CAMERA HUNTING IN TOKYO & SEOUL
Film photography has undergone a renaissance lately, after fading to the brink of obscurity, many photographers are discovering or rediscovering it. Two places where the comeback is especially big are Tokyo and Seoul, where is feels like film never left.
Tokyo is a Mecca for photography. Many of the worlds best camera brands were founded there and the whole city is a candy shop for camera lovers. There are dozens of beautiful used camera stores with incredible selection and very well cared for products. In Canada it can be tough to find much used gear outside of pawn shops, so it's a real treat to see so many classic cameras in person.
I'm a big fan of Japan Camera Hunter, who has a great guide to camera shopping in Tokyo. Armed with his map, Ania and I went all over the city searching for every store we could find. Two shops really stood out from the rest. Map camera, with it's massive selection and a basement full of some of the most beautiful Leica's I've ever seen, and Katsumido Camera that is so elegant inside that it makes these old cameras feel more like precious jewels than technology.
After Tokyo, we did some exploring of the camera district in Seoul. Most of these film cameras I could usually only find on eBay, so being able to play with them in real life was a treat. Many of these cameras are decades old but look as if they came straight off the factory floor. If you are shopping for used gear it is definitely a good sign if it is coming from Japan or Korea, they take excellent care of their equipment.
Some of the highlights were the Contax G2 and T2 which are at the top of my wish list, the Fuji T1i which is a tempting replacement for our X-E1, and of course exquisite Leicas everywhere. If you want a camera as an investment piece a film Leica camera can hold it's value for decades, so even shopping for used is quite expensive.
If you're planning a camera shopping trip to Asia, I recommend you do your research before you go and budget for something nice. The selection can be overwhelming if you don't know what you're looking for, so come up with a checklist of cameras you'd like to look at, and try them all out.
In Camera Gear Tags street photography, photography
LIGHTROOM FOR IPHONE IS GREAT FOR PROS, MIGHT DISAPPOINT CASUAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
Lightroom Mobile for iPhone
Lightroom Mobile on iPhone might be Adobe's most useful app yet, bringing some of the desktop application's most important features to my pocket. It might be the bridge professional photographers need to get real work done on the go. Lightroom for iPad has been available for a few months now, but in our house the iPad spends most of its time sitting in the same room as the computer, so it hasn't seen much use in our workflow.
When the app was announced I was traveling, making it a perfect opportunity to test it out with a few collections I had already synced at home.
SYNCING COLLECTIONS
The app's most powerful feature is its ability to access huge amounts of your photo library from your phone, make useful changes to those photos, and then sync those changes back to your desktop photo catalog.
Making all your photos available online is something that everyone has been trying to get into. Apple, Google, and Dropbox have some great solutions for causal photographers and Adobe dabbled in professional tools with Revel, but with so many of us depending on Lightroom already, integrating our existing library into our mobile workflow is very useful.
Sometimes you need to refer back to an old image for a client, or send a proof while away from a computer, or just post something to Instagram. Now you have access to those images at anytime, without having to downsize or compress them. Previously we would export a folder of images as large jpgs to Dropbox, but the images are not full quality and there is no easy way to sync the work you do on them back to your Lightroom catalog.
You can also use the app to sync your iPhone photos back to Lightroom, which I find much more useful than what Google, Dropbox and Apple offer because Lightroom is the final destination for everything.
One question I have, is how storage limits will work for Lightroom syncing? Creative Cloud currently offers 20 GB of storage with their basic subscription, but since this will be syncing a smart preview of the images it's hard to be sure how many images you can have synced at a time. Adobe also announced a Creative Cloud bundle for photographers that is $9.99 per month, which I think is absolutely worth it.
RATING ON THE GO
Often the most time consuming part of a photo shoot is just sorting through everything to find your best images. At our studio, we use star ratings as the basis for all our selections so I'm happy to see they have added that since the iPad version. Flags alone are not enough, and we typically only use them to reject the junk.
On an iPhone it's not really possible to judge critical focus, so you may want to save that for the desktop. The app is better suited for identifying stand out images in a series. I suspect we will primarily use it to do a first pass of editing, and will select the finals on a larger monitor.
IMAGE PROCESSING
If you were excited about Lightroom Mobile becoming your new favourite photo editing tool, you will be disappointed. It has important adjustments like white balance, exposure, shadows, highlights, cropping, etc. which use the same amazing Adobe processing engine as the desktop. It's great for correcting problems in an image, but useless for giving your image a "look".
