Bruny Island, 2013.

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A short trip to Bruny Island, Tasmania. April 2013.





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Film | Bruny Island, 2013.
Bronica ETRS, Fujifilm Pro 400H.

Square. 1

Kingston beach, Tasmania. 2013.

First shoot with my Yashica TLR after repairing (here's a shot before repair). Look, pretty good results!





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Film | Square. 1
Yashica Mat-124G, Fujifilm Pro 160NS.

Lines

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South Burnie jetty.
Burnie, Tasmania. 2013.





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Film | Lines (II)
Bronica ETRS, Kodak Portra 400.

First Shoot: Bronica ETRS (III)

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Two very different kinds of photography, action & landscape.

Obviously, this camera, without the motor drive/ vertical grip isn't made for action shots. Also, the focusing is geared for precision rather than speed: the distance scale is spread wide apart, which means that focus can be set accurately, but requires a long throw. I suppose this is necessary in medium format as any slight focusing error will be quite obvious when enlarged.





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Film | First Shoot: Bronica ETRS (III)
Bronica ETRS, Fujifilm Reala 100

First Shoot: Bronica ETRS (II)

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Perhaps the only problem I have with the Bronica is the lack of... chemistry. The bond, connection. The X factor that makes me wanna pick it up over and over again everytime I go shooting. Of course, it's not the only camera that I couldn't connect with: my Olympus OM-2N is also another such camera, same as my Minolta Hi-Matic 7s. Perhaps I could learn to love the cameras, or maybe it would grow on me- but not now. Perhaps it's due to the 'feel' or ergonomics of the cameras, I'm not sure. However, the "professionalism" of this Bronica is amazing, sometimes it leaves me in awe because it's just so capable, it feels like it could take on a good beating- or be used as a weapon itself.





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Film | First Shoot: Bronica ETRS (II)
Bronica ETRS, Fujifilm Reala 100, Kodak Portra 400

First Shoot: Bronica ETRS (I)

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When I first received my Bronica ETRS, it was as I expected: big, heavy and clunky in operation. The lens mount is so massive it fills the entire front façade; the mirror slap feels like it can flip the camera over; the lens is huge and heavy; the film back is interchangeable etc. Professional features are everywhere in this camera, it is evident that it has been well thought out and designed for professionals. For instance, the mount on the lens has 4 special small separations/ grooves for each bayonet claw- to negotiate the effect of thermal expansion and contraction (similar to railway tracks). The port for the threaded cable release is not on the shutter button like most 35mm cameras but on the side of the camera body- probably to prevent mechanical blockage of the cable release to the lenses. The lenses all have leaf shutter, which means that flash can sync at all speeds. It's easy to see why this is the wedding photographers' choice of camera, along with the Mamiya 645 (in the good old days anyway).





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Film | First Shoot: Bronica ETRS (I)
Bronica ETRS, Fujifilm Reala 100, Kodak Portra 400

小屋

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宿舍后面空荡的草地上有座高脚木屋，自从建好以后就好像没人使用过般，默默地在那里接受风吹雨打，从没感受过温暖。





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Film | 小屋
Bronica ETRS, Fujifilm Pro 160NS

风，带我回家

Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur 2012.

Film | 风，带我回家
Nikon FA, Fujifilm Superia 200

父亲

Father, 2013.

Yashica Mat-124G.

Exams are coming! I'm afraid to say that this blog has to remain on hold until I finish my finals, which is early November. Meanwhile, I've been reading Ming Thein's blog a lot lately, I feel inspired and I learn a lot from his insightful thoughts and articles, many of which got me thinking about the more important aspects of photography like composition, ideas, shot discipline etc. His writings are definitely worth a read.





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Film | 父亲
Yashica Mat-124G, Fujifilm Pro 160NS

Wall

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茨廠街, Petaling Street.



Film | Wall
Yashica Electro 35 CCN, Fujifilm Superia 200

2012 Malacca. 5

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Final post of my one day Malacca trip.





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Film | 2012 Malacca. 5
Nikon FA, Superheadz Ultra Wide & Slim, Fujifilm Superia 200, Fujifilm Superia 400

Dead Fish

Dead fish at The Mine's shopping mall canal. 

Kuala Lumpur, December 2012.

I recently got my Yashica Mat-124G repaired, as it was having some really serious lens flare problems. I always knew that the Yashica can produce some truly outstanding images, but it frustrates me that my camera hasn't been able to deliver its capabilities. So when I was down at Hobart last weekend, I asked my friend Karl to take out the lens assembly and give it a good clean, and now the lens is as good as new! Thus it is only responsible for me to bring this beauty out to shoot and fully reach its potential, after it has been crippled from many long years of fogged lens and poor image quality resulting from it.

