Some photos from the past few days. Finally got a hood for the Jupiter 9 (working, but missing parts), so I’ve been taking it out for a few tries. I have a love/hate relationship with the glow from this lens when shooting wide open. It borders on being blurry, but not? The bokeh is also very unique wide open and I quite like it. The lens is super sharp f4 and upwards, but I quite like its character wide open.
I got to visit Moment Factory this weekend thanks to Design Montréal Open House. They have a truly inspiring space, and I can now fully appreciate the work that come out of their studio.
Moment Factory is well known for doing a lot of large scale multimedia work for big clients such as the Parliament of Canada, Madonna and Beyonce, usually involving a lot of digital projection and 3D work. What I found very interesting is their interest in new materials. We got to see some material samples that they have used in their projects, such as glass inlaid in concrete, resin and wood combinations, etc. (an industrial designer’s dream, haha). I really respect this connection between the tangible and digital and the manipulation of the physical, something I want to try to incorporate in my own work.
Unfortunately, those are all the photos I took of their offices. I love the way the space is setup. There is a lot of art and colour on the walls and the space is just open enough to encourage collaboration but closed off enough to have your private space.
Here are some photos I took of other studios/the city in general. I’m still getting familiar with the Jupiter 8 on my GF1, so forgive me if some of them aren’t in focus. The above is at St. Laurent and Rachel.
A senior photographer at St. Catherine and Jeanne Mance. I find the Jupiter 8 pretty good for portraits, though not as close of a crop as I’d like. I’m still testing out my Jupiter 9 as well, I think that will be better for street portraits.
At the fountains on Jeanne Mance by Place Des Arts.
Interior Design work from the graduating class at Université du Québec à Montréal. I also checked out the grad show from the Design and Computation Arts department at Concordia University. Really cool blend of tech and design, but sadly I have no photos of them from my GF1.
I thought this was a super cool project. Very great for events like Montreal Open House and bigger festivals.
*P.S. if you are in any of the photos above and do not want them to be posted online, feel free to contact me!
I think I’m at the height of my soviet rangefinder obsession (soon to be renamed soviet RF and medium format obsession). Above is the classic 1965 Fed 2 with an Industar-61.
I can’t really articulate properly why I like soviet era rangefinders more than other rangefinders i.e. German, Japanese, etc. I think part of it has to do with the turbulent history some of them have lived through. For example, the first FED factory used to be a orphanage turned into a labour commune. I also love that they are “inspired” by Leicas.
1976 Kiev 4a with a Kiev mount Jupiter 8M. I got this camera all the way from Lithuania! The focus ring is actually on the body instead of the lens, and you focus by turning a dial next to the shutter.
1963 Zorki-4 with Jupiter 8. I shot a few rolls on this but still looking for a place to develop here in Montreal. I also swapped out the Jupiter 8 to use on my GF1. Actually all of these photos are taken with the Jupiter 8 on my GF1. To think that 50 year old glass is this sharp and has so much character is amazing!
Love the ~glow~ when shooting wide open.
I need to find people/pets that I can start taking portraits of, since the 50mm translates to 100mm with the 2x crop factor of the GF1.
Not exactly a post, more of a photo journal of the first two days I spent in Hong Kong.
View from the Peak.
Golden Flower gifted by China on the return of Hong Kong.
Mr White Rat enjoying the beach.
Aerial view of the bay.
In many ways, China is the land of opportunities where anything can happen. Like World of Warcraft Land (officially known as Joyland) in Changzhou. Don’t have a licensing deal with Blizzard but still want to express your love for Warcraft on a grand scale? You can build your own Warcraft theme park in China!
Complete with many giant statues of Warcraft characters, there’s even a Starcraft section to the amusement park.
The park was an average amount of fun, probably because I’m not a fan of Warcraft. The lines, as expected of an amusement park in China, are quite long, but for some reason all the best and most thrilling rides barely had any lines! I went on the “dropzone” about 10 times in a row and it was awesome.
There was even a kid-oriented parade of Warcraft theme boats! And cartoon animal mascots, for some reason.
Also, real goblins!
I had some time at work today (another power outage), so I finally took the time to work on a homescreen and lockscreen for my Nexus 4! Very basic stuff right now since I’m still a newbie. There’s a few hidden icons in the triangles too.