It's worth noting that when you sync a collection to Creative Cloud, it automatically generates smart previews which is Adobe's own compressed format that include some basic raw functionality. The images can handle big adjustments much better than a standard jpg, especially in regards to white balance.
ADJUSTMENT PRESETS
Adobe really missed out here, offering only Adobe adjustment presets and no ability to use your own. Maybe it's because the rendering engine on the phone can't work with all the same parameters as on the desktop, but it means that images will still need another app to give photos a colour treatment before they go live. If they could give us access to all VSCO and Mastin Labs presets from home, we could get a lot more done from within the app.
SUMMARY
The Lightroom mobile app is very strong for version one. Image syncing with Creative Cloud works seamlessly, and their "only the basics" approach is great for getting a few important tasks done. It did lock up on me briefly a few times, but I'm confident that is just a kink to be worked out. I've heard that it can be painfully slow on some phones, so if you have anything older than an iPhone 5 it may not be for you.
It should not be thought of as a photo filter app, but a powerful link to your desktop catalog, and a sign from Adobe that they understand what is important in a professional workflow.
In Uncategorized Tags apps, Lightroom, review, software, photography
KOREA ON FILM: PORTRA, EKTAR & SUPERIA - PART 2
Kodak Ektar 100
After returning from Japan it was time to shoot some street style in Korea, and the best place in Seoul is the super trendy Gangnam. We found hundreds of incredibly stylish people and the best of them can be seen in our post in Fashion Magazine.
We also went to the top of the Seoul Tower, which was really incredible. Unlike observation decks in other cities, it sits on top of a mountain in the middle of the city. A spectacular view in all directions.
Just like in the first Korea on Film post, most of these were shot with the 50mm f/1.8, and a few with the Canon 85mm f/1.8 on the Canon Elan 7e on Kodak Portra, Kodak Ektar, and Fuji Superia. They were processed at Caribou Lab in Toronto.
Seoul skyline, Korea - Kodak Portra 400
Seoul Tower, Korea - Kodak Portra 400
Seoul skyline, Korea - Kodak Portra 400
<img src="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/53503f2be4b066e96f6eabda/53503f3be4b06b13869c2173/5392a440e4b0066454a30774/1402119237856//img.jpg" alt="We left our hearts in Seoul We left our hearts in Seoul <3 - Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400
Amazing delicious coffee - Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Ektar 100
Kodak Ektar 100
Kodak Ektar 100
Street style in Gangnam, Seoul - Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400
Street style in Gangnam, Seoul - Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400
Devon in Gangnam - Kodak Portra 400
Shoot street style in Gangnam - Kodak Portra 400
Fuji Superia 400
Our taxi driver to Gangnam, he had a lot of camera questions - Kodak Portra 400
Devon at Dongdaemun Design Plaza at Sunset - Kodak Portra 400
In Uncategorized Tags photography
KOREA ON FILM: PORTRA, EKTAR & SUPERIA - PART 1
We had an amazing two weeks traveling around Asia, and captured it on eight rolls of 35mm film. This provided an opportunity to compare a few different film stocks side by side to see their unique colour and contrast traits.
The films used were Kodak Portra 400, Portra 160, Ektar 100, and Fuji Superia 400. All of the Kodak was processed by Caribou Lab in Toronto, and the Fuji at London Drugs in Calgary. Everything was shot using the Canon Elan 7e, mostly with the Canon 50mm f/1.8 and the 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens. The nifty fifty was very disappointing on this trip, missing focus about half the time. We've had better experiences with it in the past, but for a similar price the 40mm way out performs it.
After our first week in Seoul, we left the SLR in Korea and shot a few rolls on Fuji disposable cameras in Japan, and I love the results!
Impressions: Both the Kodak Portra 400 and 160 performed beautifully, as expected. They are designed for professionals, carry a slightly higher price and deliver excellent tones for every occasion. I find the 400 a little more versatile because that it can stay into the camera until evening. When there is a roll of 160 in there, I know it needs to be finished before the sun goes down.
The Ektar 100 was a fun novelty, but I won't be buying it again. It has so much contrast and saturation that it's better to avoid having any people in your photos, unless intense red skin tones are something you're after. Better left for landscapes.
The one roll of Fuji isn't really a fair comparison, since it was scanned at a different lab with less discerning taste in colours, and is a cheaper consumer film. It took a lot more editing in Lightroom than film should ever need, so I'll reserve judgment for now.
