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.
Blog
The photographic blog of Sean Wood (aka motionid)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Coast
A place I will revisit once my back is back to normal.
Road to Oblivion
In the middle of nowhere in Yamanashi you can find a series of these.
Reflected
Guarding the void
The attempt
Ginza line
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.
Urban landscape
Twirl
Painterly madness
I was looking at my archive today and found this shot hidden away. Sometimes it take a year or two for me to finally see something in a shot. In this case it was not the foreground at all but the background craziness I had ignored up till now. Shame there is not more interest but still, I quite like the painterly feel.