For Whatever Reason

This is one of the most viewed images on my flickr stream:



Do you get it?  Please explain to me if so.

It is a street shot from the NYC FPP meetup 2012 taken with the MIGHTY Bronica.

Bronica SQ-A
80mm Zenzanon PS f/2.8
Expired Kodak E100SW

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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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Medieval Festival (part 3)

The first time I saw this person at the festival she was far off and I did not have the chance to take her picture. I made a promise to myself to keep walking the grounds until I ran into her and could ask to take an image.

Point of the story: be resolute.

This girl had on an elaborate steam punk outfit. Maybe she was a little out of place at this festival, but the costume still worked. Very cool nose-ring.

I think this is the final picture I will post, so I hope you enjoyed the images over the last few entries.

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Medieval Festival (part 2)

This gent made me laugh while I was taking his picture. I asked him if I could and he said yes, but then started talking in character like "What do you mean take my picture? Are you going to paint my image? Are you taking my essence?" and so on...

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Medieval Festival at Fort Tryon Park

I lugged my Bronica SQ-A to a Medieval Festival held at Fort Tryon Park and had an okay time.

The park is very nice, but so many people showed up that it was hard to get around.

A lot of the people that dressed up were really friendly, but it felt like there was something of an attitude of irritation in the air emanating from the mundane folk. Maybe it was the crowding.

Vikings

A couple of weeks ago I went to the annual Viking Fest held at Owl's Head Park in Brooklyn, NY, with the goal of using the Bronica SQ-A on the go. I suppose this is one of my photographic goals this year - I mean, this is the best (and most complete) camera system that I have, so I should definitely use it more.

With that in mind, I toted my camera with the normal lens (80mm) to Bay Ridge on a two hour trip to visit my uncle:



We headed out to check the festival, which was despairingly small. I still had a good time talking to some of the folks about the ancient gambling, strategy games, and other things viking. A conversation with this awesome lady:



was struck up about photography and she was delighted to see my Bronica. Unfortunately there is a little camera shake in the image.

There were also some knightly performances to combat and I chatted with this amiable fellow about armor and the combat:



I ate some thick beef stew that I can not remember the proper name of and had some waffles that tasted just like the ones my grandmother used to make. The flavor and texture transported me back some 20 years, sitting at the big dining table passing around the home-made food at a big Sunday afternoon dinner.

I should look into trying to make those waffles.

All in all I am not too happy with the images from the day - mostly because I am not fond of the film (Fuji Provia 400F) because of the colors and heavy grain (for medium format).

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Niagara Falls (Part 2)

I was most surprised by the insane commercialism of the area. On this one street there were about 4 wax museums, ice cream shops on every block, and almost every type of fast food place you can think of. Outside of the immediate area the place was somewhat depressed and dilapidated:



Taken with an Olympus OM-1 Zuiko 35mm f/2.8

The night before the last day in Canada, John and I ventured to the falls to take some night time pictures (around 11pm) while spotlights shone on the water:





On the last morning of the trip my friend and I woke up at 5am and walked down to again and took a number of pictures and here are the best ones (spare the image from the last entry):





All of these were taken with the Bronica SQ-A with a Zenzanon 80mm f/2.8 PS lens

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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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Family Photos

I was very excited to get home yesterday and start scanning my recently developed film. It has been quite a while since I last posted some pictures up here, so I hope these are enjoyed.



I really like this one of my folks - the feeling conveyed by the picture is one of the best I have ever captured of them.



You do not mess with Grandma. World class beauty!



My pops really has a great face for pictures; his expressions are second to none!



Another example of a great expression, though this one seems a lot creepier than the last - probably due to the almost blacked out eyes. Despite all said, I still think he looks wonderfully friendly.

These were taken with my the Bronica SQ-A and 80mm Zenzanon lens at f/5.6 and 1/500s on Kodak Portra 160NC. Off camera flash (Nikon SB 25) coming from camera right. If I were to go back and make an adjustment, I would put some kind of reflector on their lap to lift the shadows on their necks and eyes.

I have sung the heralds of Kodak Portra before, but I am a little sad to see the two varieties and two speeds (160NC, 400NC, 160VC and 400VC) bite the dust by being conglomerated into one Portra film with one speed (400). However, I have yet to test the two rolls of the new stock I recently purchased. There are a number of websites out there reviewing the stuff saying that it is a film that can be pushed and pulled like mad while still retaining insanely fine grain and color. So, we will see how I feel about it.

One of the great benefits of the Bronica is that the lenses house a leaf shutter that will let me sync them up to flash at any speed. This is so important when you want to control the ambient light. If I did not keep the shutter speed so high, the background would have been more exposed which could have detracted from my family's faces and personalities. This is still a feature of the camera that I need to explore more thoroughly along with the nature of flash photography, though I did pick up a new tool to help me on my journey.

This was the first time I was using my new light meter, the Sekonic L308s which proves to be quite accurate. I am quite happy with each exposure where I listened to the device. On a number of pictures I did not believe the settings, so I tried to figure it out with guide numbers and such, but I was left with woefully underexposed (yet slightly salvageable) images.

Nevermind all of the barely technical stuff above, what really makes the pictures are the subjects.

There is still a roll of cheapo 35mm that I have to make it through, so I will be posting some more photographs within the next few days.

Other personal news soon to develop.

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Japanese Hasselblad?

I have read on teh interwebs that some Bronica cameras have been dubbed as the Japanese Hasselblad due to their looks and the results you can pull from their lenses. I have not had the chance to work with medium format Zeiss slr lenses, but can only imagine they are great. The camera make, however, has no bearing on the ability of the photographer. If you are a good photographer you can pull great results out of any camera, but after a certain point you might feel limited by your equipment.

Within the first year of my journey into the world of photography I dabbled in medium format under the Holga banner; I was hooked. Granted, the camera is incredibly low-fidelity, but I loved those big negatives (2.25"x2.25") and the dreamy look that camera can produce. Next was a much more sophisticated old, old, old rangefinder called the Certo Six that revealed the possible power of the 6x6 with its beautifully bipolar Zeiss Tessar lens. Stopped down it was sharp, but wider open the images were soft and acceptable focus was hard to achieve. Unfortunately that camera is somewhat out of commission now with a busted rangefinder (damn that Halloween party!). I then picked up a couple of other medium format folding cameras that also gave some great results like the Ansco Titan and the Voigtlander Perkeo I. I was even given a Rolleiflex Automat, but still have not seen what it can do (it also has a Tessar): due to my ineptitude I failed my first attempt with that camera while trying off-camera lighting.

As you can imagine those cameras do not have meters; a fact that can be slightly frustrating. Also not being able to focus as exactly as I would like inhibited some of my creative desires. As I mentioned in my last post, I was determined not to pick up another medium format camera unless it had metering and a couple of interchangeable lenses. It also needed to be an SLR so that I could easily achieve great focus. Then along came this Bronica SQ-A on the Rangefinder Forum classified section and I decided to take the plunge. It covered all of my prerequisites AND had a price that would not break the bank.

I recently finished a roll of the faux black and white film that I am so fond of called Kodak BW400CN. I was not quite sure what I could expect, but I did not expect to be blown away.



I took advantage of the great soft lighting coming from the window.

Does the quality of this image make you interested in trying medium format over 35mm? If so, then that is awesome. Help keep the format alive!

I have to wonder when I will take the plunge into large format photography.

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