Arran Salerno | Photography - Blog » Camera

A whole lotta randoms

admin — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 12:21:34 +0000

Ahh 2011.
2010 was bit of a whirlwind year for a number of reasons, so I’m looking forward to a more enjoyable new year.
To start off the new year I developed an old roll I had kicking around in a camera I don’t use very often. I couldn’t remember what was on it, so it was quite nice looking back over the last year from the perspective of random photos taken roughly over a several month period.
I’m looking forward to completing a couple projects/sets and starting a few more. Things had gotten stagnant for a period, but I’m somewhat relieved that has now changed. Fresh starts all round.

Some of these pics were in Melbourne, the others I have no idea.
(As usual, please forgive my crappy scans)

Oh, one more thing.
Came across some youtube videos today. They are from a documentary on Henri-Cartier Bresson and it’s brilliant. I think HCB is often misunderstood and his work over simplified. There is a lot more going on with his work than just “street photography” – a shallow term I’m actually getting a little tired of, as it’s continuously thrown around without much consideration. Anyway, that’s a discussion for another time and place I think.

The documentary is broken up into 5 parts so make sure you continue watching them in order. This is the first : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6l09YEeEpI
Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Olympus OM4 + Bessa Grip

admin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 04:57:06 +0000

Some months ago I decided to get back into black and white shooting after spending about a year shooting colour on a p&s.
It’s always refreshing to have bit of a change, and whilst I don’t make a conscious effort to exclusively shoot on one medium or another, I’ve found that I’ll naturally stick with one or two cameras/types of film unless I make an effort to mix things up a little. whichever way I “mix things up”, I inevitably find myself turning to the OM series, or one of my rangefinders. I’ve tried other SLR systems over the last few years but they don’t feel as natural as the OM system to me (if you couldn’t already tell by the number of OM’s I have and use).
Anyway, I got this OM4 for free after the previous owner told me it had electrical problems. It sat on my shelf until earlier in the year when I decided to find out once and for all if it was working. First step was to try and give it bit of a clean – the camera had come from someone who originally lived in the Northern Territory, so it was covered in that distinctive N.T red dirt/dust. I couldn’t see any obvious problems so after sourcing a battery cover from a generous member at RFF, I put a test roll through it and to my surprise everything worked perfectly.
After a few days I was looking at my Bessa R3A and noticed how similar in size it is to the OM SLR’s. From this I eventually discovered that the Bessa grips fits on the OM4 (and others) with ease. The grip is actually a little bit big for the OM4 (as the Bessa appears to be larger), but it does the job very well. The ergonomics of the camera have improved substantially and it doesn’t stand out too much or add any noticeable weight. It’s a bit ghetto I know, but I’m thinking it’ll give me more street cred now… Will attach to a Holga next for maximum hipster coolness…

Expired Film

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:28:41 +0000

Just like cameras, I hoard film, and for some reason I quite often come across people throwing it out, or shops clearing it off their shelves.
I can’t stand the thought of film being thrown in landfill somewhere when it can be used for something creative or fun. It’s just a waste. So as a result I have quite a lot of it.
Mostly I just load it into one of my mju:II‘s and keep it in the car or in my pocket and shoot anything that come to mind. A lot of the time they don’t turn out, and from the ones that do, only a small number are “keepers”. I’m not really bothered. This “low stress” type of shooting is what got me into photography in the first place. It’s something I lost for a couple years. Instead I’d agonise about the shot I wanted to get, the preparation and post work etc. It became a chore and not enjoyable.
These days I just shoot for the fun of it and the final result isn’t the prime importance. I find it a lot more fun now.

Below are some shots from expired film I’ve been using. I’m not even sure what it is. Just some consumer grade Kodak 200 & 400 iso I think. These are some scans of the prints so things aren’t as sharp as they’d be from a negative scan, but I kind of like the aesthetic anyway.
Some shots are from my ongoing A car took me there series.

Urban Study

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 02:40:40 +0000

As part of one of the subjects in the Masters course I started at the beginning of semester, we had to document a urban social phenomenon. Here are a few photos from the set of 15. To sum it up briefly, the photographic essay was looking at the dichotomy of conformity and individualism in the Sydney CBD. Taken in context with my essay and annotations it was well received.
For the project I used the little S90 which performed quite well I thought and was a fun change from film. The b&w conversions aren’t as bad as I anticipated also but not particularly special.

A Car Took Me There

Arran — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:39:45 +0000

Been doing a bit of driving lately, so it’s only natural that some of my photos are taken from the car.
Here are a few from a set.
My scanner doesn’t like film anymore, so I have to scan prints – luckily I always get prints.
I’m gradually going through a big bag of expired colour print film I got for nothing a little while ago. It’s been a nice change from black and white, plus I like the random colour casts that may/may not happen depending on how the film has been treated over it’s life.

