Digital Graffiti

(... continued from the last post)

The following day, I met up with Kelly and Lauren in Chungmuro. Since we all had rolls to drop off, and needed to resupply our dwindling dedicated film ziplock bags. On top of that Kelly decided to get himself a new toy, and one I am very, VERY close to acquiring myself. Nikon's current flagship DSLR, and le Magnifique, the ultra sexy D7000. However, having used my film 35mm for the past... nine, going on ten months, [shooting] film makes it a lot harder to let go. I mean, I think I've created some of my best photographs using my FE2! On top of that, my brotha in Nihon, Ken, recently traded in his D90, some lens, and upgraded to the D7000 as well. I'm nowhere near being a professional photographer, but having played with the D7000, I have to say, it's an impressive work of machinery! I've read pages and pages of reviews, but nothing comes closer than actually having it in your hands, and firing away a few shots, or simply watching the autofocus do it's magic in the live view mode. What to do, what to do... Instead of the D7000, I ended up buying some macro filters (kind of like magnifiers) that you can just twist onto your filter. It acts like a macro lens, but at a fraction of the price.

Anyways, after Kelly bought his new baby, we headed to Craftworks to charge the new batteries for the D7000, and to try their new IPA, called the Jirisan Moonbear. A tad too bitter for my palette. Perhaps IPA's are suppose to have that bitterness, but the Moonbear tended to linger too much afterwards. Heavy in alcoholic content, I had to wash down the vicious aftertaste of the Moonbear with the effervescent, sweet, and banana milk flavored Baekdusan Hefeweizen.

There's something about typography that adds an interesting dimension to photography. The millions upon billions of combinations of words, fonts, and styles makes it a lot more difficult than it seems. I sort of see it as the title, or the caption of the photograph; a direct imprint of my thoughts onto the canvas. It's subtle, yet powerful, directing the viewers to a particularly explicit idea.

For more check these out: Ken, Christina, 12fv.

Roll:
1. Kodak Portra 160nc

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////




















the "Sel-ca"

a newly created word by Korean netizens,
which stands for taking pictures of yourself



pax

A Fleeting Reminder of Spring

Hope you all enjoyed the Ilford Delta 3200! An awesome friend of mine, Beans, whose primary mode of photography is the Holga MF 120, passed along some valuable info regarding the 3200. As a nature enthusiast, and one who is constantly seeking adventure through the urban jungle, his work is an awesome collection of creativity and striking double exposures. Supposedly, the 3200 film's true speed is around 1000. Which means, I pushed the entire roll about 2 stops! For all film photographers, it is definitely worth experimenting with. Next time, I'll try to shoot the roll at 800 or 1600 and see what results I get.

After the final shot of the Delta, I promptly reloaded with a Kodak Portra 160nc to capture the true essence of the cherry blossoms. They're beautiful flowers really, and probably one of my favorites. The morning started off with a hasty bike ride to Yeoido (a small island floating off the southeast side of Seoul on the Han River), because I had to be back in time for work. There was a slight overcast that day, so I couldn't contrast the pinkish hues of the cherry blossoms against the sky blue backdrop as I had anticipated! Nonetheless, I am glad to have seen these flowers in full bloom, unlike last year, where I caught them towards the end of their brief and momentary lives. Imagine if we only "lived" for a few weeks, what would (could?) you (possibly) do during that time? In retrospect to time, we are like these cherry blossoms, a constant metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life. Mortality is what makes us human, but what of the soul? Isn't that what lives on forever? The soul immortalizes us all. Just something to think about. Anyways, the last few photos from this roll were taken the following morning. It's becoming an interesting habit.

enjoi!

Roll:
1. Kodak Portra 160nc

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Cherry Blossoms in Seoul, 2011


















감자탕 (pork bone soup) & incredibly delicious.


another fe2 shooter in seoul.


one day...

... i'm going to have an M6


pax

Grainy Daze

Call it street photography, or pseudo-portraiture, ever since my incredibly talented photographer friend, Tigran, told me to arm myself with a 35 mm lens, and to take candid photos of people, I haven't looked back. When I first shot with my dslr, I really had no concept of how intricate a camera really was (& I'm still learning everyday). Minus the apertures, shutter speeds, and ISOs working elaborately together with delicate precision to recreate a brief moment, if not a blip, in time with perfect exposure, I genuinely had no idea what I was doing. f/3.5? auto-ISO? white balance?! 1/4000?!?! what the heck did all this mean?!?! As if that wasn't enough to digest. I'd simply set my camera to Program mode, point at something that looked appealing, half-press the shutter, wait a split second for the auto-focus to kick in, and then fire away. Even before the dslr, when I toyed around with a point and shoot, all I really thought about was how the photo looked in the rear screen, and didn't even bother to think about what the numbers meant. I can't say that I have a complete and thorough understanding of photography today, but I'm glad to have a little bit more knowledge in this field than a few years ago. Though shooting film has relegated all dslr terminology to the bottom bracket, I've got only six things to worry about: the framing, making sure my ISO is "correct", the f/stop, the shutter speed, the exposure, and the focus. I guess seven - if I include "how the photos come out" to the list. I still have a long way to go to be where I want to be, but I feel fortunate to have this experience that continually keeps me creative, passionate, and sane.

