Yet Another Film Camera

"I swear, this is the last film camera I'll buy. No more fooling around like some collector." That is what I keep telling myself and it doesn't really seem to be working.

So enter the Minolta XG-A: now another part of my "sin of indulging."


I picked this little guy up about a week ago, and am quite happy with it. I've wasted used up a few rolls of film at Nuit Blanche that took place over the weekend and I've gotta say, this one is a keeper. Due to the lack of having a good scanner, I don't have any of the shots I took with the Minolta XG-A in digital form. There are simply negatives and prints, which I am more than happy with (for the most part).


So far, I picked up only one lens for it and see no reason to pick up another one (and I hope it stays that way for a while). The 50mm f/1.7 offers me plenty of versatility, low-light capability being one them. While it is not a zoom lens, I have a pair of perfectly fine legs that can "zoom" for me. The lack of zoom is really a fair price to pay for the sharpness in the lens you get in return.

I suppose the major reason why I'm going to be using this (for fun) is the viewfinder size. It's an actual viewfinder of a traditional SLR, what's not to like? I did a quick comparison with a Canon 5d Mk. II's viewfinder and almost lost a heartbeat due to the gap of difference between the two. For a second, I even thought I was comparing the viewfinder to a Canon 7D until my colleague stated otherwise. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't believe I was missing out on all this (analogue) fun for so long!

Pride

That word used to be more flexible. It could actually be used to express something- anything you're proud of. But now, things are a little different.

When the word "Pride" is used, and I say it with a capital P, one of two things come to people's mind; gay Pride and national Pride. Those two aren't exactly bad things, or bad types of pride, but with the way our society has constructed itself around the word Pride certainly comes with its drawback. The draw back is simple. We have limited ourselves verbally so we can't really use the word Pride for anything else effectively. Yes, one can say he is proud of his career success. That nearly does not have the same impact as one saying he is proud to be gay or his nation.

It took a while for our society to accept gay people, and we should all be glad we can accept this change in our society instead of sticking to the old traditional ways all the time. However, one can say out loud in the streets, "I'm PROUD to be gay!" and people can cheer. If one were to yell out, "I'm PROUD to be straight!" not much will really happen depending on what city you are in. That's the kind of impact I'm talking about. Sexuality wise, you can't be Proud, unless the church hates doesn't love you too much and others who totally love you for it.

The national Pride is what really gets to me and starts to really draw lines for people, which has its own ups and downs. Canada, especially Toronto literally is full of people from all over the world. People can be Proud to be whatever nationality they're. Hey, it's something you can't change so you might as well like it, right? I mean, it even brings a community together. It also separates said community from other communities, marking borders within the country, and even down to the city itself. When you go over board on this national Pride, you stop to see others as individuals as well as yourself. You begin to generalize and just throw the word "individualism" out the window. You also see other nations as nation full of faults and imperfection and think your people are God's greatest creation (Unless you're Jewish, in which case I can understand)! Even if you do suck up some of that national Pride and admit your country of origin does have some issues, you'd want Canada to do something about it. By a messy looking protest/march no less. Canada has enough issues of its own.

I could go on, but I'll end it here. Pride should be available to be used in a sentence that has nothing to do with homosexuality or patriotic national love and still have an impact of using the word to its full meaning. In fact, if it takes a word for this society to accept gay people into it, go head, take it. Heck, take other words, too. A lot of colours were already taken, anyway (and I am actually not being sarcastic).

But keep in mind a few things about national Pride (because that's the one I'm really attacking here). Keep individualism in mind. Because you want to be proud of what you did, not what your country did a long, long time ago. If your country wins something like.. let's say the World Cup. If your country wins the World Cup, that doesn't automatically make you a better soccer player, either. Sometimes, it's more about where you're heading instead of where you came from. You only have (little) control over one of the two so you should focus on that instead.

By the way, I am Proud of being able to say this stuff people like to dodge talking about. I even say this nonsense in person, too. I should be Proud of that one at very least.

Or shouldn't I..?

2nd Place

I was once a healthy man.

No, I didn't date a succubus somewhere in my youth... or if I did, I just didn't realize it, but over the many years after high school (which was... holy crap! I'm old) my fitness level have been shot down to zero. So I've been running here and there since last week, sometimes with a friend. It's great running again. I'm by no means as close to being fast as my days back in track, but I'll climb the ladder again.

