Where's My Leica

Here is a big one. Digital shots. Left the Leica at home for a day. Yong He Gong Temple Beijing. Enjoy.

The first three shots are from the Temple of Earth in Ditan park. Ditan is a great part that is many people I think overlook. Beautiful and not crowded.

The rest of the shots are from 798 art district. Cool place, really commercialized now. There seems to be more stores than art galleries now.

All of these were shot on Ektar 100. This has become my favorite film by a long shot. Let’s hope that Kodak can pull themselves out of this cash crisis that they find themselves in. Otherwise, I’ll be trying some Fuji I guess.

There is no surprise that Kodak as a company in is trouble. They have mismanaged the company for years. So where does that leave us? At best, with a functioning shell of what once was that still makes film. At worst, without Tri-X and Ektar, the two films that I use most. Ah well, there is still Fuji, Ilford, Kentmere, Efke, Foma, Lucky and others still around if Kodak vaporizes. Or I could just pick up wet plate collodian and large format photography.

Here is my big holiday post. Sorry for all of the pictures, but they are why this site exists. These were all shot at the Summer Palace in North West Beijing. They were all shot with my Leica M2 and my 50mm Summicron Collapsible. Made in the late 50′s, I often wonder what other things my camera has taken pictures of. In the 50′s and 60′s Leica would professionally stamp your name into the top place of your camera. Mine has the name J.F. Ellison. I’ve done Google searches for the name, but it is a safe bet the former owner is either passed on, or has zero internet footprint. Oh well, it keeps the mystery alive.

All I can say is that the camera is still being put to good use.

Just finished a marathon session of scanning and this makes me feel great. Now I just have to tackle the backlog of film to process. Going to start on this tonight. I’ll be teaching recent film convert and friend Christopher how to process B&W. Without really trying too hard, I’ve converted him to a film shooter. He’s really going whole-hog and has pretty much dumped his digital gear.

On to the photos…

These were all shot with my Leica M2, and Summaron 35mm. Developed in D-76. The first two shots are Shanghai, the Bund to be specific. On the second, is the famous Pudong view. The place has been photographed to death, but it is still a cool view. Even with the new funky bottle opener building (Shanghai World Financial Center).

Photos #4 and #5 are in Hangzhou. They are taken from roughly the same place. Hangzhou is a good mix of traditional temples in the forests mixed in with city views. It’s easy to feel a country vibe even though you are so close to the city. This is one of the big draws for me. Growing up on the edge of Saskatoon meant that I was always less than five minutes from the country. Hello midnight Grasswood Esso races. Hangzhou feels like that to a degree, even though it is close to 8 million people. I just don’t feel that is Beijing. There are no forests to hide in.

The last shot is in Ningbo. It was near my hostel. Right on the lake, and it was one of the few beautiful places in the city. Overall, I wasn’t too big a fan of Ningbo. It was pretty dirty and felt very industrial.

Until next time.

Once again, all of these pictures were taken while I was on my trip down to Shanghai and Hangzhou in October. Just getting through the backlog of scanning. Forgive me for not spotting and cleaning them up as best as I could. If it is for the web, I don’t do as much as I would for a print. (Tech data – all taken with a Leica M2 and a 35mm summaron, shot on Tri-x and Neopan 400, developed in D-76)

The holidays are bearing down on me. I did some shopping for Christmas gifts last night and for the first time since being away during a holiday, I actually feel pretty bummed out. I want to spend some time in Canada with friends. The friends that you make in a place like Beijing *can* be like a light version of what most are used to. It is just the nature of the type of person here. The vast majority of foreigners are only here for a year, some times two.

Ah well, enough moaning. Enjoy.

Here are the initial scans from my National Holiday trip. I went to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Linping and Ningbo for a couple of weeks. I took only the Leica and 35mm Summaron. I shot Ektar 100 for color. I love that stuff. I shot Tri-x and Neopan 400 for B&W.
The more I use the summaron with Ektar, the more I like it. Super retro feel to the shots. The lens is soft, muted and low contrast. The photos come out looking like they were shot decades ago.

Sorry for the dust on the pictures. Looks like I need to clean the ol scanner.

This weekend I met up with an old friend from Linping who lives in Beijing now. She was wanting to learn more about photography and how to take better photos, so I said that I’d give her a crash course. These are some of the shots that I took. A big thanks to Vivian for being out model for the day.

So I have a bucket full of film that I need to develop. I just mixed up a batch of D76 stock and if I have time tomorrow, I’ll do up a couple of rolls. Now I just have to get a scanner. Should have brought mine from Canada.