02
05/10
20:24
Adrian and Masa
On the Train to Yokohama. I made it with my Bronica. Ah la la la la la la
22
04/10
10:00
Back To Japan
06
01/10
16:54
New Toy
A few months ago I picked up this little beauty. It’s a Bronica RF645 medium format rangefinder. That’s right kids, It’s a film camera. Beyond that, because it’s a rangefinder,when you peer through the viewfinder you’re not looking through the lens, as you would with a conventional SLR style camera. It’s manual focus and manual winding. It dose have an aperture priority setting but that’s a fancy as it gets. 
The “645″ in the name means that the negs are 6cm X 4.5cm. They contain waaaay more detail then a 35mm neg and the overall look of the 65mm lens is super cool. I’ve shot it, along side the digital system, on several jobs now. In the right conditions I think it looks better then the digi. I’m hoping I can convince more clients to let me use it.
One of my favorite aspect of shooting like this is the way it makes me slow down and really concentrate on the pictures I’m trying to make. It reminds me why I got into photography in the first place.
The “645″ in the name means that the negs are 6cm X 4.5cm. They contain waaaay more detail then a 35mm neg and the overall look of the 65mm lens is super cool. I’ve shot it, along side the digital system, on several jobs now. In the right conditions I think it looks better then the digi. I’m hoping I can convince more clients to let me use it.
One of my favorite aspect of shooting like this is the way it makes me slow down and really concentrate on the pictures I’m trying to make. It reminds me why I got into photography in the first place.
15
12/09
12:35
Skate Archives
I came across some old scans from my skate days. These are all from 2003. The above shot of Jeff Budro was the cover of Concrete Wave Magazine. Below, we’ve got John Torchia ripping a corner air at a long gone Vista pool.
And last but not least, the legendary Kevin Staab spinning an original trick he named the half-cow. The long since revamped Encinitas YMCA.
Making pictures of my friends skateboarding was one of the first things that attracted me to photography. I don’t get the chance to shoot it much these days, except the rare occasion when Andy lets me tag along with him and his crew. If anyone out there wants to shoot some skate photos, hit me up!
18
09/09
14:24
Film!?
A few weeks ago, I dusted off my old 35mm Canon and began shooting some film, mostly personal stuff. I’m really having a blast with it. So much so that I’m now in the market for a medium format range finder. If anyone out there wants to part with a Bronica RF645, hit me up.
26
02/09
14:30
Sign of the Times
I haven’t shot film in a while. Superficially, I can’t say as I miss it all that much. The quality of modern digital cameras is truly amazing. And, the ability to change ISO settings (the camera’s sensitivity to light) on the fly has changed the way reportage is shot. I do however miss going to the lab. I miss the camaraderie with the people behind the counter and other shooters picking up and dropping off their film. I miss the anticipation and satisfaction of getting my transparencies back and stooping over the light table, with a loupe to my eye, finally getting to see my work. I transitioned to shooting professionally just as the digital wave was breaking across the photographic industry. While I have been paid for published images I shot on film, when making pictures became a job for me, it was with a digital camera in hand. Maybe it is because of this that I feel photography lost a little bit of it’s innocence to the digital revolution. There’s a reason the vast majority of fine art photographers still shoot film. Digital photography has allowed more people to make better pictures. It has allowed me to make a living doing what I love. But the soul of photography still lives in the emulsion.