My Decade in Review

Some people have photographic memories but I am not one of them.  Sometimes it's good but most of the time it's bad.

1990 - What did I do?  I don't have a clue
1991 - see 1990
1992 - see 1991
1993 - see 1992
1994 - see 1993
1995 - Got married.  Hooray.  I was out of the market.  A lot of girls were disappointed.  But I was not Jacky Chan so nobody died.  I wasn't even Andy Lau, so I never had the need to keep it a secret from my anybody.
1996 - Happily married.
1997 - My Dad passed away.
1998 - see 1996
1999 - Alex was born.  From husband to husband slash Dad.  It wasn't easy.  People tend to glorify and happitize the arrival of newborns.  Yes it's true, it brings joys but at the same time it's stressful and life altering.
2000 - Getting used to be a Dad.
2001 - Harry was born.  I am a Dad again.
2002 -  see 2000
2003 -  see 2002
2004 - see 2003
2005 - see 2004
2006 - Bad year.
2007 - Awfully bad year.
2008 - see 2005
2009 - see 2005

PS:  1990 - 2009, that's twenty years, two decades, isn't it?  I couldn't even count right the first time.

New Year's Resolutions

I am not going to do it.  Even if I were going to do it I am not going to tell anybody.  Because New Year's resolutions are just something to set myself up for failure.  Since I don't want to fail so I don't want no resolutions anymore.  My resolution is to have no resolution.

Hooray.

PS:  I think I really suck.

iPhone on Steroid

On Jan 26, Apple is going to announce whatever i product that is going to rule the mobile space.  It's most likely a much rumored and anticipated tablet device or essentially an iPhone on steroid that's going to eat Amazon's Kindle for lunch.  If you need reading glasses like a lot of 40ish folks, iPhone may not be such a great ebook platform, but this thing will be.

Apple's stock closed at $211.64.  The stock is going to hit $250 by mid 2010.  You heard it here first.

Disclaimer:  If you lose your underwear by buying Apple stock AAPL, you can't blame it on me.  I own Apple stock and its products.

Yashica Mat-124 G

The re-birth.  I sent it for a quick fix and now it's back.  I have an easier time focusing with it than the Hasselblad.  I think it's a nice camera for medium format.

Summer 2007

Another 35mm Scan

The film is Kodak 400-2TMY, not developed by me.  Scanned using Epson V500, 2400dpi, 16-bit grayscale, USM at medium, Dust Removal medium.  I don't know if that's the optimum especially USM.  I probably should have turned it off all together and just use dust removal.

Ice Skating In The Frozen Pond

Skiing

Serial Number

If the product never ever needs support, then perhaps the serial number is not needed or it can be printed in the back of the product with a font size that needs an enlarging lens to read. Please for Pete's sake, don't ask the serial number or if you do, then put it in the front and have it printed big because not every one can read that 15 alpha numeric characters in minuscule font size.

A Tree On 42nd Street

Scanning film (on the Epson V500) is an exercise in frustration. Somehow I think scanning at 2400dpi and with all adjustments off except dust removal set at medium gives me the best look for black and white.

I can never really save any settings. Even I turned off the Unsharp Mask, it would creep back in automatically. So that's weird and buggy. You can't really name your setting it's automatically named like setting 1, 2 and 3 and so on. But it doesn't work anyway. After Preview, I have to uncheck the adjustment that automatically added by itself but I have to select all before doing that, otherwise, it would only apply on the selected image instead of what I really want which is all the images. I found the software buggy and annoying.

Yashica Mat 124-G

Here's what a graduated neutral density filter would help to give the sky a darker shade of blue.

update: 7/8/2010
GUYS:  Click on the related labels below for more Yashica Mat 124-G.  You have come a long way.

Film Scan

Scanned using an Epson V500, set a 16-bit gray scale and at 2400 dpi.  One thing about scanning is you have to deal with dust and scratch like forever.  Many years ago I scanned using an HP Photo scanner.

UPDATE:
I think the film holders of the V500 are pretty atrocious.  I mean they work but it's just not something you expect from a photo scanner.  For $160 or so is it the best they can do?  I mean people buy this for scanning film right?  It's supposed to be good not like an after thought because after all it's marketed as a photo scanner.  If you have 6x6 negative that got cut into 3 frames per strip, I am telling you, the contraption isn't all that great at all, you would have a difficult time putting into the 3-frame strip.  But again it can be done.   The 35mm strip holder is slightly better.  You got to scan two strips of 6-frame at the same time.  You will never get the film flat especially the medium format, but I am not really complaining if I can fit the negative just a bit more efficiently and easily.  On the other hand if you have uncut 120 negative I think it should be a bit easier, I have yet to try that.  If the mechanics of the V700 or the V750 is about the same as that of the V500, then I am glad I didn't go for the pricey ones.  I read some time ago there is some third party film holder I guess I will have to look for them.  OMG, I just checked the price is close to $80 and to pay by PayPal, extra as if the convenience on both sides of the transaction doesn't mean anything.  It probably worths every cent of the $80 but I will hold off for the time being.  The film holder is one half of the price of the scanner.  Does it make sense?  I guess it probably does.

The Fuji Acros 100 seems to be a winner, especially compared against the Kodak 125 PX.

Traffic

On I-87.  Slow moving traffic.

Christmas Breakfast

Robots Xmas

Go St. John's

Santa x 2

Developed Fuji Acros 100

This was the first 135mm black and white I ever developed in more than twenty years.  Everything went well.  I was afraid the roll might have bunched up so I unspooled once before accepting the second load.  I thought my finger could feel the edge but I guess it's just the way the reel was designed, a bit tighter than the 120 reel.  The film came out good.  I used the same formula I used for developing the 120 format PX125 film.

I think I really need a scanner now, probably a new souped up desktop as well.

