I am inspired 感奮させられています

I had to share this fantastic site.  The whole idea of it has inspired me, both as a photographer and as a traveller.  The site is called “52 suburbs around the world”, and it’s the work of Australian, Louise Hawson.  She and her 8 year old daughter, Coco, will be travelling around the globe throughout 2012 and Louise will be documenting, in her words, “the unfamous side” of some of the world’s major cities.

I haven’t met them, but they’re beginning their journey here, in my back yard (so to speak) of Hong Kong.  Their planned itinerary after “The Big Lychee” is New Delhi, Istanbul, Paris, Berlin, Rome and, finally, New York.  Of those cities, I’ve only been to Istanbul, (which was fantastic!) so I’m especially curious to see what they find there.  I’m also hoping that it will give me a bit of insight into what I should see and do when I do finally get to check those other cities off my list.

As a blog writer (I hate the term ‘blogger’), and photographer, I was instantly taken by her writing style as well as how she presents her subject matter in diptychs (two images, side-by-side).

So, click the picture below to head over to the site and follow along on their adventure.

Now, how can I manage to do the same thing…?

このウエブサイトは素晴らしいと思うので分け合っています。２０１２年中、この女性と娘は一緒にいろいろ国の旅行にいきます。英語だけでポストする事が写真はとても面白いと思います。普通、違う写真を併置しています。ホームページに行くため下の地図をクリークして下さい。

Just a few more もう少し

I had forgotten that I still had a roll of film in my camera from the end of 2011.  Got it developed and scanned so, here’s the best of them.  Onward to 2012!  I’ll be in Japan over the Chinese New Year holiday, so hope to have some more good stuff to share once I’m back.

カメラ内フイルムが忘れました。それで、このポストは２０１１年の最後です。２０１２へ行きます！

この週末から日本へ旅行に行きます。２月一日に帰ります。その後、面白い写真をポストする。。。かな〜

Happy 2012! ハッピー２０１２！

Year-end bits and pieces 年末前にいろいろな写真です

Almost every post I do, there are some photos that tend to get left out because they just don’t seem to fit for one reason or other.  Figured I’d get them in somewhere before the new year rolls around.

普通、ポストする時、いろいろな写真は込めらないです。そして、年末前に込めています。楽しんで下さい。

Detour art fair

This past weekend saw the end of the second annual DeTour Art Fair.  Last year, it took place at the old Victoria Police Headquarters/Prison on Hollywood Road.  This year, it took place at the old Married Police Quarters, also on Hollywood Road.  I see a trend.  Actually, while the headquarters and prison was a great venue, this year’s venue was much better in terms of accommodating the many exhibits and vendors.  Wonder where it’ll be next year?  They’ve run out of Police-themed heritage buildings.

先週末、２年次のデイツアー　アート　フェアーが終わりました。昨年、１年次のは古いビクトーリア県警本部で開催されました。今年、古い結婚している警察の居住で開催されました。来年、何所に開催されているかどうか分かりません。もう古い警察の建物がありません（笑）。

Sai Kung town サイ・カング村

Not too long ago, I decided to head out to Sai Kung town on a Saturday (Sundays are best avoided if you’re not partial to crowds).  Now, Sai Kung district (click for map) is actually a large area in the eastern part of the mainland of Hong Kong, but there’s also Sai Kung town which is quite famous for it’s many seafood restaurants as well as being the main ferry terminal if you want to head to many of the outlying islands.  It’s also nice to just stroll around the streets and relax at one of the many cafes that cater to the town and its visitors.

先月、サイ・カング村に行って来ました。行けば、土曜日のほうが日曜日よりいいと思います。日曜日はとても込んでいますよ。たくさんアウトドア海の幸レストランがあります。それも、近い嶋へ行きの渡し場もあります。面白い所と思います。街に散歩するとカフェーで休憩するをすすめです。

A bit of an experiment ちょっと試みです

I wanted to test out the street photography possibilities of my Mamiya, so I headed to one of the busiest parts of Hong Kong island: Time’s Square in Causeway Bay.  On a weekend, no less!  For those of you familiar with the Big Lychee, you will understand what this means, though it was a Saturday, not Sunday.  I’m not a complete masochist!  For those of you who have never been here, it’s tough to explain, but on Sundays in particular, it almost feels like half the population of Hong Kong descends on Causeway Bay.  I think the other half head to the Mong Kok area in Kowloon.

マミヤでストリート撮影を試みをしたかったです。そして、とても込み合う所に行きました：香港島のタイムズ　スクエア。その所に行ったことがあればわかっていると思います。行ったことなければ東京の渋谷や大阪の道頓堀みたいです。

I wanted to see what kind of shots I could get as folk went about their business.  Given that the Mamiya is quite stealthy for such a big camera, I figured it would work quite well.  I shot two rolls of film in a short period of time; about 20 minutes.  For the first roll, I wandered around a bit but with the other, I planted myself in one spot and just took folks coming down the stairs.

