photo diaries – Page 2 – film sequence

replace light seal and clean up Minolta Autocord CdS

I came across this camera in a thrift store and couldn’t help myself but buy it. I’ve been wanting a TLR for a while now but decent TLRs are not cheap. Although I never touch a TLR before but I know enough about cameras in general to check the basic functions and this camera seems to work fine. So after purchased it, the first thing I did is cleaning it up. I always clean things up after I buy them, and also because of the Covid situation. I used rubbing alcohol and damp tissue to wipe the outside of the camera, I also used Q-tips and toothpick to get into places that I can’t with my fingers. For the lens, I used lens wipe and microfiber cloth to wipe them gently. Here’re some photos of the camera after I clean it. How beautiful it is!

After the basic cleaning, I opened up the viewfinder to clean the ground glass and also to remove the old light seal and apply the new one. Here’s what you need for the process: a set of small screwdrivers, light seal foam ( I used the 1mm thickness), rubbing alcohol, and some additional stuffs such as baking soda, aceton, sewing machine oil.

To remove the focusing hood off the camera, you need to unscrew the 4 screws on top of the camera, using a flat 1.6mm screwdriver.

This is the focusing hood after I take it out (photo #8), you can see the dust on the glass surface and in between the ground glass and the focusing mat. I also need to remove the metal thin bars (there’re 2 of them) as in the photo on the right in order to remove the ground glass out of the hood.

Big advice: DON’T USE RUBBING ALCOHOL OR LENS WIPE TO CLEAN UP THE FOCUSING SCREEN!!! Because they will make the screen foggy and white and will destroy your screen. So what I read on the Internet told me that I can wash the focusing screen and ground glass with water and gentle soap and use my fingers to gently scrub them, so I did. And it worked fine. One tip is you can use the hair dryer to dry the screen and glass so they don’t have water drop marks on them. I also cleaned the magnifying glass with lens wipe and Q-tips.

So when I finish the focusing screen and ground glass. I put them back into the viewfinder hood. Now it’s time for replacing the light seal. So, the first thing I do (and recommend you too) is using tape to cover the film chamber so the dust and old light seal crumb cannot fall on the taking lens.

10. I used tape to seal the film chamber from the dust and crumb

Also, remember to remove the pressure plate out of the camera door, just so the film back would be easier to clean.

11. Remove the pressure plate from the back

Next, I used toothpicks and the small flathead screwdriver to remove the old light seal and dust on the camera door. I put the camera on a thick book for more convenient. Then, I used Q-tips, toothpicks and rubbing alcohol to remove the crumb and rusted waste from the camera body, right at the hinge of the film door (as photo #13). As you can see, my flathead screwdriver is very affective at removing the old light seal in the small gaps along the film door.

After clean the hinge area, I continued to clean the rest of the light seal, along the film door edges. The photos below show you the before and after I remove the old light seal.

15. Old light seal and crumb on the back door

Before

After

And I also used baking soda and water to wipe the metal parts that’s rusted along the way, such as screws or back door locking mechanism.

Next step is cutting the new light seal foam into the stripes to apply on the camera’s door. I asked Mr. Karl Bryan, who is a famous Minolta Autocord repair man, for the instruction of the replacement light seal since I couldn’t find the light seal pattern on the Internet, he did kindly reply me with the instructions. The light seal for the door should be 2-2.25mm wide and 1-1.5mm thickness, the light seal for the bottom of the door, right at the hinge should be wider. So in the end, I cut 2 stripes of foam 2mm wide, 250mm long (250mm is the length of the whole form, I didn’t measure for the length because I can always trim it later); 1 piece 5mm wide and 65mm long for the edge at the hinge. To cut it, I used regular paper cutter and a long ruler to guide the straight lines and put pressure on the ruler to stable the foam when I cutting.

Mr. Karl Bryan also gave me a tip that applying rubbing alcohol onto the back of the light seal and on the surface of the area where we need to put the light seal on, and then lay the light seal down, slide it into place and let the alcohol evaporate. The nice thing here is the alcohol makes the adhesive backed foam and the camera door don’t stick together when they contact, so you can move or slide the foam into places easier. I used to replace the light seal in my Nikon F2 and didn’t know the trick, so when the light seal was put in the camera, it’s sticky and you may tear the foam stripe when you try to peal it out. As you can see from the photos below, I used a small paint brush to apply the rubbing alcohol on the gaps of the camera’s door and on the stripes (photos #21-22).

21. Applying rubbing alcohol on the area of the camera’s door

After replace the light seal for the back door, I also noticed that the viewfinder hood also need a foam right at the front side where it touch the name plate. So I clean up the surface, measured the area and cut the proper light seal foam for it (photo #28). I guess the foam was put here to avoid the two parts bump and scratch each other.

So the process almost finish here, but there’s still one last thing. As Mr. Karl Bryan advices, I applied sewing machine oil on each end of 3 film rollers (photo #33), on the upper film chamber gear (photo #34) and on the take up spoon gear (photo #35). Just put one drop of oil, spin the rollers or rotate the gear and wipe the excess oil. This will minimize scratching your film when winding.

32. Sewing machine oil for the lubrication, comes with a long tube, nice!

In addition, I also put the oil on the hinge of the viewfinder hood since it’s a bit stiff to open and close. After applying sewing machine oil into the hinge, the viewfinder’s smooth like butter! Of course, always remember to wipe the excess oil because you don’t want the oil gather dust around in your camera.

Finally, time for the test roll. I used an empty roll that just has the paper back to test out the rollers and winding crank. Everything worked beautifully. After 12 dummy shots and winding, the roll’s transferred to the pick up spoon nicely, I open the paper back to check if there’s any scratches on the back but no, yay! This camera is now ready to shoot!

