kodak
The "Day In The Life" Documentary Photosession is something I am now offering to you all!
Regardless of where you may be in life, I enjoy creating photographs that tell a real authentic story of who you are and photographing true life moments. This is quite different from sessions whereby you are posed and asked to "stand there" and "say cheese". I leave directing to a minimum.
Read MoreA question I sometimes get is "Why do you use film?" In this day and age of iPads, SD cards and digital SLRs and phone cameras, it is a bit odd for someone to keep using film.
While there are a multitude of reasons that I still continue to use film to this day, I'll list my 3 biggest reasons and especially how it applies to a wedding day. It should be noted that I still bring a digital SLR with me for certain uses but a majority of images I shoot (if not all) are on film.
Reason #1: The Film Look
I love the look of film. Love it. There's just something about it. The images I'm able to get using film feel very organic. I personally use a 35mm Leica camera with black and white film to achieve a certain look. The "skin-tone-focused" films have amazing color and they are my "go to" for weddings (Kodak Portra 400 and 800 being my favorites right now).
I feel very blessed to be able to have both film and digital technologies at my disposal. However, on any given trip or assignment, I'll have film with me.
Reason #2: It's Tangible
Instant prints! Negatives! The Dark room is a ... well, it's dark. There is something quite magical about holding the photographs in negative form and seeing, in your hands (and not on a computer screen) the negative of the image you've taken. It's real. It's there. It's not 1's and 0's.
Instant photography is just as awesome and tangible in a different way. Take the picture, let the picture develop and... a few minutes later, you have a real print in your hands. This is a one of a kind print!
Reason #3: The Approach
Not having an LCD screen on the back of the camera actually helps me. Instead of constantly checking a screen, I find that I am more "in the moment" and looking for the next photographic opportunity to come together.
Mind you, being able to check the photo on the spot is very useful in certain situations but I find that working without helps me be able to track and photograph moments when the time is right. Being a documentary photographer at weddings, this is huge for me as moments are passing by very quickly and I like to keep my eyes open for new moments instead of LCD screens and histograms.
I'd love to hear from you if you're ever interested in questions about film and also the documentary approach I use. Feel free to comment below or send me an email :)
-Jonathan Desmond-
While I photograph a majority of the time in black and white, I truly feel that there are times when colour is the approach I want to take. The tone of an entire image, or even set of images, changes when using colour or black and white.
I know there are times when we photographers have said that we change colour images to black and white when they're kinda sucky and "black and white will save it". Not to me. Black and white is a language... a language of photography. Colour is another language. Just like languages, different tones and expressions can affect the mood of the conversation and/or... photograph.
To me, black and white is not a crutch to lean on nor is it a "style" I choose. To me, it's a way of thinking and a way of seeing the world...
Then I see a lush forest with a brilliant green and think to myself "I can best express this feeling I get from this moment using colour."
The images were all taken during a recent rainy/cloudy/overcast hike around Lighthouse Park in Vancouver.
Nikon film camera + Ektar 100 film (scans adjusted to a Portra setting)
The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove led us to an intersection that allowed us to head in different directions. Head North and you can see some of the larger temple areas. Head South and walk along the river towards a famous bridge and potentially a monkey park. We opted instead to go up the nearby hill, which led us to a place called "Okouchi Sansou."
After exploring the beautiful and peaceful gardens of Okouchi Sansou, slept and made our trip the next day to the famous Kiyomizu-dera temple. It is here where we decided to have a little fun and dress up in kimonos. I have to say that I was not used to walking around in wooden sandals and a heavy gown but it was surprisingly comfortable despite walking up and down the hilly area of Kiyomizu-dera.
We later visited the area of Nara, which is a city a good distance away from Kyoto. It is here that deer roam freely in some of the parks and are quite tame... right up until they realize you have food or food-like objects on you.
At this point in the trip, I was starting to run out of film and decided to conserve my shots. With just a few frames left on a roll of black and white film, I took photographs of the Fushimi-Inari Shrine at night (we arrived quite late and were literally poking around in the haunting darkness) and finished the roll with just a few frames left in the geisha area known as Gion in Kyoto.
A section of Okouchi-Sanso
Okouchi-sanso
Okouchi-sanso
Okouchi-sanso
Okouchi-sanso
Okouchi-sanso
The fences in the bamboo grove are made of... bamboo!
Arashiyama, Kyoto
Rental Kimono Okamoto in Kiyomizu-dera
Rental Kimono Okamoto in Kiyomizu-dera
:)
Children school groups were everywhere in Kiyomizu-dera.
Kiyomizu-dera temple
Deer of Nara
With onlookers like myself looking on, two guys from a shop in Nara pound and create delicious mochi the old-fashioned way.
The Fushimi Inari shrine area has a hike that goes for about two hours through these torii style gates. As we arrived very late, it started to get very dark very quickly. Before we knew it, we were enveloped in darkness going through a trail in Japan in almost absolute quiet. After we noticed it starting to elevate and we found ourselves stumbling in the dark, we decided to turn around and call it a day.
This last images was actually my absolute last frame of film on me. Serendipitously, we ran into a group of maiko (or people dressed up as maiko) and I asked if they were OK with my taking their photo. They were cool with it and I took the photo and that was it... my film was done!
