believe in film – Page 2

Things I have learned

April 10, 2015 by Jes

I had a chance to take a workshop with Wing Young Huie a few years back. To any fellow photographers that might be reading this, if you have a chance to do the same, take it. Do it. You won’t regret it. I could gush about him for awhile. One piece of wisdom he told us is to give yourself time when photographing a place. Stay longer than 1/2 and hour. Stay longer than an hour. Stay two hours. Or three. But be there, be present, and give yourself time. You will like the images you get more, the longer you are there, because you are seeing past the surface of the place, and into the details. When life gets busy, and I feel like I am just “squeezing” in time for my artwork, it is hard to feel I have the luxury of time. But I often think back to that workshop, and somehow make time. I did that on Sunday when I was photographing. I stayed out there, walking around, taking photos. I stayed out for over 2 hours, I think…really, I lost track of time. But I stayed. And I got images I really like. And I will make something cool out of them.

I currently work at a community college, as most of you probably already know. I am often surprised at what I learn at work, not just from the department faculty, but from the students as well. One student, whom happens to be wise beyond his years, said to me to not think about more time than you can handle. He said there was a time in his life that he was working on just making things work in 5 minute increments. He then proudly stated that currently, he is up to about a week at a time. And he is right. Currently, I think I am at 10 minute increments. Maybe tomorrow will be longer, maybe shorter. But I can handle 10 minutes, and that’s pretty good right now.

Collecting images for Made Here

April 9, 2015 by Jes

I am collecting images for the new piece I am creating for Made Here. Editing, making adjustments, adding, subtracting…

This is all part of my process.

All above images taken with Kodak Ektar film and a Mamiya C330 camera.

Long days

February 23, 2015 by Jes

Days stuck at home being sick can get really long. Today, after feeling like I would burst without a bit of creative time, packed up my laptop, notebook, and some sketching tools and headed back to bed. Yes, just like a little kid taking all their toys to bed with them. It helped though. I stayed put for most of the day, and am starting to feel a bit more human. I participated in Wet Paint’s Weekly Work-Outs by making a charcoal sketch of my hand. No, it isn’t great, I haven’t sketched for a very long time. But, I started sketching again today.

I also edited the black and white film photos I took of the swans a couple of weeks ago. I realize that it is not at all easy to photograph swans with black and white film, and that I should have brought color film with me. But I am still enjoying these. I have a 150mm lens for my Hasselblad, which is what I was using for these. Not as much zoom as the lens I had with for my digital. Next time, I think I will bring a different film camera with that has a bit more zoom capabilities. I rather like being able to get in really close to them. But, I do adore the square format and the graininess of these photos! Different mediums…

Hopefully I’ll be back out to photograph these birds again soon. This year has already brought about many changes and challenges and a dose of sorrow. But so every year goes. And perhaps we are wrong to think each year will be different in that respect. When really, the years are the same, with their ups and downs, but each has a different theme. Maybe the theme of this year for me will have something to do with nature. I don’t expect it will take me long to find out!

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1/5/15 – Sea Wall

February 4, 2015 by Jes

From my journal:

Tomorrow morning we start a long journey home. Today, our last full day on this little island, we spent the hours walking by the ocean wall, we ate green tea KitKats, grocery shopped, read while sitting out on the patio, ate lunch at a chicken and waffle restaurant, had more of Julie’s awesome Yakisoba for dinner, and enjoyed our last day of hanging out here. Everything is packed already. It is only a matter of time before we are back.

To the friends that took such good care of us, thank you a million times over!

Film photos from our last day:

1/4/15 – Kokusai

February 3, 2015 by Jes

From my journal:

Today we walked around Kokusai – downtown Okinawa. There were street vendors, Okinawan doughnuts, fresh brown sugar being chipped off a large block, fresh pineapple on a stick, traditional places to eat, sweet beans and mochi, the fish market, crowds, malls, sales, lots of sunshine, the kids being happy, the craziness of Japanese streets and markets, Hello Kitty stuff everywhere…it was so much fun! We walked until our legs and feet ached. We did a lot of shopping, and I took a lot of photos again.

Today was great. This whole trip has been amazing, from the roller slides, to the food, and all the fun stuff we did in between. The best part is experiencing all of this with friends who love exploring and trying new things as well as we do. I can’t wait to come back and visit them again!

Film photos:

1/3/15 – Koza Music Town

February 2, 2015 by Jes

From my journal:

Today John and I went out to do a little exploring on our own of Okinawa City and Koza Music Town. There were a few places open, though many were still closed for the New Year holiday.

We did find an arcade where we played Mario Kart (so much fun!) and a small punk record and clothing shop. We had a good time and were quite worn out after from all the walking! I took a lot of photos of the buildings and empty streets. There is such a mix of new and run-down here. I remember noticing that when we were in Japan before on the main island, but I feel like it is more prominent here. It was a beautiful day to be out walking! And more sushi for dinner!

iPhone photos:

Okinawa street…

There was a one-block stretch of buildings that had the craziest wall murals painted all along them!