Field Tested My Nikon FE

I brought my Nikon FE loaded with Fuji Acros 100 for a spin in Kissena Park under the bleak weather that was the first snow storm of the season.  While I almost froze under the punishing sub-zero temperature, my Nikon FE and the MD-12 motor drive were functioning properly.  I bought the camera circa 1984.

The List Shall Go On

The Best Blogs Ever.  Don't just believe any blog recommendations you find online.  They are all bull.  Except the ones here.

If next year you are going to visit one blog and one blog only here is the one
http://laichungleung.blogspot.com

And this one if you think you deserve something crazy, stupid, asinine, unbecoming, then his blogs are for you.  They are pretty revolting, the pictures mostly, so they may or may not be work safe.  You have been warned.

If you want something carefully and meticulously composed, try this one here, the last post was in 2007.

Merry Christmas

This is the handsomest, kindest, nicest Santa I've ever seen in my entire life.

From A..Z

It's this time of the year, Santa is not the only one that's making a list, almost everybody is making a list.

Here are the web sites, from a to z, that pop up at Firefox's smart location bar whenever the letter is pressed.  Admittedly I am not the only one using this Firefox on this notebook.

http://www.aq.com/
http://blog.age.com.hk/
http://c9aimeili.wordpress.com/
[redacted]
[redacted]
http://www.facebook.com/
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
http://newyork.craigslist.org/
http://kenrockwell.com/
http://laichungleung.blogspot.com/
[redacted]
http://www.olegnovikov.com/index.shtml
http://www.olegnovikov.com/index.shtml
[redacted]
http://www.queenslibrary.org/
http://kenrockwell.com/
[redacted]
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://www.usopen.org/en_US/index.html
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/weblog.htm

The redacted ones are too obscene, combustive, and embarrassing to be listed here.

Kindle Is Actually Hot

Could Steve Jobs be wrong?  According to some news somewhere online, Amazon's Kindle is doing just great in this holiday season despite what Jobs proclaimed how wrong Kindle was.  But you know what, you can't believe what the guy said at all.  No iPhone, bam, he gave you the iPhone; no video on iPod, bam, video, even with FM radio thrown in.  So when he said Kindle's conception was flawed at the top what he actually meant was gee we didn't think about that, but heck we might not be much of an inventor but we are a great technology aggregator, we sure know how to put all the parts together and make the whole more important than the sum of its parts and market the living day light out of it.  When that day comes and sure it will albeit a bit late, we will rule, just like the iPhone we put together.  We didn't invent the cell phone but we sure know how to put everything together in a nice little package that has somehow become the most coveted phone ever or at least in 2007 when it was first introduced.

Blaceberry Misadventure ...

It's kind of hard to read any article from The New Yorker on a Blackberry Tour 9630.  The three-column layout doesn't sit well with the 2.6" 480x360 screen and yet I don't find any reasonable work around like RSS to just read the damn thing without scrolling left and right every second like crazy.  And I have yet successfully installed Google App on the device.  The device just hangs whenever I go to Allow Application Permissions.  It then requires a nasty reboot which takes much longer than the previous Blackberry I had.

How do I judge the device?  If it can't install Google Mobile App then it's inferior.  Searching online doesn't get much help either.

NOTE:  Gee I can't even spell right, wtf is Blaceberry?  I don't even know.

UPDATE:
I think Google Voice is probably the culprit.  The installation was "alright" in the end.  I don't know exactly what happened, like usual, but the apps seemed to have to be installed one by one or so.  But every time when voice is involved like search by voice, a dialog prompting to Allow or Deny would totally lock up the device.  I have to remove the battery in order to reset the thing.  I don't know any other way.  Again, a search online doesn't get much help either.  Meaning the solution to Allow permissions doesn't help because not all permissions are "allowable" maybe that's where lies the problem.

So Sweet

Do you get fucking tired of reading comments like this, So Sweet then followed by half a dozen exclamation points.  I got fucking tired of that.  Just so you know.

Unmanly Listening Behavior Unveiled

The New York Times just confirmed what I have long suspected: many men, are secretly loving Celine Dion and cartoons more than they are willing to admit; proclaiming their love to classical and jazz while they are actually in love with soft rock like tunes from Air Supply.  We are a nation of big grown pussies listening to effusive love songs and watching cartoons even we are no longer seven year olds--think this week's box office record smashing, crowd pleasing Avatar (but grown men draw the line on puppet show movies, nobody went to see Wes Anderson's fantastic Fantastic Mr. Fox, sad).  And worse, some men actually are blaming their wives for their unmanly radio listening behavior.

The New York Times has the full article on this sad unmanly behavior.

Negative

I shall continue to post crap.

This is a negative scan from my super duper all in one photo-copy-printer-scanner.  If you want to buy me an Epson V750, please let me know.  The above is just a negative scan with color inverted done in GIMP.  The quality is astoundingly bad.  I hope it's just the scan and not the negative itself because that would be bad, really bad.

Straight Razor Shave Experience Update

WARNING:  YET ANOTHER BORING POST

I have been keeping the scales dry and clean.  The Maas cream was able to remove 99% of the patina formed on the blade, it now still has a tiny microscopic dot there which doesn't seem to get any worse.  I am anal retentive but not to the extent that it bothers me (OKAY, just a tiny little bit).  I usually shave at night as I don't have time to fuss in the morning.  I am the last one to take the shower so I have no problem leaving the razor sort of to dry in the bathroom as there won't be any additional steam from any more shower.  The following day, I store the razor away from the bathroom to avoid moisture from showers.

The soaps I got from eBay were bad despite good service and allegedly made from all natural stuff.  I could never got a nice lather out of them, at least the two that I tried and they left my skin uncomfortable.  The one I got from another vendor seems far better.  I am able to whip some nice lather out of it and it doesn't irritate.  Before I never know what real lather feels like.  I had equated lather with suds.  How wrong was I?  With the good soap I don't really need after shave lotion or balm though I am sure I can use some but it doesn't bother me even if I don't.

