Blog

The photographic blog of Sean Wood (aka motionid)

Mobile tools

This post is a test of a few mobile tools I've been trialling.  

The workflow is as follows: 

Shoot with the Canon to an eyefi 2 card.  

Upload pics to phone.  

Edit pics on phone in VSCO cam then use the SquareSpace blog tool on the phone to upload the pics and write the post.  

The photo workflow seems to work quite well. The idea of not having to sit in front of a computer to edit and adjust is quite appealing. I suppose this approach is not only normal to some but the only way of working.  

I'll be interested to see how this post turns out when viewing the site. There doesn't seem to be a lot of control with this blog tool.

 

UPDATE:

After posting I discovered a few thing's. First issue was that I edited an old post from the days of Wordpress which happened to have a load of code injected into the body which could not been seen using the SquareSpace app. So I removed that once I checked the post using the computer.

2nd issue was that I could not enable the Lightbox function for the pictures using the SquareSpace app so I subsequently tweaked each image. Other than that the workflow seemed to work quite well.

Downside to all of this, however, is that the images being edited are jpg's not RAW and, I have no ability to apply any editing settings to the RAW files if I so choose at a later date.

A missed spring

This was shot on colour reversal film in April 2008 in Shinjuku Gyoen.
The image had a colour cast that I really didn't like and had proved difficult to tweak at the time. Six years later and thing's have advanced to a point where one can fix these types of issues. Lightroom seems to have outstripped photoshop for ease of colour adjustments finally. 

On the Street

Finally a few street shots. I've been trying to figure out (not making much of an effort mind you) how to use this Sony thing with a screen on the back and no finder and it's not easy. The main issue is the shallow depth of field. I guess I could stop down a bit but when you nail the focus the shot really shines. I'm holding off on a finder on account of them being stupidly expensive. What is probably not helping is I'm moving as I shoot.Hopfeully more of these soon.

Exhibition Setup

Here are shots of the setup for exhibition I just had.
Before I start on the little story, a very large thank you goes to Thomas, Watanabe San, Jon and Koga San for letting me participate this year.

Setup begins at 7pm on a Sunday night. As the previous exhibition is being taken down a team from the gallery sets up make-shift tables and begins setting up the new exhibition. You have the option of renting frames from Place M or bringing your own. In my case I rented the frames which proved to be a very practical idea. I came with prints and mattes ready which I turned over to the team.

In short order they had my whole set framed and mounted. I was impressed with their efficiency.

For the mounting to the wall they use a laser to ensure all images are mounted straight and at the same height. This makes the process super simple. Thomas chose to bring his own frames and Watanabe San had rented frames from another vendor. Turns out Watanabe Sans images only just fit the frames which meant struggling with the framing process somewhat. Thomas' big challenge was just to figure the layout of the images. And being French meant that this took longer than normal as one needs to throw ones arms around a bit, check lots of details in an animated way and mix up French, English and Japanese in explaining how thing's should be.
There was a slight setback with Jon's prints when we realised that the gallery no longer had the frames that he planned to use. Lucky for us Thomas was using the same size frames and we could rent one from down the street so we had four of his six prints up on the wall from day one. Thomas turned up the next day at the opening and made sure the last two were complete.

The whole setup took maybe one and a half hours after which the team proceeded to bring down a load of beer and food and eat right off the setup tables! Place M have a great system in place and the eating aspect makes the whole experience feel a bit of a family affair.

What I learned from the whole event was ones exhibition needs more time and focus that I made this time around. I also learned that I should be listening to myself and not to everyone else when it comes to the details of exhibiting your own prints.

Fragments of Tokyo Exhibition at Place M 12-18 November 2012

So I guess this is me advertising the exhibition I am part of. Place M

所在地：東京都新宿区新宿1-2-11 近代ビル3F

http://www.placem.com/schedule/2012/20121112/121112.html

12-18 November 2012. 12pm - 7pm every day.

I'll be there on the 17th and 18th all day. The goal of the exhibition for me I guess is to use this as an excuse to meet people. So feel free to stop by and say hello. I'll be showing a little set I've had stashed away for a long time now. Time to let them see the light of day. Other members:

渡部敏哉 Toshiya Watanabe Jon Ellis Thomas Orand

Upcoming Exhibition

I'm joining what should be four other photographers in a group exhibition this November. Unfortunately Koga san has had to drop out due to family reasons. The Exhibition is called "Fragments of Tokyo" and will be held from Monday 12th November till Sunday 18th November.

Above are the characters that are participating.

Jon

Watanabe san

Thomas

The Group


Kodoji

There is a little bar in Kabukicho that holds exhibitions for photographers. Some very famous ones have and do exhibit there. One night I happen to be there and a photographer was having an exhibition. The subject of his work happen to turn up and she turned out to be pretty friendly. Taken with the permission of the photographer and the subject. Names have long been forgotten.

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.

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.

Jon Ellis, Dairou Koga, Thomas Orand, Toshiya Watanabe.

Mirror realities

I started to shoot this series and felt it lacked depth but it has been siting on my computer for a while and I thought it should see the light of day. Inspired by Jon, it's trying to find a different way to look at the same space I use to visit many times a week. Anyway, now that it's out I can leave it alone and get on with trying to find a new subject (which is seeming to take a very long time).