Thank you Mr. Karl Bryan for the instructions and advices. I didn’t know anything about the Autocord series or this CDS model particularly but when I read about it, I’m in love. Just because the design is so special and the quality is one of the top. So I wanted to give it a nice treat by having a CLA by Mr. Karl Bryan but since my camera doesn’t seem to have any functional problem, he suggested I should use the camera until something goes wrong. I definitely recommend Mr. Karl Bryan to anyone who’s looking for a repairman for the Minolta Autocord, he’s the best, and also a super nice man! You can reach him at karl.kathy@frontier.com

Thank you for making it here. Hope to share with you guys some photos taken with this camera soon. Cheers!

mammoth lakes road trip [part 2]

Here we are for the continue part of my Mammoth Lakes road trip.

After the first day of going to Gull lake (which is I took a roll there but no photo came out that I want to post here 🙂 ) and another frozen lake that I forgot the name, we came back to the lodge because we weren’t sure to be out when the sun went down. So after getting back to the lodge, I walked out to take some sunset (or blue hour, for more precise) photos at the Meadow and stopped frequently on my way to take some nice house scenes. Here’re the photos that I like the most from the trip.

The first one is photo of one street in the lodging area, I captured it because it gives the general feel and architecture of the area, along with the massy mountain behind. The second one I took because the nice red house is quite interesting and the cloud above has a very nice shape and color. It’s a bit hard to take everything into the frame but I quite happy with the result, the only thing I don’t like is the bright red pole in the foreground that overlaps the house.

The photo on the right is when I went back the the lodge and the sky was dark. I saw the light from the light bulbs from the house was quite interesting and the tree in the front also had a nice shape and texture so I set up the shot for a long expose photo. I like how it came out but still think the composition is a bit off. I think if I had stepped back a bit and moved to the right couple inches, the composition would be much better, because the roof of the house wouldn’t ended right at the frame lines. Another lesson for watching your composition carefully before taking the shot.

I like this very much. This is the first photo I took when I walked out for the sunset. The sun pretty much hided behind those mountain already but there’s still a bit orange glow at the horizon. I think the colors here work together very nice, the red is pop but not taking away the cold calm vibe in the photo. The reflection in the glass window also looks so dreamy and poetic. I also like the composition and the complex of the scene. To me, everything works together very well in this photo.

This photo of the “Private Property” sign I took on the way back to the lodge. It belongs to the Snowcreek Golf Course. I think the photo represents very well the calmness and coldness of a winter sunset in a meadow surrounded by mountains.

The photo above here is the first one I took on the Meadow. Took with Portra 800. The sun was behind a peak of mountain but the field still have plenty of light and the glow at the horizon was so beautiful. After took this shot, I managed to take the photo on the left, of a part of the house and the mountain behind it. I think the photo is not bad but still something is off about it. The reason I didn’t include the whole house because I wanted the photo to be suggestive, not just show the objects straight out. I also like the little fence[?] in the middle of the frame, it adds a very nice touch to the field. One thing I think I could do better for this photo is exposing for the house to get more details out of that, and hopefully don’t blow out the highlights. In general I still like it but it’s not good enough to be showed as my best work.

On the right side are photos I took when the sky is almost dark and there’s not much light on the grass field to expose. I took these in the much longer shutter speed than the previous photo above. You can see how much the difference is compared to the earlier photo taken 10-15 minutes apart. This merged photo describes the vast scene of the meadow in blue hour. I really enjoy this photo.

The photo below is another panorama merge from 2 photos. This is the scene at Rock Tub Hot Springs. The tub itself is quite small and funny in the middle of the vast land. When I got there, the sun was high up and the sunlight was extremely harsh. I took a couple photos but nothing come out as I like, so here just a photo for you to have an idea how the landscape looks like. All the daytime photos were taken with Fuji Pro400H.

Final photos from the trip are some I took on my last hike to the place I forgot the name again, but that’s a long hike that passes couple lakes on the way. We could just have enough time to hike to the first lake and then had to come back but it’s quite a nice hike with beautiful view. The light was softer and warmer as it’s afternoon and we really enjoyed the hike.

The photos above are of the Green Church near the hot springs. When I first saw it on the way to the hot springs, I was fascinated by it. A small green church in the middle of no where, who can resist that? So on the way back from the hot springs, I stopped by and took these photos. Of course with the harsh light condition, I could get the photos as good as I want. I really hope I can come back and take photos of this church in a better light. The last one is the composition that I like the most. I don’t really know why but I like the fact that a part of the building is included with the backdoor stairs and the white fence with the gate. You can also see the grass in the field behind and the mountain at the horizon. There’s many elements in this photo to look at.

As you can see, the 2 photos on the left were merge to make the panorama below. Just so you know the view of the frozen lake that I got to see after the hike. I wish I could come down closer to the lake to have more close up photos but we’re really low on time so this is all I could get. I don’t think the composition is that good but it’s nice to see the whole view. I like the yellow grass field by the lake and the color of the sky reflect on the frozen surface.

The last 2 photos are other composition that I took of the lake from a closer spot. I like the final one because the branches at top right foreground and the shadow at the bottom combines to give a direction to the eyes to look at the lake surface. I definitely blow out the highlight in this photo but I like that you can see the cliff behind the left side tree that you cannot see in previous photos.

That’s a wrap for this Mammoth Lakes trip. Thank you for making it all the way here. Hope you like the photos. Cheers!

mammoth lakes road trip [part 1]

It’s 2 months late after the trip to publish this post but I worked quite hard on the photos so I hope you enjoy it. I went to Mammoth Lakes in the middle of last November. The trip was nice and lovely, the weather was beautiful. This trip gave me some favorite shots that I’m quite happy with. In this trip, I tried something new with my photography: first, I practice merge 2 photos together to make a panorama scene; secondly, I used my new wide angle lens for the Bronica, the PE 50mm/2.8, for the first time. Having a wide angle lens gives you much more ability to shoot landscape or just more scenes in general, in the end, I shot all the photos here with the 50mm lens. Since I have a good amount of photos to share here so I make it 2 parts because I don’t want to overload my page or make you wait forever for the photos to load.

Since it’s 2 months already so I apologize for forgetting the names of some locations that I took photos of. When I went to Mammoth Lakes, the weather was very nice, not very cold, there’s thin layer of snow on the ground but I did not see any snowfall. The fall leaves were long gone and the snow was just appeared. The sky was very clear and bright in the morning and afternoon, at noon, the sky was so blue and the sunlight was very harsh, made it so hard to take photos at this time.