In the third leg of our trip, we experienced the contrasts of the harsh realities of Hiroshima with the beautiful nature of Kyoto. To me, visiting the Atomic Bomb Museum has always been an unsettling but very insightful experience. However, Hiroshima is not all about tragedy. The city has some great food (like the Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki (a Japanese-style savoury pancake)) and an amazing love for their baseball team (the Hiroshima Cardinals) that rivals that of Canucks fans here in Vancouver. If it's game day in Hiroshima, you'll probably see many red shirts and red baseball caps.
One spectacular event that we narrowly missed being in the center of (at least in our part of Hiroshima) was Typhoon Vongfong. On the day we visited the Peace Memorial Park (where the Atomic Bomb Museum is), we experienced hard-beating rains and at times even blustery winds that led the JR Hiroshima Station making announcements such as "go home immediately". We were slated to go to Miyajima Island after our visit to the Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Memorial Park but decided to be safe instead and instead spent the afternoon shopping at the local Hiroshima Mall that was built around the JR Hiroshima station. That night, we stayed in our Japanese-style hostel room and rested and watched japanese game shows and ate snacks while the winds blasted against the windows.
In the end, when we awoke the next morning, we saw no obvious damage nor any evidence that a super typhoon had passed our way. In fact, as we left that morning to go to Kyoto, we were greeted by blue sky and a bright sunny day. This weather led to a great experience in the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest just outside of Kyoto city.
Our Japanese-style hostel room in Hiroshima.
This was in the quiet streets next to our hostel. These things were literally everywhere.
Restored remains of the Genbaku Dome in Hiroshima
Inside the Peace Memorial Museum
Despite heavy typhoon rains and wind, the next day we were greeted by sun.
In the Arashiyama area just outside of Kyoto, there is a bamboo forest.
More to follow in the final post - Part 4.
My wife and I took some time out for ourselves and finally went on a trip that we had been planning for a while: Japan.
Even with 2 weeks to explore, we both felt that there was so much more we could see. 2 weeks was not enough time to see all the places that there was to explore. While we did visit the normal "touristy" spots, we had the most enjoyment in the little "nooks and crannies" and things in the alleyways of the main streets: hidden tempura restaurants, little unique stores, quiet(er) neighborhoods, bamboo groves, Japan life.
Amidst taking images of large red lanterns with throngs of tourists as well as our 7&i Holdings (aka 7-11 in Japan) dinner(s), I took some time to take images of life in Japan as it was. Yes, I wanted to document Japan :)
From scrambling through the Narita Airport to get on the NEX Airport Express to trying to find our hostel in the darkness of night in Ikkebukuro, our journey truly started as an adventure. Thanks to street view and googlemaps, we successfully found the place and slept for the night to rest after a long flight. We awoke to explore an amazing city and an amazing country.
Vancouver, YRV Airport - The new departure terminal for International flights is amazingly beautiful!
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Roppongi (Tokyo Midtown), Tokyo - Roppongi was quite a nice place. We visited an area called Tokyo Midtown, which had some amazing examples of architecture and design.
Roppongi (Tokyo Midtown), Tokyo - I focused here on the person with the umbrella.
Roppongi (Tokyo Midtown), Tokyo
Roppongi (Tokyo Midtown), Tokyo
Roppongi (Tokyo Midtown), Tokyo - This was taken in the library section of a design gallery that we visited.
Roppongi (Tokyo Midtown), Tokyo - A pet-focused store inside the mall with a grooming area in the back.
Roppongi (Tokyo Midtown), Tokyo - This place was very quiet in the morning but became very lively around lunch time as droves of office workers came down from their offices to have a bite to eat.
Roppongi (Tokyo Midtown), Tokyo - One of our many amazing Japanese meals. The chicken karaage here was delicious!
Roppongi (Tokyo Midtown), Tokyo - Taken from inside the restaurant where we had the chicken karaage.
Roppongi (Tokyo Midtown), Tokyo - Kimonos are quite common in Japan.
Roppongi (Tokyo Tower), Tokyo - We did the tourist thing and took a ride up the Tokyo Tower and were blessed with amazing panoramic views of the great city that is Tokyo. Here, I decided to take photographs of the others staring out at the amazing sight.
Roppongi (Tokyo Tower), Tokyo - And the clouds parted :)
Roppongi (Tokyo Midtown), Tokyo - Cafe level
Shibuya, Tokyo - Shibuya Station has a whole wall and a statue dedicated to Hachiko, the dog.
Shibuya, Tokyo
Tokyo - At an intersection as we made a way to our train to head to Mitaka.
Mitaka, Tokyo - We boarded the yellow Ghibli bus as we made our way to the Ghibli Museum.
Mitaka (Ghibli Museum), Tokyo
Mitaka (Ghibli Museum), Tokyo - We were not allowed to take photographs inside so I took as many as I could of the outside. This is a robot (about true-to-life size) featured in the film "Castle in the Sky" (Laputa).
Yamanote Line, Tokyo - If you time it wrong, you run into the busy Tokyo traffic. I don't recall which station this was but during rush hour they all seem this busy.
Ikkebukuro, Tokyo - A view from our hotel room. Many of the places we stayed in were actually in the alleys of Japan. Japanese alleys are pretty amazing. Usually they are very clean and they have a ton of neat surprises: unique shops, restaurants, small businesses, etc.
Ikkebukuro, Tokyo - Ramen! While we love ramen in Vancouver, there is nothing quite like a Japanese ramen in Japan
Part II coming up!
Camera tech info:
Color - Kodak Pro Color 100 on Olympus OM4 + 50mm F1.8
B&W - Kodak TMAX 400 on Leica M6 + CV 35mm F1.2