My shoot today reminded me of the peculiarities of operating a TLR, for instance the left-right inverted viewfinder and position of the shutter speed & aperture knobs. Keep in mind that I was shooting at a rocky coast during sunset (which means I'm time-restricted and had to rush a little), and shooting alongside my Bronica too. I must confess that I haven't been using my cameras enough to be familiar with them. During my shoot today, there was this transient moment when my mind went completely blank and I was stunned. It happened when I switched from the Bronica to my Yashica, I wanted to check the settings, framing and focus and change them, but my mind just went blank and didn't know where to continue or what to do next. It probably lasted for a good 2, 3 seconds, which my mind snapped back and told me settings on top of viewing lens, changed via the two knobs between the lenses; frame with the groundglass on top and focus with your left hand.

Well, guess that I really have to set myself to spend time with only one camera for an extensive period of time before getting myself familiar with other cameras...





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Film | Dead Fish
Nikon FA, Fujifilm Superia 200

Fish

Hungry for air.

It has been 4 months since I bought my Bronica ETRS, which I've been using regularly. In fact, the first few rolls of film shot with it has already been developed and scanned- I have them in my harddisk now. However, I forgot to note the film types for each of the rolls, so due to logistical & archiving reasons I will not process it until the end of the year..

That aside, the main point I want to write in today's post is after all these months of ownership, I still haven't do this camera justice by shooting what it really is intended for: portraits & landscapes. So, over the last few weeks I've been bringing it out for some landscape shootings, the most recent one was shooting at Cradle Mountain national park.

Looking at the scans from previous rolls, I've learned the limitations of shooting with medium format SLRs- many of my shots were motion blurred, mostly due to the low shutter speed and unstable platform/base. I've grossly overestimated the ability of my hand as a tripod substitute, and by doing so I crossed the line. When I was planning for landscape shootings this time, I thought that if I were to get serious and shoot landscape using a medium format SLR with a slappy mirror without mirror lock-up, I might as well do it right. Well, I did it right... almost, except for 2 things.

Firstly, I don't have a tripod. As a uni student studying in a town in Tasmania, my contacts are limited but I still managed to borrow a tripod from my friend. I'm grateful for it, however the tripod's stability proved to be way less than adequate for my pig (camera). In fact, I could see the whole partially extended centre column swaying sometimes, not just when I release the shutter (with cable, of course), but under moderate wind as well! This has really got me into thinking of investing in a heavy, stable tripod.

The second issue is relatively minor compared to the first, but I think it'll be more important as I get more serious about landscape (if it happens): the lack of filter accessories. I only thought of this in retrospect- I have not used many filters before but from what I saw from most serious shooters, filters are a must in shooting landscape.

These issues aside, I enjoyed shooting landscape with the Bronica a lot. I really loved the process of shooting slowly, it's a relaxed, unrushed way of shooting and makes me think more for each shot as I have so much time to shoot (the light was flat and stayed the same when I was at Cradle Mountain). Ansel Adams must have felt similar too when he was preparing to capture The Tetons and Snake River...





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Film | Fish
Yashica Electro 35 CCN, Ilford FP4

大姐

Chunxi, 2013.

Nikon FA, Nikkor AI-S 50/1.4.

Currently at Hobart enjoying myself. I'm glad that my Yashica Mat-124G is finally repaired! Now the lens looks clean and beautiful, I've loaded a roll of Fuji Pro 160 into it and shot a few shots. Can't wait to see the results!





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Film | 大姐
Nikon FA, Fujifilm Superia 200

This is Life (XI)

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I'm heading towards Cradle Mountain again, for the 4th time in my life. Hope the weather will be dramatic! The weather forecast says fog in the morning and rain in the evening.. sounds like a great black and white landscape shootout to me! Fingers crossed.





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Film | This is Life (XI)
Nikon FA, Fujifilm Superia 200, Fujifilm Superia 400

Life Scenes (XVII): Short Walk into City Centre

1. View from Bangsar LRT station.

2. Petronas twin towers.

3. Nice use of materials...

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8. Ang moh selling things at Petaling Street?

Small collection of photos taken in separate trips into the city centre.





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Film | Life Scenes (XVII): Short Walk into City Centre
Yashica Electro 35 CCN, Fujifilm Superia 200