Ironically, after my run, I felt woken up instead of feeling tired as I have been feeling lately. My stress is gone and I can think straight again. The answer for all my stress and tiredness was always in front of me, and I haven't taken up on that answer again until now. But this whole, running-again-diving-to-the-memory-of-my-youth got me remembering 2 important things about running; why you practice in a team, and who you're really chasing after.

We all had individual races back then. Some short distance, some long distance. Yet, we were told to practice and train as a team. Some were faster than others and the level difference was clear, but the coach didn't seem like he cared. I didn't really understand until near the end. We train as a team because we can encourage one another to sprint that one last lap or run a little further. Another reason is that, well, its relaxing. You're training for a competitive game, but this is the only time you're not actually competing against anybody. It eases your mental side, greatly reducing any kind of stress or pressure. Not to mention we were representing the same school.

The second thing I remembered, and this is probably the most important one to remember and always keep in mind fresh on the surface is who you're chasing after. This has to do with more of the mental side of things rather than physical side of things. In a race, you chase after the person in front you. If you're first, then you can feel the pressure of those behind you, waiting to run past you should they be given a chance. Friendly rivalry is one thing, but if you end up concentrating on just getting faster than another person you know, that's where it all goes down hill. Even if you do get faster than the person you chase after, you're done. You now have no more goals and can quit anytime. Not really achieving the speed you could achieve.

The real person you should be chasing after is yourself. Or to put it more accurately, yourself of near future. The you whom is just a little faster, can run that much further, and that much better than your current self. You always chase after that person, even if you made it to first place. Keep chasing after that person and you will grow almost endlessly. Because even if you do pass that person and gain the 1st place, you'll realize another one of your future selves and be back in 2nd place again. Likewise, you must also keep in mind the person behind you. The you of yesterday. That guy is what you used to be, a little slower than your current self. You slack off, and he will take your place and you'll have to start from scratch.

Either way, instead of chasing after that future self, I should be chase after my past self and get my speed back, then work on getting faster. I suppose you can say I'm in 3rd place rather than 2nd.

Hell, It's About Time

No, this post has nothing to do with the launch of a game called StarCraft 2. This post is rather a reference to my previous post about wanting to shoot film. I finally found a good deal on a film camera. An old range finder, actually.

No, I did not magically come across a yard sale as I intended to (not that I was expecting one). A friend of mine actually had one he wasn't using and decided to sell it to me for a good price. I bought films later on and was ready to rock. Or wind the film to get the shutter ready.


My new baby's name is Yashica Electro 35. Runs on F-stop priority with a fixed 45mm f/1.7 lens. I've been actually using it for about a week now and realized the huge difference between how I shoot with the film and digital. With digital, I tend to take at least 3-4 shots of the subject, at different angles, and don't really care about the photo's value. It doesn't matter if it's a good shot or not, I take it.

When I have my Yashica out with me, I carefully think about the importance, or the "value" of the shot before taking it. "How important is this shot to me?" A question, after a brief moment of being drowned in motion of thought, I either take the shot or don't depending on my answer. What comes after that is the most exciting part. There is no screen on the camera (obviously) due to the whole thing being.. well, film. I have been asked by a few friends to see if they can see how the photo turned out, only to stare at the back of my yashica with the reflection of their own facial expression: blank. Anyway, back to the exciting part. I don't know if the shot was over/under exposed or even focused properly. This curiosity mixed with a hint of fear is rather exciting.

I haven't had any roll of films developed yet. I think I will end up developing them either this weekend or the next. This will be interesting.

Film VS Digital

It has always been there; traditionalists vs revolutionists; acoustic guitarists vs electric guitarists; and pretty much anything mechanical vs electrical. Film and Digital photography is no exception.

I have been using a digital camera (somewhat seriously) for the last 3 years or so and have never really tried to learn much about film photography or get into it. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, back in the dark ages, people have used film- yes, film with cameras that take said film to take photographs, got the negatives developed, which were then printed. No? You don't remember? Maybe you saw it in a movie somewhere, think harder.

I was always interested in film, and no, film isn't dead... yet. I studied some history about film, but I never got to experience it first-hand. This could possibly be one of those things I regret in my life and I don't normally have regrets. I mean the closest I got to working with film was actually shooting an already-developed roll of film as my subject last year (which ended terribly, so no photos of that).

