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.
Brilliant little video of a small radio controlled plane with a video camera attached to it. Quite a unique viewpoint from up there. Flies a little too close a few times by the looks of it.
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.
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.
This year has been a good year for developing my photography skills, so what better way to finish it off than showing a few night shots I’ve just take around Peckham. Off to The Gowlett shortly but had to nip out to get my fix with the tripod especially now the weather is warmer.
A great link via @Vaughan to a beautiful series of photos showing the effects of derelict (or foreclosed) houses in the US. Amazing how quickly nature takes over.
So the East Coast of the US has gotten some serious snow last night. Someone knew it was on the way and set a quick timelapse in his garden. Seriously impressive stuff, the timelapse and the snow!
December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse. Canon DLSR on tripod with remote timer taking a photo once every five minutes.
My first foray into photography was abandoned halfway through an A-level at City of Bath College, around ’96 time. I was using a manual Pentax SLR with a bunch of prime lots of B+W film which I didn’t really appreciate or learn enough about at the time. Silly me, I could have been a lot further ahead now if I had but never mind.
My second attempt at Photography has been more successful and this was started with the purchase of a little FujiFilm F31fd in 2006 which was a great little camera which got me interested in the subject again. Lovely and compact and went with me everywhere. It still does actually but I rarely use it. I did use it a lot on the 365 project at first when it was more about snaps.
Since then I’ve been on the upgrade path which started with my first digital SLR, a D70, through to my current D700 (with a D300 in between). The trouble is with all of this is that they’ve all gradually been getting bigger and bigger which makes taking them with you all the time a right pain in the bum. Having said that it’s also worth taking them due to the incredible results that are possible with this format – think high ISO, depth of field control, instant reactions from the shutter, 12 megapixel RAW file formats, amazing ergonomics for changing aperture on the fly etc. So with all of this using a compact again feels like a complete exercise in frustration, shutter lag and lack of RAW being my biggest complaint, the lack of a hot shoe to allow off camera flash is also annoying. The other problem is that the settings are mostly menu driven so changing aperture is a real pain. It would be nice to be able to have some of these features but available in a smaller form. Another reason is that I want to take great shots on bike rides but lugging a D700 around + lens + flash isn’t much fun. It’s also a lot of cash that could get damaged with a nasty prang on the bike.
For a while I’ve been looking around at different types of more compact camera that might fulfil some of these criteria. One that did almost satisfy was the Canon G11 / 12 which has RAW format, hot shoe, external controls but fails for me on two points. It has a fixed (as in attached) zoom lens and is pretty ropey about 800 ISO or above in terms of sensor noise. They do seem to be popular with pros as travel cameras but I’m not convinced. There is a similar offering from Nikon but it seems to be a exact copy of the G11 style with nothing else to set it apart.
The next interesting development has been this area has been the Micro 4/3rds standard which was developed between Olympus and Panasonic. The Olympus EP-1 being the first to capture my interest with a removable lens, smart little ƒ1.7 prime, RAW format and pretty compact form, retro styling etc. The only let down being the lack of viewfinder. I tried one out the other day and it didn’t feel as good in the hand as I had expected. It felt much more plasticky than I had imagined which is a real shame.
The other new contender is the Sony NEX 5. Looks amazing and has a larger sensor than the EP-1 (APS-C sized) as well as a slimmer profile. The main thing that rules it out is that it is overly reliant on menus, something I’m keen to avoid. I like dials and manual controls.
So in the end this only leaves one contender – the Panasonic GF-1. I’ve tried this one too and it feels much more solid (more metal, less plastic), has a RAW format, hotshoe for remote flash, a nice ƒ1.7 prime lens as well as an electronic viewfinder option (not ideal but bearable). It seems to tick all of the boxes for a camera you could carry around with you all the time and get decent shots out of. Seems perfect for cycling too. Take this, some wireless triggers and an old external flash and you’d be golden. The other thing with all of these is that with a cheap adaptor I can use all my existing Nikon lenses (different crop factor but still potentially useful).
So if the books all balance up at the end of Jan then I think I’ll be grabbing myself one of these. Can’t wait.
My good friend Alex is moving to Sweden to live there with his girlfriend and have a baby in the new year. Smart move on all fronts really. He recently cleared out his flat down the road and offered a few bits and bobs out to those of us remaining in London. One of which was a long table with chrome legs which caught my eye. It’s wide enough for Emma and I to work at together which is good, the top is a bit shot but can be replaced later when we have our own place. It’s only when I went to collect it that I realised that it used to be in the office of DKA in Bath. I started out working in ’99 and carried on working there on and off until 2003. I’ve got some very fond memories of working there. Nice to have a bit of heritage from one of the first offices I worked in. I learned a lot there and still use a lot of the things I learnt there.
