Tag: slr

First Roll of Film from Spotmatic F (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on by eddietay in Colour

So – vision, shot precision, follow through.

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As with weapons training (see previous post), so it is with street photography.

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It’s giving me an insight as to what constitutes expertise.

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There is expertise that comes with knowledge of the field – where you’re situated, what you have to offer in relation to what other people in your field have to offer, how it all fits in with what society (and the market) demands, and whether or not (or how) you would adjust to that demand.

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Related to that, there’s the kind of expertise (i.e. skills) that can only come with painstaking preparation, training, multiple failures, as you move from naivete and self-ridicule to familiarity and finally (hopefully) to mastery.

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It’s a journey from innocence to experience.

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And with experience, hopefully, one could be innocent all over again.

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You don’t truly master anything. As you can see, I’ve read my William Blake.

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Do I dare disturb the universe? (I’m quoting T. S. Eliot here.)

The above gentleman spotted me right after I took the shot.

He put on his hat, walked right up to me, snarled, laughed, tapped my shoulder, and then walked away.

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So naturally I felt compelled to carry on.

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I stood at one spot and aimed at the wall.

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I’m really not sure why I do things like this.

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I suppose this is where art comes from.

 

Camera: Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic F

Lens: 24mm S-M-C Takumar F 3.5

Film: Kodak UltraMax 400

 

 

First Roll of Film from Spotmatic F (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on by eddietay in Colour

Holding a Spotmatic F reminded me of my first encounter with an M16 rifle.

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Could something that felt so clunky really work?

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After having learnt how to disassemble the rifle and put it back together, I felt no better.

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It looked suspiciously uncomplicated – I actually understood how the rifle worked.

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How could that clicking sound when I pull that trigger be taken seriously?

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As I eventually discovered, after zeroing that rifle (aligning the sights to my eye for projectile accuracy) at a 300m range, it was powerful indeed, and not something to be taken lightly. I’ve never forgotten that feeling (and the recoil).

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It’s the same with a camera – after all, it involves training, preparation, positioning, proper gripping, sighting and shooting.

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And you’ll need to control your breathing to maximize shot accuracy.

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The rifle (and camera) is supposed to be an extension of your self and will.

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Did I mention I was a marksman in my previous life (2 decades ago)?

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In case you think I’m some kind of gun-crazy nut, it’s actually a common experience, if you’re a combat-fit Singaporean male who had to do national service (30 months of it in my time).

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As you can see, I’m sublimating all that weapons training, channelling it into street photography.

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It’s all about vision, discipline and decision points.

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You are what you shoot.

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You are how you shoot.

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Street photography, especially with film cameras, have taught me to respect mechanical tools and appreciate the history that came with them.

The evolution of Leica, Asahi Pentax, Voigtlander, and so on, is a history of modern life.

It is this history that gave us our Henri Cartier-Bresson, Vivien Maier, Diane Arbus, Martin Parr, Bruce Gilden, etc.

Thanks for reading.

 

Camera: Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic F

Lens: S-M-C Takumar 24mm F 3.5

Film: Kodak UltraMax 400

 

 

 

 

 

Not Shopping at Tsim Sha Tsui

Posted on by eddietay in Colour

All images here are shot at Tsim Sha Tsui with the Contax TVS II loaded with Fuji Venus 800 film.

The Contax TVS series of film cameras are gorgeous, with titanium bodies, aperture priority and P modes.

There’s a 28-56 focal length zoom which is ideal for street photography.

For me, they are the more nimble younger siblings of the Contax T3.

Which explains why I went out the other day with the intention of not buying that Contaxt TVS II I had seen, complete with the databack.

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This person saw what I was about to do, and smiled.

Check out that SLR camera-thing his buddy behind him was carrying.

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Hong Kong people work really hard.

We keep saying that Hong Kong is a shopping paradise.

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Of course, we need people to service the economy.

There are shoppers just as there are delivery people.

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A salute to the people who keep things going.

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Sometimes they are invisible to the shoppers, often faceless and anonymous.

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We should make it a point to notice people more …

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To see the difference between glamour and real people.

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Otherwise, we’re nothing more than mannequins looking at other mannequins.

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For collectors: open edition prints from this post are not available here.

I suppose that’s my (ironic) gesture of commitment to the push and pull of capitalist logic…