bikes and things

I rarely seem to use this camera, which is silly really as whenever I do I’m always pleased with the results. I’m still getting through my £4 bag of expired Fuji Superia from a few years ago – down to the last few rolls of 200 ASA. They seem to have a lovely grain which coupled with the sharp and contrasty lens of the LC-A seems to give a lovely quality to them. Some of these shots are from 2010 I think. Nice to forget what’s on a roll then be reminded months or even years later when it’s developed. Currently shooting with some Ilford HP5 in the LC-A. Looking forward to the result from that little experiment too.

More Lomo LC-A shots in this Flickr set.

A bit of a description from the photographer. Pretty impressive stuff.

This was filmed between 4th and 11th April 2011. I had the pleasure of visiting El Teide.
Spain´s highest mountain @(3718m) is one of the best places in the world to photograph the stars and is also the location of Teide Observatories, considered to be one of the world´s best observatories.

The goal was to capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most amazing mountains I know El Teide. I have to say this was one of the most exhausting trips I have done. There was a lot of hiking at high altitudes and probably less than 10 hours of sleep in total for the whole week. Having been here 10-11 times before I had a long list of must-see locations I wanted to capture for this movie, but I am still not 100% used to carrying around so much gear required for time-lapse movies.

A large sandstorm hit the Sahara Desert on the 9th April (http://bit.ly/g3tsDW) and at approx 3am in the night the sandstorm hit me, making it nearly impossible to see the sky with my own eyes.

Interestingly enough my camera was set for a 5 hour sequence of the milky way during this time and I was sure my whole scene was ruined. To my surprise, my camera had managed to capture the sandstorm which was backlit by Grand Canary Island making it look like golden clouds. The Milky Way was shining through the clouds, making the stars sparkle in an interesting way. So if you ever wondered how the Milky Way would look through a Sahara sandstorm, look at 00:32.

At home today after working some silly hours this week for a pre Stage E coordination deadline. Feeling a bit better after a good old sleep this morning. Going through some shots from the last few weekends and processing and sending to Flickr. Might try and get into the habit of updating this site again soon. IN the meantime coffee and a stroll beckons.

Going all minimal again. Nice to be using the camera in hand and without a tripod for a bit.

Just when I was thinking how bored I was of street photography I go and shoot this.

I can’t remember who said that but it’s certainly sound advice. Advice which I’ve taken with the purchase of a limited edition print from Simon Kennedy. He’s completed an amazing series of images from the Heygate estate in South London. Unfortunately I missed the exhibition but I’m very pleased to have one of the A1 sized prints from the series hanging in our living room.

And a rubbish iPhone shot of it framed and hung.

Over the last few weeks I’ve become totally addicted to the latest photo sharing app – Instagram. I love the simplicity of it and the basic, but good, social features of it. It’s far from high quality stuff but as a famous photographer once said “The best camera is the one that’s with you“. Whilst that quote also came with an App (BestCam), it didn’t really take off as well as this one has. I think this was mainly due to it being too complicated by adding so many different filters to each image. This is far simpler, shoot, choose the look, share. Certainly no replacement for that big bag of expensive camera kit but great fun regardless.

I’ve been sharing them on Twitter and Facebook whilst avoiding uploading them to Flickr at all. So instead I’ve put together a quick Tumblr page where I’m going to collect them all.

instagram-addict.tumblr.com

Edit: Turns out (see comments and thanks to whatsinyourbedroom) that some clever web developer already thought of this idea, creating a site called instagrid.me. Might be a better idea to use this seeing as Tumblr’s uptime is so poor

It’s wrong to laugh at others obviously, but this really is funny. Not jealous of his Leica at all, oh no.

Another great link found today. Seem to be finding a lot of cool stuff today. I guess not being at work helps. This time it’s a link to an interview with photographer Shinchi Maruyama over at themorningnews.org. Shinchi has been creating some amazing photos of water sculpture as he calls it. Essentially a splash of water frozen with flash. The gallery of images at the top of the article is fantastic.

Here’s a short video clip showing some of his work with water. Shot with a high speed video camera and then slowed down.

Interestingly* he says he used a Phase P45 medium format camera although the EXIF data on the image says a Nikon D3X.

Image © Shinichi Maruyama

*interesting to me being a full on geek.

Continuing the theme of decay here’s another great link to a series of photos recording dereliction, this time in Detroit on the Guardian website.

These remind me of the work of Brian Ulrich and his shots of derelict shopping centres in the US which I blogged about in 2009. The photographers, Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, are also doing a project on Theatres which is on their site. It looks like this set of images is to promote their new book of the same title. Some of the page layouts can be seen on the publishers site and I’ve already added it to my Amazon basket.

Images © Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre

Edit, I bought it. Such an incredible book and worth every penny.

A fascinating look into the Paris Metro system over at www.sleepycity.net. I love the idea of urban exploring and this really satisfies. The hidden disused stations are incredible.

The Paris Metro and the service it provides are deeply intertwined into the fabric of the city. As the 4.5 million passengers who ride it every day will probably attest it’s the quickest way around whether it’s for work, for play or both. The metro’s distinctive art-nouveau style is unmistakable and the plant like green wrought iron entrances topped with the orange orbs and Metropolitan signage designed by Hector Guimard which sprout up all over the city lead one down to the gleaming white tiled platforms to be whisked away all over the city. On my first trip to Paris I arrived into Gare du Nord and entered the dense maze that is the metro. Despite the crowds, the noise and the distinct odour of piss, I was in love. The kind of love which inspires one to risk life, limb and deportation to get up close and personal.