Stropping is not all that difficult even with a 2-inch wide stop.  Naturally I am making an x motion pulling and pushing the blade on the strop.  It's no biggie, at least that's what I thought.  I did make a few nicks on the strop initially.  I should have slowed down a bit in the beginning.  I was not in a race why bothered to act like proficient while I was just starting out.

I used to just shave with the grain or across the grain, but I am doing the against the grain more so now.  But still the underside area between the chin and the jaw on both sides of the face are like the most difficult parts for against the grain shave.

I am able to use my non dominant hand to shave, that is my left hand shaves my left face without cutting up my face.  But still most of the time I use my right hand for against the grain shave.

Black And White From Yashica Mat-124 G

WARNING:  ANOTHER VERY BORING POST

I redeemed myself.  I shot a roll of 125PX earlier and I developed it when I got home.  I am now washing the film in the washbasin, once it hit 30 minutes, I will give a one-minute photo-flo bath and hang it up to dry.  I just peeked at the first few frames and they looked good, at least I didn't introduce any kinks while I loaded the film onto the steel reel.

Okay, I just finished everything.  I hung up the roll and I noticed something.  The square image, unfortunately, shifted just a tiny little bit to the left with emulsion side facing away and the first frame at the bottom.  What it means is the bump on the bottom of the camera caused a shift of the back ever so slightly that the image no longer stays on the dead center of the roll.  As the image is actually upside down when in the camera, so I think the back has shifted a bit to the left pulling the film with it.  The problem is more pronounced in the middle of the roll as the edge of the image ever so slightly touches the Kodak code on the edge.  I don't know if it merits a trip to the repairman, the last time I got a quote from a well known repairman I didn't do it.  It was expensive though I am quite sure it's gonna be worth it.  I may want to check earlier negative see if it has the problem, because honestly I don't know for sure if this is a pre-existing condition or not.

Another thing I notice, though not really related to the Yashica, but it's more a general 120 roll film thing.  So far I have been leaving the tape that tapes the film and the backing paper on the film when developing, I just ripped the backing paper from it and taped it back on the glossy side of the film.  On second thought after having developed four rolls, I think it might not be such a good idea to leave it there, especially the practice of taping it back on the film.  It tends to retain the chemicals, the next time I better rip the tape off, if not the whole tape at least the part left after the backing paper is off.  It's not a major problem but I can see it can be a potential problem.  I saw bluish liquid dripping down from the tape area, even the thirty-minute wash didn't remove those chemicals trapped in the taped area.  The film should be free from chemicals after the wash.  Next time I should rip the tape off completely.

Just shot another roll of 125PX

 Yet another boring post.

Just shot a roll of Kodak 125PX.  I am keeping my finger crossed as I am not sure how light tight my Yashica
Mat-124G is anymore since I discovered a small bump at the tripod socket months ago.  I shot with the case on thinking that it should protect the camera better.  My hunch is it's still tight but I will have to develop the film to find out.  This time around I will be careful in loading onto the reel to avoid any kinks.

While I am at it, I might as well tell you my experience with the Yashica Mat 124G as compared to my Hasselblad 500C/M.  For the viewfinder, I think both my Hasselblad and Yashica are kind of difficult to focus comparing to my Nikon eye level viewfinders.  If you are young, healthy and have good eye sight and don't need reading glasses then you will do just fine looking through the waist level viewfinder.  I am actually OKAY with the laterally reversed image.  While I find the Yashica's magnifying lens helpful when focusing, the same can't be said about my Hasselblad's.  Well's it's just my experience.  I bought a battery for the Yashica once, but it went dead very fast I think after a roll of film or so.  I don't know for sure if the meter went bad or the battery actually went out.  In any event, I am using the sunny 16 rule and totally forget about the meter.  The same with the Hasselblad though sometimes I carry my FE for metering purpose.

Film Developing

My boring posts continue.

For my black and white film developing, I use Kodak chemicals.

For the developer I use HC-110, dilute 1:49, basically a recipe I found from J Brunner.  I think it works out pretty well though I have never printed any of my negative and I only developed three rolls of 120 so far.  It's really non experience experience.
For the stop bath, I use Indicator Stop Bath, dilute per instruction.  I believe you don't even need to use it, you can use water in lieu of it.
For the fixer, I use the Kodafix Solution, dilute per instruction.  I just fix it for 4 minutes, I don't know.  The instruction says 2 to 4 minutes.  I go for 4 minutes.
Then I wash the film in my sink for 30 minutes and put the film together with the reel back to the steel tank full of water and finish it with a drop of Kodak Photoflo for 1 minute.
Hang dry.

Film Developing Misadventure

I did my black and white developing last night. Last time I was being meticulous and uber careful. Perhaps I wasn't as careful as I should have been, so I messed up this second time. The film was loaded crooked so a few frames touched each other and didn't come out right as they were under developed. I really should have double checked once I finished loading, but I didn't I thought I just did an excellent job in loading the film in one go. And the error occurred in the last mile, I mean the very last section of the film or the beginning of the roll. I am pretty disappointed with myself.

One of the discovery when taking pictures with the last roll was I can get 13 frames out of a roll of 120 film in my 6x6 Hasselblad. It probably doesn't mean much but it's fun to experiment though not so great in filing the negative in a 3 by 4 sheet. I think if I am able to advance past the 12th frame, I am able to press the shutter just by resetting the frame counter. I think I did get the 13th frame but unfortunately I lost the very first frame by loading the film crooked toward the very end.

I need to shoot another 120 soon. I just need to do that right to get the feel good feeling back.

