Blog
The photographic blog of Sean Wood (aka motionid)
Mitake Autumn
Valley Crossing
Journey through a mountain range between Miako and Morioka in the Iwate prefecture
A view near Fuji
As part of the trip to Aokigahara Jukai we also took a little drive around Mt. Fuji and through the road that leads right through the forest. To our surprise we came to a lookout area along the way.This is the result. Inford Pan F+ 50 shot using the Rolleiflex and an ND 8 filter and developed in Rodinal at 20c. The neg's turned out a lot more grainy than I expected but I guess that's what Rodinal will do.
Aokigahara Jukai
So I finally have a few thing's to show from the Aokigahara Jukai trip.Only took the Rolleiflex this time. Well, I took the 5d also but it was the light meter for day 2 and not a good one at that. It seems that my trusty Sekonic did the job just great. These B+W shots are proof. After seeing the results I'm keen to go back again. At the start of the trip it was pouring rain and Jon and I had to walk 20 mins to get to the station at about 6:50am. We hadn't event started and we were soaked. Still, the weather was actually a blessing and I'm really pleased Thomas, with his boundless enthusiasm got us all shooting in the rain in the forest. For me it made for better shots than the sunny day after. Next will be to see what everyone has printed. Thanks guy's. It was a lot of fun.
All shot on TMax 100 and developed using Tmax dev 1:4
Long Grass
The writing. Always the writing. I can't seem to find the time to write the words. The longer I stay in Japan the less of a words person I become I think. This is a shot from my Aokigahara Jukai (青木ヶ原) trip I made with Thomas, Koga san and Jon.
It was an excellent trip and I think I managed to get a few ok shots out of it. I'm kind of wondering why it took such a long time for us to actually go on a trip. We've gotta do this more.
I'll likely try to post a few new shots of the trip before I depart Japan for Australia for part of the summer.
This specific shot was taken near the forest using Jon's Velvia 50 and the Rolleiflex f/2.8 d with a Rollinar 1 closeup lens. The colour has been dialed back as the original was (to use Jon's term) too "in-your-face".
Ume
Another archive shot.Not much from me for a long time. Work is busy. I've been working on another photographic project but this one isn't going digital. If you want to see it you're going to have to track me down in person.
The Frame builder
I've been working on a little project that has taken a bit of my time.It's not done yet. There is still a way to go but I thought I would share a few frames thus far. I'm primarily shooting it on Kodak Tmax 400 @1600 using the Hasselblad and accenting the series with a little colour (Kodak Portra 400).
The subject of my project is a bicycle frame builder from Kyoto that now lives in Tokyo and has a shop not far away from where I live. I haven't come across anyone building frames in Tokyo as yet and have since discovered it's a bit of a rarity.
Tensyouren
So, as usual I have shot for the team again. For those of you who don't know me, my wife dances in an Awa odori team called Tensyouren in Koenji. As a way for me to participate I have become the team photographer of sorts. Each year I make a book of the images for each member of the team.This year with my lack of digital camera use I seem to be somewhat out of practice. I don't think I have nearly as many keepers as the previous years but as a few of you may know, I may be being a little harsh on myself (time will tell).
Anyway, the team just renewed their website and I think they did a fine job of it considering the state it was in previously. I've been a bit cheeky by posting this frame before I've handed off a small selection for the team to upload to their new site but I've not posted anything for a while and it's not for a lack of shooting. Anyway, if you want to see more shots (maybe old ones until later this week) head over to the site http://tensyouren.com/2011/
Stephan
I hope he doesn't mind me uploading this.The atmosphere in the shot, the focus, the light are the elements that I really like in this shot. I knew bringing the Rolleiflex back would pay off. Stephan gets all the credit for putting up with me constantly taking his picture. Shot on TMax 400 @1600 and developed in TMax developer.
You so big hardy colt!! Come striking me like crazy animal with doggy style.
About 4 years ago in what seemed like another world and another time a group of us came across this bike parked innocently in the back streets of Shibuya. A normal bike until we took a closer look. The reaction of everyone reading is a classic.
Misty mountains
A few months ago I took a day off and went for a training ride and took the Holga. I've lugged the Hasselblad around the mountains before but sometimes you need to make a compromise.The whole area I ride (see strava link above) has the potential to look like this. And if you can time your ride and hit the last mountain late afternoon the sunsets can be impressive. Now summer is here I'll have to wait for winter to set in before we see more moody, misty skys again.
Shot on Portra 400 and developed with a load of crap all over the neg (hmm).
Katsuura mini island
Colour version was really flat so it's been tweaked to B+W in order to save the shot. Hasselblad with the 50mm.
The neighbourhood
Shot using my newly acquired Rolleiflex f/2.8d and inspired by Thomas
Oleg
So my friend Oleg came to Tokyo for a week of work and a few days off recently. I'm very glad he could make the trip. I didn't really take the chance the last time he was here to get a decent shot of him but I couldn't let him escape this time.Now that 400b has gone I'm shooting 3000b and carrying an ND4 or 8 filter with me when it's required. Nice thing about 3000b is the neg that you get from the shot. And this shot is from the neg. I only hope instant film for the Hasselblad stays around for a while.
Kamakura sunrise
Shot this on new years day 2011. It's been sitting around until now. Couldn't decide which version I liked so I just waited seven months until the right one popped out at me :-) Shot with provia 400x - expired I think.
Post Fragments of Tokyo 2011
Finally I discover where the Negs to the exhibition party went.I ended up double exposing a few of them at the start of the roll. Figured it might make for something a bit different. Well, I'd say different is correct. Still...I'm kind of happy with the way some of these turned out. Slightly more entertaining than your usual snap shots.
Salaried man
This has to be one of the best shot's I've taken in a long while. I'd developed it a few months ago and had left it jammed in my Annie Leibovitz book to flatten out (you gotta maximize the value from those expensive books). I'd finally managed to get a few new rolls developed over the weekend and discovered several sleeves in the book I'd forgotten about.This shot popped right off the neg. It seems to have a timeless quality to it I'd like to explore more of.
High noon
Not much to say here really. Maybe different to my usual efforts which is why this might have finally made the cut.
TOKYO-GA Charity Photo Book
So, the Tokyo-Ga charity photo book that I contributed to is finally out. I encourage you to stop by and take a look.
The website for the book can also be found here http://www.tokyogaga.com/
Tokyo-GA is a group on flickr started by Dairou Koga and has turned into a great place where like minded Tokyo photographs that enjoy shooting scenes of tokyo gather together. The book contains submissions by many of the Tokyo-GA members and monies received will go to the Japanese Red Cross
I'm very happy to have been invited to contribute and also feel humbled to be along side a number of photographers in the book I admire.
A major thank you should go to Dairou Koga, Charlie Kirk, Toshiya Watanabe, Fabrizio Quagliuso for making the whole project possible.