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.