First off, let take a look at the area my friends and I stayed during our trip. It’s a lodging [compound?] called Snowcreek, it’s located by the Kerry’s Meadow and next to the Snowcreek Golf Course. These photos here I took with Bronica 645 system and Portra 800.

The first photo is the road at sunrise. This is a very high contrast scene where the peak of the mountain is lit up but the road and houses down here was very dark.

Next is some houses in the sunrise light. I took these with the promist filter 1/4 to have the glowing affect on the trees and windows.

Next, the photos of the sunrise view that I took from the edge of the Kerry’s Meadow looking at the Mammoth Mountain. My specific spot here is just off the road between the Golf Course and the Meadow, I didn’t walk into the Meadow although it could be great if I did. Here I combined 2 photos together to make a panorama of the scene. When I went to the Meadow for the sunrise, I noticed the blue van was silently parked there, they must went there to watch the sunrise just like me. Even though I didn’t know them and we never talked to each other but since we came there for the same reason, I feel a connection to them, like ‘we were a same place at a same time waiting for the same thing’ vibe. Besides, the van is a nice addition to the photo in term of showing the scale of the scene. At this moment, the sun haven’t come out yet, as you can see the scene is flat and dim.

This one here is the view from the edge of the Golf Course looking at the peak of the Mammoth Mountain when the sun rises up.

Another panorama photo. I think I watch a lots of Nick Carver’s videos to make my photos into panorama ratio. But I don’t think my composition is that good, the first reason is I didn’t actually see the composition as panorama when I compose the shots, just the estimate and imagine from myself, so when I merged the photos together, the composition is always off. But it’s nice to make these photos and see the scene as wide as I can.

The following photos are some scene on the hike on the first day. Taking photos in the snow scenes was definitely hard because the snow is so bright and if you don’t know how to expose the shadow, your shadow will be pit black, just like my right side photo here. These were taken with Portra 160 expired.

Finally, these are photos of a lake that I forgot the name. I took these in harsh sunlight so the shadow was crushed to black. The film I used here was Fuji Pro 400H. I did heavily edit these photos because the “straight out of the scanner” were so terrible to look at [or just me being terrible at scanning]. The first two are not that great but still give you the nice view of the frozen lake. The last one is my favorite, I like the color palette and the way I can capture my shadow, just something about it makes me keep looking at it.

This is end of part 1. Thank you for making it here. Let’s check out the part 2! Cheers!

the famous amboy

It’s been a while since my last post. Since then, I’ve constantly had a thinking that my photos are not matching my expectation. I don’t know if it’s because whenever I go out to take a photo, I always think about making photos for my blog post or just because I’m not improving my skills. Either way, I’ve chosen to slow down and think about the photos only, not about the purpose of the photos later. So here you are, some photos from my few hours in the famous Amboy town. I was there around 1pm so the sunlight was not very pleasing (compared to golden hour) but since it’s winter time, 1pm was not that harsh and strong. I got some photos that I’m happy with.

These photos were taken with Portra 800. I didn’t plan to shoot Portra 800 at midday but I was having the roll in my camera from the last trip so I have to finish the roll. It’s the famous Roy’s sign so I had to take a good amount of photos to make sure I got one that I can proudly share with people on the Internet :). The second (2) photo is a initial composition that I like when I look at the Roy’s sign while standing in front of the restroom :). Then I move to the right to take the third one. I like the composition and elements in the #3 photo but wish that I have the man in a nicer post (he was doing his job and I think he’s a good element to the photo but I was worried that he may blend into some objects so I take the photo when he just separated himself from the gas pump. I also wish that I moved away a bit to not cut the bottom of the “Cafe” sign and I also want to include the “no vacancy” in the photo :(. In the photo #4, I also want to include the light pole at the foreground because my photography goal is to create photos with complex layers, not sure if I tried so hard and ruin my composition in this case. Anyway, here’s the 2 photos that I think look best.

The #6 photo is just simple and straight forward about the environment and how vast the place is. When I look at the photo I can feel how lonely the sign is, there’s no other like this in miles. The #7 photo tells more about other structures around the sign and I like the affect of the wide angle lens here.

After taking photos of the sign, I cross the street to take photo of the church across Roy’s because who can reject a lonely white church in the middle of desert?

This is also the last shot from my roll of Portra, so I loaded Fuji 400H and continue shooting. I love abandoned things because they carry so many stories, they are unique and broken :).

I like the #9 photo but I heard feedbacks said it not pleasing, I guess because of the ugly house on the right side, but I still like it because it’s life, beautiful and ugly, light and shadow, high and low, they just come hand in hand, nothing is 100% beautiful. I had high hope for the photo #10 but sadly it doesn’t come out the way I want. Subframe and multiple layers in a photo is something I thrive for but I guess still not success this time. The photo #11 is not that great but I like the fact that you can see the house over the window, and it also pair nicely with the last photo below (because of the heater?).

Finally, the last 3 photos are the best ones. I suppose to like the last one the most because, again, so many layers and elements to look for, but I still think it’s missing something to be one of the best of my work. The photo of the hallway and doors is fascinated to me because it’s mystery and make me wonder what’s inside those room, there’s so much possibilities inside those broken doors. It looks just like a scene in a movies. Last but not least, the whole church and abandoned houses around remind me of the TV series Preacher from AMC.

Thank you for coming all this way. Hope you enjoy it. And watch Preacher if you’re open to dark, ugly and cruel things 🙂

san francisco street photos

You may think that I just shoot landscape and houses because that’s all I’ve posted so far on this blog. Yes, I’m drawn into scenes that doesn’t have human present but definitely have human’s mark on it. Maybe because I like the hinted details or the metaphor of human’s present and their impact or just because I’m a big introvert. However, I had chances to take street photos and it’s quite excited I guess. I don’t think street photography is easy, it requires time and lots of exposures, skills and hard work. I know tons of street photographers go out walking for hours every single day to do their job. Fully respect from me for street photographers out there. Street photography is not like landscape or anything I do, you don’t have the time to meter, get your composition right, look for best angle, focus and then re-compose, everything happens in a split second and you have to react in a blink of an eye. However, it’s not all street photos are about capturing those candid moments like that, sometimes you can shoot slower depend on your themes. And I’m the slower shooter type.