Even though we're in a age of digital now (where we take $%^& load of %^&$ photos and paste them on facebook or we never see it again as it gets buried in the hard drive somewhere), I still want to shoot film. Just once or twice to say that, "Yes, I remember when I shot film." Maybe I'll come across a yard sale and buy an old Minolta for cheap. However, I haven't ran into a yard sale for 5 years. I have bad luck with them. I should seek alternatives. People might say I'm wasting my time and money or some might even tell me not to dare hold a film camera with my digital-infested hands (is that even possible?).

But I'll do it, should the chance rise.

Because I for one, don't really give a damn about this Film Vs Digital nonsense. Nor will I care to change the way people think about it. Getting people out of this troll war isn't going to make my photos look any better, either so I'll leave them be. I just have a feeling time will be better spent if I beat a dead horse instead. Or take a picture of it... using film.

Sad Ending... Or Is It?

By June 27th, I will be dead.

On facebook, that is.

By deleting my account right before the clock hits midnight on June 26th, I will destroy a good portion of my existence, in a formless and otherwise be non-existing realm called internet. Well, not 100% will be destroyed as I will still keep this blog.

Myself and facebook always had this awkward relationship. The kind of relationship between two co-workers at a job, where they don't talk to each other unless the job required them to, and just work. There's a bit of awkwardness, and while not exactly hate between the two, but some sort of tension created by the inability to start being friendly because of silly hesitation or shyness. The fact that I only have 45 "friends" is good proof of that as I never really aimed to have over 200 "friends" as everyone else. But no one really aims for it. It just happens. Maybe I wanted to have a little more control even though I was swimming with the current.


The real reason why I'm quitting facebook is to keep my rights to my information, and especially my photos from slipping through these hands as type and click them away. Even though I only posted about 10 photos in my "album" and they were rather crappy shots that I couldn't really care less about (compared to my other photos per say), I still don't want to lose anymore. If I don't have an account, then I can't upload. Simple.

Furthermore, I find going to a pub with my real, existing friends more enjoyable than posting on someone'e wall. If someone really wants to contact me, they'll find a way to contact me. If not, there's a good chance I don't even want to talk to that person in the first place.

Sure, as most facebook-defenders would say, "Yea but, using facebook, I was able to find people I went to middle school with and we post on each other's walls every blue moon. This stuff is great. *Goes back to playing farmville*" If I wanted to keep in contact with people I knew from any schools that I attended, I wouldn't need facebook's aid as I would have gotten the information before we were even separated. And yes, I do in fact, "dislike" farmville.

Walking

This past week, I have been walking. A lot.


I walked to Lake Shore on the West side from Downtown, I walked home, walked others home, etc on more days than not during the past week. I even feel like buying one of those "step-counters" to see how much mileage I get out of my legs alone in week. To many people in this city, walking appears to be a chore. Even when one asks me of directions, and if my answer is something on the lines of, "15 minutes to the East" or "3-4 blocks down South," the one who asked frowns as if I told him/her something I shouldn't have.

I walk pretty fast and that credit goes to my slightly longer than average legs I have. I normally don't turn around when I walk because I'm busy looking ahead while passing by people. Even when I have plenty of time to get to my destination, I can't help it but to haul-ass over there. Often, wondering why no one else seems to be walking a little faster. It gets me frustrated sometimes because I just can't seem to get around them when they form some kind of wall in front me, but that's my problem, so I just find a way to go around them.

I go around people instead of asking them to move aside with the words, "Excuse me" since it just doesn't seem to work anymore. Not only are people slow, but appear to be deaf as well. headphones, cell phones, or chatting to another and simply forgetting about the surrounding is also the trend in the city. One trend, I cannot follow, not out of will, but simply because I can't. Even when I have my headphones on, the volume level is relatively low. So low, I can hear the person next to me loud and clear most of the time.

Before I turn this post into a complete rant, I'll get back to the topic. People consider walking as chore. It is evidently so as charity events will raise money for #km run/WALK. I find that part a little ridiculous, but at least it's better than nothing.

Walking is by no means a hobby of mine, but it's something I'll never refuse to do. I need to walk from point A to point B at some point in my life to get something done and I know it. It's something we naturally do, so it may be better to accept it and try to be less negative towards it. It's just a walk, no one is begging you to sprint.

After all, doesn't everyone want someone that enjoys "long walks by the beach?" Well, perhaps not, but it isn't going to stop me from liking it anytime soon.