and sometimes i just sits » thinks

I am doing it

Ferraby — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:50:22 +0000

Beginners do it.
Hobbyist do it.
Amateurs do it.
Professionals do it.
I am doing it.

Here is me with my Leica MP, Tom A Rapidwinder, 50mm PreAsph Summilux, Artisan and Artist ‘Kobe’ Strap.

Have a good weekend.

On Photographs vs TV

Ferraby — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:13:47 +0000

Photographs may be more memorable than moving images,
because they are a neat slice of time, not a flow.

Television is a stream of underselected images, each of which cancels its predecessor.

Each still photograph is a privileged moment,
turned into a slim object that one can keep and look again.

– On Photography, Susan Sontag -

Some change and some thoughts

Ferraby — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:59:56 +0000

Revamped my photoblog a little. It is about time I guess……..
Over and done with my recent commitments. All ended well =D

On photography,
If you can remember, I have been trying a few ISO 100 films lately. Have decided to settle with Ilford FP4+. Great tones with a traditional look/grain when developed with Rodinal. Bought 30 rolls altogether.
Tri-X has, is and will always be great. Got myself 50 rolls to burn.
Have decided to stick with Rodinal as my main developer. Just couldn’t be bothered with mixing powders (Kodak D76 in my case).
An interesting observation, I developed a roll of Tri-X 2 weeks ago with the temperatures of the developer, fixer and wash all standardised to 21 degrees centigrade (previously, I only controlled the temperature of the developer alone).
The result……………… almost no negative curl !!

Changes here and there

Ferraby — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:18:46 +0000

Just upgraded to ProPhoto Version 3. Lots of new features and additions.
Hence, my blog is going to be rather ‘confused’ over the next week or so.

Also, can’t believe my photo blog is now more than 1 year old.
Been very happy with BlueHost (GREAT service!), WordPress and ProPhoto Blogs – Thumbs up !!

What?!?!

Ferraby — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:42:25 +0000

Well guess what…… don’t think i’ll be getting internet at home anytime soon. The ‘phone guys’ claims that I will have to wait till the 26th of March before they can dig the ground and get the cables done.

Why 26th of March…… beats me.

Why they still need to get the cabling done when I have houses all around me – some of which has already been there for 20 years – with phone connections……. beats the hell out of me.

Thinks: ISO 100

Ferraby — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 07:45:51 +0000

At work but not too busy at the moment…….

So far, I have only been shooting ISO 400 B & W films. Great for general purpose but the trade off , you get rather unpredictable results especially if the contrast of the scene is very high (which, thankfully is not very often for me).
Cambodia was sunny, Egypt was very sunny….. wasn’t too impressed with a few of the shots.

Thus, I am currently experimenting with some ISO 100 B & W films. But which ones?
I bought 2 rolls of Fuji Acros 100 and 2 rolls of Rollei Retro 100. Currently shooting my first roll of Rollei Retro 100. Can’t wait to finish the roll and see the result. I’ve heard that Rollei Retro 100 and Rodinal yields superb ‘old time’ images.

Thinks: Souping and Scanning

Ferraby — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:54:08 +0000

Finally done developing, scanning and indexing the pictures I took during my recent travels…. Huh.

Now I just have to go through them closely and sort the likes and dislikes. Shouldn’t take too long so stay close

Pyramids to Temples: Egypt to Cambodia

Ferraby — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:53:11 +0000

(post uploaded from The Coffee Bean @ The Gardens. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Yes, i will be leaving for Egypt tonight for 6 days and then to Cambodia for a little less than 2 weeks.

This is going to be my first major trip with my rangefinders and more importantly, films.
Bringing along 3 camera bodies (MP, Zeiss Ikon and Oly XA) and about 40 rolls of film.

Will try to post updates as i go along.
However i won’t be developing my films on the journey, thus the images from my iPhone 3Gs will have to suffice (…like the picture above).

ps: That is my camera journal. I started keeping one a few weeks ago and it is going great. Helps me remember and learn………

Thinks: New layout

Ferraby — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:12:21 +0000

Thought i’d change things a little and try a more simplistic layout.
Suggestions/comments/advice welcomed.

I’ll leave you with a quote that i stumbled upon awhile ago.
Have a great day!!! (mine is wet and gloomy…… and it is supposed to be spring !?!)

“I am a camera with it’s shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking”

– Christopher Isherwood

Thinks: Meterless

Ferraby — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:45:47 +0000

The weather hasn’t been great lately and most of my weekends were somehow occupied. I’m dying to go for a long walk…

If you haven’t noticed by now (under my Equipments sections that is), there were some new additions lately - a Leica M2 and a CV 35mm f/2.5 C Color Skopar Classic. I have been hearing and reading so much about Leica Cameras; the origin/history/mechanical precision/optics/photographs/photographers/myths/legends. I still find it hard to believe that i actually own one =D

Back to the title. Meterless.

I went out for a photowalk early today. Nothing exciting. Just around my place of residence mostly to test my M2 and the lens. Went out with about 12 exposures left and brought along my meter, a Sekonic L-308s. Meter you say???
Yeah, my Leica is meterless. No battery, no wire, no electricity. Just cold hard metal.
Picture taking ain’t gonna get any simpler (or tougher) than this. I pick the shutter speed, aperture, focus and ‘Click’. More experienced or old school photographers would be able to ‘guesstimate’ the correct exposure but i am GREEN. Thus the light meter.

Managed to finish the whole roll after an hours worth of aimless walkabout…… now i just need to get it developed.

On a side note, my current film-loaded cameras are – FE2/Reala and Hexar AF/XP2.