summer

insistingly present.

the land IV

longing for spring, but loving the stark lines against the grey skies.

the land III

still winter.
the paper brought tips
on getting your garden
ready for spring.
a little premature
it seems.

the land II

lines
and hints of
green
if only
lichen.

luminous IV

don't say i haven't warned you.
you're doing good though.

luminous III

how come the light doesn't feel that blue when you're there?

the land

only a few days by the sea
walking across the heath

luminous III

hang in there,
only forty more to go.
(what if i'm not joking...)

luminous II

it was that hour in the late afternoon before the light fades.
the north sea is no friendly place,
but it has me under its spell.

luminous

by the sea
last days of the year past

p.s.: annoying specs of dust all over the frames whenever i pick up a roll from the (very friendly) lab.
i will get a scanner this year. promised.

outtakes

the last few weeks have been a real whirlwind; i've hardly taken any photos.
so for today it's only some outtakes from my first bronica roll,
full of imperfections, scratches, mystery white fluff and all.
i hope you'll bear with me.

have a good start to the new week!

p.s.: i think i may have a bit of a crush on that fuji reala 100,
the tones are almost like slide.

art watching (III)

i've got the bronica back from the camera repair place, and the first roll of black and white film too. very excited to shoot more with this new camera, it's like starting from scratch all over.

i like the theatrical quality of the second (very dark) shot. methinks, finding out which b/w film to use in which light conditions will be a bit of a challenge. do you have any particular black-and-white favourites, both for indoors and outdoors? film talk aside, i've been happy to hear from you over the past few weeks, keep leaving me a little thought, or perhaps just a little hello if you feel like it!

(top: entrance area to abc 2012
bottom: christoph keller's 'expedition-bus and shaman-travel',
presented by esther schipper gallery at abc 2012)

a blue night

it was a blue night - the opening of abc (art berlin contemporary), taking place under the umbrella of berlin art week this year. taking the bronica with me, but no tripod, and a film with quite a pronounced grain, this is what i got. plus some unintentional light leaks, which means - pretty as they are - i'll have to take the camera back to the repair place. hey-ho!

in any case, i'm much enjoying the art week so far! off to some more art shows, an art book fair, and a party tonight. at long last a weekend that's not dominated by work. have a good weekend yourselves!

bottom image: art work by isabelle le minh, presented by galerie christophe gaillard, paris.

//

thank you so much for your comments on my last post - i so relate to saving up for a dream camera: it was a long way for me. i'm a big believer in dreams, they have a way of coming true with time, sometimes when we least expect it.

i went to favourite places in my neighbourhood on that first photo walk with the bronica. what a good feeling to know there is so much to learn, i'm very much looking forward to it.

i'm loving september so far, how about you?

//

it's a bronica EC, friends. i'm over the moon.

after years of rumination, i finally made the leap and went for a 6x6 medium format camera. a hasselblad was out of reach budget-wise, so i settled for its japanese counterpart, a vintage bronica EC from 1972. i'm so very happy about this new addition to my camera collection.

when i received the parcel, i couldn't wait to go out the very same afternoon to shoot a test roll and take it to the lab. i woke in the early hours, having dreamt of being told there was nothing on the roll - and being absolutely devastated. was of course silly excited when it turned out there were indeed pictures on the film. some minor trouble is the white residue you can see on these scans, so the bronica is being serviced. a first check confirmed lens and body are fine, it's probably to do with a crumbling foam sealer in the film back, which will be replaced. camera buffs out there - do you have any other guesses?

happy weekend, everyone!

p.s.: while i'm picking your brains: any of you using an epson v500 or epson v600 scanner? would you recommend it?