Planet Randy

I just got to straighten the roof rack and we are ready to roll over again. (hehehe…)

Here’s how she looked before she was molested by me.

This past weekend we went to the Weston Gallery to meet with one of my favorite photographer’s (Brett Weston) daughter, Erica Weston and to have her and John Woods’ book signed. We also got to see some of Brett’s prints and they are wonderful! The images in his books do not do them justice. I can see why one of my favorite prints has a price tag of $29,000!

As a bonus, I got to see other prints from other photographers that inspire me such as Michael Kenna, Edward Weston, and Ryuijie. I was really curious on how Kenna’s toning look – it has a subtle coolness in the dark and warmth in the highlights, I really like it.

With the rise of digital cameras and inkjet technologies – I applaude Ilford for coming out with a new black and white fiber base paper. Simon Galley, Company Director for Ilford and an APUG subscriber, indicated that the paper will be released internationally on March. It has been available in Europe and Moersch Wolfgang has tested it on his lith developer and posted some samples on Flickr. Reports have been positive.

Ilford continues to be dedicated in the support of analog photography with new silve-based materials. I can’t wait to try these out!

This story is so amazing and inspirational. She was a giant of photography and a significant discovery.

John Maloof found over 100,000 of her negatives in an antique auction with some rolls still un-developed! He then scanned and posted it on a photography site. The response he received was just outstanding – no surprise as Vivian’s photos are amazing.

I can’t wait to get her DVD and book!

My OM-1n was recently killed in action. After about a year and half of service, including a tour of duty in Cancun, Mexico, the film cock (hehehe… I wrote “cock”) got stuck.

I will most likely have it repaired again but in the meantime, I think I will enjoy my father’s Canon AE-1. I had it CLA’d recently and it’s been working like a champ, though, I can’t use my OM lenses on it. However, I do have a 50mm F/1.4 and an M42 adapter so I can use my Pentax SMC Takumars on it.

I recently participated in APUG’s Blind Print Exchange program where analog photographer’s blindly exchange prints (like a Christmas White Elephant). The sole criteria is, the print from conception to creation must be completely analog. They are now on round 10 and I’m happy to say I received my print.

The prints you get are exceptional both in image composition and print quality. It gives me the opportunity to see what other people do with film photography. The last round of BPX, I received a palatinum/palladium print – a print process I am yearning to learn. It’s very expensive because of the materials use to make the emulsion, but the image quality you get is unbelievable.

Dropped the 5D on the floor tonight whilst the 70-200 F4L lens still attached. Freaking Arca plate!!! The 5D seems to be fine, but now the lens is hard to manually focus and it seems to be back focusing too. Looks like I’ll be heading to Canon Irvine for repairs this week. I’m looking for a silver lining in all this but it’s hard when I have to spend money for repair. Well, the 5D needs a sensor cleaning anyway.