Wanted to post a couple new recent additions to my Hikari project. These were taken a few weeks back while taking a photo walk at a new location from the others in the series.
Just for fun, and also to demonstrate how much these photos distill the essence of the locations down into their abstract form, here’s two more photos shot only minutes before these from the same location.
No, it’s not porn.
It is however a new photo art book that I received today that I thought I’d like to share. Lately, I’m finding that I want to separate myself from being online so much – wasting time in forums and such – and so have decided to instead put a portion of that time into finding and viewing work that interests me and will also expand my visual vocabulary. No matter what you shoot, expanding your visual vocabulary will have immediate benefit for you in that it will allow you to potentially express yourself better and, at the very least, possibly give you some inspiration to try something new with your work. That’s never a bad thing. Never.
Regarding the book, Flesh Love is the latest release from Tokyo based photographer, Photographer HAL. Photographer HAL’s self-stated main theme is Love – not just love between lovers, but also love between oneself and the people around you. Toward that end, Photographer HAL has created a number of projects designed to capture and intimately display Love between the subjects he chooses for his works. Flesh Love is his latest and probably most recognized project to date.
Shot in medium format digital in Photographer HAL’s own home, each image depicts a couple that have been sealed in an airtight futon storage bag with the air removed, hence depicting directly Photographer HAL’s concept of freshly stored Love. Each couple is unique in their pose, fashion, and emotion, so every photo is like a new treat to be enjoyed and devoured. As such it’s worth the viewer’s time to take each photo in slowly and deliberately. I know every time I view the book I find something new within the images, so in that sense it’s got a lot of replay value, to use an appropriate gaming term.
As far as raciness is concerned, while there is nudity, I wouldn’t say it’s being used for titillation, but more to show the intimacy of the subjects being photographed. I think it’s very tasteful in that sense, but I’m pretty liberal regarding that kind of thing, so others may not feel as comfortable perhaps. By far, the majority of the images are not nudes, so I wouldn’t write the book off immediately if that’s a concern, despite its title and cover photo. Far more unnerving, to me at least, is the method involved in creating each photo. When I first viewed the work, I couldn’t help but to keep thinking, “how do they breathe?” Turns out that Photographer HAL only had about 10 seconds to shoot two frames max before having to release his subjects from the bag. That he was able to gain the confidence of his subjects enough to allow him to be able to create the images in the first place speaks volumes about his skill of rapport with his subjects. Thus, in the end I find the work very skilled and thoroughly enjoyable, and a definite change of pace from the usual fare.
If you would like to view Flesh Love for yourself, you can pick up a copy via Japan Exposures, or alternately via the Flesh Love iPad app in the iTunes App Store, which is a bit cheaper. I have both, namely because the app includes two ‘making of’ videos in addtion to the photos. Also, since the photos are digital originally, I think it’s cool to see them in their original medium, on the screen.
About a week ago I picked up a Pentax K1000 35mm film SLR. It was mint condition with a Pentax 50mm f2 SMC-A lens, and is about as old school as you can get. If you follow the links, you can learn a little bit about the history of the camera, but essentially it’s a full manual film camera that was made in large numbers for a fairly long time, and is considered one of the top, if not the best, student cameras ever made.
Why did I buy one? A couple of reasons. One was that I’ve had an itch to shoot with a film SLR again for some time now. Second was that it was the very first SLR I’d ever used and I thought it’d be fun to relive that experience a bit. Third, and last, was that it’s been really hard to find a truly compact DSLR that is of the same quality as a lot of these old film cameras. You may remember that I had owned an Olympus E-420 a year or two back, and that was as close to an old film SLR feel as I have ever gotten in a digital camera. Eventually though, I sold it because I thought it was distracting me from using my D200 which had been basically sitting around collecting dust at the time as a backup to the D3. Truth be told however, I fairly regret it as it was just such a handy little thing and really provided a unique experience with reasonable image quality. Still, it’s gone and I have no intention of getting another as in the end I’ll go right back again to where I was when I sold it, I think. Of course, I could check into one of the new OM-D’s from Olympus, but it’s not a true DSLR and I absolutely hate electronic viewfinders, so no good, though it looks like a good camera by every other measure.
In any case, the K1000 showed up last Friday and over that same weekend I put a test roll through it when we went to Mill Creek Park to kill some time as always. As you’ll see from the pics below, it takes a fine picture. Exposure was spot on for the most part and required very little adjustment in post. Resolution-wise it’s somewhat of a mixed bag though, but that’s a film limitation more than anything; all my film cameras suffer the same issue, and that may have more to do with scanning the film than any fault of the lens and film itself. I use a fairly inexpensive Epson V500 Photo scanner, which for my needs is adequate, but there are better units out there if you hunt around.
Anyway, for regular use I typically scan my negatives so that I end up with about a 19MP file in the end, which is quite large, so at 100% you can see every little fault which can lead oneself to make the mistake that the overall IQ isn’t very good. Fact is though, if I print the files at normal sizes (4×6, 8×10, 12×18) it is very comparable to digital, and at web sizes it’s almost the same as you’ll see. Still, digital surpasses it for the most part overall in many ways, so YMMV.
Now to the fun part – the pics. Here’s a selection of photos from the test roll. No art, just some decent snaps while out walking and enjoying the fine February weather (how about that this year?!). Note that in some ways they look very digital, but in others – namely color – they have that certain look to them that signifies film in almost every instance. Whether you like that or not is up to you, but I don’t mind it at all, personally. Film was Kodak 200 Gold, so nothing fancy, but more than adequate.
