PS f/2.8

Fuji Velvia 100F

From the Sakura Matsuri festival in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

What I like about this image is the somber, serious, and happy mood it invokes, at least in me.

I know this one picture is bit more serious than the one in my last post, and people will generally not like it as much, but I really enjoy it.

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So Many Photos!

I have so many photos to upload onto flickr from the 2012 Sakura Matsuri festival that went on at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden that there will be no dearth in upcoming entries.

For now, enjoy a small taste of what is to come:

Bronica SQ-A
80mm Zenzanon PS
Fuji Velvia 100F

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The Anachronism (part IV)

This my last part in this series of entries. Just recalling parts of this event, even after about two weeks have past, brings a smile to my face.



I think this person had this serious of a look throughout the night. The parasol is an eloquent touch and adds a nice backdrop to the image.



I avoided a bluish tinge on the photograph by using a 1/2 CTO gel over the flash head.

The White Elephant Burlesque Society, led by Viktor Devonne (above), closed the evening for me. Joy, exuberance, and abandon oozed from each dancer and put a big stupid grin on my face the entire time. The finest part of their show was when Viktor started controlling a dancer with a video game joystick, but then the dancer got a hold of the joystick, which forced him to start dancing and the look on his face...priceless; he acted like the whole performance was against his will. Absolutely hilarious.

I can not wait until the Slipper Room in NYC opens again as I must inject more burlesque into my weekends.

White Elephant Burlesque Society

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Anachronism (part III)

So apparently there is a steampunk calendar. Lots of these look awesome! Also, it looks like Brooklyn is steampunk central.



I loved her piercings and geisha-esque outfit. This one may be my favorite from the night.



This mime broke character and spoke a few times throughout the night. I think this is a very fun image.

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Anachronism (part II)

anachronism [uh-nak-ruh-niz-uhm]– noun:
something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time

All the people who attended this event must have felt somewhat anachronistic, which allowed people to bond easily, let down their guard, and have a great time. To put it simply: Anachronism III was drenched with super positive energy and I loved it.



Probably the most decked out person at the event was the host: A Count Named Slick-Brass, captain of The A.S.S. Titilus. He was pushing everyone to drink, drink, drink, but drink responsibly. Unfortunately, the success of the event was judged by the bar bill, so in order to have more shows like this one, everyone needed to dig deep into their pockets and buy a couple beers. I enjoyed his hubris and he had a great and anti-politically correct sense of humor. He also won best in show at the cosplay contest, despite the fact he publicly withdrew after showing off his costume to the crowd.



She was heading up the costume contest. Incredibly outfitted in some green devil attire.

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Sakura Matsuri Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

So I was not entirely sure what to expect at the 30th annual Sakura Mastsuri festival. The programs listed throughout the day sounded fun (traditional drumming, cosplay caberet, and the art of Japanese karate to name a few) and I had been to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden before so I thought I would be able to get some beautiful shots of the cherry blossoms in full bloom; however, I did not expect the mob scene that it turned out to be.

The garden was so packed that one could not even hope to dream of getting an isolated shot of a row of trees, or even a single tree for that matter, so I focused on the characters, which turned out to be fantastically interesting:


May be my best shot of the day.


I can not explain to you how adorable this girl was.


This girl sang a bad ass version of the Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood theme song during the caberet.

This is cosplay.

Japan is big into animation and dressing up like your favorite characters from one's favorite series. What reason you ask? Fun, obviously. There are places here in the States that you can experience cosplay, like anime and comic conventions, but this was the first time I had ever experienced it in person.

It seemed like everybody attending had some DSLR on them and throughout the day I heard the rapid cycling of thousands of shutters as the photogs crowded and surrounded the people in costume, but I noted a few Leicas, a Contax, a TLR, a Pentax, a Minolta, and a Zeiss Ikon. I was happy to see that there were still a bunch of film users about.

Proudly I displayed the Bronica SQ-A to represent precision Japanese medium format photography, and let me tell you, every time I use this camera I fall more and more in love with it - even my subjects like being photographed by the elegant hulk!

I got all of these shots because I asked for them. If you want an up close and personal shot with someone do not be afraid to go up and ask the person - the worst they can say is no. There is so much more to gain if you actually engage a person.

I knew there would be lots of color during the day, so Fuji Velvia RVP 50 was the obvious choice, but to tell the truth, I was a little bit worried about the rendering of skin tones because of the proclamations from a certain well known reviewer.

Anxiously, I picked up my film after work yesterday because I was not sure what would develop; whether I had wasted money and such, but soon as I opened that cardboard cube box my heart skipped a beat: the slides were gorgeous. I can wholeheartedly recommend this film for color portraits. Even the clerk who ran the place came by to take a look at them with me. He was also surprised with the brilliant colors and neutral skin tones and even brought the slides over to the light table for a closer look with a lupe.

Once I got home I hurried to scan them, but for some reason (surprisingly) the scanner does not portray the images justly. They all scanned underexposed and I started freaking out that the Bronica's meter was incredibly off and that I would need to get something repaired, but I looked at the slides again today and clearly only a couple were under (most likely by human error). I am not sure why the usually excellent CanoScan 8800F crapped the bed, but maybe it does not handle Velvia well? The scanner always seems to work better with Kodak films; maybe therein lies is the mystery?

I did the best I could to salvage the photos last night, but these turned out less detailed and duller than the real thing.

You can check out the whole Sakura Matsuri set here:

And now you know that I love anime.

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