Chili cook-offs and 35mm

January 22nd, 2010 • chatter, food
Tags: 35mm, food, photography, yashica

The weekend is almost here for me, just about 10 more minutes and I’m FREE! I’m looking forward to this weekend because not only is the KISS Country Chili Cook-off on Sunday, this is the first weekend of the month I’ll be able to take some time to shoot film. Ever since getting the battery adapter for my Yashica Electro35 GSN, I’ve been dying to take it out and shoot. However, I’d not had the funds on hand to do so and I’m not about to waste my Porta and Fuji film stock on a camera with possible issues/light leaks. Wal-mart will be graced with my presence tomorrow when I go to pick up a few rolls of Superia 400. I’ve also got a backup for the Electro35 in case this one is a bust, my father just purchased another one and shipped it to me. The new one has a different custom leather case than mine does, so now I’m wondering if Yashica produced a number of different leather cases for them. Either way, will be cool to have two of them.

Tonight we’re getting dragged off to Singers Karaoke bar down on Sample Road and 95. I hate karaoke and I’m really not looking forward to going but I think it’ll be fun to see my buddy Jeff singing. It shouldn’t be as bad I’m imagining it to be but I know it’s going to at least yield some fun laughs. I’m going to take the Nikon D90 with me, but I’m unsure if they’ll allow it in. I’d definitely get up there and sing but I know for a fact they won’t have any death metal, grindcore, or really esoteric prog rock for me to belt out. I consider that a saving grace — not that I’d actually be singing, more growling. Depending on the camera situation tonight, I may not have a Project 365 photograph to upload.

Next week, after my classes, I’m going to try and do some shooting at FAU if I have the time. There’s some great landscape and fauna there. I’m typically just in too much of a rush to snap anything. I think this will be my push to finally get a super wide angle lens as my two zooms only go to 18mm (27mm on my APS-C sensor) and that’s just not wide enough for some of the stuff at school. I’ve got some great ideas for shots at the Breezeway/quad and of some architecture. I could do some fun shots with 12-14mm from the tops of the parking garages.

As mentioned, Sunday is the KISS Country Chili Cook-off. Another fantastic chance for photos except there’s no “professional cameras” allowed so we just have to get our Exilim snuck in. I’m really wanting to go because it’ll be with all of our friends and it just happens at the Zac Brown Band is going to be playing as well. Friends, beer, chili, and great music, not much else I can ask for. Except maybe good weather! This will be my first cook-off to attend in years so hopefully it’s not the last.

Time for Singers is almost here so I’ve got to go get ready!

New vintage toy from the present past – Photo of the Day #23

January 4th, 2010 • photography
Tags: 35mm, camera, cameras, d90, nikon, photo of the day, photography, project 365, project365, rangefinder, slr, yashica

This is my new vintage Yashica Electro 35 GSM 35mm rangefinder camera. It was built circa 1973 and is a testament to the industrial design that was so chic in 1970s Japanese culture. It was one of the first rangefinders available that made use of electronic step-less shutter which was controlled by an electro-magnet. It’s built like a tank and has atrocious ergonomics, which apparently didn’t exist at all until the late 1980s in camera design — my early 1990s Yashica 230-AF displays a dramatic change in body shape, built for hand-holding compared to the Electro 35 GSN.