Diana F+ Test Roll

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Shar

Lake Sanaru

I shot a test roll of 120 color film in my Diana F+ last year and had it developed it this month. I thought it was going to cost me around 1,700 yen for developing and prints but to my relief, it was more like 1,100. Here are a few of the shots, taken around Hamamatsu City and the Hamamatsu Flower Park. In comparison to my Holga, I think the Holga produces sharper shots, but the Diana F+ doesn’t have any light leaks and has even vignetting, which is quite nice. I’ll have to continue shooting with it to see how I like it. Both do feel different.

Hamamatsu Flower Park

Let Me Upgrade U

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Shar

All I can hear in my head right now is Beyonce’s “Upgrade U”. Maybe it’s because it’s playing in my iTunes and I have my headphones on. Or, maybe it’s because I’m looking at my EOS 20D sitting in a box and looking back on the 5.5 long and wonderful years we spent together.

One of the first photos I snapped with my 20D… setting up for my annual “Fake Christmas” Cookie Party on December 23rd.

Back in 2005, I bought myself a very generous Christmas gift: my very own DSLR, the Canon EOS 20D; and three Canon brand lenses. It was a big step up from my 4MP Canon Powershot s400, which I had spent all my high school graduation earnings on. I was getting ready to transfer to Sac State, where I studied photography, and while I owned a rangefinder and a manual SLR, I thought it would be best to invest in a digital SLR as well. I had no regrets spending my savings on the 20D. We stayed together for nearly six years, and we’ve been through so much together: shooting in the rain, in the snow, in Japan, in the Philippines, my engagement trip, my entire college portfolio, my web-shop catalog, The Misfit Bunny book, and so much more…

Self Portrait: 21; November 2006

Point Reyes, California; September 2007

Binan Laguna, Philippines; July 2008

Breakfast at Hotel Renew, Oahu, Hawaii; March 2010

Osaka Castle, Osaka, Japan; January 2011

Ahhh… good times. But, it was finally time for an upgrade. I’ve been dreaming about the day that I would hold my very own 7D in my hands ever since I first saw it on Gizmodo two years ago.

Just a few days before my Uncle Randy passed away, we had been messaging back and forth over the usual topics: cameras and Kit Kats. He had been the proud owner of a 7D for a year now, and he had finally convinced me to buy one. Nick helped me compare the prices and it turns out it was cheaper to get the body in Japan by about $200 — even if I had sent my yen back to the US and made a profit from the current exchange rate.

With the big summer trip coming up in just seven days, there was no better time to get the camera than now. So, as of today, I am now the proud owner of a Canon EOS 7D, and in honor of my uncle, I’ve named it Randy.

Eating our way through Osaka

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Shar

The Lost Blogs #16

Only one thing comes to mind when I think of Osaka: 焼き yaki! Yaki-tori, okonomi-yaki, tako-yaki, yaki-soba. Yaki-everything. Everything grilled!

We spent a weekend in Osaka back in January. Traveling by local trains to save money, it took 4 hours on the way there, and 5 hours on our return trip. We stayed in the strangely decorated Dotonbori Hotel, which has recently been featured in a blog as being one of Japan’s most stylish strange hotels. Actually, the hotel itself is not that strange. It has weird human-sized face statues on the outside, which made it easy to find, but the interior is that of your average business hotel. The rooms are small and basic, but clean. The rooms can also be quite cheap, especially considering its location in Dotonbori. It’s also only a few minutes walk from the city subway exits.

On our first day in Osaka, we spent our day in Umeda, also known as the Kita (North) district. We were able to do some shopping inside the HEP (Hankyu Entertainment Park) complex, and also had lunch and dessert in their food court. The dessert is one of my highlights of this trip. Have you ever eaten ice cream from a shoe before? I hadn’t, which is why I knew I just had to order the Cinderella Parfait, which came served in a glass slipper.

Cheese Katsu-don

In the evening, we headed to Namba, also known as the Minami (South) district to explore Dotonbori and the Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade. We skipped Den Den Town because we’ve been to Akihabara in Tokyo before, and we also skipped seeing Amerikamura as well. We were mostly there for the food. I ate some of the best okonomiyaki I have ever had at Mizuno Okonomiyaki, where the food was actually cooked for us by the chef. Then, we ate at Daruma Dotonbori, which is supposedly the original kushi-katsu restaurant. I always thought that the original kushi-katsu was pork, but it is actually beef. The skewered cheese and skewered mochi were also very delicious. On Sunday, we stayed in Dotonbori to continue our food itinerary. We ate yakisoba for breakfast, followed by a serving of takoyaki.

Our last stop in Osaka was to visit the reconstruction of Osaka Castle. The castle was destroyed in 1615, rebuilt in the 1620s, and then struck by lightning and burnt down in 1665. The reconstruction interior is now highly modern and even features an elevator for easier accessibility. The museum is large and can take a couple of hours to see everything, especially if you take your time to follow the 3-D video tour. I thought it was a little strange.

Although it is one of the largest cities in Japan, I feel pretty satisfied with having spent just a weekend there. It is famous for its food, and I tried everything I wanted to eat there. But, I’ll probably be making a repeat visit for a day to show my sister around. Mmm. I can’t wait to eat okonomiyaki there again.

See the whole set on Flickr!

お散歩(a walk)

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Shar

Olympus XA-2
Lucky 35mm color film, expired 2007

Kakegawa Bird Park 掛川花鳥園

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Shar

The Lost Blogs #12

In November, we were invited to my friend’s town to check out the Kakegawa Flower and Bird Park (Kakegawa Kachou-en). The park is quite big and is home to several birds, which you can even pet and visit. It was my first time to stroke a penguin, feed an emu, and be so close to owls. I’ve also never seen owls that were awake before. We had an enjoyable time.