Beauty of Subways

Lisboa Metro I, originally uploaded by topfloor.

Big fun to hunt for views like this one in the Metro stations. Lisboa has one of the most beautiful metro systems in Europe.

Having just returned from Prague with the Metro that have the communist charme ;-), I appreciated the Lisboa memories even more.

Fotografen Gesichter

Fotografen Gesichter I, originally uploaded by topfloor.

Frau Dr. Martina Mettner hat mit Ihrem Buch 'Wie man ein großartiger Fotograf wird' einigen Staub aufgewirbelt. Wenige positive Rezensionen auf der Amazon Buchseite und auch in den Foren sehr gemischte Kritiken sind typisch für das Echo der deutschen Fotografen.

Mich hat Ihr rosa Buch begeistert, auch wenn ich nicht alle Meinungen und Standpunkte teilen kann.

Eine ihrer Ideen für Fotoclubs ist, das sich die Teilnehmer gegenseitig fotografieren (mal endlich was fotografieren, das sprechen, sich bewegen und weglaufen kann).

Gesagt - Getan. Im lokalen Fotoclub kam die Projektidee gut an. Dies sind einige meiner Fotos. Jeweils ein Portrait, eins mit geschlossenen Augen und eines mit der Kamera am Auge. Hat Spaß gemacht, mal sehen, was die anderen Herren so für Fotoideen haben werden.

Lichtaufbau: 3 Feuchtraumneonröhren vom Baumarkt für 9,99 Euro das Stück gekauft. Jeweils eine links und rechts des Models nebem dem Gesicht, eine mittig dahinter. Vor schwarzem Hintergrund in dunklem Raum. Fotografiert mit D700 + 85 mm f/1.4 bzw. M9 + 50 mm f/1.0. In Lightroom mit Filmpreset zu SW gewandelt. Danke an meine geduldigen Models und meinen Assistenten Composer!

Link zum Buch - zum kritischen Lesen empfohlen

Self developing your BW film

First steps I, originally uploaded by topfloor.

First steps with developing film myself.

I got myself a meduim format foldable Rangefinder, the Voigtländer Bessa III 667 camera



from some money I got from selling gear on eBay. Full Copyright of the above picte (c) 2009 by chachahavana. Have a look at his outstanding Flickr stream .

This is one of my first takes with a roll of BW medium format film (120 Ilford FP4 plus ISO 125). The patient first subject was by beloved Great Dane Ayk.

So the subject and composition are typical for a first shoots with new camera, I guess. Will have to go along the learning curve for some time.

Film developed in Agfa Rodinal R09 One Shot. Quite some help on developing film yourself can be found here . . .

German with excellent tips, a real good guide for beginners

English on the Feeling Negative Blog with nice instructional videos and texts

Best prices, fast delivery and friendly phone contact for Germany I could find on the Internet was at macodirect.de . If somebody knows an even better source in Germany, please leave a comment here.

Have a good time, Carsten

Going analogue with the Leica M7

Leica M7, originally uploaded by Guido Steenkamp.

Photo by Guido Steenkamp / Berlin (c) 2008

After some blogging absence I am back now with an enhancement of my choice of photographic tools. Since march I am exploring analogue paths.

Things started with a planned visiti to Europe's biggest Lomo store in Berlin.



There, I acquired a Lomo LC-A with the new Instant back (photo above taken with this combo). A funny and akward thing :-)

More than a month later, I found a Leica M7 on eBay. The price was fair, the condition is unused, and is has the 0.58 viewfinder and the MP advance lever (very similar to Guido's photo above). As I had 10 days to test the camera I put 6 rolls of Kodak Ektachrome and Fuji Colorfilm through it while being on business trips to Kassel, Frankfurt and Nuernberg. Surpringsingly, I was able to put the camera to work at once, even loading film was a breeze after finding some help on YouTube Videos.

The M7 camera works - as my M8 and M9 - precise and smooth. Nicely is the lack of noise for rewinding. And thanks to a local camera store, the films were developed and scanned to a CD in less than 2 hours after delivery.

Workflow in Lightroom is much faster than with RAWs because I took less pictures and the files needed less tweeks. But, the Scans do have much less room for working on them as they were only JPG mid resolution scans.

So far, shooting film was much fun. I'll continue to follow this analogue path and look forward to learn more about the characteristics of the different film types available.

In my fridge, a selection of rolls are waiting for exposure. I went for a roll of . . .
. . . Neopan 400 135-36, Delta 400 135-36, Tri-X 400 135-36, Portra BW400CN 135-36, HP5 Plus 135-36, XP2 Super 135-36, Neopan, Acros 100 135-36, PanF Plus 135-36, Kodak Ektachrome E200 135-36, Portra 400VC 135-36, Velvia 100F 135-36, Fuji Color XTRA 400, Fuji Color XTRA 800, TMAX 400, TMAX P3200, Kodak 160CV and the Kodak 400VC.

These rolls will take some time and travels to be exposed :-)

Some basic Film informations can be found on this website blende7.at (click on the film logos to get infos about this brands film - in german language only).

Looking for some analogue experiences on the web, I found these sources to be inspiring and helpful . . .

Feeling negative? - Very informative website and Blog
Returning to film - Blog by an enthusiast

Have fun,
Carsten