Europe 2011 | London

London, the city that's always cloudy.

That usually means bad news for me, and it really was. As it's the first destination of my Europe trip, I really wondered if I've brought too many rolls of film for the trip (30 rolls for a 20 days trip- it's really not many I'd say). However, thanks to Venice and Germany, I've finished all of my films right on limit, all 30 rolls of them. Anyway, weather aside, London is actually a very beautiful city, with lots of old, classic looking buildings that really show up London's immense culture & history.


I always have a thing for parks, I love the serenity, carefree-ness, relaxed atmosphere and soothing greenness of a park. And Hyde park is my favourite. It is so huge and so very pretty, you can land a jet on it.


However, due to the bad weather (I didn't bring many black and white films, regrettably), I didn't get to shoot much. I'd love to revisit London again and pray for a sunny day when I could hope to capture the splendour of this city.


Anyway, these are the shots of London from this trip, enjoy.




1. Another tourist?

2. Morning at Hyde Park.

3. Freedom, of the ordinary pigeon.

4. Hyde Park, with Royal Albert Hall in view.

5.

6. Inside the British National Museum.

7. Red Guards. Pun intended.

8. The Big Ben.

9. London. Malaysian flag. (Opposite Trafalgar square)

Thanks for reading.



Film | Europe 2011 | London
Nikon F90X, Yashica Electro 35 CCN, Fujifilm Pro 160S, Fujifilm Superia 200, Agfa Vista 200, Ferrania Solaris 200

Europe 2011 | Paris: The City

Paris, France. My third destination after London and Venice. To me as a photographer, it has the same beautiful, elegant buildings of London without its gloomy weather. The Eiffel tower however, still leaves me wondering at how it attracts more visitors than any other landmarks on Earth.

Some say that Paris is the most romantic city in the world. 

I still don't understand.

1. Stranger of Paris.

2. Peace.

3.

4. Inside Notre-Dame de Paris.

5. There was a prayer going on when I entered the Notre-Dame.

6.

7. Lafayette.

8. Parisian.

9.

10. Beautiful evening for a ride.

11. French National Music Academy.

12.

13. Just relaxing.

14. Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, Montmartre, Paris.

15.

16. Modern pyramids.

17. French couple.

18. The Ascent.

My small, unassuming Yashica rangefinder proved to be perfect for this kind of photo situation. I was inside the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur (Basilica of the sacred heart, dedicated to Jesus) and photography is not permitted. But I saw this beautiful, soft light shining in from the windows and the sculpture of an angel that looks like he is ascending to the light... I immediately composed the shot in my mind, pre-set the focus ring, set the aperture to f/1.8 and waited until no officials are nearby... and quickly raised nifty little camera to my eye, confirmed the focus and took the photo (which only produced a soft "click" sound). Stealthy.

19. Flight acrobatics.

20. A protest against animal abuse outside French National Music Academy.

Thanks for reading.



Film | Europe 2011 | Paris: The City
Nikon F90X, Yashica Electro 35 CCN, Fujifilm Pro 160S, Fujifilm Superia 200, Agfa Vista 200, Ferrania Solaris 200

Europe 2011 | Paris: The Eiffel Tower

After many working hours of developing and post-processing, it's finally done. First of all, some numbers. In the trip to Europe during November last year, I shot more than 30 rolls of 36 exposures film, which equates to about 1,110 shots in total. After selection and processing, I'm down with about 340 shots. With a more vigorous quality control, I'm left with about 160 shots, all of which I'll share it with you readers.


In this trip, I shot all my film with my trusty old film cameras: Nikon F90X SLR and Yashica Electro 35 CCN rangefinder. Both of them did a wonderful job, and I'll write reviews of my equipments soon. This is my first time shooting primarily film for the entire 2.5 weeks trip, and I must say that it feels fantastic, if not liberating. I only brought 2 lenses for my SLR which are the Nikkor AF-D 50mm f/1.8 and Sigma AF 20mm f/1.8. Coupled with my Yashica's Yashinon 35mm f/1.8 lens I have focal lengths of 20mm, 35mm and 50mm. No tele here. That's enough.


The films I used were Fujifilm Pro160S, Fujifilm Superia 200, Agfa Vista 200, Ferrania Solaris 200, Kodak Ektar 100, Kodak Elitechrome 100 & Ilford FP4. I haven't process the shots from Ilford, and I haven't got a chance to develop the roll of Elitechrome shot in Venice... Well, rest assured that it'll be developed one day...


Anyway, to kick start this photo series of my wonderful trip, I present to you:

Paris: The Eiffel Tower


1. The tower was built in 1889, more than a century ago.

2. "Peace" in different languages.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8. Eiffel tower at night.

9. A Labrador that jumped into a pond at the park overlooking the Eiffel.

Thanks for reading.


Film | Europe 2011 | Paris: The Eiffel Tower
Nikon F90X, Yashica Electro 35 CCN, Fujifilm Pro 160S, Fujifilm Superia 200, Agfa Vista 200, Ferrania Solaris 200