harvest (II)

Last year I decided to start "Harvest", a series of images about autumn, ripe garden stuff and reconnecting with the family. This year I haven't got so many pictures, but I would still say that the year was good.

I will see where this takes me from here.

The last image however is from a village which I sometimes pass through, on my way to my hometown, a journey that is roughly 400 km. 

I first noticed the place last spring on my way back. I was speeding, and before deciding to stop and take a picture, I convinced myself that I am actually in a hurry, that the journey is already long and there is no time to do it. I actually find myself often in this situation where I see something but at the slightest inconvenience I begin to persuade myself that maybe that's not the "perfect time" to shoot.

So I drove through, but somehow the writing font and the meaning (something that I actually don't know how to translate without loosing it's substance) got stuck on my mind.

After a few months I took the same route and stayed alert. It was a late Saturday afternoon. People from the village were enjoying a drink or probably more. I got out of the car, I bought a Cola from the shop and snapped a few shots. It was a quiet, warm September evening and the people sitting in front of the shop were not speaking, just calmly observing me. 

I wished them a good day and went back to my car.

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Pentax Spotmatic F

Super Takumar 1.8/55

Fujicolor C200

Romania, 2019

every weekend go somewhere

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Romania & Bulgaria, 2019
Kodak Portra 160, Olympus OM2n, Zuyko 50mm

a trip with revue 400se (I)

Last winter I was looking for a camera to use when traveling, something lighter than an SLR, but that can still be used in manual mode. So I remembered the Revue 400se I had on the shelf.  I bought it about 10 years ago mostly because I liked the look of it, shot 2 films and I must confess, kind of abandoned it shortly after.

So took it off the shelf, clean the thick layer of dust on top of it, clean the lens, and decided to try to finish the roll was inside of it. Which was actually a bad idea, because the film was stuck inside the roll, the camera gear sprockets broke the film, so I was actually shooting blank.

Even though I noticed that the little yellow spot inside the viewfinder that is used to focus was acting a bit weird, once again I ignored the signs, loaded a roll of Kodak Tmax 400, and over the course of one month or so, used it every time I got out of the city. In this time I visited friends and family in different places of the country, so it was easy to find interesting things to shoot.

Of course that shortly after the first roll, the little camera started to make weird sounds when loading the film. It was only then that I decided to give it a CLA (clean/lubricate/adjust). Now I would strongly advise that before using an old camera that was sitting on the shelf for a while, take it for a CLA.

Anyway I was nicely impressed with the Revue 400SE. It has few strengths such as the size, the weight, the silent leaf shutter that also prevents the camera from vibrating when using longer exposure times. This will allow you to shoot from hand with 1/8, even 1/4 and still get a clear image. The lens is good and it seems to me that it has a certain softness that I actually enjoy. The focusing race is really short, this allowing one to focus quite fast.

Because a rangefinder - it is not so easy to frame, but also not a big problem. The view however it is quite foggy and not really enjoyable. The loading mechanism feels like plastic, which I believe it's made of.

All in all it is was fun to use, and because of the size and the leaf shutter easier than an SLR. Also, winter is coming again, so I decided to make a stock of b&w film and be prepared for monochrome stories. Kodak TMax looks nice but since everybody praises the Ilford HP5 I decided to check it out.

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Romania, Ianuary 2019
Revue 400SE
Kodak TMAX 400

new in town

    I'm in a new city for a while already. I was a visitor many years ago, and I can see how it changed.
     I like changing places I guess, it gives me the feeling of new possibilities, changing perspective, and a taste of traveling.

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     Olympus OM 2n, Zuiko 50 f1.8, Kodak portra 160, Fujifilm C200, Cluj-Napoca, April-May 2019