I had a day in San Francisco in January this year and I luckily got some street shots that I feel good to share here. They’re quite different from what you usually see from my suburbs or landscape scenes. All were shot with Yashica T4 and Fuji C200. Hope you enjoy!

beach town observation

I went to the beach town by Victoria beach few week ago in sunset hour to take some sunset on the beach shots but got caught up in these residential houses scenes. I love the calmness and quiet atmosphere here, along with some nice little houses and windows that feels so warm and homely.

Before get into the photos from that afternoon, let me show you 2 photos I took in another morning walk in the same area. These shots are not anything special but I was testing my Mamiya 645 150mm lens before I sell it. Even though the composition is not that great but I love the tones here and the sharpness is really nice.

Mamiya 645. 150mm/3.5. Fuji NPS 160 expired

The next 2 shots I took one in golden hour and one in blue hour. That wasn’t the plan but somehow I feel drawn into the windows and the way it’s slide open just a bit to show a present of a person inside the room is quite nice and elegant. When I got back to the car after take photos on the beach, I came across it in blue hour and the yellow light came out of it is just nicely contrast with the blue sky outside. I think this is a short and straight forward form of “story telling”, something I desire to do in this blog. Wish that I were having the same composition so that the similarity and contrast are highlighted but it’s good to learn that same composition sometimes can help in story telling. I know that the trash cans are distractive but sometimes I just think if it’s there and I was capturing the scene, is it bad to exclude something out just because it’s not aesthetically pleasing? Or I should document the scene as its good and bad? So, I show you the non-crop and cropped version of the photo. Let me know if you hate the trash cans so bad 🙂

This one is a photo that I really like but I still feel something doesn’t work out in this. The whole house feel very mysterious and old, all the windows and doors were covered with white thick curtain like the owner doesn’t want anyone to look inside. The house blends into the blue hour sky and those bush in general feel weirdly but sad at the same time.

This photo is my favorite in the day. It’s the first scene captured my eyes in the town. I like the way the branches twist and the straight up street light glowing just in front of the tree. The scene was much more dynamic as in the photo but I think my photo is kind of 7/10 get to that atmosphere. The sky is subtle and soft while the green is quite saturated and pop.

After not successfully capturing the vibe of the house, I went back another day to try again. And these shots turn out okay I guess. The photo with the Harley sign makes me go down into the rabbit hole again about include and exclude things as it is or get the thing you want and ignore the rest. The others are nice in term of tones and composition.

So now you know how the whole house looks. This time I went in the morning so there’s no warm light as in previous photo but the photos are nice nevertheless.

And here’re some other shots I got from the day.

Hope you enjoy the photo talk. Till next time!

[Vietnamese] Sequoia road trip

Mình và 1 số người bạn vừa có chuyến road trip ngắn đi Sequoia National Park cách đây 3 tuần. Khởi hành từ 8h tối thứ 6, đến 1h30 khuya sáng thứ 7 mình đến nơi. Mình dành cả ngày thứ 7 và nửa ngày Chủ Nhật để hiking và lên xe lái về OC lúc 6h chiều Chủ Nhật. Lý do đến bây giờ mình mới đặng bài blog này là vì mình cảm thấy chuyến đi này mình không chụp được nhiều ảnh đẹp như mong muốn. Nhìn chung hình không phải là tệ (hoặc tệ thật?!) nhưng mình không tìm được ảnh nào thật sự ưng ý và đẹp như chuyến đi Lake Tahoe lần trước. Đó là lý do khiến mình không tự tin để post ảnh nhưng sau đó mình nghĩ có thể ảnh không xuất sắc nhưng mình có thể chia sẻ kinh nghiệm và những sai sót của mình cho các bạn qua những bức ảnh này. Mong các bạn thấy bài blog này hữu ích và truyền cảm hứng.

Về camera và film thì mình mang máy Bronica ETRSi và 75mm/2.8 lens, đây cũng là lens duy nhất mình có cho máy, mình đã muốn có lens 50mm từ chuyến Lake Tahoe lần trước nhưng vẫn chưa mua vì thật sự vẫn còn cân nhắc về số tiền. Mình cũng mang theo 35mm camera là Nikon F2 cùng vài cuộn Kodak ProImage 100 (sau vài lần thử thì mình không thích màu của ProImage nhưng mua vẫn còn dư nên phải dùng cho hết), Portra 160 và 1 cuộn Portra 800 (vì Portra 800 đắt xắt ra miếng thật!). Film 120 mình dủng Fuji Pro 400H và Ilford XP2 trắng đen. Mình chưa bao giờ chụp trắng đen nhưng gần đây có bạn bảo mình nên thử chụp trắng đen để focus vô mảng khối và contrast trong khung hình, và bản thân mình nghĩ mình cũng nên chú ý hơn đến bố cục khi chụp nên mình đã mua 5 cuộn XP2, đây là film trắng đen nhưng dùng C-41 để develop như film màu, giúp mình tiết kiệm và đỡ nhức đầu research về hóa chất cho film trắng đen 🙂 Ảnh trắng đen của mình không đẹp như mình mong nhưng mình xin chia sẻ ở đây để ghi lại quá trình chụp của mình.

Một điều các bạn nên biết về chuyến đi này là mình đi trong lúc cháy rừng đang diễn ra trên diện rộng ở California. Tuy không quá gần khu vực mình ở và hiking nhưng khói từ đám cháy theo gió đã phủ lên bầu trời 1 lớp bụi than mỏng làm bầu trời ngả màu vàng nâu trông khá u ám. Đây không phải là điều kiện lý tưởng để chụp hình nhưng mình vẫn cảm thấy thích chuyến đi lần này.