Google Phone

Or Nexus One. Google finally ate its words and admitted that it's testing its own brand of Google phone, a device made by Taiwan's HTC that Google has absolute control over its design, which is a departure from what Google has been doing so far, partnering with handset makers by providing the Android OS. Google by having its own hardware is not only competing with the iPhone but also with its partners' contraptions. Engadget shows some pictures of the supposedly Nexus One which again looks very similar to iPhone, so there isn't any wow factor in its appearance in my opinion. It just seems almost impossible to top the iPhone's aesthetic as of now. No handset manufacturers manage to design any phone significantly different from that of iPhone (or they don't even want to especially the knockoffs). I think it's just a testament to iPhone's game changing and much coveted design. Google is believed to sell the devices unlocked, without subsidy from the carriers, as early as January next year. If you are in the market for a new smartphone (like there is a dumbphone) you may want to hold your horses. Because the Nexus One might just be the one non-iPhone smartphone that you have been waiting for all your life.

Friday Outing

Severe winter weather alert: you got nothing better to do, stay home, save money, avoid the temptation from all cameras digital or analog.

Yesterday, I submitted to my temptation and took a trip to B&H despite the freezing weather. But my trip was well timed, yesterday was Friday and it only opened till 1PM so I knew I wouldn't get lost in the playland or blackhole for too long. I ended up buying just a couple of black and white film from Fuji and nothing else. I actually have pretty well self control when discretionary spending is concerned. I played with a Pentax 6x7. I think it is hand holdable despite its massive size. The viewfinder is just like a regular eye level viewfinder of a 35mm SLR so I have no problem focusing even manually with my far sighted vision. I find it very difficult to focus directly on the matte focusing screen using the only waist level finder on my Hasselblad 500C/M because of my far sighted vision. Since I was at it, I also picked up a D700 with a 85mm f1.4. The lens was like on steroid with massive front elements and super sized girth. I am not really in the market for a camera or a D700 but I noticed the price is now around $2400. I think I once mentioned that if the price comes down to $2000, I might pull the trigger. Let's see if I am crazy enough in the next six months or so.

Week in Review

Now that Tiger Woods is retiring, not really but just saying, and you would think he can play golf like most well-heeled retirees do. No. Woods took a page from Edison Chen's playbook, he is taking an indefinite break from professional golf. I just think he should continue to play as much as he is allowed. Sure he should take care of his family and kids but being a hidden tiger really doesn't do him, the golf industry and the economy any good in my opinion. Just come out, do an interview, make a public apology on TV, patch up with his wife and move on to play golf.

It took Mr. James Cameron some 15 years to wrap up Avatar. I bet Apple Daily's journalmation team can do it in 15 hours flat, after all, their specialty is also fantasy animation. What a waste of 15 years. Just call up Jimmy, he will get it done. I have been able to avoid Titanic since 1997 for some twelve years. Avatar shall get the same treatment.

The Future of Journalism: Journalmation

Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. might have seen the future when he proclaimed nobody reads anymore when asked about his opinion on Amazon's Kindle, an electronic reader, but it is Jimmy Lai of another Apple, that's Apple Daily, who brought you the future today:  the convergence of journalism and animation, or what I call Journalmation(TM)--man, you heard it here first.  Think bad journalism coupled with even badder animation and you will get the picture.  Apple Daily's latest journalmation on seriously boring serial adulterer Tiger Woods has got the athlete by the balls and has taken the world by storm.  Sure, the rest of the press industry, those that are bleeding loss and dying, are ridiculing the bad cartoon but hey it got more than two millions views on YouTube which really compares favorably to the HD trailer of James Cameron's over-hyped Avatar, also a fantasy drama mixing cartoon with real people, considering the latter is probably a $500 million dollar production.  Barbara Walters has her list of most fascinating people, and I sure got mine too.  Jimmy Lai, Tiger Woods and David Letterman make my list, not only are they fascinating, they are sleazily fascinating which is obviously more fascinating than simply fascinating.

Paralysis By Analysis

I don't build my computer every three months or six months or even every three years.  The last time I built something from the ground up so to speak was more than seven years ago when single core AMD Athlon 1.4GHz was respectable.  Fast forward to 2009 and a quick trip to newegg, AMD AM3 is the top dog and Intel i7 is the top of the very top as far as desktop build is concerned.  Once the kind of processor is decided, then the case, the kind of motherboard, the memory.  If I opt for micro ATX case, then what I gain on space saving, I lose out on choices of motherboard and expandability.  And even for individual components, there are always mixed reviews, the more you read it the more confused you got.  And it can get numbingly complicated.  But I guess at some point I just need to pull the trigger (or totally give up) as there isn't one perfect computer, there got to be some compromise.  Even I sound like I am a bit frustrated, but I still think I will enjoy more by building my own computer than simply buying one online or from a store.  It's just too easy.

On Skechers

It's my opinion that Skechers makes the most ugliest shoes you can possibly find on Earth.  If they are not ugly, they simply don't make them.  So rest assured, every pair of Sketchers is ugly as hell.  Look at their spoke models: Britney Spears when she was on her downward death spiral, and Jessica Simpson, the embodiments of all things uncool and unhip.  I think it used to to LA Gear and now it's Skechers.  I suppose every generation deserves an ugly pair of kicks.  A quick search confirms what I suspected, Skechers is the evil twin of LA Gear.

I Have An Affair With Tiger Woods

No.  Just kidding.  But that's basically what's happening.  Women everywhere, no men yet, are coming out of the woodwork to claim a piece of Tiger's club.  All of a sudden the world's most boring sportsman in the most boring sport, that's if you count walking around a sport, unbored himself to become a serial adulterer. His perfidious behavior is really a matter between his wife and himself but the public, myself included, has a vested interest in public humiliation and salacious details of the rich and famous.  We all like to see Tiger make a public apology, even he did nothing remotely harmful to us except boring us to death.

Typewriter

I am so old that not only do I know what a typewriter is, I actually used one both at school and at work.  That's how old I am.  When I first learned how to type, a typewriter was the tool I used not any fancy keyboard attached to any computer.  I pretty much self taught myself with some help from my sister and her textbook.  I remember I brought a typewriter with me all the way from Hong Kong when I first came to New York.  I thought gee everybody needs a typewriter and it's the present and future of writing.  A piece of paper, a qwerty keyboard and a lot of hammers rising and falling, mechanically and magically.  I wonder where it is now.

