Blog

The photographic blog of Sean Wood (aka motionid)

A day at the beach

During the holiday period (to be politically correct for Americans, or, as most Australians like to call it, Christmas)  I returned to Australia with plans to do a fair bit of shooting both inland and on the coast. My plans were dogged with sicknesses and bad weather which resulted in only a handful of pictures I managed to make while I was there. I was fortunate that the day was overcast and there was enough cloud in the sky to make the shots interesting. I've always liked dogs on the beach so while I was on the 35km strip I searched out the lone dog who became the feature of this three image set.

Shot on TMax 100 and developed in Tmax developer but scanned with the brightness and contrast way down so I was able to screw with the balance afterward.

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".

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).

Shinjuku Street Scenes

A whole weekend of scanning and not a great deal to show for it. Looked for a load of shots I'd taken a few years ago that I never got around to scanning and ended up finding many, many more shots I've yet to scan.These are three of the many. Did attempt to go out shooting this afternoon but mistimed my start. On the way though I had to wonder if I should not be just spending the next few months trying to sort out what I already have (and what I have yet to scan). hmmmm.

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.

Gathering

I have not shot a lot of candid street images for a long time. I've needed a break and a steady income to be able to have time to spend for this part time. This shot literally fell between the cracks. I missed scanning the whole roll and it's about 2 years old. Nothing else really worth keeping. I think I'm posting this for nostalgic purposes more than it being a shot of any substance. I might have to make a regular attempt to shoot a bit more of this once my other series' are done.

The Old Man and the Sea

Well, the image does not do the original story justice but what else am I going to put?Another shot from the scouting mission. I think I am going to need at least a day to re-think my scanning strategy.  Not sure if this is before or after I finish all these rolls I have backed up for development.

Can anyone comment on their approach to scanning? I find that dust is a constant issue, followed by flat film and streaks in the film when I scan colour negs.

Suggestions?

Ginza line

tunnel.jpg

I've been going through a series I've been working on - eventually working my way up to editing it in some way that adds meaning to what I have shot (always nice to figure it out in reverse. Kind of like designing a logo and thinking up the bollocks rational after to go with it). I've decided that revisiting the images after about 2 years starts to give you a nice perspective on them. This is one that could well fit into several themes I could have going with the collection. Who knows!? Better to get a few out into the wild than let them all just rot on my drives. I'll make a second call out to those in the know about the editing assistance. I'm sure at some stage the series will see the light of day. In the mean time I'll likely post the ones that don't make it here and the ones that do over to the soon to be revamped 50mm.jp.

Blind man

Blind man – Koenji

This is almost the depth of field that I feel can give an image a movie like atmosphere. There is this sweet spot with different lenses used and finding that sweet spot (the distance between the subject, the camera and the f stop) is always that challenge. Especially when you have no control over the subject. In the previous post I speak about colour pallettes. While this shot is lacking what goes a way to helping is the film used to achieve or at least shift the temperature of the shot. Is this shot feeling warm or cool to you?

A dream?

This picture was shot quite a while ago in Shibuya with Jon. This girl happen to be standing in just the right place and I happen to have my Rolleiflex and a Rollinar at the ready. I can't begin to describe the soft yet sharp quality of the Rollei f/2.8 lens. If you have the chance to use one I highly recommend it.