More photos to come from our second week in Korea in Part 2, stay tuned!
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 160
Gyeongbokgung Palace Gates, Kodak Portra 160
Kodak Portra 160
Kodak Portra 160
Inside Gyeongbokgung Palace, Kodak Portra 160
Kodak Portra 160
Kodak Portra 160
Kodak Portra 160
Kodak Portra 160
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Ektar 100
Kodak Portra 400
Devon, Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Ektar 400
Fuji Superia 400
Fuji Superia 400
In Travel Tags 40mm f/2-8 pancake, 50mm f/1-8, film, gear, South Korea, travel, photography
FIRST ROLL FROM THE OLYMPUS XA
After a searching high and low in Tokyo for this camera, I'm so excited to finally have an Olympus XA, and the first roll of Fuji Superia 400 is back from the lab. If you are confused why I would be so excited about a cheap looking 40 year old point & shoot camera, let me explain.
Unlike most compact film cameras the Olympus XA is a rangefinder, one of the smallest out there. It has quick f/2.8 lens with aperture priority control, a featherlight shutter button to reduce vibration, and a clamshell cover to keep it safe in my pocket or bag. Best of all, it's film! It's like having a full frame camera, with all the beautiful colors and dynamic range that come along with film. With digital, a point and shot means giving up on some image quality (especially latitude) so with this little film camera, you're getting so much more.
With any small amateur looking camera, it doesn't draw attention to itself. Up until now, we could only shoot film on our Elan 7, which is a full size SLR and can attract unwanted attention from subjects.
Summer has finally arrived in Calgary so we took full advantage of the sunshine and rode our bikes around town, shot some style photos for our friend Amber's upcoming blog (and to post on our Stocksy portfolio), and spent the night at Calgary's brand new Aloft hotel. Keep an eye on Ania's blog for the awesome underwater shots we took there.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, this was also the last roll I shot on the Olympus. While using it, I noticed the shutter would occasionally lock up and refuse to fire. I hoped it would be just a quirk of shooting with an old camera, but it was more than inconvenient. I couldn't trust that when I pulled the camera out if my bag, I would be able to capture anything at all.
When Olympus designed this camera back in 1979, they were more focused on creating a great consumer camera. For it's plastic construction to last beyond 2014 may be asking too much of it.
I will be sending it back to the eBay seller for a refund, and will start a search for my next film point and shoot. This time, something a little more rugged.
Milkshakes at Cliveburger in Calgary
Bright portraits of Amber
Ania on her beautiful Electra bike
Trees blooming by the Calgary Stampede grounds
My bright white bike
Blooming flowers and blue skies mean summer has arrived in Calgary
Trains and skies in Calgary, Alberta
A fun night at the pool of the Aloft Hotel in #YYC
Charlie!
First impressions of the Olympus XA are pretty great. I love the feel of it and it small enough to fit in most pockets. Focusing takes a moment, but works well. I love the way the the lens gently vignettes at the edges, and the colour and contrast are fantastic. I do have two complaints so far, the shutter button occasionally locks up temporarily, and I wish I could override the slow shutter speed when using flash.
Overall, I love it. This is camera is going to come with us everywhere!
ESSENTIAL CAMERA GEAR FOR TWO WEEKS IN ASIA
This was a big trip to Korea and Japan. We knew it would involve a lot of shooting and a ton of walking, so the goal was to stay as portable and light weight as possible, but still be prepared to shoot street style, stock and cityscape photos. This is the kit I was hauling around most days:
1. Langly card wallet & a lot of cards
Always better to pack more cards than you'll need. For the most part we used the same 64GB cards and would download, back up, and clear them each day. Not pictured here are two external hard drives, plus online backups of the best pics to Google Drive.
We knew we would be shooting a lot of street style on this trip so we almost brought our go to lens, the 70-200mm. With the amount of walking around we did I'm really glad we brought the much smaller and lighter 85mm. Having the 1.8 f-stop also came on very handy when shooting in the streets at night.
One for Ania and one for me.
The range of this lens makes it very verisitile for travel photography. Ultra-wide for cityscapes and a traditional stree photography focal length of 35mm. Very adaptable.
5. Mophie powerstation battery
A dead phone in a foreign city is no fun. I prefer this style of battery that is device agnostic, over that can only charge my iPhone. This way we can charge other things too, like our Egg (see below).