Award winning American writer Cormac McCarthy is auctioning off his old typewriter which had been used for his writings including among many others "No Country For Old Man" and "The Road," both have been adapted for the big screen.  For most people a typewriter isn't practical any more but I guess for some, and there are always some, it's the only way to work.

PS:  The NYT story has been slashdotted.

Cyber Monday

It's this time of the year where every inbox of yours is stuffed with spams, just as stuffed as the Thanksgiving turkey a few days ago, reminding you to pull out your plastic and max it out because the only way Americans know how to express their thanks is by (over)spending: buying junks we don't need and gifts nobody really wants. Anyway, I have had a pleasant Thanksgiving albeit a bit stressful, well at least better than some golfer named Tiger Woods who probably got beaten up by his wife on Thanksgiving day, and so far manage not to participate in any senseless post-Thanksgiving shopping spree, yet. The good news is nobody got trampled to death because everybody wants to grab that while supplies last $19.99 DVD player. Today is the so called Cyber Monday, a day that supposedly has great deals online. I am fighting the temptation to even look.

What I thank for

I feel blessed, honored, embarrassed, but mostly undeserved, for the readers who not only read my posts but go on to link them on their front page, invariably and regrettably pulling down their superior blog contents. For that my hearty apology. I guess what I am really trying to say is Thank You, fellow bloggers and readers. (Thumb posted using a Blackberry while waiting at Chili's)

Thanksgiving 2009

 

Just another day in the kitchen.

Black And White Processing

My regression has yet reached another milestone.

 

There isn't any best time to do anything, so I just went ahead, got the juice, syrup and whatnot to do my own processing.

I was too busy measuring the chemicals so I didn't take any picture. It looks to me the two rolls of 120 negative actually came out quite all right. If anything I might have overexposed some frames when taking the pictures. Oh well, you live and learn. Making mistakes is kind of inevitable, especially for someone like me.  The challenge is to learn from them and not to keep making them again and again.  I should have written down every f-stop and shutter combination on every frame I took but I never did.  I read the Kodak official PX125 paper and seems like I might have over exposed some 1-stop even with the yellow filter attached.  I thought I might have my sunny 16 down quite good.  Anyway, I really need to see the final positive images to determine how good my exposures were and how well or bad my processing was.
The next step is how the heck do I get the images from negative to positive; either by digitizing them via a scanner or sending them out to a printer. A real darkroom with enlarger is pretty much out of the question at this point.

Stay tuned for any new development.

NOTE:
Sorry for the bowl shot.  I clean it every week, it's as clean a bowl as it can possibly can.  You can drink from it though I won't recommend it.

I am glad I did a few reloading in the dark just so to make sure that the film didn't get crinkles and received even development in the process.  As it turned out, despite some minor winkles on the edge of the roll, the negative did receive even development which was what I wanted.

The negative seems thinner than I thought, especially compared to 135 format.  It's almost too soft.  I take it it's easier to get crinkles and needs to be handled accordingly.

I didn't save the developer but was able to keep the stop bath and fixer for re-use.  The developer seems to be more critical among the three from what I understand so I wouldn't mind to mix it up when I need it again.

Given the amount of work involved, it kind of makes sense to do two rolls at the same time.  But I guess I want to have the option to do a single 120 too.

The Epson V700 is a prime candidate in my book but the price is high.

Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving anxiety is setting in.

Listomania

It's this time of the year it's Listomania time.  I am so brain dead, so inept, I couldn't come up with any list.

Regression

My regression is progressing slowly and nicely and has achieved yet another milestone.  Can regression be any progress at all?  I have successfully loaded a 120 roll film onto a stainless steel reel.  Now it's sitting quietly inside a stainless steel tank waiting to take a bath.  This is my first time loading up a 120 roll film in a develop tank.  With several attempts inside my make-shift darkroom, I was able to wrestle the curly unruly film onto the reel.  I used to do 135 black and white many years ago when I was in college (surprise, I actually went to college) so the experience wasn't exactly foreign to me (I remember we took off more than the film cassette top in the darkroom ... but that's another story for another time.  Or never.)  I have yet to mix my chemicals.  I don't know about you, but the suspense, the anticipation, to take a bath for the film and seeing the image emerge is just killing me.  Stay tuned.

Dovo Does Rust Easily. Now I know

I took it that it might be an urban legend that the Dovo would rust so easily.  I thought I use it to shave regularly, that's every other day or so, how could it get rusted?  Wrong.  I learned it the hard way.  It is not rusted yet but there are some very tiny spots on the blade, fortunately not on the edge.  But still, I can't believe it.  I did wipe the blade down I guess it must be from the scales.  I would not leave my blade open to dry as it's too dangerous for the rest of the family.  Well you live and learn.  I guess I have to get more anal about keeping it dry and oiled, just the sort of person to do this sort of thing.

Your Breasts Is The Battlefield

Out of nowhere there is this study and its accompanying non bounding guidelines that recommend women should have their breasts regularly checked, that's by medical professionals not merely by their boyfriends, beginning at the age of 50 every two years instead of today's 40 every year.  The ramification is insurance companies or the proposed federal health care reform may now use these guidelines as a reason not to pay for mammograms done for women before they reach fifty years old.  Cost saving at the expense of women's health.  Personally as a man, I don't think I need to worry about breast cancer for myself.  And I do believe that, as a cynic, there are times maybe the procedure isn't all that necessary.  But at the same time, I'd like the idea that women have the choice to do it at 40 instead of 50 and I'd like to see the procedure covered by insurance.  I think it's just a typical point of view from a consumer of health care.  Insurance companies and federal government of course may think otherwise.

As reported by The New York Times.

Feud

There is nothing better than a feud except when it's a feud between camera nerds.

