Getting Back To Film After A Long Hiatus ......

I have not shot a roll of film in quite a few months. Jan to April each year is when I am busiest, as my other day job is that of a tax preparer at a CPA office, 60 hr week for about 10-11 weeks. Finally that is over and I can have a bit of R & R. Fall 2013 I bought a basic Canon Elan camera body on ebay (just because... it was cheap, I could not past it up). It came with the ugliest looking Quantaray telephoto lens. I wanted to see how bad a cheap lens can be. It actually seems to focus rather fast although it is a slow lens with max aperture of 4.0. It does not hurt to have a 35mm film SLR lying around that could share some of the better lenses I own. I also added to my gears a 200mm f/2.8 L lens from ebay, for $200. Before you said Wow, what a sweet deal! It is cheap for a reason, it has a broken USM motor and only the manual focus works. That did not bother me, I was after the glass and bokeh of a prime L lens within my budget for a hobby. My kind of photography is slow mo anyway. I prefer to take my time to shoot and let my heart leads.


First off I am so out of practice that I had to reel the films thrice as they kept kinking on me and all that inside a large changing bag. Still it did not feel like it was properly done but I eventually gave in and decided I am going to develop the film and live with the consequences. Rodinal/Adonal is always my developer of choice and it gives me good control over the development. It is a one shot developer which means I can prepare just enough for each run and not worry about the rest going bad on me.


The Canon Elan turned out to have an unpredictable shutter (no such thing as free lunch.. things are cheap for a reason, I can only laugh at myself now).The shutter jammed at low speed and I had to turn it off and back on for the mirror to return leading to light leaks on the entire roll. It would work at fast speed, but the entire roll had already been exposed while the shutter stayed open when it jammed. This roll came out blank (clear) except for the frame numbers. I had a second roll of Neopan 400 shot partly on the Canonet QIII 17 and partly on the Canon Elan with the 200mm f/2.8 L lens that was processed along with the first roll of Neopan 400 in the same tank. You can imagine how relieved I was to find a few good shots on the second roll.

Sleepless in Ventura Harbor, borrowing a line from the movie

We live on our 35 ft 1963 Pearson Alberg sailboat (hull #7) (named Sashay). Living in a small confined space (78sf to be exact) on a sailboat is not for everyone but for the right person (persons), it is the best life money can buy.

Ok, I miss having a garden and a real kitchen. In exchange I get to fall asleep to the gentle roll of the tides at night, waves crushing on the breakwaters a short distance away. Each morning, as I peek my head out of the companion way hatch to get ready to start the day, the smell of the pacific ocean and the crisp cool air welcome me. Every so often, a family of harbor seals can be seen frolicking in the water while the pelicans and seagulls yelp loudly and flutter their wings as they protest my intrusion into their space when I walk the harbor slip to the marina building.

Seals frolicking against a backdrop of boats at Ventura Harbor Village, Canon 10D, Tamron 19-35mm Wide Angle with CPL, 8:45am Jan 4 2014

Our office is located some 500 feet from the marina, which means most days when I do not need my car to run errands I could walk along the harbor front to the office. If I am early enough, I catch the beautiful first light.....sleepy sailboats and their reflections on the glass like water. My favorite morning is when the harbor is shrouded in fog...Most mornings as luck would have it I am caught without my cameras which I keep in my office. The fresh misty morning air around me, I stop for many minutes soaking up the priceless view no money can buy, before continuing on my short journey to start the day.

A Chinese junk lookalike - a Bed & Breakfast in Ventura Harbor, Canon 10D, Tamron 19-35mm Wide Angle with CPL, 8:45am Jan 4 2014
Sunset is always magnificent, the water sparkles and gradually turns into beautiful hues and glows as the sun disappears behind the horizon. Nature picks up her paint brushes and gets to work - a watercolor, a gouache or oil. Why would I live anywhere else? (unless it is a small place in the wine country at the foothills with plenty of grape wines, fruit trees and herb gardens).

It does not take a lot to make me happy.

Adobe Photoshop Elements - Using Artistic Filters

I am having some fun this first day of 2014. For anyone interested in photography or art or the creative side of things, there are so many tools readily available today which means endless digital darkroom possibilities. One of such tools I use is Photoshop Elements. I am still with my 2.0 version that came with the Canon 10D I purchased from another photographer in 2006. Photoshop Elements 2.0 is ancient by many accounts. However, I have no need to upgrade to the later versions as all I need are a few standard editing tools and artistic filters to let my creative juices run.

Having shot stock photography for quite a few years and only just stopped doing so in earnest recently (stock photography business has slowed for just about every photographer that depended on it). My external back up hard drive boasts of thousands of images I took over the years....Sweet.. artistic filters, layers, the possibilities are really endless when I am in the mood to create.

Above - Wish You Were Here Postcard - Photo of a candy/nut kiosk taken while I was visiting an indoor farmers market in Allentown, Pennsylvania this past summer. Cutout filter applied (Filter -> Artistic Filter -> Cutout)

Left - A card created using artistic filter (Filter - > Sketch -> Graphic Pen). This source image actually came from my Samsung Galaxy 10.1 which takes rather good pictures

Fooling Around With Photo Editor On My Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

By far one of the best utilities (and most used) on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the Photo Editor, which allows me to add filter, photo frame, edit contrast, hues or crop with just a few taps. B & W and Sepia are my two favorites not forgetting the Polaroid frame.

Photography meets art

Measure
Ok, I do use my Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1 as a tablet, that was what I bought it for, as a second device and when I am away from my desk. It powers up from Sleep mode instantly, the battery lasts me a good 10+ hrs. Connecting to wifi hotspots in public is a breeze, no complex set up, locate and connect or a prompt to enter password if necessary and you are off to web surfing. Camera is not bad, front and rear facing, it is real handy and lets me capture a candid shot for a blog post. Other than occasionally freezing up on me after an Android/Samsung software update, it has been money well spent.

Olympus XA - Neopan 400 Professional 135-36 film, Adonal developer and Boats in Ventura Harbor

Both neg's were scanned using SVP FS1700
Firstly, the film grain was visible in the scan, I love it! one could never re-create that look on digital. Secondly, the top photo was taken around 8am ish when the harbor was shrouded in fog, it was not quite a sight. The element made for perfect backdrop. The lower photo was shot late afternoon approximately two hours before sunset..... In both situations, the Olympus XA handled both shots beautifully. See last blog post below for a picture of this wonderful little gem of a camera

Neopan 400 Professional is one of my favorite films, I am so disappointed that it is only available in 35mm format and Fuji has decided to discontinued the 120 format. I just reminded myself to order more to stock up on these precious films.