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.

Fireworks: One of My Weaknesses

I'm normally all-in for green, environmentally-healthy stuff. However, I have the tendency to let fireworks slip right through that "rule" of mine. It creates plenty of smoke where it explodes and it also causes hell of a noise pollution, but it's so shiny!

Anyway, instead of celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday this weekend, I also let my eyes take in the pleasure of watching lights exploding in the sky by Ontario Place. Like everyone else. Cheers.

Priceless Photo Gifts

I love photo gifts. I really do. I think they can be as thoughtful and valuable as hand-made gifts, if done right. And to those with a busy life style, but still want to show their friends, family, and significant others that they care, it can be done so via purchasing a photo gift with the right photo on it.

For those that are not too familiar with photo gifts and don't know where to get'em, you're in luck (as long as you live in Canada). Black's Photography offers quite a selection of photo gifts. So much, that you can probably fill the whole room with photo gifts... which is very, very creepy if you really think about it.

And like all good things in life, there is also a downside. You want to plan ahead is it normally takes 2 weeks for these photo gifts to be completed and shipped to the store you ordered from (followed by you going there and picking it up), which doesn't make it easy to be a last-minute gift. Needless to say if you order something for Christmas, you might get it back after the new year. Sometimes, never, as the order might even get lost in the busy Christmas season.

While I was scanning through these somewhat unique collection of photo gifts such as poker chips ($10 for one poker chip is bit outrageous), book marks, and so on, one item in particular got my attention.

A photo cutting board.

As you probably guessed it, it's a cutting board with a photo on it. What strikes me as odd is that, the example of photo they used is all the same photo for each gift idea, and the cutting board gets no special treatment of this rule as it has a picture of someone's kid on it. Yes, it is suggesting you to slap on the photo your child on a cutting board. Only very special kind of parents would do this. And we can only hope they're in jail.

But perhaps we can have some fun with this. I myself enjoy cooking and I'm sure someone out there enjoys it as much as I do, if not more. Since putting on a photo of your child (or anyone else's) is a mere suggestion, you're free to put any other photo you pick (as long as it isn't pornographic). Here are my suggestions that some people might be able to use.



I'll let your imagination do the rest with these suggestions.





Who knows? A cutting board with your ex's face on it might make that tedious lettuce chopping, just a little more enjoyable. Have a (or the) devil for a mother-in-law? there can be a little stress-relief exercise of chopping whatever you want in the kitchen.

Now, let your imagination go wild and put a photo on that cutting board that you think is best for you. Remember, the whole point of photo gifts is to be extremely personal. So go pick something that really hits you on the spot (in a bad way)!

Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna go find a picture of an arm with slashes and cuts all over it to slap on to this photo cutting board. What? don't give me that look like I'm putting a picture of someone's kid on there. That's just sick.

What The Hell Is "Final Price"?

I've been busy with a few things for a bit. As I predicted earlier, the month of April was pretty hectic for me and I still have a few things to round up in terms of editing and what not. Thankfully, this is the last day of April. Actually, the last day of April just passed about an 2 hours and half ago for me here. Time to start a new month!

Anyway, on with the topic of today's post instead of sad excuse(s) for not posting on regular bases. It seems to me that consumers (of the city of Toronto to say the least) have changed. To say it frankly, they've gotten cheaper. A few may be missing a few screws in the head, but when ever I'm at any store, I come across this typical situation. I've quickly made a comic (via MS Paint so bare with the quality) to show you such situation.



Alright, so the last column never really happens. And yes, we are still in a recession despite what the media is hiding, but here is the break down of it if anyone is buying anything in a shop. You go in to the store, you pick out the item you want with or without a help of an employee of the said store. Then you pay for it and move on. Instead, we have people asking what the "final price" is after looking at a price right next to the word "sale". Has the good chunk of our population forgotten how to read numbers? I don't seem to understand how anyone can stoop that low and ask such a foolish question. And better yet, there are others that could be actually needing the help of that employee somewhere else in the store; such as a guy wanting to ask if they have specific item on stock because he is willing to pay the price on the tag and move on with his life.

Perhaps I'm more sensitive to this topic because of years of sad experience in retail. But why is it that people don't seem to learn, and instead they forget things that everybody should know? The price of what you pay is on the list, then plus tax. Simple as that. By the way, tax is still 13% as I hear that question in shops more often now than ever: "What's the price after tax?" or "Can I not pay tax?". And yes, you can calculate the price after tax from a regular cellphone now a day (it's legal so don't be afraid to give it a shot!), but that knowledge also seems to be on a level of lost art of some sort. By the way, not paying tax is indeed illegal unless you're a native (chances are, you are not), which HST will also screw when Canada day comes around regardless of your origin.

But can anyone really blame these "smart" shoppers? All they are looking for is a good deal. Maybe in a few years, people will even try to negotiate with a waiter of a restaurant for the price of their meals and it'll be considered normal. Who knows? Even still, I still have a few words of advice; If you're looking for a deal and truly want to negotiate the price of a product or service, go buy a car before HST kicks in. That's one place I can think of where negotiating the price seems normal so you can pay a fair amount of money instead of a godzilla-sized price for the car. And lastly, if you truly want to be a smart shopper sniping out those good prices of the stuff you want to buy, learn to be patient to find those good deals in a place other than retail. Ebay and the rest of the internet exist for a reason and contrary to most urban myths, it's not as devil-ish as people make it appear to be. Happy shopping.