Anyways, a few weeks ago, Kelly, James, and I picked up a roll of Ilford Delta 3200 with the idea of taking pictures inside Live Club Ssam, where Llasa, a two-man-jammin-on-the-guitar-and-drums-band from Busan, were headlining. Before the show started, I popped in the 3200 at a lomography store in Hongdae where Kelly bought himself a new Holga to shoot with. Then, we went searching for the venue where Llasa would be playing later that night. We met up with Andrew, and went to a reggae bar playing the likes of Lee "Scratch" Perry, King Tubby, of course the Wailers, with Rockers shining out through the projector, & owned by a Japanese national (who is married to a Korean woman). After knocking down a few drinks, we made our way back to the show. Once again Llasa didn't fail to deliver. Everything got kinda hazy afterwards & the last few shots on this roll were taken the following morning.

This was the first time experimenting with film speed over 800 & to my surprise, it was really fascinating being able to shoot at speeds of 1/125 inside a dark-lit room at f/2. This film is the definition of grain. I'm not completely sold on the grain yet, and I would probably pick up some Tri-X, T-max, or Ilford 400's before reaching to the upper rack to pick up one of these. Well, without further adieu.

enjoi!

Roll:
1. Ilford Delta 3200

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


00: shot at m/250. 1: unknown ~ either 1/125 or 1/500?


she doesn't like getting her photo taken...










reggaebar where you can buy north korean beer!








Llasa






wait a minute...




cherry blossoms next...

... in color



pax

The Expiration Date is Inevitable

I dropped off 4 rolls to get developed and scanned in Chungmuro over the weekend. The third roll from the previous set was part of the 4 rolls that I had gotten developed. The photos from this set were taken about two weeks ago when Kelly, James, and I stomped all over Seoul before meeting up with Lauren in the late afternoon. I popped in an expired Kodak Gold 200 film, which came out surprisingly well. To be frank, I don't think expired film makes that much of a difference. If anything it adds a more vintage touch to the photos. Anyways, we did the routine downtown Seoul run starting at Chungmuro, through Myeongdong, then walked along the Chunggaechun; briefly stopping by to watch a live reenactment of a Chosun era Korean style wedding. After that, we made our way to Insadong where James was (for the second time) racially profiled by Korean high school students who were fanatical about interviewing him (well played, well played). Having met up with Lauren, we proceeded to make our way to Yeoido. From there, we headed back north to Hongdae to watch Llasa (from Busan) play at Live Club Ssam. Let's just say that it got pretty funny soon after.

Next up, Ilford Delta 3200 with ultra-ridiculous grain action, and Yeoido's cherry blossoms in Kodak Portra 160nc right after that. Stay tuned!

But for now,

enjoi

Roll:
1. Kodak Gold 200 (expired film)

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////




i miss the donuts


















Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose...


and how radiant her smile would have been...

... under the setting sunlight



pax

Suuupawide

Enter the Black Slim Devil

An all-plastic 35mm f/11 film camera with a 22mm wide angle lens, and shutter speed locked at 1/125s, this Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim remake by Superheadz (made in Tokyo) has reinvigorated the toy camera scene, and has been an essential part of my photographing adventures here in Seoul. If used properly (mostly where sunlight is abundant, and light can easily enter through the lens), the photos are emblazoned with it's signature vignetted edges, and distinguishable lens flare. The colors have come out amazingly beautiful to my delight, though I am still very inconsistent with it thus far. Also, the camera is lightweight, and very easy to handle. The only drawback would be the small viewfinder, but it's so inconspicuous and quick it's perfect for street photography. Sometimes I don't even put the camera up to eye level, but just shoot at arm's length!

Nonetheless, here are a few of my favorite shots taken from 3 different rolls (all same film types).

enjoi

Rolls:
1-3. Fujifilm Superia 400

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

#1


かめはめ波!!!!!!!!







#2




directly outside my villa. loud mornings.





#3






i see five.


biking season.




pax