Japan is Tea is Japan (film v smartphone)

There's a lot of talk about how great smartphone cameras are these days - the portability and versatility are deniable but for me large cameras and film have a look that are never going to be beat by something that can fit in a pocket. Just check out the difference in exposure, depth of field, leaf greens and sky blues between the two pictures. One is take on a Motorola One Vision, the other taken on Pentax 645 with RVP 50 film.

While modern technology keeps moving forward, it doesn't always capture what made the past so great.

Japanese tea on the other hand has no competition! ;)

Kodak E100 VS

Kodak Ektachrome E100 VS (Very Saturated) is a film that is unfortunately discontinued but still there's a few rolls taking up my fridge space. I put one roll in my Pentax 645 and found it to produce interesting results but it is probably restricted to landscape photography.

European Central Bank in fog. Slight magenta cast visible at the bottom.

For portraits, the colours are otherworldly and so extreme it feels like they were part of a drug inspired hallucination unless they are toned down in editing. Even for landscapes, the film responds differently to over and under exposure by producing a magenta hue when done wrong-unless that's what you are after. The variation in tones produced by the camera settings when taking the shot is one of the reasons why film has a unique organic feel compared to static film effects produced in digital software. Sometimes, mistakes create the best photos!

Unreal colours for portraits that need taming unless you are the kind of person that likes those super saturated HDR effect photos in your face. (This photo desaturated in post) Pentax 645 80-160 f4 zoom

Day 124

tools of the trade/daily survival

For the past few months this has been a regular sight for me. Camera for most eventualities, coffee and cake to keep me awake mid afternoon and something to keep my son Josh amused/fed/thirst quenched. I will be going back to regular work from Monday and will miss having so much freedom and fun with my son. I won't miss the 15+kg of baby and equipment that I carried around on my front and back, but will miss everything else. I will try my best to keep a camera handy wherever I am in future too and even if I can't manage daily posts, I hope to make a couple every week. This week was a bit erratic and I wanted to try film again after such a long stint of digital. Hope the negatives don't take too long to develop...

Day 86

barista and baristess (Mamiya 645, Provia 100)

Day 85

coffee pot (Mamiya 645, Provia 100)

Day 84

elegant selfie

Day 83

Westwoods (Mamiya 645, Provia 100)

Day 81

business related? (Mamiya 645, Provia 100)

Day 80

Biggest rake ever! (Mamiya 645, Provia 100)

Hard work 

Done for the day

I met this temple gardener and couldn't believe how hard he worked to make the temple look nice every day. The way into the temple must be 100 metres of gravel which he sweeps several times a day to make sure it looks clean and tidy. He was a friendly guy, enjoyed his job and meeting people from all countries and religions. I don't know how he managed to keep calm after seeing people walking on his freshly raked gravel every day; must be something about Buddhist philosophy. I tried my best to walk on the edge and not leave too much of a mess anyway!

Day 79

one big lawn and one big mower (Mamiya 645, Provia 100)

Day 65

Fashionistas (Mamiya 645 Velvia 100)

Day 64

I met Ichiro while walking with my son carried on my chest through the streets of Hakata. We were waiting at a crossing as I was contemplating whether to head towards Nakasu to take photos or not but figured I had already done enough walking that day and should turn back. As I was waiting at the lights, Ichiro just started talking to me and said my son was cool in Japanese. I asked his name and what he did. He said he was an actor, singer and entertainer. I took it at face value but suspect he spends most of his time entertaining women as a bar host. I asked if I could take a photo and his two friends popped up out of nowhere and joined in. I like how in Japan interactions with people are always polite and enjoyable no matter who you might meet.

Day 63

izakaya staff (Mamiya 645, Velvia 100)

Day 62

gangsta pose (Mamiya 645, Velvia 100)

I asked this guy if I could take his photo after his girlfriend almost screamed in the street about how cute Josh was and how they should make a baby. He didn't look quite so enthusiastic. They were both actually very nice and not as tough looking as the pose suggests. I asked if I could take his photo as I wanted to get one of somebody with a mask on. Masks are so popular in Japan but I still don't know if they are for people with colds or for people who don't want to get them. They even come in cute colours and designs with bunny faces and more.

Day 59

Samurai Gelato ice cream shop, Tenjin, Fukuoka (Mamiya 645 Velvia 100)

I think I should point out they don't go around with samurai sword chopping up the ice cream. After a chat with the shop staff about my son who was asleep on my chest, he got it down off the wall just for a photo. Unfortunately, the bright sign confused my camera's meter a little and I didn't compensate enough for it. But still I like the photo anyway.

Day 56

heading back to uni (Mamiya 645, Velvia 100)

Day 52

Twins (Mamiya 645, Velvia 100)

I just had to ask why these two girls were dressed the same. Apparently, they were going to a concert. I met other girls going to the same concert all dressed as twins but completely different outfits. I asked if I could take a photo of them together, and initially they agreed but the one got shy then said it was OK to take a photo of them walking away. Unfortunately, I had switched from using the hand crank to the Mamiya motor winder mid-roll and couldn't work out why I couldn't take a photo until they were quite far off, but I like the image all the same.

Day 41

Maneki Neko bringing in the money (Mamiya 645 Velvia 100)

Day 40

river of light (Mamiya 645, Velvia 100)

Day 36

fish ladder (mamiya 645, 80mm, Velvia 100)

Would've preferred this image to be perfectly straight and symmetrical but was still getting used to using the Mamiyas and they are not as light and portable as modern dslrs. If only I had taken a tripod...