フイルムのロール２個早くを撮影。２０分ごろだけです。最初の、ちょっと歩きながら写真を撮りました。それで、同じ所に立つながらを撮りました。

Here are the results.  Needs a bit of refinement, I think.

この写真は記録です。ちょっと垢抜けすることが必要とすると思います。

New toy… uh, I mean tool 新しい撮影道具

Ok, so the scanner issue has been resolved, no thanks to Epson by the way.  That means that I’ve been able to scan most of the backlog of film that sat there while I was trying to figure out what to do about the scanner.  Essentially, it required me to completely uninstall the program and then re-install it from the original disk.  At least it’s working now.

よかった！スカーナーは直しました。でも、僕で直しました。エプソンが手伝ってしなかった。しかったがないですね。そして、最近、沢山フイールムはスカーンをしています。

When I bought my Leica, I posted about it, my Hasselblad and the other object of my desire, a Rolleiflex 2.8F.  I’ve now included another TLR in the mix: the Mamiya C330F.  I purchased one about a month ago because I really miss shooting medium format for some things and, as with the Rollei, being a TLR with no mirror to crash up and down like my Hasselblad does, it’s whisper quiet when the shutter goes, “snick”.   For a street photographer, that plus the fact that you look down into the camera’s viewfinder means that you’ve taken the picture before the subject figures out what you’re up to.  Sneaky!  There’s no light meter in the Mamiya though, which means I need to rely on experience and my trusty Sekonic, which is fine.

３年前ごろ、ライカーM６を買いました。その時僕の一番好きなカメラついてを書いてました。今から、リストにもう一個を追加したいです：マミヤC３３０F　TLRです。このカメラは中判カメラです。それで、大きいフイルムを使っています。鏡がないのでとても静かです。

Now, I still believe the Rolleiflex is still a superior camera, first off, it’s smaller and does have a built-in light meter, not to mention the amazing Zeiss glass in the lens, but it’s not superior enough to warrant the exhorbitant prices they now command – easily quadruple or more the price I paid for the close-to-mint condition Mamiya I bought.  Price aside, there are even a couple of things that make the Mamiya better than the Rollei.  First off, there are interchangable lenses available.  The standard lens is the 80 mm/ f2.8 but there are wide-angle and telephoto options as well, making it a much more flexible camera than the Rollei.  Also, because the Mamiya focusing system operates on a bellows, you can do some serious macro photography (though that’s best done on a tripod, I found).

まだ、ローレーフレクスのほうがいいカメラと思うけどとても高いです。本当にローレーフレクスの値段は４倍以上マミヤのです。ローレーフレクスのレンズはすごくいいです。ザイズで作られました。マミヤの同じぐらいけどセイコーで作られました。マミヤは取り換え可能なレンズあります。ローレーは出来ません。それは便利ですね。されに、マミヤのフォカスの方はふいごでします。そして、接写の写真を撮りやすいです。

The group of photos I’ve included here are some of my first from the camera.  More to come soon(ish).

この写真は最後マミヤで撮ったのです。

In the meantime… とりあいず。。。

One of the problems with shooting film, as opposed to digital, is that one needs to rely on a scanner to create digital files in order to post them on blogs.  Well, I’m having an issue with my scanner at the moment so cannot scan the several roles of film I have recently developed.  Therefore, I present you with something photo-related, though not my own.

Some of you may already be aware of Scott Schuman, otherwise known as The Sartorialist.  I’ve been following his blog for years, and I greatly admire his style of street photography.  He was in Tokyo in the summer doing a shoot for Brother printers and they produced some interesting behind-the-scenes short documentary videos of how he gets the shots he does.  I’m going to have to give more effort to emulating him when I’m in Osaka in January.  Click on the photo to take a look.

僕はほとんどフィルムで撮影しています。それでデジタルファイルを作るためにスカーナーを使わなくてはいけません。今、６個くらいフイルムロールがスカーンをしたいんですけどスカーナーは問題があります。残念ですね。それでこのポストは写真な事についてですがほっかの写真家のです。

スコットシューマンは知っていますか。アメーリカー人ファション写真家です。彼のブログの名前は「ザ　サートリアリスト」です。８月、東京市に撮影しました。面白いドキュメンタリー映画を見る為に上の写真をクリックして下さい。日本語の字幕があります。

Too long 長すぎます

Yes, I realize it’s been a hell of a long time since I posted anything here.  Sadly, I had been going through a serious lack of motivation to photograph things on my walks around the city.  There were times when I’d be out for an entire day and not shoot one frame.  Terrible!  Hopefully, I’ve gotten through that.  Here are are a selection of some of the shots I’ve taken in the last couple of months, most of then in the last two weeks, really.

本当に最後のポストから長過ぎていますね。日ごろ読んで下さる皆さんへすみませんでした。最近まで、香港に散歩しなかが写真を撮る刺激がありませんでした。なぜか分かりません。苛立たしい！

このポストの写真はほとんど二週間前間を撮りました。見てくれてください。