This is a great bit of travel gear, especially in country with different power outlets than you have at home. Charge all your devices at once!
7. Film
Moslty Kodak Portra, a roll of Ektar, a few Fuji Superia. In two weeks we ended up shooting 6 rolls.
I got this camera in college and still love it. Even next to a new DSLR it feels modern and well designed. Not pictured here is the 50mm 1.8, which was attached to it for most of the trip.
9. Canon 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens
For a lens this small and affordable, it has no busiess being as high quality as it is. Very sharp, fast auto focus and great build quality.
10. Olleh Egg mobile wifi thingy
In a country where you don't speak the language, the internet is your most powerful resource. This device kept us connected in Korea, without paying outrageous roaming fees.
GeoTagr is an app that tracks everywhere you go in a day and saves it as a map. You can then import this map into Lightroom and have it automatically geotag all your photos from the day.
Because they're fun!
13. Canon G16
I often prefer a high quality point and shoot to using my cell phone. It has a wider zoom range, shoots raw and has a real flash. AND it can transmit to my phone over wifi, making for easy Instagraming.
I have bought and sold a lot of camera bags over the years. It's hard to find soemthing that is just the right balance for you. This new one from Langly feels like the bag I've been looking for. Comfortable, has all the right compartments, rain proof and very handsome, I love this bag. I should mention though that buttoning up the snaps drives Ania crazy, and I agree they can be a little tough. Maybe not recommended for delicate hands, but everything else about it has been great.
To see what we shot on the trip you can see Tokyo Street Style at Fashion Magazine, rainy Korea post, my disposable cameras post, or follow us Instagram @AniaB and @Stalman.
In Camera Gear Tags cameras, Canon, gear, lens, travel, photography
DISPOSABLE CAMERAS ON OUR ASIAN VACATION
When we planned our trip to Seoul and Tokyo, one of things I was excited about was the chance to shop some amazing used camera stores. I had high hopes for finding the perfect film point and shoot but after a few days of searching, we came up empty handed. Instead we bought some disposable cameras.
I hadn't used one since the 90's so I was curious if anything beautiful could come out of these little plastic boxes. I think the results turned out pretty great. The internet told me that disposable cameras have a fixed settings of about f/11 at 1/100 sec, so we used that as our reference point. Occasionally comparing it to reference photos on the 5D at the same settings.
We spent a lot of our time in Tokyo shooting street style in Harajuku, went to Disneyland, and then went back to Seoul to shoot more street style in Gangnam.
Meiji Jingu Temple in Yoyogi Park
Smoking street style in harajuku
Girls in Harajuku
Ania B hunting for street style in Harajuku
Shooting Harajuku girls
Style everywhere in Tokyo
Ania B on the job, capturing Tokyo style
Tyler at the Meiji Jingu Temple
Devon and Ania are ready for a day out in Gangnam
Getting more stylish with age, Harajuku
Taking a nap at Disneyland, Tokyo
Here we are in Toontown, in Disneyland Tokyo
Murals in Harajuku
A moment in Tokyo
Prepping flowers for sale on the streets of Seoul
Ania in Yoyogi Park
In Travel Tags disposable camera, film, Japan, South Korea, street photography, street style
PREVIEW OF THE SIGMA F/1.4 ART SERIES LENS
The Sigma 35mm 1.4 Art lens
Selecting a 50mm lens can be a tricky business. It is my favourite fixed focal length but up until now all of the Canon options have left me disappointed.
The Canon 50mm f/1.8 takes great images for it's low price, but the build quality is only a step above a disposable camera.
The mid-range 50mm f/1.4 somewhat improves on the build but still has a very cheap plastic feel. You gain some speed in the f-stop, but the sharpness at f/1.4 is pretty iffy. It will miss focus quite often and when it is accurate, it's still pretty soft.
The top of the line f/1.2 improves sharpness at f/1.4 but will miss focus about as often. Shooting at f/1.2, very little of . It's bokeh is creamy and beautiful but so few of your images are in focus I would usually stay above 1.4. And don't forget the chromatic aberration, which can be so bad it might leave you wondering "Canon, is this the best you can do?".
After owning and selling all three of these lenses, I have been waiting for a magic bullet to come along, and (hopefully) that will be the new Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art Series lens.
While exploring Tokyo we wandered in to the massive Yodobashi Camera and found the new Sigma on display. We only had time to snap a few quick sample photos in store but so far I am impressed. Focus was very fast and responsive, The weight was less than I had worried about, and image quality was superb.
