Sorry...

Why am I doing this?...but who doesn't love these colorful dogs they have in Thailand. It's a rare pedigree breed indeed.

Notes From Underground

This I like. Spend time on the open sea. Since I decided last year to give my pro-photo life a siesta and seek new frontiers, learn new shit, see more stuff and just continue living life I have come to spend time in some pretty interesting locations. Went on a survey to a jack-up rig in the gulf of Thailand to check things out (won't go into details about the work scope of this). I finished what I came to do, then had all day just waiting to get a ride back to shore. Took a bunch of pictures, had about a gallon of NesCafe and finished reading my travel companion for the day, written 1864 (Notes From Underground - Fyodor Dostoyevsky…was thinking all the time that this must be Henry Rollins favorite). You would be surprised on how many avid readers of interesting literature I have worked with at sea.
Anyhow, you would also be surprised of how people in this industry live their professional lives, how "a day in" looks like for the people working out here. I was in the merchant marine for 10 years before I started photography and still dream almost daily about this "lifestyle" if you like (No Mom, it was not because I thought it was fun, it was the best option for a ticket out of hell!). The dirty business of tapping mother earth of hydrocarbon is different from shipping consumer goods and raw materials from one port to another, but the lifestyle, work ethics and environment is very similar. Like it or not, nevertheless, without it you wouldn't be able to read this blogpost on your slim iMac's.
It's a way of making a living and to experience what mankind is capable of in terms of defying a common way of thinking. Since I am too curious-for-my-own-good and a MF'ing pragmatic-thinker I more than often tell my self - how the fuck does this work!…how could some dude come up with this and make it work!?…by being a realist reading between the lines?!….anyway…good to be able to experience this. Gonna try to take it further...

Called a "Billy Pugh"...

Even the lunch comes in one...

Back to shore...

Cloudy sky, rain nearly breaking through. Clouds melt away under clear sky just to minutes later fill the gaps and give a filtrated grey-white cast over the whole scenery again. Tricky to shoot digital in this, but it gives some nice and strong contrasts to anything not being "grey-white" and "fluffy". I was shooting with my trusted G9 since this is my new "work" camera. It's though and is being treated really bad almost daily in environments the Canon technicians never would have though of putting it through. Give me a sponsorship Canon and I will put your gear to the test the blue-collar way.

Alohawaii (f.11 with a twist)

mold 2 ( Brit. mould)nouna furry growth of minute fungal hyphae occurring typically in moist warm conditions, esp. on food or other organic matter.• The fungi belong to the subdivision Deuteromycotina (orAscomycotina).



Just a slow Sunday in Songkhla, checking out this and that (I'm just a little ant)...





Propped up giant

Moon-ish landscape in the jungle  

Oldschool travel

Deserted Mosque construction site

I received the verdict last time Canon service tech guy looked at it. Mold due to humidity and lack of use on a regular basis developed a "branch" of fungal between one the three layers that makes up the sensor on my 5D. This would be visible only at around f.11 the technician believed and if I could live with this it should be alright. Since I shoot with 2 bodies and I had no time to wait the two weeks they needed to clear this to 100% I said -"No worries mate, I stay clear of f.11". Well, to be honest I do not really use this deep depth of field very often and since I do not shoot for clients with this body I didn't really care. Shit, getting careless…not good, not good indeed, hate careless people!



So check out these two images below, see that very artistic branch as of a dead tree of some sort on the bottom frame (right side if vertical)? Sensor mold in action folks...

Dog day afternoon

Oh no, it's blue today...!

Canon…stay true (Love me back or…)!

Talking cameras, a love/hate topic since I don't really like the whole technical aspect of photography at all.  I am and have been a Canon user for many years now. Lenses, flashes, camera bodies, printers, scanners...you name it. Two 5D bodies, one 1V (sold my backup 1N) 35mm film body, lens ranges from 15mm to 200mm (f2,8 lenses) and a complete Mamiya RZ Pro II medium format system with a 50mm and 90mm lenses. Back in the days, when I started I was learning the basics on an old Pentax my dad got as payment for fixing up a car for someone, he used it for years and years and I took it over after him. Then upped to Minolta 35mm (Alpha 7 and 9), and loved the 9 body with its superb grip and manual large setting knobs . I sold off my Minolta gear when they merged with Konica and stopped making "pro" stuff (they are now under the SONY flag). I choose Canon in front of Nikon due to it's ruggedness, handling and its more straight forward way of getting what I needed with the least fuckups. Never regretted this and always loved working with Canon gear. I carry a G9 "pocket" camera when the bulkier SLR's are just overkill. The G9 might not be what the G10 is but I've come to like this system and rely on it as a small but powerful backup/insurance.
I have almost stopped (almost…) looking for new gear the last couple of years due to what I have is just what I need. The occasional service and cleaning visit at Canon service center in Tokyo (superb safety net for someone like me who are shooting in far from ideal environments) is all. On the computer side I use Mac computers, same here, easy to use and they work!

However... Ran into this OLYMPUS E-P2 system the other day. And could tell from the brief encounter that this system "looks" pretty useful. Is there any one out there that have any feedback to give me on this camera? Changeable lenses, proper viewfinder, RAW setting, M/A/S modes, 12+ MP...worth checking out?








My e-mail address :


mwcpjapan@gmail.com

Sugar Kane

I know, pretty pointless…but I had a camera with me down to the beach this morning as well as last night. A tripod would have helped that moon/mood filled night. f2.8 and shutter speeds up to a couple of seconds has never given me sharp images and never will, but that is many times the beauty of it all, that feel of non perfection and new dimension. A german friend got a poster size hand held night image (sharp!) of the Giza in Egypt at 1/8th...!…I feel safe around 1/30th and up.

NRT-TPE-BKK

Transportation…from A to B via Z many times. I can't call this a trip, a trip involves experience the unknown, seeing how cultures and styles differs as you go. Life rolling on and the sun and wind shapes the mood of the daily routines. Sitting squeezed into cattle-class on a set of wings over the clouds has its charm but it's not travels in my book. Necessary movements to get ones ass in time at the right place…anywhere in the world. I liked however my fellow transit buddy's interior matching fleece hat and the fact that I was leaving a too cold Tokyo behind for a sunny and warm Thailand…

Sayonara Narita, mata 4649!

Feeding time

Above



Below

Taipei never looked more dull...

and then Thailand approaching underneath  …

                                                                                                           

…then a domestic flight down to Songkhla (it's never just a jump…never just "popping down to"…whatever…), driver picked up as scheduled and home (another one!), off with all clothes and just a gentle breeze through the room…confusing, yes…?