Thin line between love and hate

Graffiti is not always art, it can be the result of vandalism.

Shot on Kodak Portra 160.

Seattle in the Sun

Marseille in film

Weekday in Marymoor

Kodak Gold 200 film

Shot on Fujica GM670

Early spring in Amsterdam

Marseille

Possibly one of my best and worst at the same time city that I have visited in my adult life, Marseille will always have a very special place in my memories.

The Funeral

I cannot articulate in words the feeling that brewed inside me as I was setting up this shot. First, there was no sun until the last few seconds when it peeked through the clouds and lit up the trees in the background. Then it was a difficult composition with the “Wide” lens.

It appeared to me as if the trees were mourning the death of the fallen one.

Tungsten experiments (feat. CineStill 800T)

Shooting with film at night has never been this much fun.

10 sec at f/5.6

13 sec at f/5.6

6 sec at f/5.6

3 sec at f/5.6

1/60 sec at f/1.8

1 sec at f/5.6

15 sec at f/8

20 sec at f/5.6

3 sec at f/5.6

Long exposures with CineStill 400D

Seattle and Port Townsend

Museum of Vancouver

Last night I was looking for a place with classic cars and neon signs to photograph in the CineStill 800T film stock, and came across Museum of Vancouver that has a classic car and a handful of neon signs. I wanted to spend only a few minutes here today but we ended up spending several hours going through the exhibits and educating ourselves with the rich history of this beautiful city on the west coast of Canada.

#36

1/1000 sec at f/1.8

The edge of Fidalgo island with a new analog camera

I have been shooting 120 film for a while but did not have a 135 film camera until now. Well, I started photography with a K1000 but that was long time ago - a period I would like to erase if I can.

To fill the 135 format gap I bought a Canon AE-1 Program and shot two rolls (few photographs here) with it. It’s a really nice camera that featured a “point and shoot” mode as well. Then I found a Nikon FM2N in excellent condition - I had to get it. Paired with a 50mm f/1.8 AIS pancake lens and a roll of Kodak Portra 400, drove to Washington Park in Anacortes to test it out.

Startled

I waited very patiently for them to take to their wings, as I stared through the viewfinder of my (new) Nikon FM2. The wait was probably a minute but it felt longer.

They finally flew off…

CineStill 400D - Nova Era

Trying out new film stock: the CineStill 400D on Canon AE-1 Program.

Yellow streetcar (Seattle)

Issaquah historic downtown in CineStill 800T

Port Townsend (Kentmere 400)

I took these photographs on the same day as my previous blog post with images taken with the Hasselblad X2D but took a while to send the roll to the lab. Got the negatives back today and scanned with V600.

Very happy with the deep contrast - this was the first time I used Kentmere 400 film stock.

Shot with Fuji GS645W

Old trees

Yoshino cherry trees (December, 2022)

The other side

I wanted to shoot neon signs on CineStill 800 but couldn’t really find much around Seattle. The desire faded over time, mostly because of the length of time I researched and then abandoned the project. While looking up interesting places around Seattle, noticed the south side of the city - potentially dangerous to wander late at night, present an array of very interesting old-city looks and “some” neon in it.

There was only one way to confirm or deny this…

I arranged for a scouting trip one of the December weekends and was thrilled to find amazing old buildings and history (I wasn’t aware until then UPS started here in Seattle). The area looked a lot less sketchy than it did ten years ago but, I was still hesitant to venture into the darkness, unarmed. But I knew I had to return at night - these scenes were too good to pass.

I teamed up with two friends (Kiran & Ashok) who were interested in shooting this part of town at night, and we drove over last Sunday evening. The weather was very cooperative: rain clouds were blown east and away from the city around 8 PM and we could even see a few stars along with the Big Dipper in the sky.

It was uncanny how calm, quiet the city was, considering it was a weekend night. Besides few “interesting” human beings (for lack of better definition) on the streets, the restaurants had diners but, from outside under a clear night sky there were not many sounds nor voices.

Once I acclimated to the surrounding I walked into a back alley to shoot the wet bricks catching the lights from the street on the other side.

There is nothing in this wide world that would ever make me comfortable photographing in the city at night. But I guess sometimes it is worth testing the limits, and these rare adventures always yield good photographs.

I’m happy.