A still life....Kodak EIR film....and the late afternoon sun

This photo has a special place in my heart. A photo I shot in a dingy garage years ago, and a still life put together invited by the light. The garage had a low window with many 50s style square glass panes. It sits just above the ground, much like a basement or a daylight window. As winter approaches, the window would ever so gently filter in just enough light from the afternoon sun, and warm the garage. Each time I would stare at the window and the long shadow on the floor...saying to myself that I must put something together quickly and shoot this light before it disappears.

Positive "high res" film scan with SVP FS1700 Negative and Slide Scanner, Kodak EIR film, no post process
The wooden background panel had quite a history. I bought it from another flea market seller on Melrose in the Fairfax district in LA. I was attracted by the beautiful big bold paint strokes of the sunflower, painted in lime yellow and green. The seller told me it came from an old house and that the panel was a salvaged door. Someone he knew was an artist and decided to paint the panel hoping to sell it as a work of art. The seller wanted $35. We haggled and finally settled on $15. It was heavy and it was 3.5 ft wide and 4 ft tall and almost 3 inches thick. I lugged it 200ft to the parking lot to my car and was relieved it would fit inside the trunk of my old Jeep. It is perfect as a table top in my future garden, the money would be well spent, I consoled myself.

The antique garden jug belonged to my housemate. It had beautiful lines and despite being a little beat up, it looked elegant. I needed something to prop up the garden jug and balance the composition, the wooden carpenter step ladder looked perfect for the part, it completed the composition. I moved them around just a bit until they looked right...

I set my film camera on a tripod and proceeded to shoot a few frames. I had imagined the shots and wanted to capture the light before it is out. Much later when I was nearly finished with the roll of film that I realized I had one of my two remaining rolls of Kodak EIR color slide film in the camera. Until today I cannot get over how a simple still life at the spur of the moment can be so out of surreal, so beautiful and timeless.

Sometimes we spend days chasing after that perfect shot, and it is staring right at us, if only we take a pause..........

SVP FS1700 Negative and Slide Scanner Review

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I am not one to buy the newest latest gadget but the SVP FS 1700negative and slide scanner caught my attention two weeks ago. I was a little apprehensive, wondering if it would be worth my while. It is nice to be able to do a quick scan of my film negatives and slides from years past, even the more recent ones but I already have a Canoscan 8400F Flatbed scanner which does get some use when time permits. Do I really need another scanner, would I be disappointed with the results? There were literally hundreds of choices, both on Amazon and ebay, and many user reviews on each of them making the decision even more difficult. I finally settled on the SVP FS1700 with an LCD screen. Image is projected on the backlit LCD display which allows one to view the image and decide whether to proceed with the scan and save the file. Much like viewing it on the small light box, it is a nice add on that decided for me.

Right, Venice boardwalk. Positive scan, Ektachrome, X-Process, no post processing

I ended up bidding for one on ebay one early morning, a brand new one and winning it at a mere $8.55 + $9.99 shipping for a total of $18.54. The unit I bought does not come with a smart media card (and I have plenty of spare). Amazon sells the SVP FS 1700 Slide and Negative Scanner with an 8GB card for $49.99.

Now the review.

What I like about it:

1. It is fast, very fast, at the click of a few buttons and you are done scanning and saving the file on the SD card. The LCD is really a projection screen off your negative/slide but that is a nice touch. This means you don't have to hook the scanner to a computer monitor to view and do simple tasks such as flip the image or do a mirror flip, both functions can be accomplished on the scanner itself (if you put the neg the wrong way)

Picture on the left is a "high res" B&W scan of a 35mm neg Ilford SFX 200, no post processing
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2. You have a choice of low (866kb) or high resolution scan (1.5MB) and that is big plus, I am not sure if it would be useful if one can only do a low res scan. I set mine for high res scan just in case I want to get at least a 5x7 print at the local Walmart.