Tấm hình đầu tiên mình chụp khi đang dừng xe trên đường để ăn trưa trên xe. Đây vẫn còn là khu vực rìa của Sequoia National Park nhưng cây cối đã phủ xanh um tùm, một điều mình rất thích. Mình đang ngắm để chụp thì nghe tiếng xe moto từ xa vọng lại, thế là mình đã đợi chiếc moto chạy vào khung hình rồi bấm máy. Dĩ nhiên là mình đã canh bố cục và lấy nét sẵn để khi xe chạy tới đúng khoảng lấy nét thì mình sẽ bấm máy. Mình để khẩu độ 11 nên dĩ nhiên là phần lớn khung hình sẽ in focus. Một điều đáng tiếc trong bức ảnh này là mình đã bấm máy hơi sớm, khi moto còn đang khá xa mình cho nên chiếc moto và người lái bị nhỏ và chìm vào background. Nếu moto chạy tới mình gần hơn thì bức ảnh sẽ tốt hơn nhiều. Tấm hình tiếp theo mình chụp windshield xe của bạn mình, như 1 tấm ảnh ký sự về chiếc xe và đi chơi thời Covid, với thú bông và khẩu trang giấy 🙂 Tiếp đến là 1 thân cây bị cháy đen ở bên trong. Tuy tấm ảnh không xuất sắc nhưng đây là lần đầu tiên mình thấy 1 thân cây cháy đen bên trong nhưng vẫn còn sống và bên ngoài vỏ cây màu cam rực rỡ nhìn rất thú vị. 2 ảnh kế đến chỉ là cảnh landscape bình thường nhưng cũng đủ để thấy bầu trời trông như thế nào những ngày mình ở Sequoia.

Ảnh tiếp theo [6] mình đã chú thích ý đồ trên hình. Rất tiếc mình đã không thể hiện được điều mình muốn trên ảnh. Còn lại là các ảnh [7,8,9,10] mình chụp trong ngày thứ 7. Mình thích ảnh [10] vì đó là chủ đề ưa thích của mình, những ngôi nhà nhỏ trong town nho nhỏ với nét retro và tĩnh lặng. Nếu được chụp lại mình sẽ nâng máy cao hơn để lấy phần cột đèn nhiều hơn, dĩ nhiên tâm điểm bức ảnh không phải là cột đèn nhưng ảnh lại cắt ngay lúc dây diện rẻ ngang ra làm mình có cảm giác mình cắt vật thể ngay mép, rất khó chịu khi nhìn. Mình đã được học về trang trí và bố cục rằng hoặc là mình lấy trọn vật thể hoặc cắt ngay lúc vật thể không có biến chuyển gì thú vị, tuyệt đối không cắt vật thể ngay mép (như mình đang làm) hoặc ngay góc. Nhưng nhìn chung mình vẫn rất thích ảnh này vì cảm giác nó mang lại. Ảnh [11] cũng là 1 ảnh mình thấy khá thú vị, mình thích màu xanh trong hình mang 1 cảm giác lành lạnh và mơ hồ rất đặc biệt.

Mình vừa mua pro mist filter 1/4 để chụp thử vì mình thấy công dụng của nó khá hay. Pro mist filter dùng để giảm highlight xuống và đồng thời làm highlight glow 1 chút, như có thể thấy ở 2 tấm hình bên phải. Đây là trưa Chủ Nhật khi mình và các bạn dừng lại trước 1 nhà hàng trong ski resort để ăn trưa. Dĩ nhiên ski resort khá vắng vẻ mùa này, như trong hình là 1 sự trống trải và âm u trong phòng ăn không 1 bóng người.

Ảnh bồn gas này mình chụp theo 1 bức ảnh của photographer Scott Enlow đăng bên dưới. Mình đặc biệt thích tấm ảnh này của Enlow vì nó chứa đựng tất cả những gì mình muốn nhìn thấy trong 1 bức ảnh, tiền cảnh, trung cảnh, hậu cảnh, cỏ xanh, ánh mặt trời trong và vàng ấm, bầu trời hơi u ám nhưng toàn bộ hình lại không có cảm giác u ám nặng nề. Mình thích sự cũ kỹ và hơi hoang tàn nhưng cũng rất “neat” và tươi mát mà bức ảnh mang lại. Mình đặc biệt thích cây cột gỗ ở tiền cảnh, mình cảm thấy cây cột gỗ làm tấm ảnh rất sống động và thú vị. Các bạn nên xem thêm ảnh của Scott Enlow qua Instagram như trong hình bên dưới. Mình rất thích Scott Enlow vì ảnh của nhiếp ảnh gia này rất retro và dreamy.

Quay trở lại với ảnh của mình, mình nghĩ ảnh bên phải tốt hơn ảnh trái bởi vì ảnh trái có chiếc lều nhỏ khá kỳ cục trên bồn gas làm mình không thể nào chọn được 1 bố cục đẹp cho ảnh. Hình thứ 2 khá hơn vì bồn gas màu trắng, dễ tách biệt giữa chủ thể và background hơn. Thật ra cũng không phải là tấm ảnh mình ưng ý 100% nhưng mình cũng thấy nó khá thú vị. Nhất định lần sau gặp 1 bồn gas mình sẽ thử lại.

Tấm ảnh mấy tấm ván bị bỏ lại trên hồ nhìn khá buồn và cũ. Không hiểu sao 2 tấm này màu scan ra nhìn hơi ám tím và trầm dù mình chỉ dùng Fuji 400H, có thể là do cảnh quá tương phản giữa highlight và shadow nên khi scan máy cố tone down highlight để giữ lại chi tiết ở highlight (thật ra mình không rõ lắm, cũng có thể do mình chưa biết cách chụp, scan trong điều kiện tương phản mạnh). Nhưng mình nghĩ nó khá hợp với nội dung của ảnh, về đồ vật bị con người bỏ lại vội vã nằm chơi vơi bên bờ hồ giữa đám cỏ mọc lố nhố không ai chăm sóc. Tấm thứ 2 có bố cục đẹp và nhiều lớp (tiền cảnh, trung cảnh, hậu cảnh) hơn ảnh thứ 1. Nhưng mình nghĩ 2 ảnh đi chung sẽ mang nội dung mạnh và thuyết phục hơn.

