2018... A Year In Analog

It didn't feel too long ago that 2018 was starting. Lots have happened, both changes that were unavoidable or otherwise. And the next thing I know, here we are, capping off the year. It was only a matter of perspective, that set it apart from being a good or a bad year.

Top: Minolta Alpha 303si, Canonet QL17, Nikon F-801; Bottom: Minolta SR1, Canonet QL19, Lomo 135BC. Yeah, when you're not counting, it becomes more than a handful before you know it. This addiction is beginning to get out of hand.

Just like that, 2018 has ended... Another year done. What I found different with this, is the fact that throughout the whole year, I've mostly been shooting with film. By mostly, I'd guess-timate it to be around 95% minimum... It doesn't seem like it's  lost its novelty to me either. So what is it like?

Analog Camera, Digital Pictures

Taken and processed in Analog, Distributed in Digital. Kodak Gold 200 in Superheadz Ultrawide And Slim camera.

It has been over a year since I started this bit of insane quirk -  In the age of immensely efficient, fast processes, I took the counter-intuitive path and went the slow, scenic, time consuming route.

Lomography Vs. Photography

According to DRTV... What are your thoughts about photography and lomography?

The Analogue Photography Series: Film is Still Alive

It's April 2018, and film is alive. I shoot film. I still shoot film.

End Of A Roll

The year 2017 has been quite a wild ride. Among my roller coaster years, this has been one of the most surreal for me, regardless of reasons for good and bad. I take the time to be grateful of the good things that have happened to me this year. Despite all the bad times, I still have lots to be grateful for.

This is Minnie. Some see a camera. I see provenance.

I take this time to mention the adventure, the blessings and the amazing people I had the privilege of meeting going through life this year, especially in relation to my shutterbug habits.

On Film I Saw High ISO

These days, in the age of modern digital cameras, when you consider ISO800 as high ISO, people would laugh at you. The advancements in digital photography has been light years away from film. But despite all the advancements, noise is still an issue to most cameras, and you're gonna see it in your camera unless you're using really expensive fancy ones (Looking at you, flagship cameras!)

Crossing Burgos Circle.

But there's this sort of charm in high ISO films. Instead of a ghastly noise like what's on those cheap cameras where you see specks of different colors and a lot of smudging, what you get instead is fine grain. This is by no means a fine ouput, but it's appealing to some, and even I admit, it's preferable to digital noise - at least for me.

A Week With The Beauty From Belarus

Exotic title aside, this is about the week shooting with the Belomo Vilia. This may not sound like much, but the compact dimension and the very useful focusing scale makes it a joy to use. I loaded it with a Fujifilm C200 and it was a joy to use during the day.

End Of June

June of this year has been quite a month for me. It has, for some time, been quite busy, and other times, I dare say turbulent. I'm thankful that I somewhat still get the chance to go take pictures at my leisure time. Here are some random knickknacks from the month.. A lot of these are from our recent company outing and some sights around the office- Namely my favorite Starbucks branch.

 

Came Across The Fuji Acros

Excuse the bad pun. Today I'm sharing something different, definitely a first. This is the first monochrome film I ever used - The Fujifilm Neopan Acros. For starters, it's interesting.

Walking The Dog. Monochrome images remain timeless for me.

But how was it? Well...

Rolling With A (Belo)Russian

I went crazy yet again. I chanced upon this interesting plastic gem. While the Minolta I borrowed is superior in every way, I still got enchanted with this Belorussian beauty. Maybe because I really just have a thing for rangefinders. It has a kind of subtlety that calls less attention than the average SLR.

Maybe it's #sentimentalism of older days, but I'm quite attracted to #rangefinders. From Leicas to Olympus to Fujis, there's a charm about them I don't see even in the best of D/SLRs. I've long lusted to get my hands on a #rangefinder camera, but the prices I saw were absurd. Then my path crossed this #russian - it's #cheap but #cheerful... And was at a price that screamed at my common sense that was trying to silence the urge to get me a rangefinder: "cyka blyat idi nahuiii!!!" - alrighty then, comrade... A lotta folks are screaming for Fuji X-Pros, X100s, and X-Ts ... And I got this. It's not a proper rangefinder by any means but at this price, I won't complain. This is one itch scratched. Lovely. Shoutout and appreciation to #sovietcamerastore for this fix for my #vice and to @filmfolk_ for supplying my #film. I'm gonna bother them again soon to send some goodies. But not until after I share some thoughts about the experience in using this sweet thing. Teach your kids to love #film photography- they'll have no money to buy drugs. . . . . . . . . . . #rnifilms #filmfolk #lostwanderingdrifter #sovietcamera #filmisnotdead #filmphotography #buyfilmnotmegapixels #filmcamera #istillshootfilm #filmstill #filmphoto #film35mm #35mm #135film #belomo #vilia #belomovilia

A post shared by Rowe Lee (@lostwanderingdrifter) on May 19, 2017 at 1:01am PDT

This is the Belomo Vilia. I've recently acquired this beauty and finished shooting a roll with it. So what do I think about this beauty? Well...

Blowouts, Blurs, Grain, And Flaws That Remain

You'd think that with continuous use, you'd obtain mastery of something. While that is true in many cases, it isn't so for my film photography endeavor. That van that gives away free coffee is in town so I dropped by and had a few good pictures along the way.

Free Coffee! This is among my better shots in the roll. Cool van in a cool place on a lovely Sunday!

Analog Imperfections

Last time I mentioned I started fiddling with film. Well, I still am. I don't think I'm gonna stop anytime soon. Photography is somewhat special again, especially with a film camera. It was interesting for me to explore so I tried bringing it around me when I go places when I had the chance. "It's the same, but different..." comes to mind. No electronics, no artificial sharpening, no color correction, no auto whitebalance, heck, no batteries even. Just a camera and a roll of film.

It actually feels liberating to shoot without worrying about batteries or how it turned out. It's not necessarily better, since it has a number of imperfections- no crisp lightning-fast accurate focusing here, but it's exactly what I imagined and romanticized it to be. This set is shot with a Fujifilm C200. So far I love this for being cheap and cheerful!