Quezon Memorial Circle

I always go to this place whenever I need to test a camera or film or if i just don't have anything to do. It's near my house so I can just go anytime I want. There are lots of people especially in the afternoon. It is particularly notorious for being a date place for couples. You'll see them occupying every bench in the place. But there are other interesting stuff also (if you know where to look). Like these ones:

Flip. Spotmatic F. Takumar 50. Arista Premium 400

Balloon. Spotmatic F. Takumar 50. Legacy Pro 400

Bubbles. Spotmatic F. Takumar 50. Legacy Pro 400

Bubbles. Spotmatic F. Takumar 50. Legacy Pro 400

Camera: Spotmatic F

Film: Arista Premium 400, Legacy Pro 400

Do-it-Yourself

I have two russian lenses that have stiff focusing mechanisms. I sent one for repair to Mr. Jay Javier(http://russiancamerafix.multiply.com/) late last year because I haven't mustered up the confidence yet to open it because I have never tried it before. And sir Jay is the guru when it comes to these things. I did try to fix my Lubitel's self timer before but I ended up breaking the whole thing HAHA. So I was really scared.

I really wanted to get the other one fixed too but I just couldn't find the time. Yesterday, I got tired of studying and started playing with the other lens. I read up on instructions on the internet and I managed to take it apart by myself. Here are some pictures:

Tools of the trade

Industar 26-m disassembled

Old grease fossilized into wax

So I removed the old grease using petrol (As per sir Jay's suggestion) and replaced it with new grease. Reassembling the lens was the hard part as it took me more time to put things back together in reverse order. But in due time I was able to finish and here is the lens now mounted on my fed-2:

Fed-2 with Industar-26m lens

disassembly instructions can be found here:

http://pentax-manuals.com/repairs/i6ldservice.pdf

Blue Christmas

Last november I signed up for a project called Blue Christmas wherein Ateneo students would sponsor classes for sector-based kids. It was an early Christmas treat for the kids. Class activities were held in the morning then a program in the afternoon complete with huge inflatables. It was something the kids look forward to every year. You can easily tell from their faces that it was really something important for them.

As for me, it was my first time. I had nothing better to do that day so I volunteered. I don't regret joining because it was really fun. I hoped I could join again next time but then I'm already graduating. I guess I really need to find a sustainable way of helping people...

Here's one of the kids in our class that day during the coloring activity...

Blue Christmas. Spotmatic F. Kodak Ultima

Juxtaposition

We went to this place called Wawa lake somewhere near Angono, Rizal. It's around an hour away from Metro Manila if I remember correctly. You can still see the buildings of Metro Manila from the edge of the lake. The place is great except that there's a huge sludge of mud by the shore. It's supposed to block water in case the lake overflows.

I brought my folder loaded with a roll of Kodak Ektacolor film to see how the old russian lens performs with modern medium format color negative film. When I saw the results I was blown away. Medium format has that smooth rendering of color. I'm not sure how to describe it but it's really different from 35mm film.

Here's the shot I took:

Wawa. Moskva-2. Kodak Ektacolor

Bokeh Trap

Whenever I search for sample shots from a specific camera or lens on flickr, the most interesting shots are always taken wide open at full aperture. For some reason I can't explain, bokeh has that special effect on people. But as always, anything that is overused can be unappealing. So browsing through flickr hivemind can be frustrating sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, I like bokeh too. There are instances when you really have to shoot at full aperture (e.g. low light) and there are shots that would really look more appealing if they are shot at full aperture. Personally, I haven't mastered it and sometimes I find myself caught in what photographers often call bokeh trap.

Here's one i took to test the bokeh of my rolleicord. This was shot at f/5.6 though instead of f/3.5 which is a full and a half stop away from the widest aperture:

Bokeh. Rolleicord. Fuji Acros

On the Road

You know that feeling, when you're looking out the window from inside the car and you see something special and you want to stop the car, get out and take a picture of it?

That is what I exactly felt when I saw this scene outside the car window...

Luna, Isabela. Rolleicord. Fuji Acros

This is from the first roll my rolleicord. I like its ergonomics better than the Yashica-D

Typhoon Juan

Last year, Isabela was hit by signal a no.4 typhoon. Most people in the city though lived in concrete houses so the worst we experienced was the loss of electricity. Other people in the suburbs however lost their houses. The devastation was so great we did not have electricity for three days because all the power lines went down. It was more so than I realized when I saw pictures on the evening news.

When the typhoon ended I went out to check what happened. There's this particular place I always go to and I knew it was going to be flooded badly. Here's a before and after shot taken in the same week the typhoon hit the city.

Before. Spotmatic F. Fomapan 400

After. Spotmatic F. Fomapan 400

LegacyPro 400

Last year I asked my dad to buy me some LegacyPro films. It is rebranded Fuji Neopan. As soon as I heard that it was going to be discontinued I immediately decided that I needed to try some. I ordered a brick of LegacyPro 400 and a brick of LegacyPro 100. Unfortunately the clever salesmen there at freestyle was able to convince my dad to buy two bricks of LegacyPro 400 film.

Tested a roll during the semestral break and I have to say this is the first time I got really contrasty results with any type of film that i've used so far. I'm used to Fomapan 400 which gives a low contrast signature.

I accidentally developed the film in 1:3 instead of the 1+3 stated in the massive development chart. So maybe the film was overdeveloped which is why it came out contrasty.

So here are the results:

Luna, Isabela. Spotmatic F. LegacyPro 400

Cauayan Memorial Gardens. Spotmatic F. LegacyPro 400

Chio Bucag. Spotmatic F. LegacyPro 400

Luna, Isabela. Spotmatic F. LegacyPro 400

Luna, Isabela. Spotmatic F. LegacyPro 400

Chinatown

This is my version of the bicycle shot

I know it's cliche but hey I can't just let a moment pass like that. Suffice it to say i had to expose three frames just to get one with least number of people in the frame. I still wish there were no people there though.

Balut Series

There's this man who sells balut every night in front of our building. He sets up his basket and his chair at around 5pm in the afternoon and then spends the whole night waiting for people to buy his one-day-old specialty. I think it's a pretty interesting job selling these midnight snacks for the masses in the wee hours of the night. Imagine all those conversations with drunkards and insomniacs who want to get a taste of premature chicken.

So on the very first free day of the Christmas break I went and out and brought my box camera to snap just a few shots.I saw him in front of our building and asked if i could take his picture. So it came out like this:

Walked a few meters farther and saw another balut vendor in front of the church compound. decided to take a picture of her too.

And then I spotted another one.