November 2008 Archives

This is a long overdue post.

During the past months I've hand something to do (either directly or indirectly) with the following:

• Carcrash
• Hating insurance companies to death
• New car
• Stolen laptops
• Breaking and entering
• Waking up chez-moi, not knowing that the same day I'd move out
• Move for the 14th time in the last 5 years
• A phone call that started with the words "I did not give you my cell number to give you bad news"
• Carcrash - again... in a different car

It has been a complicated year, but there's hope for next year...

All and all, my life's far from being stuck.

I used to bitch about getting all this shit, and why someone else was not getting it. But oh well, I'm a grown-up now (...and that person is seemingly swapping fluids with someone s.t.d.-ful -- haha... so there's justice after all) .

And well, after teaching some programming workshops, promoting my career, and looking at a recent trip (paid by my uni), there's space to think about what's coming ahead... besides finals.

I developed some rolls a bit more than a month ago...

I tried Efke 25, Delta 400 pushed +1, and the regular Delta 100.

Less talky, more looky..... this is Efke 25:

It's super cool to shoot mid day at f1.4, but I don't shoot much at that time... I guess my thing is still 100 or 400.

That's about it for the Efke. Cool: yes. For me: naaaaaaaah... not really.

Maybe I just need to know how to develop it properly...

Anyway...

I also tried Delta 400 pushed to 800. It's the first time I use that, so I am learning how to develop it properly. IMHO it rocks.

Here are film scans from the previous DJ Ferh entry:

Delta 400+1: Rocks.

And now our traditional and beloved Delta 100. My personal fave 4-eva-and-eva.

This is what I loive about delta 100. You want blacks, you get blacks; you want highlights, there ya go. I'm not really sure why, but it just *clicks* for me.

I still have to develop the squary 120 delta 100. So far so good with 35mm, but my experience developing 120 is pretty much none. I used to shoot delta with a lovely Hasselblad back in the day, but oh well... damn third world economy!

It's been a long time since I last sat down and wrote properly. Well, sometimes you need something to actually get you going... pencil, paper, laptop... whatever.

Saw a movie recently My Blueberry Nights. Norah Jones' acting is not thaaat good, but there are some bits I loved from that film like the fact of how sometimes eventhough it's the right person, it's just not the right time.

It sort of reminded me of how you've got to fix yourself before you can be with someone else.

Been thinking a lot about certain phrases that define so much in so little:

Dan: You think love is simple. You think the heart is like a diagram.
Larry:  Have you ever seen a human heart? It looks like a fist wrapped in blood

Since I saw that film in a cinema, I've loved it...  guess why I found out about Steve Pyke.

There are a million awesome things I've got to tell.. . awesome things...

...but tonight is not the night.

Hope life catches you well,

J

Seems like it will take me longer than expected to upload another big film-entry, so here's a quick one with squared-neg film. The long one will be up before November ends-- I promise.

Grabbed the Rollei and did a couple of test frames... everything Portra 400VC (my new favorite 120 colour film)



I was walking around the uni, looking for something or someone to photograph, and I found a writer that teaches here: Felipe Montes. He's got a bunch of groupies here... which is kind of funny.



It was cool approaching him; he was eating, and seemed surprised to see me asking if I could make a picture.

I had only 4 frames, so I did 3 close and 1 from a normal distance.



I never thought the Rolleinars were the *exact* thing I was looking for. Can't tell you how sharp the full frame is.

Now I can try and play Steve Pyke.

That's all for now.

Have some good news...

...not telling right now, of course.

... it would ruin the surprise.

Hope life catches you well.

J