Skateboarders With A Hasselblad in Paris

While in Paris last week, I wanted to photograph something different than the usual fare. I found a group of skateboarders doing tricks outside on the plaza in front of a museum.  I had full intentions of simply photographing them, then an idea struck me to give them the Hasselblad and let them create images with it.

I loved their enthusiasm for the film camera! After racing past me and defiantly jumping stairs, doing flips, flirting with danger at high speeds, they stopped and were in awe of the slow shutter feel of a film camera. In this video, Mikael takes his time to align the frame, and even worry a bit about his movement while releasing the shutter.

In our day of rapid digital capture and competing distractions, the seduction of a slow film camera still exists. I plan to teach a workshop using vintage cameras in the near future.  I see a thirst in young minds for this type of camera.

Vintage Cameras: Yashica Mat 124g

This is the first film image I have shot in a long, long time. Martin (a participant in the recent street photography workshop in BC) is the owner of a Yashica Mat 124G that I snagged away from him to snap his quick portrait. Oh, how it felt good to feel this camera in my hands, and admire that delicate leaf shutter.

Phantom Of The Opera

I love using the Canon G11 to film things that I see along life’s interesting road.  Here is the lovely Poison Waters in Phantom of the Opera, filmed at Darcelle’s in Portland, Oregon.

Video is here. (Quality is not as good as the video I shot of Jack White in Dead Weather…not sure what happened on the upload to YouTube.)

Still image:

Goodbye Camera

I just received a beautiful photo from a far away land, sent by the person who bought one of my Canon 5Ds. It is like I gave it up for adoption, and now it gets to see things I will never see. I’m very happy about it all…but then, I feel a tiny tug of heart since it was my constant companion for many years.

I wish it the best, and I am thrilled to see what it can do when cherished in the arms of another. I never pointed it toward a landscape, and could not capture something such as this.

My shiny new camera sits near me, all awkward like a new lover.

The above photo was taken by Drew Burdick.  He sent this poem to me, along with the photo:

aloha, rhythm:
the heartbeat
of an ocean.
headlights on the breeze,
found beneath
this single tree:
mahalo, love.