Comments Off Just a short announcement. I’ll be off to Shanghai for at least 3 months starting a week from today (Next Sunday). Its for work, but be sure I’ll try and squeeze in some personal stuff in there as well. Especially the stuff I wanted to do but didn’t get to during my last stay there in 2001-2003.
Before my next assignment out of Malaysia, I’m now in Singapore making a last minute top up of photographic accessories. I’ve almost ran out of Kodak TriX films after the trip to Vietnam where I used up 6 rolls in 7 days.
Loaded my film store with an additional 10 rolls of 135 Kodak TriX, 5 rolls of Ilford HP5+ and another 5 rolls of Ilford LP4+ film. HP5+ is supposed to be the same as TriX but cheaper. And goes well pushed to EI1600, we’ll find that out soon enough. Was thinking of loading a few rolls of Ilford PanF but the ISO 50 just bugs me out. I’m not likely to do any photoshoot of the bright sunlighted outdoors, and will most probably do indoor shots with fast lens, so EI50 is just too slow. LP4+ at ISO125 might be a better option.
Continue reading 'Film Reloaded…'»
Comments Off There’s nothing better than a good book to read just before going to sleep, and the problem with most novels are that the chapters usually take me about half an hour to finish, and I dont like to leave it in the middle of the story.
There’s a book I bought recently over at Borders in Singapore and although it looks like a typical photography book, its less that and more of adventure book. Sure there are some details on the technical bits, but I read it more like a storybook. It also helps that every chapter is just about 2-3 pages (so there are a lot of chapters!). Its a book by the late Galen Rowell, and here’s the link if you want to check it out in Amazon.com… Inner Game of Outdoor Photography
I’m very close to the end already and I’m already on the lookout for something similar. That’s if my new issue of Wired and Outside magazines are not out yet, becuase they usually take 1-2 weeks to finish.
Finished my first bottle of 757ml Kodak TMAX developer and lets see what we have developed with this…
Kodak 100 TMAX = 1 Roll
Kodak 400 TMAX = 1 Roll
Kodak 400TX = 10 Rolls
Not bad. Total of 12 rolls of 35mm film processed with a bottle of TMAX developer. I think I’ll try Rodinal next time since I Can dilute it more rather than the 1+4 with the TMAX developer.
Comments Off I started developing my B&W negatives from the Vietnam trip and I happen to have 2 rolls rated at EI800. In the Kodak documentation (Kodak F-4017) for the new Tri-X film, we’re supposed to develop at the same time for EI800 as for EI400, because of “the films’ exposure lattitude… Prints will show a slight loss in detail”.
So with this in mind, I started developing with Kodak’s TMAX Developer at 21C at 1+4 dilution for 5 3/4 mins as in the spec sheet for EI400.
Continue reading 'Developing Kodak 400TX pushed to EI800'»
Just arrived back in KL from Hanoi where I spent almost a week for holiday. Went to Halong Bay, and Sapa highlands, like most travellers to northern Vietnam. Had a few bowls of Pho along the way, some ok, some disgusting. On average Vietnam is cheap enough to make a Malaysian feel like the ringgit has some value after all. Although not as cheap as the cheapest place in China.
Brought along my GPS, 2 camera bodies, 3 lenses, a mobile phone (just in case, its almost always off), 2 backpacks, a wife, and a few hundred USD and that’s enough for an enjoyable holiday.
Didn’t spend too much money on souvenirs. Got myself a Viet Cong soft hat, more for the hiking in Sapa. Tempted to get American GI versions, but I’m sure they’ll try and charge me a small fortune for what looks like a fake.
Continue reading 'Back from Hanoi'»
Comments Off Will be making my way over to Hanoi in Vietnam tomorrow for a week holiday. Right now I’m taking a break from packing. Going to be bringing a backpack full of photo gear, and a rollerbag with clothes for a week assuming no laundry services + a daypack for the 2 day trips to places outside Hanoi. Lets see what I manage to capture on film…
Comments Off Just came back from 2 weeks of training. The first one was in Shenzhen China, where we lived on a seaside resort to the east of the city, looking at Hong Kong while being handicapped with a single entry visa to China, and not able to go for a weekend of civilization without missing out on the training. Shenzhen wasn’t that bad, but expensive. We had seafood almost everyday, and although the training centre was next to the sea, it seems that all the food comes from a pond somewhere. All the seafood over there were midgets compared to stuff you get elsewhere. Somehow the locals think its a delicacy. Strange.
The second week was a nice training in Singapore. More management rather than technical so less chance to fall asleep. And less things to talk about too. Singapore is just too similar to KL for me to notice anything interesting during that week.
Its coming to Labour day already (tomorrow) and I will have a big problem getting back to work on tuesday. But luckily for me, I have a holiday planned for the second week of May! So its a holiday month for me…
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