Ảnh [18] mình chụp vì ánh nắng rọi xuống chóp của những cành thông khô nhìn rất bắt mắt, Đây cũng là 1 cảnh tương phản mạnh về độ sáng cũng như màu sắc, màu vàng cam của chóp thông khô và màu xanh thẫm của cành thông dưới bóng râm làm cảnh nhìn rất thu hút. Rất tiếc lên hình mình không thể hiện được vẻ đẹp đó. Ảnh [19] mình rất thích, vì đó là chủ đề ưa thích của mình, những cảnh bình thường hàng ngày của cuộc sống nơi xa cách chốn thành thị hiện đại tấp nập. Ảnh này chụp ở khẩu 5.6 nên không có nhiều vùng in focus, là 1 điều mình rất tiếc, nhưng cảnh khá thiếu sáng nên đây là những gì tốt nhất mình có thể làm.

Cuối cùng là những hình chụp casual trên đường hoặc lúc đi hiking. Thật ra mình có thể chụp nhiều hơn trong lúc hike nhưng mình không thể cảm nhận được vẻ đẹp của đá nên mình không chụp nhiều dù trong lúc hiking có đi quang qua 1 đoạn đường toàn đá xanh, chỉ có 1 khe nhỏ đủ để 1 người chui qua, cảnh nhìn rất Thập Diện Mai Phục vibe vì thật ra bạn không thể thấy gì xung quanh mình ngoại trừ đá, và mình luôn có cảm giác ai đó có thể nấp đằng sau 1 tảng đá và nhảy ra mai phục mình[?!] lol. Nhìn chung, mình nghĩ nó khá thú vị nhưng không nghĩ nó photographic cho mình.

Cuối cùng là 2 hình cuối của 1 thác nước nhưng đã cạn nước vì đây là mùa khô. Lần sau mình nên kiểm tra thác nước trước khi mang theo tripod đi hiking 🙂 Không có nước cảnh chỉ toàn đá khô khốc nhưng mình cũng thấy vui vì chuyến đi này.

Sau đây là ảnh từ cuộn film trắng đen duy nhất mình chụp trong chuyến đi này.

Cảm ơn các bạn đã theo dõi đến đây. Mình biết bài viết khá dài nhưng mong hữu ích cho các bạn. Chúc các bạn chụp ảnh nhiều hơn và hài lòng về ảnh của mình. Cheers!

Sequoia road trip

I was having a hard time to write this post, because I think my photos out of this trip are not that great as I expected. But it’s okay to share them because we all know that I’m learning along the way. So I hope you learn something from here or find some inspirations somewhere in this.

My friends and me went to Sequoia 3 weeks ago. We started to drove around 8pm Friday night and got there around 12:30am Saturday. Then we spend whole Saturday and haft Sunday to hike and drove back home in Sunday evening. Back then the wildfires were not as crazy as right now (September 10th) but the area were covered by a thin layer of smoke and the sky turned orange brownish already. Not ideal for photography but that’s what I got. For the gear, I brought the same Bronica system and Nikon F2, left my digital Nikon and the Yashica T4 home because it’s a short trip and I didn’t want to bring too many cameras. For film, I had Fuji Pro 400H, and Ilford XP2 black and white 120 film, I also had some 35mm rolls of Kodak Proimage and Portra 160, and 1 roll of Portra 800 (because it’s so freaking expensive!). I never shoot black and white before, I like seeing some black and white photos but never seeing myself shooting black and white but some fellow on discord told me that I should shoot black and white to focus on shapes and contrast in my photos, [and be more careful about the composition] so I picked up some XP2 because I can develop them at home with my C-41 chemicals. My black and white photos are not special but I’ll share them here as a encouragement to others it’s okay to have bad photos, they help you to see your mistakes and improve your photography.

Above are my first photos of the trip. The first one is when we’re having lunch on the car at road side and I was framing the photo while the moto appeared and I waited for him to be on the spot I want and shot it, I wish I had waited a little more for he to come closer because he was so far back in the frame and so small. The second one is taken with the idea of document the trip and the windshield had some weird plush toys and the disposable masks that remind you of the Covid-19 era. The photo of the hollowed tree is not good but personally I never saw a tree burned inside before so it’s a new thing to me, and I guess if I live in California I will definitely see that a lot more.

The Moro Rock is an iconic sightseeing in Sequoia. Unfortunately the day we hike there’s so much smoke in the air and the view was not good at all, I had some photos taken on the rock but they’re not much to share. [And if you read the Lake Tahoe road trip post you know that I’m into forest and green scenes, not rock :)]. I hope my first photo gives you and idea of how the atmosphere was. The second I explain in the photo description. The next ones are some nice scenes I came across when we’re heading back to the Airbnb after a hike day. The green trunk photo with some dried branches is my favorite, maybe because it has a cool and poetic vibe. The last photo is definitely my thing, I like to shoot hundred of photos like this and put them together as a zine because I love the calmness and poetry in it. One thing I regret is that I should lifted the camera higher to get the whole electric pole in frame. I don’t mind cut a part of it out but in this photo I cut it right at the horizon wires, which is so annoy me every time I look at it.

Next are some shots on the second day hiking. We stopped at a restaurant in a ski resort, which is much empty now, for food and then I took these 2 shots to test out the pro mist 1/4 filter I just got. The glow is definitely nice and dreamy, but the photos are not that strong. However, I still love these 2 and think they’re pair well together. And all of the photos on this trip is taken with the pro mist filter on, but then I learn that not everything with pro mist on is good. The next two photos of the gas tanks are inspired by a photo of photographer Scott Enlow showed below. I love this photo to the moon and back. It has everything I wanted in a photo, retro vibe, old and abandoned stuff, green, foreground, midground, background, negative space, but above all of that, I love the feeling it gives, fresh and relaxed but still has some neatness and sadness. You can check out Scott @scottenlowphoto on Instagram and his website. I love his work!

