Life in Japan - Pictures galore !! Arcades, Temples, Rainy days, etc

Does everyone in Tokyo live with their heads at a permanent 45 degree downwards angle these days? Must be annoying seeing everyone like that.

Out of the above shots i like "Aoyamadoori at Night (BW)". it really stands out as a quality moody image but I'm not sure about the processing on it. Is all the grain and light fill to the left intentional?

I took a photo of quite a sexy mature woman filling up her Lexus yesterday at the petrol station. I sure wouldn't say no. I've got to edit the picture first so I'll post it later on.

 

Ilford 3200, so it's pretty grainy to begin with, but this roll didn't go over so smoothly. It didn't get in the real right, and some of them photos were underexposed by a stop or two at least. The scanner tries to compensate (and I'm too lazy to try to make it better).

Same film, developed in the lab.

Late Night Smokey Treat (2) (BW) by gaijin_punch, on Flickr

Yep.

No... that was a fuck up, but I like the shot enough to let it slide. Others I just trashed.

Haha... now, only if she was asking!

 

haha, if only.

 

I think that's like the old Kodak T-Max films - the actual speed is about 1000, but it's got a wide exposure latitude and the DX coding results in you effectively pushing it a couple of stops by default. I used to develop my own black and white films - mostly because I had the labs screw them up a few times...

 

I hear that happens in the west! They're fine here... I just don't want to pay 550 yen and wait 3 days at least. It was a practice roll anyway. Going to try cross processing expired slide film. I have to tickle their asses a little bit to get them to do it. Kind of weird. I don't know why they don't just throw the fucking thing in the machine and spit it out. :-/

I think the Kodak film you're thinking of is Tri-X. It's graded as 400, but you can push it from 100 to 3200 at least...maybe more. Not sure about the Ilford, but I'm sure you could pull it to 1600 easily, and probably a lot lower. I've not found my preferred film or developer yet. Just now starting... I'll get there though, just gotta find the time.. I used Pan F (50) at burning man b/c of the over abundance of sunlight, and most of my cameras didn't go over 1/500. Well, the two main one anyway.

W/ the winter coming up and Japan refusing to adopt DST, my ability to shoot slow films is limited to weekends and very, very rare occasions where I can bolt from work before the sun goes down. Quite a bummer.

 

Well here's the older lady. I reckon she was about 40.


older lady - yes please by Yakum01975, on Flickr


overcast wheel by Yakum01975, on Flickr


Mother and Son by Yakum01975, on Flickr

 

I'm pretty sure I know what happened - I was mostly using a Kodak film called T-Max for my B&W stuff, and there were two variants of it - one (with a "CN" suffix) was designed to be processed using the C41 color process chemistry, but the one I was using wasn't, it required a monochrome process chemistry like the Ilford D76 developer. I made sure to put a note "DO NOT USE C41 PROCESS" on the paperwork, but sometimes they did anyway...

I don't know why they would have any problem cross processing E6 in C41 - it's not exactly an approved process, but it's well enough established that there are a bunch of Kodak technical notes about it. The other way around (C41 in E6 process) is a bit iffy - firstly, it doesn't tend to look very good, and secondly it can contaminate some of the E6 process baths.

It was Kodak T-Max 3200 - it's a tabular grain film (I think it's very similar to the Ilford Delta 3200), and according to the technical notes the middle of it's exposure range is really about ISO 800, bit it will take being pushed a couple of stops easily, although the result is a bit grainy.

Thinking about this stuff is making me miss my film cameras... Digital might be convenient, but I always get the feeling there is something missing.

 

Yeah, in other words, over the hill for 12 years, in Japan.

Doh! I think I know of what film you're talking about... forgot the name, but it's still in production. Kind of pricey and I've read some weird things about it.

I"ve seen screenshots of C41 in E6... looks kinda wonky, and you usually lose a couple of stops.

Ah, yeah -- it's out of production. I think some people are pretty pissed about that. For me it's E100VS. I'm slowly stocking up on it so I'll have it for special occasions. Thinking about doing something similar for Provia 400X but it's so fucking expensive. I can get singles of the discontinued E100VS cheaper than I can get Provia 400X with the discount of a 5-pack. :-/

Indeed. Making something easy means you will be swimming through oceans of bad shit. Look at the proliferation of horrible electronic music... or even DJs for that matter. I DJ CDs, but I have the software. Still, it takes me a lot of time digging to find the good tracks, and I actually know what I'm doing with the software.

For me though, the trip back into film was b/c I realized that there are some stellar cameras and lenses for almost no money in the film world. I tried many on my Canon w/ converters, and while they were good enough, none "just worked". There were always issues w/ focusing to infinity, the auto focus lights not being accurate, etc. etc. I just decided to get the old bodies to go with them... or get some of the cheap but awesome range finders.

 

Do you guys ever get hassled for taking photos of strangers or do they just assume you're a typical rude gaijin and ignore you?

 

They don't know we are taking their pictures and we are not rude

 

Just wanted to add on the FireAza post: you guys know you need the 'victims' consent for taking the pictures? and if they caught you you'd need to delete those pictures?;p

 

Hmmm, is it really possible to take good photos of strangers without them knowing? Should I be worried that you have mastered this, Yakumo?

 

It's very easy if you have a long lens but I'm no master plus I'd never take embarrassing photos of anyone, just something that would look arty or stylish. Actually, that photo of the woman and boy are my wife and son. They had no idea the photo was being taken.

 

EDF-the spider 2 by Yakum01975, on Flickr


EDF-the spider 1 by Yakum01975, on Flickr


odd ant by Yakum01975, on Flickr

 

So... anyone in here tempted by the new Sony Alpha 7R? I am, but I need to know the auto-focus is bitchin' before I take the plunge.


Break Corner (BW) by gaijin_punch, on Flickr


Bent out of Shape (BW) by gaijin_punch, on Flickr


Halloween Man (BW) by gaijin_punch, on Flickr


Oh My (BW) by gaijin_punch, on Flickr

 

I have a "photo of the day" (the double-rainbow) over at Metropolis Magazine, if anyone's interested

As for the A7R, will wait for reviews.

 

I was going to wait for your review...

 

@ Yakumo : That spider looks funky. The colors... Lovely pictures...

@ GaijinPunch : The Halloween man photo is almost scary... Perhaps the angle, I don't know. Again, excellent photos !

 

If I get a better-paid job before release, I'll definitely be writing a review.

Until I get that job, I won't be making any purchases at all!

 

Lazy ass.

http://tokyo.craigslist.jp/tfr/4117200735.html
http://tokyo.craigslist.jp/tfr/4064182479.html