3. It is set up to scan positive or negative film, so as long as you set it correctly (positive, negative, b&w), the resulting scan is fairly good, good enough for the web and 4x6 or even 5x7 print. Start with a good negative/image, you should end up with a respectable result.

4. The negative holder and slide holder are quite sturdy IMO. In fact, I would say they hold the negatives far better than the 35mm neg holder for my Canoscan 8400F. It has little catch for film strip sprockets and that holds the neg down securely. Same for the slide holder, as long as your slide is in standard size slide holder, it holds it in place.

What could be improved:

1. The 3x2 instruction manual (more like a pamphlet) is very confusing, leaving much to be desired. (Some things may be obvious to the person who wrote the manual but hey if you are staring at it you would not know where to start). Having said that, once you have it all figured out it is pretty smooth sailing from there.

2. It would be nice to have a 6x4.5 neg holder or even a 6x6 neg holder, but this little inexpensive scanner is not for the serious professional but rather for those who want to digitize slides from family vacations taken before the world went digital and to preserve precious Kodachrome memories.
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Bottom line

I am impressed. The quality of the scan is probably just a tad below what I get from the Canoscan 8400F but it take 2-3 minutes to scan one 35mm neg on 8400F while it is a quick 10 seconds on this little scanner. Pictures posted here were from the SVP FS1700 with no post processing whatsoever.

Finally calling this nifty gadget a scanner is probably a misnomer. It "scans" by way of capturing a picture of your negative/positive or slide and giving it to you as a picture file. It is a pretty clever device!

Right, Reflection, Velvia slide scan, no post processing

Looking at my slides, I have forgotten how fun it is to shoot film!!!! It is sad the world is turning so digital, it is like a world without feeling. I really wish we could turn the clock back!!

If you are interested in the SVP FS 1700 Slide and Negative Scanner, Buy Here at Amazon

Stock Photo Tear Sheet

Now this first one (left) I am pretty excited about, the cover of a magazine !!! something to do with Spanish debt and the looming Euro sovereign debt crisis. This was a shot I took early morning in Playa del rey. Varsity canoe teams were having their Saturday morning practice and I caught them in action going down Balboa Creek canal.

The second photo below (top right) came from a trip to Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills a few years back. Trendy shoppers and fancy boutiques make for good photos. I managed to shoot quite a few stock worthy photos, and many made it to web pages and travel sites.

It is much easier to find one's photos these days. Google recently added a pretty cool Image Search feature, one only has to drag a photo and drop into the search box and viola, a list of links where that image is used appears. Superb tool! It allows a photographer to find where an image is being used quickly (hopefully the image had been downloaded and paid for and used within licensing guidelines). It also makes it easier to check if the image might be used without permission. Using this new Google Image search feature, I have been able to find where my images are used and save the links and screen shots for my own reference.

This last one below was from a more recent shoot, a simple make shift studio set up, with daylight bulbs and shades I bought from Home Depot. It was one of those days, I was looking for things to shoot, and have been staring at the measuring tape on my writing desk (mustard yellow in color, can't remember where I got it from though)... Hunting for a second object from my kitchen to make a theme, I settled on a large measuring round spoon...and an image was born.


Have had over 2000 downloads from three stock photo sites since I started doing stock photography, not too shabby I suppose. Seeing where an image is used (or could be used) and the context in which it is used gives me good feedback, and makes me a better stock photographer. Has the income paid for my camera equipment you ask? Not just yet, getting close though and I have stopped buying more equipment so I can get caught up (if my equipment does not break down before then). I have a modest set up, Canon 10D, a good macro, medium telephoto lens and wide angle lens, tripod, home made studio light set up and some accessories, I prefer natural/subtle light.