The sometimes controversial but always entertaining Mr. Ken Rockwell is slamming some workshop and its works.  He calls it "It's Not the Camera: Death Valley Fiasco."  It's under his new section in November but since the guy is still writing his html like it's 1988 with no perma link you just have to look around if you don't see it.  One of the workshop instructors was Mr. Michael Reichmann who not too long ago wrote up a passage entitled Your Camera Does Matter a rebuttal to Rockwell's tongue-in-cheek Your Camera Doesn't Matter.

Do the pictures suck as muh as Rockwell thinks they are?  See them yourself and you be the judge.

UPDATE:
Mr. Rockwell has polished off his Death Valley Fiasco passage.  To my disappointment, the juvenile infantile pee in his pants remark was taken out, instead he added the somewhat conciliatory and somewhat respectful remark that the workshop instructors, Reichmann included, are "great guys" though "this wasn't their greatest moment."

UPDATE
Perhaps I was still sleeping.  The "peeing in my pants" remark is there.  I don't know I could be asleep writing the above first update.

I'm peeing in my pants, because I was tipped off about this fiasco while I was out in Indian Country on a much less expensive workshop, and I got better shots with my $430 Canon S90 at exactly the same time. I'll show you mine when I finally dig back out.

 I know Reichmann, Atkinson and Schewe are great guys; but this wasn't their greatest moment.

UPDATE
The "post" title is now changed to "Worry About the Picture, Not the Camera."  Perhaps "fiasco" is too incendiary to be used and he feels like to clarify that the sponsor Phase One makes great stuff.  He goes on to include a link of a professional's works shot using a Canon G11 to prove his point.  And more importantly, added more links to his advertisers and his own reviews.

UPDATE
PODAS apparently thinks the shitstorm created by Rockwell merits a blog post response which inevitably invites more beatings from Rockwell who is having all the fun, ending two of his updates "Fun" and "Go Shoot" with exclamation marks to punctuate how much fun and excitement he is having.

UPDATE
In less than 24 hours, Rockwell did a 180.  From the earliest Death Valley Fiasco to Worry About the Picture to Good news which I say is really borderline fawning on Phase One.  The juvenile candid stuff is now all gone.  Yes, the peeing in my pants is castrated and no unflattering mentions of poor sucky pictures nor vendor sponsored workshops.  I wonder what had happened.

Ricoh Going Rogue

Ricoh is out on a limb, and probably out of its mind too, to introduce its modular camera, the overpriced GXR, of which the GXR body sells for $549, the A12 50mm lens for $830 and the optional view finder VF-2 for $275.  For me, everything is kind of overpriced, but this is like really overpriced.  The concept is every lens deserves a matching sensor and there is somehow enough suckers to cough up that amount of cash.  So you are going to pay a lot for the modular lens because of its accompanying sensor.  End of story.  Just like dpreview has pointed out, Minolta had this idea way back and in 1998 EX-1500 was this love child of this modular innovation.  If only we can learn from history.  I say it would be a brilliant idea if the sensor is modular as well.  I am a cheapskate and I just don't like the idea that the lens comes with a sensor sealed in a module unless the price of the sensor is negligible which of course is anything but.

Lens, sensor, and body should be the trinity, not lens with sensor and body.

The GXR is kind of brave and brazen but I am afraid it would just go down in history like the Minolta's EX-1500, that is into oblivion.

More from dpreview.

Going Big

I am gaining new appreciation of my own pictures.  I spent some time editing the html and was able to make them 640px wide or 800px wide in one or two cases.  The pictures look so much better.  I mean they are good to begin with and now they are just great.  If you were to see them in print, you would be in tears.  They are just the greatest.  I spent about three seconds searching Google about bigger picture and I am done (I wish my GPS is this good), though actually editing the html is a bit time consuming and sometimes the codes have width and sometime it doesn't.  But in all cases, they are simple enough to get to the right size.

For pictures taken with my Canon SD880 IS (actually posts that got tagged with the Canon label)
Posts tagged with Hasselblad 500C/M
Posts tagged with Yashica Mat-124G
Posts tagged with Nikon F5

Enjoy.

Favorite Woman Of The Year

Woman we love: Chrissie Chau by unanimous decision.

Chrissie Chau, the girl who goes so far so fast is the darling of the year.  She simply can't do no wrong at this point of her career.  She is well loved by all the men in Hong Kong and admittedly some from overseas too.

Previously.

Note, if you disagree you are just wrong.

Going Big: Size Matters

I always think my pictures deserve more prominent coverage, if not from anybody, at least from me.  It's like your children, if you are not going to going to love them, who would?  And lo and behold a two-second search just gave me the solution I needed.  Actually I have been using this blogger editor for a short while and that feature is automatically made available, I just wasn't paying enough attention.  Anyhow, here it is.  My pictures are at least as big as if not better than some of them out there.  Woo hoo.  If you have a tiny little monitor, perhaps it's time to go just a little bit bigger like 22" at 1920x1080 to avoid the constant carpel tunnel inducing scrolling.  It's your wrist we are talking about.

Miscellaneous

The Mamiya Press SUPER 23 is a big camera to be handheld.  The thing is mounted with a 100mm lens.  The viewfinder and rangefinder is a bit foggy and not so easy to focus.  The 6x9 film back isn't small either.  The lens and camera seem to be in good condition.  The shutter and aperture move freely without hesitation.  The price is $349.  At one point I was pretty infatuated with the whole Press camera line probably starting with the Polaroid 600 SE.  Now not so much.

The other day I was in Chinatown I saw a young guy watching a tank of lobsters and holding in his hand was a Toyo 4x5 mounted on a tripod.  I couldn't help but asked him a few questions.  Young guy doing some courses in mid town.  I asked him what lab he uses.

Last night I bumped into a man or rather a character shooting a Hasselblad with a flash and a flash bracket.  I also asked him what labs he uses.  We headed to the same camera store and he ended up buying a whole bunch of NC 400.  I don't even know how many and how much he bought.

I think I am getting closer to develop my b/w ....  But just don't hold your breath.  It can take me another year just to open the box or something.  I am just slow.

