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.