So as is the nature of things, the closer I get to my exhibition the more focus I gain in my activities and the pressure of time builds. It’s a trade off. I went to the dark room last Sunday and had a long session working some 2L sized prints, but one thing became clear quite quickly: the weighted metering of the A1 was all over the board and pushing all my film two stops had some serious negative effects on my tone gradients. If I was going to do all my prints by hand, it would take an eternity of finding the right time and filter combination for each one and a lot of finessing. So, I made the decision to go with digital prints this time, as I have a lot faster turn around loop in Photoshop than I do in the darkroom. Still, there is much to do. I have almost three hundred people invited to the show in Facebook but only forty replying so far. I need evangelism and physical media. Thus my postcard series charges to the rescue.

来月写真展を開催します。これから情報をだんだん呟きますから楽しみしてください！概要文章は下記になります。

「都会の中に息づくニッポンの技 床屋」

いつの頃からか、街から床屋が姿を消し始めた。日本の習慣が変わっても、床屋の店内で、確かな技術を持ち客を待つマスターたちは変わらない。 はさみを握り、くしを持ち、カミソリを磨く。 長年培って来た技術が、その腕にあった。床屋さんは世の中のもやもやとしたストレスを髪と一緒にきれいさっ ぱり切り落としてくれる。男たちは、ただ理容のためだけに通うのではない。密やかにたたずむ店のドアを開けると、１０年以上の付き合いになるマスターが笑顔で待っている。双方の関係は、いつしか気心の知れた存在で親友や親戚に近い。

Here is the update to my photography site

So, various factors of things changing at home have seen my writing take a dent in the last several months. I have posts, they’re just not migrated yet. I thought the WordPress Android app would solve all of this, but there’s a bug in the version that my phone uses that prevents me from signing in. In any case I’ll retroactively add those posts back ASAP, so follow the RSS. In the meantime, I now have a Google+ page where I also post my photography as close to daily as possible, so please follow. I will be making a David Ventura Photography fan page in Facebook soon as well, but for now I’ve cobbled together a working stopgap for the top page, which has been stripped down and is eventually going to target mobile, but it doesn’t look good in the Android browser yet.

Thanks for keeping up, and if you enjoy my writing or photography, follow me or subscribe with Google Reader!

Cheers!

There are many solutions to any one problem. Ultimately it comes down to a matter of cost, which is a subset of a matter of will. If only will were infinite and nor organic, then life would be simple. But will is a muscle that must be trained. To be precise it is the only muscle that really requires training. When will is supple, everything else falls into place.

At least I went out to buy a couple cans of Creamy Top.

Today is National Foundation Day, so I have time to get some things done. Weekday holidays are always more productive that weekends, because I’m in a work mood. So today I’m going to focus on finishing scanning Kyoto photographs, get some albums up, and a draft of my site renewal. Huzzah!

A couple of pictures I took last month in Kyoto with the Mamiya.

Left work today early at 8:30 feeling lousy and sore. Came home thinking I was going to flop but somehow managed to cook dinner, clean the kitchen, make tea and practice guitar. Now I feel much better (aside from my gastritis). If my mind would just spin down a little now I could get to bed before midnight perhaps. Just a little meditation…

It’s 11/2/1, or 1/2/11. Whatever format you choose, listen to 1-2, it has been and always will be the dirge for the vacuum created by my hubris.

So I have been thinking for a long time about moving to medium format, and finally with the close of my last exhibition I the pieces came into alignment and I made the transition, or rather, expansion. From a number of reputable sources, I decided to go with 6×7 as my format, and the Mamiya 7 as my camera. Long story short the merits are the most portable of medium format bodies with some of the highest quality glass available.

Currently I only have the F4.5/150mm lens, which is best suited for portraits and at some distance, so framing is something I need to get used to. In the market for a wide angle lens for street photography, thinking 50mm over the 43 ultra wide.

Since I need to share these wonderful photographs with the digital world, I bought a medium format compliant scanner as well. With the death of Nikon’s superb Coolscan series, I set my priorities on high DPI and Windows7 compliant, buying the Epson v750-M Pro. I only digitally print up to A3-nobi anyway, so ridiculous resolution is unnecessary. The true drool-inducing project for this camera is going to be oversized analog prints anyway.

Baby steps, baby steps.