Union Square

Walk

I like how portable and shootable the Canon is. In general the pictures come out OKAY, or you simply shoot again. I do have certain gripes about the camera. There are absolutely no manual settings. You can't set the aperture or the shutter speed at all. It's either Auto or Program. I can't even set the focus point when I compose. I guess it's time to read the manual to see if I have missed anything important. After shooting it for a few months, I almost forgot how much I like shooting through a viewfinder.

Veterans Day

5th Avenue, New York City

Deep Thoughts

Right tool for the right job.  Long lens, short lens, fast lens, fast camera for sports.  Of course if you are arty fary, then anything goes.

No matter how hard I try, right after I cleaned up everything, my razor, my brush, my mug, when applying after shave, I would then discover that I missed a spot or two, invariably, without exception.

My Morning Shooting Experience Of The Day

After some fifty shutter releases, my D70 went out of battery.  It was like I didn't care.  I knew the battery was charged and used from a couple of months ago.  So after a few shutter releases the battery bar went low already and I kept shooting until the shutter wouldn't go.  Good thing I brought my F5 with me and the thing can focus, can't it?  And I never need to learn any technique to make it focus right.  If I read the Canon forum without any Nikon experience then I would have thought one needs some killer proper technique to get the camera to autofocus, I think that's just baloney.  It was loaded with a roll E100G 36 slides.  I brought the Nikkor 80~200 (together with the 50 and 24 manual focus lenses) with me.  This zoom lens is considered to be of professional grade I guess for its optics and constant aperture f2.8 across the 80 to 200 focal length.  But there are three things I don't like about the lens.  The A/M ring broke by itself.  I got it fixed free of charge from Nikon.  The filter thread is plastic and doesn't impart the usual confidence from Nikon.  The lens doesn't come with a lens hood.  I am a fan of lens hood but I don't shoot a lot with this lens so I haven't got around to get one for it and judging from the pictures I think it does need one.  I think a good lens hood cuts down flare and increases contrast and makes the lens just look better.

Okay, I think I am going to get the HB-7 for real.  I sure feel like I need one.

Camera Bag

My camera bag is an ancient Tenba.  I think I bought it from B&H.  One thing I don't like about my bag other than it can't carry all of my photographic junk is it can't carry a newspaper.  The bag itself just isn't wide or long enough to accommodate a copy of the New York Times (note, at least that was before the Times got slimmed down a bit, well just checked, no good).  So it can't be used for my daily commute to work.  At the same time, my daily messenger bag is only barely big enough to carry my F5 with either a 24mm or a 50mm, san lens hood for the 50mm but can fit any newspaper comfortably.  The messenger bag just isn't thick or roomy enough for even a respectable (I mean big ass) camera body.  I know why my pictures suck because my camera bag isn't helping.  I don't like fanny pack or back pack style kind of camera bag.  The fanny pack makes me look like a senior citizen or a pre schooler and the back pack kind of makes me look like a high schooler, neither image is desirable.  I got to look good even or especially when my pictures suck.  I heard good things about Crumpler but the logo irks me and seems like every hipster Canon shooting guy has one.  I thought about a case, but a case is really for transportation from point A to point B inside a car or for storage under the bed not really for carrying around.  So my final analysis is I don't think I am in the market for a camera bag.

I am carrying my Tenba with my D70 80~200 and my F5 24mm.  And it's overcrowded already.

Feature Film Shot in D3

Wes Anderson's upcoming stop motion Fantastic Mr. Fox was shot using a Nikon D3.

42nd and 5th

UPDATE: This picture grows on me. I am starting to like it even more. I am just great.

5 Av-Bryant Park

This is where the fashionistas and victims alike congregate twice every year.  Not on the subway platform but above on the park.  I think I have read somewhere that the venue might be changed to Lincoln Center going forward.  I do think all along there are several additional venues in addition to Bryant Park for every fashion week.  I am not sure if I am spreading rumor or the truth.  I think the ice skating rink sponsored by Citi just opened.  So I can do my yearly skating from now on for a few months.

(I can't take any credit for the scanning but I think it looks really good)

Friday Pictures

You can't probably find more boring pictures than these.  They are devoid of any redeeming values nor are they necessarily artistically boring so much so that it's high art.  But hey I derive certain joy in the whole process, what can I say?  I guess I take pride in what I enjoy doing rather than what I am good at doing.

Friday Pictures

I probably used the wrong emulsion.  But I use whatever I have.  Maybe one day I will get my Velvia 50.  Maybe one day I will get my field camera so I will spend at least ten minutes to snap a picture.

Straight Razor Set

Clockwise from left:  A badger shave brush, a 6/8" straight razor, a shaving mug.  Not shown is the shaving soap and strop.  Previously.

update: 11/14/2012
The shaving mug cracked pretty early on.  The quality of it is very questionable.  Anyway, I am still using it.

My Film Inventory

For the past two years or so I have acquired a cache of roll film, mostly expired and I have shot some and posted some online in this blog.  I finally got around to take inventory of what I still have.  They are mostly Craigslist purchases when they were offered at a pretty reasonable price like perhaps $1 a roll.  Now more often than not, they are now offered like $3 a roll even when they are expired or even way way expired, I think that's pretty ridiculous.  The loose rolls I have with future expiration dates are free from Kodak with the exception of two from Fuji.  I got them when I attended the Photoplus at Jacob Javits Center here in New York City.  I seldom shoot so this collection may last for a few years.  But then you never know.  I may become a bigger film waster than I envisioned.  With my Hasselblad or Yashica Mat 6x6 format, each roll of 120 can render 12 frames assuming I don't foul up any frame and so far I haven't.  I don't even bother to keep them in a refrigerator as mine simply doesn't have enough room for them anyway.  53 rolls x12=636 frames from the 120, and 72 frames from the 2 rolls of 135.  For each roll, if I were to develop and scan, not fancy or anything, it's about $11 per roll, no proof or anything, that will cost me 55x11 = $605.  Shocking.  If I were to print then an additional (636+72) x 20cents each = 141.6.  Shocking.