It was very tempting to buy it at that moment but I know it will be cheaper waiting to get back to Calgary, where we are already on the waiting list at The Camera Store.
I'm going to withhold judgment until I have really put it through it's paces, but so far my impression is that this lens may live up to its hype. The real test will be having confidence that I can shoot with the aperture wide open.
Canon 5DmkIII, Sigma f/1.4 Art Series Lens: 1/3200 sec at f/1.4, ISO 1250
In Camera Gear Tags 50mm f/1-4, Canon, lens, preview, Sigma
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY: RAINY NIGHTS IN SEOUL
There was light rain for our first few days in Seoul, which made for beautiful shiny streets and umbrellas everywhere. The ubiquitous neon signs and lantern festival provide perfect cinematic lighting everywhere we go. Street photography has never really been my thing, but this trip has brought it out of me. I've been snapping hundreds of photos every day and loving it.
There was light rain for our first few days in Seoul, which made for beautiful shiny streets and umbrellas everywhere. The ubiquitous neon signs and lantern festival provide perfect cinematic lighting everywhere we go. Street photography has never really been my thing, but this trip has brought it out of me. I've been snapping hundreds of photos every day and loving it.
We have spent a lot of our time in Myeong-dong where the shops are open late and the streets are busy with stylish people. I've also been looking around for used film cameras, but I expect it's more likely that Tokyo will have what I'm looking for.
For this trip we packed two Canon 5DmkIII's, an Canon Elan 7n and a Canon G16. For the most part I've been using the 85mm f/1.8 and 40mm f/2.8 pancake lenses, as well as the 50mm f/1.8 on a couple of these night shots. The 85mm and 40mm really make a great travel kit, very light weight and versatile. That 50mm came along because it's so small, but it's focus is often too slow to catch quick moments on the street.
FACES OF ALDO
For the second time, Ania and I hosted an event at Aldo in Chinook Centre, taking photos and having fun with shoes. I pulled aside some staff & customers for closeup portraits with the 85mm. For full coverage go to aniab.net.
In Calgary Events Tags 5DmkIII, 85mm 1-8, black and white, face, headshot, portrait
FASHION SHOW SNAPSHOTS
One of the reasons I wanted to start a blog is to find a home for some of the thousands stray photos I have lying around. They are not worthy of a portfolio, or for any client, or for anything really. Just candid snapshots that were fun to take.
Here are a selection from backstage at two recent fashion shows, The Motionball Gala and Park Show. The Calgary fashion community has been growing so fast lately, I love being able to document it from up close.
These are all shot on Portra 400 film with the Elan 7n and the 40mm 2.8 pancake lens.
Backstage at Calgary Fashion shows
About to walk on stage
Models backstage, more on Facebook
A few of Calgary's top models, Lauren Berry, Kim Noseworthy and Ania B
DJ Disoriental and Park founder Kara Chomistek
Ania opens the show
In Snapshots Tags behind the scenes, fashion, film
SEATTLE: NORDSTROM, STARBUCKS & INSTAGRAMMER
Only a 12 hour drive from our home in Calgary, it's a crime that it took us so long to visit Seattle. After spending the final week of March in Victoria shooting and editing The First Annual Stocksy Awards, my wife Ania and I decided to go for the week and soak it all in.
Riding the ferry into Seattle's harbour
We met some fellow photographer couples who do things similar to what we do: shoot weddings, fashion, and love Instagram. Fellow Stocksy photographers Luke & Mallory Leasure, drove up from Portland for coffee, and we had dinner with Instagram power couple Julia & Yuriy Manchik. You should probably follow them all right now: Luke & Mallory and Julia & Yuriy. Finding other young couples succeeding at things so similar to what we do was really energizing.
We went to Starbucks a lot more than usual. They are on every corner and have way better pastries than we are used to here in Calgary. Something feels different about big brands when you're in their home town.
Also exciting was our series of meetings with retail giant and customer service perfectionists Nordstrom. They will be opening their first Canadian store in Calgary this fall and we are really proud we will be working with them on a photography project for the opening. Stay tuned YYC, we are on the lookout for style!
With all this time spent meeting with people about photography, we didn't spend as much time shooting the city as we might have liked. Still, here are a few highlights. Shot on the 5DmkIII mostly with the 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens, and the iPhone 5.