Online Gallery and CafePress

I have made a change to where I host my photography, I decided to give ClusterShot a try. Why? I like the professional look and the watermark tool that comes with the Pro Account. The site looks professional, simple and easy to navigate (no print/print shop tie up though, something to consider if that is important to you). Storefront features are still a little bare bone at this juncture being a new site. The photographer sets the selling price and, hopefully ClusterShot do a lot of marketing and get pageviews and buyers to the site. For me, it is a place to showcase some of my work. On my part, the gallery links on my blog will help drive traffic to my storefront. I have only just joined, so this in some ways is still a test drive. So far so good, and yes, I closed my account at Smugmug (no major reason that prompted my decision but the simple look and feel of ClusterShot fits my need better).

If you want to check it out ClusterShot, here is a link to my ClusterShot gallery

Now, onto other avenues to sell one's work. I have had a store on CafePress for some time now, never gotten around to updating it with my latest images since setting it up. Occasionally there would be a sale or two here and there, nothing to shout about but it always puts a smile on my face each time. It is nice someone likes my photography enough to want to buy something with my photography on it:) Most folks found them through web searches, perhaps for a specific gift for someone or for themselves, a unique T-shirt, sweat shirt or a cotton tote bag (my favorite). Here are two of my own favorites:
CafePress link
I have always loved everything cotton, T's, totes. I find them comfortable and durable. This preference is probably rooted since childhood growing up in Southeast Asia. With day time temperature often in the high 90s if one is not standing in the shade, a cotton T-shirt keeps the sweltering heat at bay and one's body cool whether rain or shine. I recalled while we were on our sailboat anchoring in Bahia Santa Maria on the Baja coast, we exchanged some old T-shirts (we did not have any new ones barter) for 3 fresh gigantic lobsters from the Baja fishermen (they never tasted so good). So I am old fashioned, I treasure my comfy cotton t's until they are totally worn out. Also, cotton is a natural material, so it is more bio-degradeble and better for the environment than many man made synthetic material we clothe ourselves in today.

CafePress Link
Anyway, not to digress. Back to stock photography. Things have been a little tumultous of late, small sites getting acquired by the big guys and even smaller ones had disappeared as recession hit severely affecting demand for stock photos by the advertisers and web designers. Many saw their income from stock photography sites stagnant and some saw significant reduction. However, it is a good time to bury deep and perfect one's craft, tighten's one photography portfolio, by that I mean focus on a genre or two one excels in and be really good at it. Most important of all, I think enjoy doing photography. Used equipment have gotten much cheaper of late. I found myself acquiring an extra camera equipment or accessory here and there like in the case of the RB67 ProSD camera set for a mere $280. Finally it does not hurt to explore new avenues to sell one's photos, whether that is on CafePress, ImageKind, Etsy, Blurb, or a host of others.


Click here to go to my online gallery at ClusterShot

Last but not least, it is important to have a website/an online gallery to showcase one's work if one could find a reasonably priced deal. It all depends on your needs and the message you want to communicate, whether you do this for a living or as a hobby. In my case, ClusterShot works for me and so I decided to use the site to show my photography.

The "Nifty Fifty" Camera Lens

If you are interested in low light photography and can't afford the fancier and more expensive lens, I would strongly recommend the Canon 50mm f/1.8 II (see link) and below is why. (Remember it is not the lens that give you a great photo, but rather your ability to see and imagine how the light falls on your subject and capture that poignant moment. Lens is just a tool)

50mm f/1.8 II, often called the "nifty fifty" by pros. It is the best value for money lens out there. 50mm is the normal focal length, so no distortion (as opposed to if you use a wide angle lens to shoot a large group photo). It is very inexpensive < $85 today, (mind you, I bought mine 2 1/2 years ago when it was selling for $65 on Amazon, so interestingly, same lens, but it has gotten more expensive). With an f stop of 1.8 (hence a fast lens), and if you use a tripod, you have all the tools you need to get very natural photos in available light. You could spend a whole lot more on fancier lens, but this will do the job for a fraction of the price. I have many other better lens, but this is the one I will always have in my bag, because it is very light, no problem with handheld, it will perform admirably where other lens can't (e.g. in low light).







Happy shooting.