What do you think? Not too bad, huh? Quite nice actually. If after reading this your interest is piqued, hop on over to eBay and have a look. Fun cameras to use, cheap, and a very relaxing change of pace from your typical DSLR (which I still love).
For those that want to skip straight to the main gallery click here: 2012 Pittsburgh Intl. Auto Show
I need to apologize. Shortly after arriving at the show, I came down sick bad enough to force me to quit shooting and head back home. It sucks because I really wanted to shoot the show, but it was not in the cards this year it seems. First time I’ve ever had to bail from a shoot, but at least I did get a little work in to share. Head to the gallery link above and you can see the full set.
Where have you been? Where are you going to next?
Did a little bit of street shooting this past weekend while walking around the Strip District in downtown Pittsburgh. We were out running some errands in the area and since it was such a beautiful day we thought it’d be relaxing to kill some time there. I had my D200 with me, so it was only natural to pull it out and see where the flow would take me. Lens-wise I had the light and compact Nikkor 35mm f1.8 DX lens (the only DX lens I own) mounted, so it made for a fairly lightweight rig to haul around. As much as I love my D3, sometimes I just don’t want to deal with its bulk, so something like the D200 and a prime fits the bill. What I really need to do is find a better compact carrying solution for a D3/prime combo, but since we have like zero true camera shops in the area with any kind of selection of bags to browse, it’s likely going to be a while before that happens. For now, I simply deal with the lesser camera and get on with things.
This next shot has fantastic natural lighting I think, so let’s finish off with a dash of color for variety’s sake.
Was out with the fam at Buhl Park in Hermitage, PA the other day enjoying the unusually wonderful weather we’ve been having and grabbed this shot of the evening sunlight bathing the Timblin Casino building in its golden warmth. A fine day indeed.
For those looking only for the photo gallery, you can reach it directly here: 2012 World of Wheels Show
The final batch of photos from the 2012 Pittsburgh World of Wheels show have been uploaded. All are from the upper level of the show, and they complete a full set of 154. Just like before, below are some of my favorites from this batch; I hope you like them too!
Next event I will be attending is the 2012 Pittsburgh International Auto Show, Feb. 17-20, also to be held at the David Lawrence Center, same as years past. I expect lots of excellent vehicles to shoot this year, so I hope you’ll join me to enjoy the photos. See you in a few weeks!
For those looking only for the photo gallery, you can reach it directly here: 2012 World of Wheels Show
Running a little late with my blog post, but wanted to share that the second batch of 2012 Pittsburgh World of Wheels show pics were put up a day or so back and can be viewed in the gallery linked above. This batch completes the set of shots from the first level of the show; the second level shots will be posted shortly.
While you’re waiting however, here’s some of my faves from this batch. As you’ll notice, these were mostly from the rat and hot rod side of the level, which I’ve always found to be my favorite. Cheers!
For those looking only for the photo gallery, you can reach it directly here: 2012 World of Wheels Show
It’s that time again, the first post of the new show season and as usual I’m going to start with the World of Wheels show at the David Lawrence Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.
This is the third year that I’ve shot the show, and as always it was brimming over with a large variety of cars and exhibits to enjoy. Last year, I only had a short amount of time to shoot due to the weather and the AFC Championship, but this year the weather was fantastic and the Steelers weren’t, so I was able to make it to both levels. Needless to say, the extra work was worth it.
With any show, there’s always a mix of old and new, and World of Wheels is no different. As you go through the photos, you’ll see more than a fair share of return vehicles on display. That’s OK I think; I like seeing the repeats and many times they’ve been updated in some form or another, so it can be fun to follow that progress. On the flipside, shows this early also have a higher chance of fresh metal showing up for their first outing, so it’s exciting and fun to see what projects were under wraps through the winter and are just now coming into the light. It’s also fun that people love to talk about said new projects. After all, they’ve put in a lot of time and sweat, so it’s only natural to be excited to share that with the world.
With that said, I’ve included below some of the new rides I came across from the first batch of photos uploaded tonight. With big shows like WOW and the Cleveland Autorama, it’s easier to upload photos in smaller batches as I process them than to wait and post them all at once. This way I can get photos up earlier to share than I could if I waited to post them all at once. That’s better for the viewers and fans of the show, and also for me as it takes some of the pressure off of getting images out in the public eye. In any case, definitely hop on over to the gallery to see this first batch, while in the meantime I’ll also post a few faves below just to whet your appetite in case you don’t have the time to view the gallery now. Thanks as always for looking, enjoy!
First up, this incredible Corvette-themed trike. Unlike a ‘Vette, no fiberglass was used – it’s all hand formed aluminum instead. Powered by a ’69 Camaro 6 cylinder engine, I think it’s an amazing scratch-built vehicle, and it’s owner/builder should be proud.
Adding to the fresh metal, how about this beautiful vintage Vega funny car? If you keep your eye out for it you may see it run at a track near you this year.
And for something really unique, check out this custom bike made entirely of Knex. Yeah, it’s not a legit ride, but the amount of time and design that went into it is pretty impressive. Plus, I’ve never seen anything like it before at any show ever. In fact, the whole display was a real standout.
Nice mini-mural on the tail of this very clean Mustang.
Speaking of Mustangs, how about this pink beauty? I was told by the owner that this was an original limited edition color given to Playboy Bunnies. Dealers only got six cars – 2 vinyl tops, 2 std. hardtops, and 2 convertibles, and that was it. This one has has been in the family since its purchase.
And finally, a nice 5.0, just because.
