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 -

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 !!

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.

I took quite a bit of pictures with my iPhone throughout my travels recently. Looking back at the images, I feel that my perception of the surrounding and also the direction of my photography with my iPhone is somewhat different from when i shoot with film. Thus, I think it might be a good idea to separate and present my photography with the iPhone in a separate place.   

This is where Posterous comes in. It is simple and easy to both set up and use – just like photography with the iPhone =D
Come visit the new sister site here.

(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………

I rarely shoot close ups nowadays as i much prefer to see the bigger (wider) side of things. It is for this same reason that my telephoto lens (Nikon 100/2.8 E) sees very little use these days. 

When i started getting serious about photography, the aim was to get lenses that can cover from the widest to the longest.
Well, how was i to know – i was still too green to have my picks and preferences. Now that i’ve been doing this for more than a year, i can say for certain that i prefer to see the bigger (wider) side of things – focal lengths 28, 35 & 50mm is home territory for me

P.S. will talk about super-wides (sub 28mm) in the near future.

Typical Tassie countryside.
I was rather lucky with this shot. As you can see, it was a very cloudy day. In fact it poured soon after.
As i was about to take the shot, the sun managed to peek out which allowed for a faster shutter speed and smaller sperture, thus underexposing the sky a little giving the clouds a more dramatic look. All in all, the transient ray of light gave the picture more contrast.

The image below was taken soon after the sun disappeared. It has a more atmospheric, ‘early morning’ look to it and lacks total contrast.

Which is better? I’ll leave it up to you. I think both has its place.
Personally, i have a slight preference for the 2nd picture.
Somehow the low contrast and muted colors gives me a sense of ease.

Shot a total of 25 rolls of film……… and counting!!! 
BW400CN(5), XP2(4), Reala(4),HP5(3), TriX(2) 400UC(2),XTRA 400(2), Gold 200(1), Ultramax 400(1), 800z(1) 

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.

A truly insightful book into the life and works of one of todays modern masters in photography. I truly admire how she engages her subject and evokes such personal expressions in the portraits she captures.

The book also showcases her work in chronological order from her earlier days with film to more recent projects with digital workflows. Personally, i prefer her earlier works and my favourite has to be – ‘John Lennon and Yoko Ono, New York City, December 8, 1980’ and ‘Dr. Sanja Besarovic, Kosevo Hospital, Sarajevo, 1993’