Two fuzzy eyes doing a double.

I've known Ndroo, the owner of fuzzyeyeballs.com  (and a lot of uber cool toy cameras) many years ago while I was still teaching part time photography in SLCC.  I think we got to know each other because he was looking for a a Pentacon CZJ Flektogon 50mm and I gave one to him.  I just sold my Kiev system and it's a lens I bought cheap over ebay.  Anyway long story short,   we still have not actually met in person.  

One boring day in Thailand.  I just messaged him in FB to see if he wants to do a double exposure with me.  For those not too sure about film photography.  A double is actually I shoot the roll first (slight underexposing each shots) and then pass the finished roll to him.  He would then reload the film and shoot again.  Hence, the term doubles.

We have no idea of what each other is going to shoot so its actually a hit and miss game.  :P  Anyway, the results is out and we have a pretty cool shot! (the one you see above) .  You can see the rest at his website.   

So now I will be waiting for his roll....... which I think it might take some time because he has a lot of backlog to clear.. hehehehe...

Tree

Just a short post before my return to Singapore.  These 3 photos were taken digitally some time ago but I only recently decided to show these before I return.  Its taken with my 8mm Peleng Fisheye lens on my A900.  The subject was actually my jackfruit tree in my garden.

Recently I have been a bit choosy in posting my photos as I find most of them a bit unsatisfactory for my taste.  Its also one of the various reasons why I have not been shooting as much lately.  Another contributing factor is the weather over here. The hazy and overcast weather over here in Maesai prevents me in getting out to shoot.  Yes, the bane of all landscape photographers like me, bad weather.

My 1st initial reactions to the shots were just like... Yeeww... a bit too pretentious.  Funny thing is that I kept opening up the series ( I took about 9 shots in total) and it slowly grows on me.  Why?  No idea but I converted one of the shots to Black and White and it turn out pretty cool.  Here's the photo, click on them to see a larger verion.  Hope you like it too :)

Still shooting.

Photography I meant.  :P  I had a dry spell a few months back but I was back shooting.  Selectively, of course and rarely shooting with my DSLR.  I am a bit surprised by myself actually as I had hundreds of shots taken with my "Beast" on instant film and I had not taken the time to scan them.    I also have taken some slides and black and white film but again, I scanned them and find them a bit depressingly bad so I did not post them.  Well except for this series I just completed with HP5+ pushed to 800.

I actually threw all my rules when shooting and developing this roll.  I didn't even bother to check the tempreature of the developer and just dump it in... surprisingly still can get the photos.   Very grainy and lots of watermarks on the film too...  You can check out the series over here in my FB album.  :P  

I also recently completed a roll of expired Velvia 50 which is to be doubled later by ndroo of Fuzzyeyeball.com :). Hope the results will turn out well.

Anyway I will be back in 2 days time.  Work will commence on the 15th but I need to sign the contract on the 12th.  

Day trip to Wat Rong Khun

Since my girl is having her school break (1 month).  We took a day trip to the famous Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai last Saturday.  Its about an hour drive from our home and its a beautiful place to shoot.  I didn't bring my "beast" as I have 2 kids and I guess I don't have the time to be serious with landscapes or architecture shots anyway. 

It's a bit funny but it was the first time I've been there actually.  I have heard and saw the temple from far (on the bus to Chiang Mai) but never really set foot on it.  I've seen tons of photos of the temple and promised myself to visit there.  And I was in awe.  Really in awe because its a very very beautiful piece of art (building) just in front of me.

The weather was kind to me too.  Its cloudy but still have enough sunlight to brightly illuminate the temple.  Its still under construction though :P  (I've read that it already took more than 15 years so far to build the temple but it's still incomplete.  You may google it and read more about the temple and its wierd artist who conceived this.

Anyway, the rest of the photos are here on my facebook account.  I didn't take much as I was just admiring the whole site :P.  Camera I brought along was my trusty Sony A900 with 24-70mm Zeiss and 85mm Minolta G.  After shooting so much with crappy toy cameras and hazy viewfinders of the "beast" :P, the 900's VF was a fabulous reminder on why I bought this camera in the first place (besides being a FF camera).  Think I will start to use it more often besides copying slides...

For those interested in getting there. Here's a map of the location.

View Larger Map

Another favourite - SOLD -

I did a crazy thing yesterday. I saw a minty 250mm f/5 Press lens at an incredible price and condition which I could not get my eyes off in E(vil)-bay.  

Since I do not have a day job at the moment, I do not have the luxuries to buy it on the spot.  You may asked "Didn't you sell off your Hassy for 2k?"  Well that money is actually used to pay off the credit card bills that I incurred from purchasing the Press Camera.  And actually I spent another $500 on another Super 23 with lens and back :P  So the 2k already down the drain liao.  Not to mention I restocked a lot of 120 film for my new camera.

 As I was venting my fustration in facebook.  Some RF photog friends gave me an idea.  Sell off my Hexar!  Its a great RF I got just about a year ago.  I think less than 10 rolls were passed through it only and I actually re-calibrated the RF patch myself.  Its a great camera and actually I used it more often then my Bessa R3M.  Actually, I totally stopped using my R3 after I got the Hexar.  Its that good.  

But I don't really need 2 RF bodies at the moment.  I'm shooting MF more often in Thailand and with my NEX 3.  The only time I find I'm using the Hexar was in Singapore, where I do street photography in an urban environment.  I also really need to downsize as all the lenses and gears I have that are mostly in my dry cabinet.  The Press cameras are huge.(and so are the lenses).. :P So I made the hard decision, sell the Hexar away and get the rare 250mm.  Anyway, I still have a Bessa if I need to shoot RF style.