Travel photography – Late Developer

Olympus Tripped.

August 14, 2017August 14, 2017Ian McCLeave a comment

When the meter finally goes….

The inherent risk of bringing your 40 year old film camera on holiday is of course that it decides to call it a day. Before loading the Trip, I always give it a quick check to ensure that it responds reasonably appropriately to light – particularly that the wee red underexposed marker appears in the viewfinder. Day 2 of a trip to Tokyo and before the Fomapan was loaded, it was clear that the Trip meter had finally given up the ghost. However, before putting it back in the suitcase and relying on the Nikon F60, I remembered the manual aperture settings – a quick check showed these to be responding.

So, a pretty useless 1/40th constant shutter speed in a bright summer Tokyo day and it was Sunny 22 to see how the Trip would go on manual only. F22 for the bright outdoors and guess for the shade and indoors.

And… it went ok. Fomapan 100 is pretty forgiving anyway and with the bright harsh sunlight and deep shadows, I couldn’t really complain with the results from a 40 year old malfunctioning compact and a £3.50 roll of budget Czech film.

asakusa girls1 — Kimonos, Asakusa – a great range of detail captured by the Trippy

It would have been a challenge getting any sort of shadow detail here given the contrast between the umbrella and background.

Of course, with an aperture setting now to consider on the Trip, there was the added risk to forget about adjusting the zone focussing from “mountains” to “2 blokes“.

tokyo books — Bookstore. Blur unintentional..

orange street — Orange Street. In black and white

asakusa lady — Simultaneously shot on her own phone and my dodgy Trippy

The Trip of course, is a great street camera, all you have to remember is to set the zone focus. My immediate reaction when the meter went was to retire the Trip and have a look on The Bay for a replacement. But doing a quick Sunny 16 setting of the Aperture is no problem, and you can learn to live with the constant 1/40th shutter. The lens is as sharp as ever (after remembering to check the focus) and frankly there is no better looking 35mm compact out there. My meter-less Trip hasn’t had its last holiday just yet.

More Trip/Foma100 photos on the Flickr.

Me and Tennessee

June 5, 2017Ian McCLeave a comment

Then that ol’ song comes on… Together we’re singin’..

Any trip to the USA should include a visit to the music heartlands of Tennessee – Memphis and Nashville.

For taking photographs in the middle of summer however, it gets hot – 100F hot – and has the harshest of harsh sunlight, so glare and shadow are going to be a problem. I’d the trusty bog standard Olympus E450 with it’s 2 kit zooms which were fine as with the extreme brightness, wide open apertures weren’t going to be much use. And with a lot of colour being washed out with the bright light, black and white was the way to go.
So – a tale of two cities.

Music City

nashville_tubb — Ernest Tubb’s record shop, South Broadway, Nashville

Nashville’s South Broadway is exactly as you would imagine it – all guitars, boots and beer, and it doesn’t disappoint. Everywhere you look there’s neon signs offering all you can eat and drink to the soundtrack of country music. It’s a friendly city, accessible and has a laid back charm. There’s a lot more downtown than SoBo – there’s loads of walks by the river, countless music venues, Tennesse State Museum and many country music museums. However you’ll invariably end up back on Broadway with a beer in your hand and wearing a new hat.

nashville_Tequilla — Tequila Cowboy, South Broadway

nashville_htc — Honky Tonk Central, South Broadway

nashville_bootcountry — Boots – one of many offers

nashville_buffet — Wasted away again in….

For the big music venues, there’s the Bridgestone Arena on South Broadway but for the ultimate in country experience, there’s the Opry – a few miles out of town, and for $35 you can get an unforgettable country music experience.

nashville_opry — The wonderful Grand Ole Opry

nashville_bridhestone — Bridgestone Arena, Nashville

For sports, there’s the NFL (Tennessee Titans) , AAA Baseball (Nashville Sounds) or the Nashville Speedway – it’s about $10 for an evening’s racing.

nashville_cars2 — When you’ve had enough music, there’s cars

Memphis

About three hours away, Memphis is a very different experience. Where Nashville has a folksy touristy charm, Memphis has a wee bit of an atmosphere – a bit more tense, a much harder rock, blues and soul soundtrack and its central attraction Beale Street has an edge that’s great to experience but with a completely different feel. Still it’s well worth a visit – there’s Gibson Guitars, Rock n Soul and Stax Museums, loads of music venues and in like Nashville you’ll not go hungry or thirsty.

memphis__liquor — street bar, Beale Street

Memphis_hrc — Beale Street, Hard Rock Cafe

memphis_beale3_guns — Reassuring – no guns in this bar..

Memphis_buskers — Blues singer, Beale Street

Memphis_police — Sullivan’s Bar, Beale Street

Out of the cities, there’s a lot of Irish Heritage sites – this was the Rogan family homestead, 19th Century immigrants from Co Down.

rogan2 rogan1

Finally, no matter where you go you’ll be in the presence of Elvis Presley. Just don’t stand on the King.

More Tennesse pics on the Flickr https://flic.kr/s/aHsm1FiUpC

Ho Chi Minh City

April 29, 2017Ian McCLeave a comment

me and students — One of these Vietnamese students is a bald middle aged Irish bloke. Can you spot him?

6 days in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Or Saigon as everyone still seems to call it.
And it’s shorter to say. And type.
It was my first visit to Vietnam and won’t be my last. Very friendly people, great food and yoga and fitness in the public parks with pensioners at 6am. It’s hot, noisy but fun. And a delight to photograph.

Kit: Canon 5D, 50mm 85mm and 70-300mm lenses

Markets

hatgirl — This girl was intent on selling me a hat. She succeeded.

Traffic
Definite motorcycle culture here. When crossing the road it should be noted that traffic never stops, it just seems to avoid hitting you. There is a definite knack to crossing roads – I just always got close to a local. Seemed to work.

trafficchaos — Lights, lanes and yellow boxes seem so… European

mcyclegirl1 — The last parking space in Saigon

Messin’ on the Mekong

Nice Vietnamese People

seller nice — Buy some food and ask nicely for a photo

Also – when in Asia, take a selfie.

More photos on the Flickr.