Freedom and Lies

This is a fish.  On the sidewalk.  In NYC.

I imagine it is tried to reach the gutter to achieve liberation, but sadly passed before accomplishing the mission.

Out of context this is very, very unusual, but I intentionally framed the image so that none of the garbage from a tipped over garbage bag outside of the restaurant showed up. 

I manipulated the facts to tell a different story.

Photography is a lie!

Olympus OM-1
Zuiko 35mm f/2.8
Lomo X-Pro film (in E6)

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Parallel Docking

So you think parallel parking is difficult...



Olympus OM-1
Zuiko 35mm f/2.8
Fuji Superia 400

On St. Thomas
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Important Agendas

Aesthetically, perhaps not the best images, but what I can tell you is that they have content like NO OTHER.



This image was taken in St. Thomas while on my vacation. I think the guy in the background (on the left) is responsible for the signs. He was scraping the corners of the street with some tool to clean the accumulated dirt. A little later he was screaming at the top of his lungs about something.



This one tops the other on the gibberish chart.

Wow. Just, wow.

Olympus OM-1
Zuiko 35mm f/2.8
Fuji Superia 400
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Stolen Shot

I am not sure what type of photography this image would fall into. Street? Landscape? Travel? Street landscape?

I made my way out onto the rocks in order to obtain a good composition for another one of my photos and a couple of folks saw me out on the rocks, so the guy started making his way out too and gave the camera to his lady to take a picture of him with the ocean scenery as a backdrop. A precious vacation memory, I am sure.

I was still on the rocks and liked the idea of getting a picture of him posing for his own photo, but without having the other photographer in the picture. Was this an impromptu forced image?

Whatever it is, I think it is just fun.

Also, the horizon is not slanted; I just caught the curvature of the earth.

Olympus OM-1
Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 (single-coated )
Fuji Superia 400

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St. Maarten

 

St. Maarten was the first destination of the cruise and I got to walking around the streets beyond the shopping district.  I got pretty close in this picture and the featured dog did not stir one bit, so I am not completely convinced of the validity of the bold sign.

I did not like the feel of the island too much, but I believe they have the best deals based on the liquor prices alone.

St. Thomas

I went on a cruise mid-November to the Caribbean and had the most relaxing time of my life. The unfortunate thing is that we were only docked for 4-9 hours at a time, so I could not really explore the destinations, but I did the best I could with the time allotted.

Here are a couple of shots:



View from a bay in St. Thomas.

Camera News and New Work

The repairs on my Olympus OM-1 are going to be a bit pricey, but I am going to bear their burden. I already have money invested into the camera from the purchase alone and I could not guarantee that another one would be in much better condition. The meter and prism needs replacing, the battery chamber needs conversion, and a CLA (clean lubricate adjust) is needed because shutter speeds are off. Argh. Well, I think it would be worth it since the camera and lenses are small and indiscreet while maintaining an altogether different look than Nikon has provided me thus far.

I took my Nikon FE out today with an off-brand 28mm f/2.8 lens today and I am quite dismayed. Something seems to be off - either the lens or the camera. Focusing to infinity did not seem to align properly so I am wondering what about the problem. I need to investigate further, but I would hate to put more money into another camera.

All that being said, I am excited about getting the OM-1 back. If you do not know, it is a completely manual camera (only having a battery for the meter). The ergonomics are excellent by having the shutter speed and aperture adjustable easily adjustable with one hand. The viewfinder is larger than any other camera I have ever used. The OM-10 (its little brother) comes close.

Why not just use the OM-10? Well, there are a few issues that I would need to sink money into and it is not as well built as the OM-1. The meter on my sample is off and it eats the batteries within a matter of days, so I constantly need to take them out after use because the shutter will not fire otherwise. The OM-10 was built as a consumer camera that gave you aperture priority, and if you wanted to control the shutter speed you would need to purchase an accessory (which I have) that is in an unusual shot, and not too conductive to use in manual mode.

I have a Zuiko single coated 35mm f/2.8 lens coming in the mail and I am looking forward to using that focal length - so far I have used 20mm, 28mm, 40mm, 50mm, and 55mm primes, so this will be new and different :)

I am getting the single-coated version (though mixed reviews abound) because black and white photographs come out less contrasty and color photographs come out a little more subtle. Due to the lessened contrast, single-coated lenses appear to be a little less sharp than multi-coated lenses - but I do not find myself losing sleep over that kind of thing, and in fact I am a fan of a slightly melty look.

Well, I think I have meandered enough, so let me show some photos from my Voigtlander Perkeo I with the single-coated Color-Skopar 75mm f/3.5 lens!


This is my black and white photography classmate that was kind enough to help me finish my roll of film. I love how the blur came out! Humorously enough the teacher showed us that night some work from a portraitist who always blurred his subjects.



I saw this girl standing on a rock and looking at the tree, so I got my camera ready to take an indiscreet shot, but as I was setting up she got off the rock and started leaving. I said "Excuse me, would you mind if you get back on the rock and look at the tree so that I can take a picture?" a silence, "Are you a photographer?" "Yes." "Okay." "Is that a little weird?", "A little, but I can see why you would want the picture." Now I have this image, which I am quite happy with, but to me it is not as honest as the clandestine shot I was aiming for.



A Washington Square Park pianist.


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A Fungus Among Us

Definitely not the best phrase you want to hear when you take a camera to the repair shop.

During my lunch break I brought my new used Olympus OM-1 camera to my trusty camera repair establishment and while going over the list of repairs/modification I want (new light seals, mirror sponge, battery conversion, meter check/repair, shutter speeds test, replace focus screen) I also mention to clean some grime in the viewfinder. Matt takes a look at it and says "there's a fungus among us". The fungus appeared to be on the irreplaceable prism! They said they would be able to clean it, but it might come back. Sad face. Maybe once back in my possession I should figure out how to blast some ultra-violet light to kill off any possible remaining spores.

What I love about the camera is its size, ergonomics, viewfinder, and non-reliance on batteries and can not wait until I have it back in my hands. I also have an OM-10, but the thing eats my batteries and the meter is off, so I am not likely to take it out. I thought about having work done on that one, but the OM-1 is a real classic SLR so I may as well put some money into that one, right? I hope.

Will let you know its performance after all I shoot and develop a roll.

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