Trying to straighten out all the loose ends.
Bless the Beasts and the Children
This is fast becoming my favorite photograph. The mother was actually playing with her son and they were both laughing, but the black and blur turned the image into something very different.
Keepers And Fillers
After about two weeks of prowling the night time streets, I finally finished my first roll of Fujifilm Natura ISO 1600 film last week and had the it developed that Friday afternoon at Kanota. I spent my Saturday alternating between playing with my daughter and scanning the strips of film. Saturday night I killed myself post-processing until Sunday morning. And guess how many keepers I got? Out of 36 shots, I was only contented with 9. What a terrible yield rate! I reviewed all of my shots from the roll and the first thing I noticed was that I had a lot of repeat shots, it seems I've been very concerned about not getting the correct exposure, which I think stems from my previous experience of busting what could have been a perfect shot save when I scanned that particular frame, it was horribly underexposed, which I attribute to me metering to close to the light source.
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| I took three shots of this particular scene in three different exposure settings. All of which turned out fine and perfectly processable through Aperture. |
Another thing I noticed is how trigger happy I have become even after pledging to a goal of minimum filler shots. I have repeatedly told myself not to press that shutter release unless I am fully satisfied with what I see in the viewfinder but I just was not able to help it, I let the shutter go more times than I wanted to with no feelings felt, just wasteful, useless excuses to hear the M6 breathe.
Well, I have another roll of the ISO 1600 film and last night proved to be a test of self-control to me. I thought I did well, initially, as I was able to capture what I thought was a beautiful feeling with just one shot. However, I left the scene repeatedly convincing myself that my hands were steady when I released the shutter as I took the shot at 1/15 seconds. I wanted to take another shot at 1/30 seconds but my goal of high keeper rate won over me. I just hope I lost to the right goal. I didn't fare well with my self-imposed sanction going though the rest of the night but I thought I shouldn't be too hard on myself.
Here are the remainder of my so-called keeper shots from my first roll of the ISO 1600 Fujifilm, the photographs are also featured in my Photography Page with titles. I hope you enjoy them.
The Streets At Night
While I, to a certain extent, understand the fuss about the beauty of the streets under the sun, I find that I am more drawn to the romance of things in the night time.
The first time I brought a camera out in the night streets and started to "really" look at things, I was overwhelmed by how "expressive" every single subject becomes under the shade of a lonely street lamp or a misplaced lighting. In a semi-desperate need to shrug-off boredom, I found myself pointing the camera, a Canon S30 compact, in almost every direction. And with each attempt at perfecting a frame, I felt it all over me, the artistry of the night time - made up of the quiet poses of everyday things, the corners empty of humans, and sometimes, humans indulging in silence.
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| From my first night in the streets. Shimosuwa, Japan 2003. I'm still looking for the high resolution copy, hence, I apologize for the obvious pixelation. |
I still feel the same until now. The only difference is, I have become more selective, more receptive to a particular feeling which, for the longest time, I've not been able to point a finger at, but I whole-heartedly know is related to a personal prayer that I say whenever I hit the night streets, and is always there, this feeling, according to my senses at least, whenever I decide to press the shutter release button.
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