Film photos from the day:

1/1/15 – Toguchi beach

January 31, 2015 by Jes

From my journal:

Today was the first day that the weather was crummy enough that I didn’t mind spending much of the day inside.

We did spend the morning out exploring one of the local beaches – Toguchi. It had caves to climb around, and at low tide you could walk out pretty far on the rocks. Even though it was cold and windy, it was still great to be out there.

After lunch, John and I went shopping with Julie. We found a set of pots that I fell in love with, and after some research and realizing they aren’t sold in the US, we bought them. We also did a bit of clothes shopping at UniQlo. I am not ashamed to admit that I am kind-of in love with that store!

We made fried rice for dinner. Eric and Julie have been cooking for us multiple night, and we thought it was definitely time for us to make something!

Back to more adventuring tomorrow!

Film photos from that day:

12/31/14 – Yomitan Pottery Village

January 29, 2015 by Jes

From my journal:

Today we went to the Yomitan pottery village. It is close to where Julie lives, and different from the pottery village we visited the last time we were here…this seemed somehow less geared towards tourists, and more local. It was beautiful! We bought quite a few pretty pieces! The little independent shops were adorable.

This village has the largest outdoor kilns on all of Okinawa. They are built into the sides of the hills and the doors are bricked up each time they do a firing, and broken down again when the firing is done.

There were not too many people around as New Year’s is a huge holiday here and many places close down. There was still plenty to see, and plenty of little shops open. It was such a lovely walk today, with lots of sunshine!

An outdoor pottery workshop

The doors to the giant outdoor kiln that are used to load and unload pottery. There was a pile of bricks at each one.

One of the large outdoor kilns – this one was right in the middle of the village.

This is where they would have lit the fire for this kiln. I’m not sure if this one is used anymore, or if it is just kept there to show. There were four other kilns just like this near the edge of the village. They looked much the same, but the other four had more modern roofs on them.

Many of the little pottery shops had displays set up outside and on the porches. Each shop was basically just a house with a large display room in the front. They were all packed full with shelves and as much pottery as they could fit on display.

Film photos from that day:

12/30/14 – Nakakazuku

January 28, 2015 by Jes

From my journal:

Another day of exploring! After the day at the crowded aquarium, it was nice to go somewhere a little more quiet. We went to the Nakakazuku castle ruins today and spent almost 3 hours exploring and taking photos. The grounds were beautiful, and filled with flowers and green grass.

On the way we stopped at a small local shrine that was in the middle of getting ready for the New Years celebrations. The shrine was pretty high up the mountain, and the view from the parking lot was quite incredible!

When we got to the castle, and looked out from the highest parts you could walk to, we could see the temple out on the hillside. We could see a lot from the top of the ruins!

We could also see a large abandoned hotel. The story goes that it has been abandoned for many years because the site is very haunted. The builder went crazy while constructing the hotel, building uneven walls and hallways. The hotel did eventually open, but closed as many patrons were dying because of the spirits that haunted the place. You can go on a “haunted island” tour and go through the inside of this hotel…but we opted just to look at it from a distance.

Many places in Japan have special stamps that you can get for being a visitor. They are meant to go in a passport type book that kids can have fun filling up. I put my stamps from the castle in my journal.

I was having fun making panoramic photos with my iPhone while we were there standing on the top of the castle walls.

Different parts of the castle area are roped off as they are still being excavated and preserved.

I took a lot of film photos…the most I have so far on this trip. Here they are:

[Show picture list]

12/29/14 – Okinawa Aquarium

January 29, 2015January 26, 2015 by Jes

From my journal:

Today we made the trek to the aquarium. It is around 66.2km from where we stayed, but factoring in traffic, road construction, stop lights, a break for lunch, and a packed parking lot, it took us almost 3 hours to get there. The scenery was awesome though!

The aquarium was pretty spectacular with a giant 4 story aquarium view at the end with 3 huge whale sharks, many different rays, and two dolphins – one that kept swimming behind one of the sharks, trying to bite his tail, and one that kept sneaking up behind fish and goosing them.

At the very bottom, the glass from the observatory sloped into the tank so you can look up at fish swimming above you. One of the rays would swim to the top of the curved glass and slide back down.

We spent over 3 hours walking around there!

The views outside were beautiful. You could look out over the ocean from where you entered. There were so many little gardens planted around, it seemed like there were flowers everywhere.

On the way home we took a back road that cut across and took us through part of the mountains. We drove through tiny farming villages with houses that looked like they were close to falling down, packed together in some areas along the mountain side.

There were little roadside shops set up along the road selling fresh oranges. We stopped and bought a bag from a woman. She kept giving us samples as we decided what variety to buy. 1000 yen for a huge bag of the sweetest oranges I have had in a long time…less than $10.

We eventually got back to the road we had come in on, and decided to take the expressway the rest of the way to save a bit of time. Julie said something in Japanese that made the man working the toll booth giggle…we laughed the rest of the night about that!

So many adventures!

This is why we always take the back roads. You never know what you’ll find a long the way.

iPhone photos of the day:

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Film photos: