from the hasselblad super wide camera

brooklyn bridge, new york city

padlocks left by lovers on brooklyn bridge, new york city

the prestigious swedish company hasselblad built a fixed lens camera around a great german lens -- the zeiss biogon 38.   it became the lightest medium format camera that hasselblad has ever built.  initially, it was made for military surveillance, landscape and architectural photography.  but its sharpness and the phenomenally low distortion made it a photographer's dream camera even if it is not the easiest camera to use.  and, you can't put any other lens to it since it is a fixed lens camera.  and it also has no batteries.  focusing is by estimation.  one also estimates lens opening and speed.  it is so easy to go wrong with the camera!  and though it is old and, some say, obsolete, it is expensive!!!   years ago, i came across bill brandt's portraits that were taken with the super wide camera (SWC).   they were simply gorgeous.  then a friend, a professional portrait photographer, just happened to show an SWC that he was willing to part with at friendly terms. (he was planning to buy a new big bike.)  it was lust at first sight!  as gollum put it, "we wants it, we needs it.  must have the precious!"  and this blog contains the photos i have taken with the camera i just had to have.

portraits from the hasselblad 903 swc:

tito balti

ninang angge

mama

bing

gracie

cousin ermie

finally published

the maiden issue of the book is finally out.  this contains over 200 images vista captured during a 16-day cross-country photographic expedition of bhutan in 2012.  vista is a group of filipino photographers and is composed of garrie david, ricci jimenez, connie padilla, tony ramos, keith sundiang and myself.

also about to hit the stores is billionaire magazine featuring photographs we took of bhutan during the 2012 journey as well as the trip my wife and i took in 2010.

LAGUNA CHURCHES AND CARVERS ON BLACK AND WHITE FILM FROM CROATIA

Vista went out on a road tour of Laguna via the eastern route to bring Rene and Winnie Ner to visit its famous churches and carvers.  I have been saving a roll of film from Croatia for this occasion.  This is the Efke 25 (not 50 as written in the credits).  this was part of the pack of gifts from a dear friend.  I loaded that film on my Leica M4 with a Voigtlander 25 mm color skopar lens.  The slideshow contains the images I captured from that Croatian film.  An aside, Fotokemika has decided to discontinue the production of this film. The machine that produces this splendid film broke down and its repair was not considered viable.

Vista members who made it to the trip were Ricci Jimenez, Keith Sundiang and myself.  Tony Ramos was out cutting up a patient.  Garrie David was shooting photos in Mindanao.  And, Connie Padilla was playing stock market.

This was the time I was also supposed to try out the hasselblad swc.  I brought the films for it.  I had my sturdiest tripod for it.  But I forgot the camera at home.
just in case the above slideshow does not work, you can try this:

michaelmas 2012 at manila waldorf school: short version

just a shorter, quieter and more solemn version with the same photos.
(music: a michaelmas chorale by grades 9 to 12 of manila waldorf school conducted by cherry gonzalez-mapa)

michaelmas 2012 at manila waldorf school

some highlights of the michaelmas at the manila waldorf school.

(music: radical republic performing seven nation army. radical republic is composed of anton as lead singer and guitar, xavier on guitar, k-an on bass, and alon on drums).

my leica iiif

sample photo from the leica iiif: joy on the microscope

above is my leica iiif with elmar f3.5/50 mm lens.  it is a rangefinder camera.  i bought this on ebay three years ago. it now sells for triple the amount that i bought it for.  to shoot a photo with this camera, you need to use the two holes on the back.  one for focusing and the other for framing the photo.  of course, you can do zone focusing for ease but you will still have to determine and manually set the appropriate speed and aperture.  and some more caveats: you also have to make sure that the collapsible lens in front is securely locked as you focus and you can only change speed after advancing the film.  the nice thing about this camera is that it does not need batteries to run.  film is necessary though.

CAMERA PORN TIME: fully manual, built to last

NIKON F does not think, but it serves me well.

this camera is a crude brute: no light meter,  no autofocus,
no whistles and bells, and it was built like a tank, and just as noisy, almost!  it was the professional photographer's choice when it came out in 1959.  it was also the japanese new kid on the block that kicked out the german leica rangefinder camera out of its street corner pedestal.

well, i am just an amateur photographer who never had any formal training in photography.  my grade school teacher taught me the basics when i joined the schoolpaper as a news reporter.  the rest i learned from reading, trial and error and consulting some experts.  and the passion to shoot photos never diminished.  it even became stronger with age and humble means.

does this mean that i have given up my rangefinder cameras? my contax, my leicas, my zorki and kiev? nah!  no way!  i still prefer the classic look and the inscrutable and quiet elegance of a classic rangefinder camera.

      but my NIKON F with a waistlevel viewfinder makes you bow to your subject as you compose and focus.  unlike most SLRs, it intrudes politely even on the most unwilling subject.  it was a great gift from a friend.

and then there is the LEICA M4. this is a rangefinder camera noted to be the last well-built, no scrimp film M that leica created ... until they reissued the LEICA MP in 2005.