Oh yeah, I’m still here

Arran — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:48:02 +0000

Been quite a while since my last post for a number of reasons. Nothing bad, all good, but my priorities have been with offline pursuits lately. I’m trying to minimise the amount of time I spend on the net and computers in general also, which is kind of hard seeing as though my job entails alot of computer time!
Anyway, I’m still taking photos, mostly colour though, and mostly with a p&s Olympus Mju:II – photo attached as proof! I’m finding it alot more fun with a p&s, I seem to put less pressure on myself, and photography has become alot more enjoyable. I like my photos more too.
Will give another more detailed update again soon. Have a couple of projects I’ve been progressing with, and my entire website will be rebuilt with a slightly different focus. Time has been a precious commodity lately though!

Last for a while

Arran — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:29:56 +0000

Just some random scans I had lying around. Been shooting colour lately, and waiting to get about a dozen rolls finished to developed them in one hit (i’ll be doing it myself). These may be the last b&w shots I post up for a while.

Sydney Camera Market… Again

Arran — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:20:53 +0000

I’ve been to the last few camera markets in Sydney and have had a lot of fun. A great range of cameras, most at pretty good prices. I never actually “need” anything when i go, so normally set myself a very low budget (about $20) and try to have a bit of fun searching around for something a little different.
The market this time didn’t seem to have the selection compared to previous times i’ve been. I also noticed quite a lot of the same cameras doing the rounds – they must not of sold last time. The instant vibe i got wasn’t that great, so thought that i’d have my work cut out for me this time. The place was crowded as ever(which is a positive thing), but the number of rangefinders and “cheapies” had fallen considerably.
Did the circut a few times but didnt notice anything, so started to get a little concerned. I’ve never left this place empty handed before!
As the time on the parking meter grew closer to running out, things weren’t looking good.
Desperately searching a table for something that will make my time spent worthwhile I lift up the strap of an overpriced SLR and notice the unmistakable shape of a Konica Big Mini BM-201.. I test it and buy it. Well under budget, so there’s still hope
I get to a table i’ve been to a few times before, but now have a bit of room to look around (did i mention it was crowded?). I think my eyes have trained themselves to spot out anything with black paint and the name Olympus on it. That’s how i found this little guy.
When I picked the EC up I wasn’t expecting to the silver bottom plate, and was actually a little disappointed when i noticed it. But, the added “quirkyness” of the silver bottom plate started to grow on me, and now I quite like it. I doubt there’d be too many other Panda EC’s around also.
There was a label on it saying “needs service” so i asked the vendor what was wrong, he said the shutter was stuck, but I knew these little guys were battery dependant so thought it may only need new batteries and decided to take a gamble on it. All up I was still under budget, but decided to call it quits. People were still rolling in, and I noticed an increasing number of people with an aversion to deodorant, so took that as my queue to leave.
Getting home I searched the net for battery adapters and found an easy solution involving aluminum foil – it’s pretty handy stuff.
Put some old batteries in it and hey presto, the shutter works.
Anyway, that’s that. I’ve attached a leather wrist strap to the EC and will putting a roll through it next week hopefully. It’s a neat little camera. Very compact and well built. Will try the Big Mini out eventually also. I wonder how well it performs with flash photography.

A Nice Find

Arran — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:38:21 +0000

Well, sometimes you get lucky.
I have stayed away from that evil online auction site for a while now, but the other week I was killing some time so took a look at the camera section. Nothing amazing really, but I found a listing advertising some Minolta SRT’s and a bag full or random stuff. For some reason I clicked on the link even though Minolta doesn’t really interest me.
In the photo, amongst all the other “stuff” I saw two other lenses which werent for the Minolta cameras advertised. They were Olympus OM Zuiko’s – now I started to get interested. I ask the seller what lenses they were and was a little skeptical about his response. But decided to bid and win the auction, eventually receiving the package a couple of days ago.

After opening the packing, the first thing I see is the original large Olympus system bag with individual compartments, so that’s a good sign. I dig around and find the lenses – 2 mint Olympus Zuiko’s.
The first is a later multi coated Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 – nice, but nothing overly amazing (plus i already have a couple)..
The other was a little more interesting – a Zuiko 24mm f/2…..
24mm f/2 !!.. In the original case too..
I wont say what I paid for it, but it was less than what some 50mm f/1.4 go for on their own, so you can probably imagine I was pretty happy.
The only other 24mm f/2 I’ve seen for sale in comparable condition went for over $1000 AUD.

Anyway, I’m dying to give the 24mm a go. Always wanted to try a 24mm on my OM system, never thought it’d be the f/2.
I’ll be running some Legacy Pro through the camera. If you havent heard of it, it’s rumoured to be re-branded Fuji Neopan and Acros – same country of manufacture, same development times, same characteristics. I’ve been interested in trying it as Neopan is probably my favourite 400iso film of all time.

They have the ugliest looking pack design i’ve ever seen though though =/

Some shots around Sydney

Arran — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:33:53 +0000

Developed an old roll of Tri-x and found some shots I took in and around the city. Alot of the shots are in the same area as an old set i did around Circular Quay with the Olympus Trip.
I shot this roll in my Bessa – a camera i haven’t been using lately. I seem to of gone back to my Olympus OM’s which i’ve found are with out a doubt my favourite cameras to shoot with. That’s no real secret though i guess.
Got a few rolls to put through the Mamiya RB67 which i cant wait to start using again. I’m going to finally bite the bullet and get a new scanner though for the 120 film.