Back to my photos, I like the second tanks than the first, because the first tank has a structure on top of it and I couldn’t make the composition look good while the second one is much nicer since it’s white and has green background behind. It’s not a great photo though but it’s the best I can get out of it. The next one is a effort to capture the sunlight hitting the cut off branches at the tips on the ground but it seems like I can not convey that to the viewer. It’s so contrast between the highlight and shadow and the colors really interesting in real life but in the photo they don’t work out. The photo of the table and domino pieces with some bottles and a can of coke is my favorite although I wish I could have more in focus. The scene was little dark so I had to open the lens up to 5.6. I like the feel in this, some kind of mundane everyday life scene in a suburb area. The photos of the canoe and board feel off to me, usually I like the clean or warm colors but colors in these 2 are so purplish and sad, which is not my type, and I couldn’t correct the color as I want so I try to make them look best. The second one has a stronger composition and the feeling of leaving stuff behind vibe.

Last are some shot on the road and hiking view. The last two is actually a waterfall without water. We came in the dry season so there’s no water to shoot a long exposure for silky waterfall like last time. Better check the waterfall next time before carry the tripod on a hike 🙂 . I cannot feel the beauty of rock so to me this 2 photos are not beautiful at all but here to demonstrate the atmosphere.

And here’re the only roll of black and white in my career, so far 🙂 I know I should shoot black and white differently than with color photos but sometimes I just take the shoot as color negative and yeah, of course the subject is not well separated from the background, or you cannot tell what is the subject either. There’re so much I have to learn here.

Thank you for making it here. I appreciate any comment and feedback in these photos, or if you want to share something just leave the comment. Cheers!

laguna beach morning walk

On a Sunday morning, I got up much earlier than usually to go to a beach for a photo walk. I haven’t taken any photo since I got back from the North California road trip, just because of personal stuffs and I don’t feel like the city around me is photo worthy. Then I watched a YouTube video of a film photographer/YouTuber named Faizal Westcott about he created a photography club via Discord app to connect photographers and others who like photography alike. In this club/group, you can share your work, ask for feedback, discuss photo related topics and networking with others. My favorite channel is photo feedback obviously, since I really want to know what others think about my photos and I love to share value thoughts to others’ work as well. If you feel like Faizal’s Discord server, I encourage you to check it out. Here the link: https://discord.gg/99w7Z5x

After join the server and have several discussions with others inspired photographers and photographer wanna be, I got an urge to go out and shoot and get better. That’s why I woke up at 6am that Sunday morning.

Since I live in Orange County, I already visited a bunch of beaches around here (Long beach, Seal beach, Huntington beach, New Port beach, Corona Del Mar, and every small beach in between) and honestly, I don’t feel very enthusiastic to go those beaches again. So this time I tried a new one, a little further but worth it, Victoria beach in Laguna. To search for a location, I just look at Google map and pin point to a potential location to have Google street view of that area and decide if that worth going. The reason I like this beach is not because of its famous Pirate Tower but the mosses on the rocks right by the beach. You know I love trees and plants and that kind of green stuff. Another thing I like about this location the color of the water, a beautiful shade of emerald. The sand is so clean and white (not literally white but whiter than other muddy brownie sand. The sky was so clear when I driving but as soon as I got half way to the beach, I realized it’s not gonna clear anymore. I guess sky on the beach is always foggy?! Anyway I hope you can feel the cool atmosphere in that early foggy morning through these photos.

love the tones here. Fuji 160 NPS expired

And here’re some photos that not the best.

In the first photo, the composition is just doesn’t work. I couldn’t bring out my main focus in the photo. In the second photo, the composition is bad again. Another thing doesn’t work out is lack of meaning in this photo. I tried to capture the beauty of the rocks creating a little valley and water from the waves can flow through it like a river, but the timing is not there yet, I should press the shutter right when the wave hitting the rocks. I was too late so the water run out already. I think I should open the lens up to create a shallower depth of field in order to isolate the rocks and little valley from the back ground.

Next are some casual shots around the rocks. 🙂 I know not everybody like to see rocks and mosses like me.

In the second photo, I like the way the sand feel so smooth and warm and was imbued with water from the wave so the surface was reflective so beautifully. The last photo is some cliché scene that you all get bored of :p

First time using Mamiya 645 Super and prism viewfinder and no split focusing screen, thanks God I didn’t miss focus much!

[vietnamese] a road trip

[Mình muốn chia sẻ bằng tiếng Việt cho các bạn Việt Nam có thể dễ đọc hiểu, nhưng mình chưa tìm được cách tốt nhất để chia sẻ song ngữ trong cùng 1 post nên các bạn tạm thời có thể đọc các post riêng bằng tiếng Việt với nội dung chính xác như post tiếng Anh trong thời gian mình tìm được cách làm việc đỡ mất công hơn nhé!]

Tháng 6 rồi mình có đi 1 chuyến road trip từ Orange County đến Lake Tahoe, California. Mình ở Lake Tahoe 3 ngày, sau đó ghé qua San Jose 1 ngày rồi về lại OC. Mình coi đây là 1 cơ hội tốt để chụp những khung cảnh mới lạ mà mình ít được thấy ở nam Cali (nam Cali khô cằn và ít cây cối, rừng rậm như bắc Cali). Mình rất thích được bao bọc bởi thiên nhiên, đặc biệt là cây cối và rừng rậm, rừng đối với mình luôn rất đặc biệt, mình có thể lạc giữa rừng nhưng vẫn cảm thấy bình an như được thuộc về. Mình vẫn nhớ cái cảm giác đứng 1 mình giữa rừng núi, xung quanh không 1 bóng dáng hay tiếng nói của con người, chỉ có mặt đất mềm âm ẩm, những bụi cỏ cao thấp xen kẽ, thân cây già gãy đổ xen giữa rừng thân chắc nịch với lớp vỏ nứt toác để lộ những mảng rêu xanh non mơn mởn, cạnh đó là dòng nước trong vắt chảy qua con rạch nhỏ luồn lách giữa rừng, bên trên tiếng chim hót rộn ràng giữa những tán cây lao xao. Nếu bạn là người yêu rừng, hẳn bạn sẽ hiểu cảm giác lâng lâng hạnh phúc khi đó của mình. Bên cạnh đó, được chụp hình trong rừng thì còn gì bằng! Mình chia sẻ bài blog này với niềm hân hoan được chia sẻ về điều mình yêu thích với những bạn chung sở thích, hi vọng các bạn sẽ cảm thấy được truyền cảm hứng đi và khám phá [và chụp hình] sau khi đọc xong.