Or for the 18 rolls of 125PX, I can do it myself ... like buying HC-110 and other chemicals.  I think it may cost like $50.  For a flatbed that can do 120 film scanning, perhaps $200.  There aren't really any savings doing it yourself unless you consider it fun.

KODAK PROFESSIONAL

2 rolls 135/36 400NC

10 rolls 120 BW400CN 04/2008 in 5 roll pack

18 rolls 120 125PX 11/2007 in 5 roll pack 

5 rolls 120 400NC 11/2008 in 5 roll pack
5 rolls 120 400NC in 5 roll pack, no aluminum wrap, don't know expiration date
4 rolls 120 400NC 03/2010
3 rolls 120 400NC 03/2011

2 rolls 120 160NC, no aluminum wrap, don't know expiration date
1 rolls 120 160NC 11/2007

2 rolls 120 E100 G 03/2011
1 rolls 120 400TMY-2 02/2011

FUJICOLOR
2 rolls 120 PRO 160S 2010-10

Straight Razor Shaving

A while ago I mentioned that I finally relented to the the temptation of getting a straight razor.  I guess this is just a natural progression of what I am.  Like taking pictures using film, then digital, then film and digital again.  I actually got a straight razor more than a year ago but it was the kind with disposable slide on razor.  I have been using it for more than a year and I haven't touched my Mach 3 Gillette for a long long time.  The thing with a straight razor is akin to film photography it's totally unnecessary and almost pretentious but that's who I am and I have no qualm admitting it.  I guess I have my own quirks and I have grown to accept and if not totally embrace them.  The thing with straight razor shaving is this:  the reward is a clean shave when everything is done right while the punishment for absent mindedness can be swift and severe.  Unlike shaving with an electrical razor or a Mach 3 which you could do while you are half asleep, a straight razor shave demands your full attention or you suffer from the consequence.  In this world full of moral hazards and actions without consequence, I find the whole ritual of straight razor shaving oddly refreshing.

Time Change

Now New York City is 13 hours behind Hong Kong.  It's 7PM Sunday night in NYC, then it's 8AM Monday morning in Hong Kong.

CFV-39 Digital Back Review

A three-part review brought to you by Mr. Oleg Novikov is up.  Much of his review is from his field experience while shooting in Inner Mongolia.

Halloween Party

The first time ever I actually wore something special on Halloween.  It wasn't much of a costume, but a mask was a start.

New York Public Library At Bryant Park

Park Here

Empire State Building

Yellow School Bus

An American icon, sort of.

This was taken on my way to the first day of the Photoplus expo at Jacob Javits Center.  Shot using a Canon SD880 IS.  Opened in GIMP, scaled to 1600 width and did a bit of USM to make it look sharper.  I wish I am a bit more proficient in enhancing the color, make it more saturated or giving it a technicolor look.  Perhaps I can just underexpose it a bit.  This was pretty much a grab shot but I did try to make sure the bus was right in the middle of the frame.  I was shooting into the light so I was mildly blinded when looking at the LCD screen.  I guess what I was trying to say was I did an excellent job capturing the bus.

First Family Portrait

P090109-0127

Originally uploaded by The Official White House Photostream.
First Family picture by acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz. The picture is a bit controversial as it's pleasant as it's seemingly ordinary. I don't know if it's a deliberate effort to be low key by the White House or by the photographer. But it's a big departure from Leibovitz generally elaborate celebrity larger than life shots I used to see. Is Leibovitz joining the non art direction and non Photoshop camp? I am not sure. I think there is definitely a revolt against over art direction and over Photoshop in general. This is a good family portrait, like one taken at Sears perhaps, it is homely, cheerful, and effortlessly good looking.

More Cameras

What's not clear in addition to the picture is actually the digital back attached, that's the Hasselblad 39MP CVF-39

 

Canon 1D Mark IV with a 35mm f1.4.  I like.

Project Overcompensation

Canon 1200 mm comes with a price tag of $99,000

Another view of the monster

 

 Bigma

Nikon

liveBooks

Our friends from liveBooks ...

The Leica Man

Me at Photoplus Expo 2009, holding some ridiculously expensive equipments.  On the left (or top if your screen is kind of smallish) is a Leica S2 with a Summarit 70mm f2.5 lens.  On the right (or bottom) is a Leica M9 with some astronomically priced lens.

UPDATE:  There is of course, some interest in the S2 ... I was so enthralled by the mere experience of holding a Leica that costs more than my car so I didn't even notice anything.  Later I read it has some one single AF point.  Yes, you read it right, one, so you won't pick the wrong AF point by mistake.  I think that's kind of neat.  I did remember in the sub par lighting condition that's the expo, the AF wasn't doing its job with any more conviction than my Canon P&S.  Actually I wonder why they bother AF at all, why not just manual focus, I don't think people are going to shoot formula I with an S2.  As to the M9.  It's hefty, more than I imagined it would be, the S2 on the other hand doesn't weigh as massive as it looks, so I don't know. Leica is a brand that is pretty much impervious to negative reviews, plus I guess it really has its merits even most (sorry if you can afford one I don't mean to be offensive) people can't afford one.  So what does it really matter?  If you like it and can afford one, go ahead buy one and call it a day.

Note:  For the fashionista, more utilitarian actually, out there, that's a Uniqlo +J jacket by the purity obsessed Jil Sander as worn here over a 100 years old gray pocket Gap T-shirt.  The jeans was a pair of originally unwashed shrink-to-fit Levi's 501, look what I did to it, it's on the verge of disintegrating and falling apart.  Clear Freeway frame by Shuron USA.  Messenger bag is a Coach.  Not seen are brown Blundstones boots and lime green American Apparel brief.  The hairs, on top of my head and on my face, are all mine.  I finally relented and bought myself a Dovo straight razor, beard, here I come.