A Ghoul of a different nature

I happened upon this ghoulish Chinese character in Dundas Square on Halloween afternoon. I was curious
about the message on the paper taped over his face



























I took a few photos of him from different angles all the while
he remained in character, staring straight ahead, stalk still.



























He was getting plenty of curious stares. A couple
of young Asian women were able to tell me that
his sign warned not to remove the sign or risk attack.
They told me this had some meaning in Chinese culture.






















































I waited to see if someone would be brave enough
to remove the sign. Eventually a brave young man
dropped a toonie into his bowl and nipped the sign























The Ghoul came to life, chasing the young man
around the sidewalk


















until he finally replaced the sign on the ghoul's hat
and the ghoul returned to his inanimate state...



























I've since found out that he is a Jiang Shi or "walking dead man" not unlike our vampires/zombies in western culture. Removal of the yellow sign brings the zombie to life to feed upon the living.

It's interesting how archetypes and mythological creatures are represented across cultures. I wonder if China has their own version of the popular True Blood series on TV. More info about Jiang Shi here

Growing pains are worse. Please send chocolate

Today I ventured out to pick up my 1st roll of Ilford XP2 photos. I've shot virtually nothing but film all last week and was anxious to post to my 52 week project. While rewinding the film to drop off for development, I became concerned that perhaps the film hadn't caught when I loaded it initially. Today my suspicions were confirmed. The film was blank. There goes $8 to say nothing of the street shots that were on it. I'd worked so hard on exposure, experimenting with my light meter.
The staff at the shop felt terrible for me and suggested they use a dummy roll to show me some tricks to ensuring the film is loaded correctly. Without thinking I pop the back of the rangefinder totally forgetting that I'd loaded a colour film earlier today to see how colour film was with the Leica. I had taken about 20 shots including Stranger #50 and #51 for my 100 Strangers project. #50 may be ok but the last couple of shots I'd taken were of Stranger #51.

The growing pains seem to be worsening. When will this turn around? Will it? Am I just too dense to get the hang of film and this Leica? It's nowhere near being the end of the world I know. Nobody died. Just the same I'm going to drown my sorrows in a good old fashioned pity party. Anyone got some chocolate to donate???

Journey's End

A dear elderly Scottish lady with a fierce spirit and sharp wit, whom I've had the privledge to know, came to the end of her journey yesterday. One is not supposed to become attached to patients but sometimes there is a connection with a kindred spirit and for me, this woman was one.
It was a privledge. May the road rise to meet you.

What is your Secret Journey?

The best song from the best album that the best band ever recorded. Sting is a great lyricist and the melody conveys so well the mystic feeling of those lyrics. For me, this expresses the essence of life's journey inward to truly know one's self.



We all have our secret journey to follow. May yours have more joys than sorrows.

Growing Pains

It's been a few weeks and in that time I've shot two rolls of film with my brother's old Spotmatic, a colour and a B&W (photos 1 & 2). A few decent shots were salvaged. At least I could meter in camera.

Not long after that, my Leica M3 rangefinder arrived. I had picked up an Leitz tele-elmarit 90mm 2.8 (Canada) lens at my favourite local shop, partially paid for with a gift certificate thank goodness.

I've shot three rolls of B&W with my M3 but only one roll of Arista 400 has been developed at the lab.

The Arista 400 is pretty grainy when scanned which is what I had done. I shot the roll using the Sunny 16 rule. Overall, I found the shots a bit over exposed with insufficient contrast. A little tweaking of levels was needed in Lightroom. Truthfully, a lot of tweaking was needed to get sufficient contrast (photos 3 and on).

I have two rolls to drop off today, another of Arista 400 and a roll of Ilford HP5, both known for their grain. We'll see how I made out later this week. I've now loaded a roll of Neopan 400 which is what I used in photo #1 with my Spotmatic. I'll be interested to see what what I'm able to do with it in the M3. I also want to use the Sekonic light meter I picked up to see if that makes a difference. I like taking candid shots so using the light meter will inhibit that a bit.

Stay tuned and hold onto your seats. My learning curve may have some sharp turns.

Taking the Plunge

Today I ventured out to our local fall fair with my Pentax Spotmatic in hand, loaded with Neopan 400 B&W film and a positive attitude. Focusing with the focus grid in the middle proved to be a real challenge for my aging eyes. Oh for a split screen! Trying to MF and get decent candids was asking the impossible. I finished a 36 exposure film in the midst of the pig auction. One of the auctioneers was very animated and I hoped to take a few more shots of him. However, when I pulled up the spool handle to rewind the film I pulled up a bit to firmly and popped open the back of the camera. My heart sank. There go those auctioneer captures. Grrrrrrrrrr

I came home in disgust at my stupidity but then cut myself a little slack. Rome wasn't built in a day and getting the hang of film won't happen quickly either. I'll take the first roll in on Monday and stick to my dslr till I get those prints back and re-evaluate my choice of settings etc, see what worked, if anything and what didn't. Good or bad, I'll post some here.

Stay tuned...

One step forward means two steps back

I've been feeling bored and disappointed with my photos for the past while. When I look at them, they look dull and predictable. I can't seem to find anything to inspire me. I whined to a couple of friends of mine who are pro's. They assured me that this should be celebrated, that I'm becoming more critical of my own work and it's time to step it up to the next level.

I found something to inspire me. I've been toying with learning how to shoot film since the spring. I've never done it except in the past with 35mm P&S to capture family snaps. I really want to step things up a notch and figure the best way to really get a handle is to go back to basics. I can't think of a better way to do this than by being forced to slow down my shooting and really learn to think about my shots, the light, exposure etc. It will make me a better photographer in the long run. I know I depend on my dslr to figure things out for me , just making adjustments to aperture, shutter speed and ISO according to what it tells me. I'm not thinking it all the way through. I snap away shooting hundreds of photos, going by hit and miss instead of really thinking about what it is I see and how I want to capture it. Shooting film will force me to think about all those things and being limited by the number of exposures on the film and the expense of developing, I will have to be selective about what and how I shoot.

A couple of years ago, before I got my first DSLR, my brother passed on to me his old Pentax Spotmatic F. I've hummed and hawed about giving it a try. Well, today I got the light meter fixed and bought some B&W film. I also got a used light meter. I'm working my way towards another MF camera that's on it's way to me, one that doesn't meter. Stay tuned to see what it is and what happens when I get my hands on it. Stay tuned. More to come.
Here we go...