Về mặt chuẩn bị máy chụp hình và phụ kiện, mình lên kế hoạch sẽ chụp long exposure thác nước để có hình thác nước chảy nhìn mướt như dải lụa (nghe có vẻ hơi cliché nhưng mình chưa bao giờ chụp thể loại này nên cũng đáng thử qua). Để chụp long exposure giữa ban ngày, mình cần ND filter để chặn bớt ánh sáng vào lens. Mình mua 10 atop ND filter cho lens Bronica 75mm của mình, mình đã cân nhắc mua các filter ít stop hơn nhưng vì ngân sách chỉ có thể mua 1 filter nên mình quyết định mua 10 stop vì mình luôn có thể kéo dài thời gian shutter speed ra hơn là chụp không đủ lâu để nước chảy thành 1 dải dài liền mạch. Mình cũng mua 1 polarizer filter để chụp mặt nước hồ trong suốt (polarizer filter rất hữu dụng khi bạn muốn chụp các bề mặt phản chiếu như nước hay kính cửa sổ, ánh sáng sẽ đi xuyên qua bề mặt nước hay kính hơn là phản chiếu ngược lại lens của bạn tạo ra ảnh phản chiếu không mong muốn). Mình cũng mua stepdown ring để dùng ND filter và polarizer cho máy số Nikon của mình (mình mang máy số theo để chụp thử những shot long exposure). Mình đã có sẵn cable release cho máy film (vì mình cũng từng chụp ban đêm với máy Nikon F2). Ngoài ra thì tripod là KHÔNG thể thiếu cho long exposure. Về film thì mình dùng Fuji Pro 400H, Portra 400 và 1 pack Fuji 160 NPS expired (hình ra mình không thích lắm vì màu shifted hơi nhiều) cho Bronica ETRSi và Fuji Pro 400H, Portra 160, Kodak ProImage cho máy 35mm.

Đây là 2 shots đầu tiên khi mình dừng lại ngắm hoàng hôn lúc gần tới nhà Airbnb mình thuê. Hình ảnh đồi núi trùng điệp phủ dày đặc những hàng thông già mình vẫn thấy trên hình ảnh và movies nay mình đã được nhìn bằng mắt thật, cảm giác như trong mơ vì mình chưa bao giờ nghĩ có cảnh đẹp và siêu thực như thế này trên đời. Tuy 2 bức ảnh dưới không thể hiện được sự hùng vĩ và mênh mông như mình cảm nhận được nhưng cũng đáng chia sẻ.

Kế đến là những hình ảnh mình chụp trong ngày thứ 1 và thứ 2 ở Lake Tahoe, khi mình đi hike ở Emerald Bay.

Và tiếp theo là vài cảnh mình chụp lúc chiều tà trong khu Airbnb mình ở. Mình dự định mang máy và tripod ra bờ hồ chụp cảnh hoàng hôn nhưng khi đi ngang những cảnh nắng rọi từng mảng lên tường và cửa sổ mình không thể không dừng lại được. Những hình này mình chụp trên tripod ở tốc 1/30-2s.

Dĩ nhiên tiếp theo sẽ là cảnh hoàng hôn trên mặt hồ. Mình thử long exposure ở những tốc độ khác nhau nhưng ở bức ảnh dưới, 8s, là mình thích nhất, bởi vì mặt nước ở đây tuy đã phẳng hơn không thấy chuyển động cụ thể của sóng nhưng vẫn còn chút lăn tăn trên bề mặt.

3 tấm ảnh bên dưới mình chụp sau khi mặt trời lặn. Cả 3 tấm mình đều rất thích. Mình đặc biệt thích những cảnh suburban (ngoại ô, hay những town nhỏ và xa trung tâm nhưng không phải miền quê) vì không khí hoài cổ và có chút u buồn của nó.

Mình cũng chụp vài cảnh trong khu Airbnb vào buổi sáng, dưới đây là 2 hình mình ưng nhất. Tấm thứ 3 với mình bố cục không được đẹp, mình muốn dùng hàng rào gỗ làm foreground cho hình nhưng mình để máy hơi cao nên hàng rào bị sát mép dưới của hình quá làm không cân xứng, nếu có thể mình sẽ hơi khuỵu gối 1 chút để hàng rào sẽ dâng cao hơn và khoảng cách gần hơn với chủ thể là chiếc van nhỏ màu bạc.

Ngày hôm sau, mình thức dậy lúc 4:30 sáng để chụp ảnh mặt trời mọc trên mặt hồ. Sau khi rửa và scan hình, mình cảm thấy long exposure mặt nước không phải là điều mình yêu thích, vì mặt nước phẳng như trang giấy cảm thấy không thực với mình, nó thiếu sự chuyển động và tràn đầy năng lượng mà mình yêu thích ở nước.

Và đây là điều mình mong mỏi nhất trong suốt chuyến đi, chụp ảnh thác nước như dải lụa. Khi mình leo đến thác, mặt trời đang ở phía sau thác và chiếu thẳng vào ống kính của mình ánh nắng chiều chói chang đặc quánh. Với lần đầu chụp long exposure trong tình trạng backlit (ngược sáng) và phải liên tục tháo và gắn 10 stop ND filter lên lens để ngắm và chụp, thú thật mình không chắc lắm về bố cục và cả setting máy. Mình đã không hi vọng nhiều vào kết quả nhưng khi scan và edit hình xong, mình cảm thấy khá hài lòng.

Cuối cùng là những hình mình chụp trong những lúc leo núi và những hình chụp bằng máy Nikon F2 và Yashica T4.

Cảm ơn các bạn đã theo dõi đến đây. Hi vọng các bạn thấy những chia sẻ của mình bổ ích. Nếu các bạn có thắc mắc hay muốn góp ý về hình ảnh cũng như nội dung của mình xin đừng ngại comment nhé, mình luôn thích film talks! Cheers!