Half Frame Diptychs

Window


School Desk


After the Snow Storm


Snowy Day


Olympus Pen EES

First test roll from my recently acquired Olympus Pen EES, half frame 35mm film camera.
Although I only paid $20 for this beauty, it is almost in mint condition. Everything, including the selenium meter is working well.

The Olympus Pen EES was launched in 1962. The camera has a 30mm f/2.8 zone focusing lens, equivalent to 45mm on a full-frame camera. It only has two shutter speeds; 1/40 and 1/200 second. Exposure is fully automatic, controlled by the selenium meter around the lens.
No batteries needed.

My Last Vacation to the Philippines

Hat Vendor, Bohol


Fisherman's Hut, Bohol

The best season to visit the Philippines is December to February. The climate is very pleasant these times of the year, not too hot and humid and the rainy season had mostly gone away.
It's been awhile since I visited my native country, the last time was after Christmas in 2005.
Above are a couple of my favorite shots taken in the island of Bohol.

Monster Bubbles

My studio shooting assignments are now slowly winding down for the season. Whew!!
I will have time to shoot more personal stuff.
The above image is an outtake that I took last year for a toy called Monster Bubbles. The toy actually produced these giant bubbles! The original shot was in color.

Todos los Santos

In my native country, the Philippines, we don’t celebrate Halloween like they do here in the United States but around this time we celebrate “Todos los Santos” (all saints/souls day) instead. Being predominantly Catholic, Filipinos celebrate this holiday by remembering friends and relatives who have passed on. It is similar to Mexico and Latin America’s day of the dead.
A few days before the holiday, Filipinos would clean and spruce up their cemeteries. They would re- paint the tombstones, mow the grass and remove the weeds around the grave sites. On the day itself, November first, families would visit the grave sites, bringing along candles and fresh flowers. The day is a mixture of solemn and merry occasion. It is a time to remember the departed love ones, to pray for them, conduct a vigil and at the same time to socialize with other relatives and neighbors who came to visit the grave sites.
And since Filipinos love to eat they usually bring food with them, not to offer them to the dead but to have a picnic along the site. The cemeteries would have a festive atmosphere; many flowers, candles and food stalls would be along the entrance.

1 Day Before Trick or Treat

2 Days to Halloween

3 Days Until Fright Night

4 Days to Halloween

Dacora Digna

Recently I rescued a rather ratty looking Dacora Digna medium format, scale focusing camera. Although it looked very well used, it is still very functional and the lens seems to be clean and clear.
It was made by Dacora-Kamerawerk, Reutlingen, Germany in 1954.
This Digna version comes with a collapsible Achromat Digna 80mm lens and one shutter speed (1/50 sec) plus B for timed exposures. It has two aperture settings, f 8 and f 11. Focusing is done by extending the lens from the body and turning the lens into three scale zones, 5-10 feet, 10-25 feet and 25 to infinity.

I loaded the camera with a Fuji Acros 100 120 roll film to test it but I’ve been so busy recently with commercial work that I couldn’t find time to finish the roll.

I will post images taken with it soon.

Busy in the Studio.

Switching gears for a moment.
My day job for the last ten years now, is an in-house photographer for a toy company in New Jersey. So far our company is blessed and is still thriving well in the present poor economy. Now is a very busy season for us, getting new products ready for the coming year.
I've been shooting kid models and toy samples for packaging design, catalog and on-line publication.
Above is my makeshift studio and a sample shot I did a couple of years ago. The bathtub is a set where we shoot bath toy products.

Last Days of Summer with the Kids

It's official, summer ended a couple of days ago.
I will miss our outings with the kids.




Table easel for her birthday.
She draws and paint with both hands!

10th Ave.

Boat Yard

Hay Stack Pyramid

Open Wide!

Now that summer is almost over, I will miss scenes like this for awhile.
Camera: Rolleicord IV Film: Neopan 400

Elevated Views

Downtown Street Corner


Observatory Deck


Art Trolly, a street artist with his mobile studio.

Camera: Canon P with Jupiter-9, 85mm f2 lens.
Film: Kodak BW 400CN

Urban Gardens

More out takes from my recent visit to the Queens County Farm Museum and the High Line park last week. The High Line is a former elevated train track that run on the lower west side of Manhattan, NY. The city reclaimed it and converted it into a beautiful promenade park.


Queens County Farm Museum, NYC


View from High Line


Urban Flowers, High Line, NYC


Urban Flowers 2, High Line, NYC


Dreaming of Daisies, High Line, NYC

Camera: Canon P with Jupiter 12, 35mm f2.8 lens.
Film: Kodak Gold 200

A Forgotten Cup

Old Window

High Line Park

Dessert

Holga 120N, Neopan 400

Queens County Farm Pow wow-Part 3

Camera: Canon P with Jupiter 9, 85mm f2 lens. Film: Kodak Gold 200

Queens County Farm Pow wow-Part 2

Camera: Holga 120N, Film: Fuji Neopan Acros 100

Queens County Farm Pow wow-Part 1

Last Saturday, I spent the day at the Queens County Farm Museum. They had the 31st Annual Thunderbird American Indian Mid-Summer Pow Wow, a three day event, participated by over 40 Native American nations.

I brought my Canon P rangefinder and Holga 120N with me.
I had photographed many Pow wows before using a SLR or DSLR with long zoom lenses. I usually concentrate on the dancers as they perform but this time I photographed the participants as they interact with their families and guests on the sidelines.

I will post images from the event as I finish scanning them.

Garden Seats

Camera: Canon P with Jupiter-12, 35mm f2.8 lens. Film: Kodak Gold 200.


Camera: Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim. Film: Kodak Gold 200, converted to monochrome.

One thing I miss, living in a small New York City apartment, is our own garden where I could just sit and enjoy the day.