the august break. day 9.

A day for missing a home in Lisboa.

Camera: Pentax ME Super
Film: Fuji Reala 100

Analog love link of the day: Brian W. Ferry

the august break. day 8.

Back in April I got to test the new sensation from Lomo, their "movie" camera! This one above was my exactly first film. Starting in Spitalfieds Market, Shoreditch, through Regents Canal and finally home where I filmed my favourite part - the dinner!

Camera: Lomokino
Film: Lomography CN 800 ASA

Analog love link of the day: Lomokino

the august break. day 7.

Regent's Canal is my absolute favourite stroll in London. Back in March I found this guy reading the newspaper in the middle of the canal. He seemed so relaxed. 

Camera: Pentax ME Super
Film: Kodak Ektar 100

Analog love link of the day: Why digital is dead for me in street photography + 10 reasons why you should shoot street photography with film

the august break. day 6.

I love the Centre Point!

Camera: Pentax ME Super
Film: Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (Cross processed)

Analog love link of the day: I Still Shoot Film

hiroshima

This is the beautiful cherry tree in tavistock square in london planted in 1967 in memory of the victims of hiroshima.
It was 67 years ago.

ps: it's not in bloom now, the picture is from late april this year.

weekend stories

London is a schizophrenic city when it comes to weather. It's sunny, it's pouring rain, it's hot, it's cold, gosh so hormonal!

I had the dullest of weekends with more than desired unhealthy doses of staring at a computer to complete a deadline today (which I did!). Fortunately, in stressful moments, I allow myself to indulge in guilty pleasure: banana and nutella crepe... so yummi!

Still I am incredibly happy to have my boy back home - and what a way to celebrate with a full time work weekend :( - and life is beautiful!

Have a nice week!

the august break. day 5.

This is a (shaky) shot from our trip to the Balkans. They are all pretty much like this one. A bad combination of shaking hands, plastic cameras and a very probable wrong ASA film.

I call myself a parkinson junior. Not wanting to upset people with this horrible disease, I always had a problem taking proper photos with film cameras, the results were always a bit shaky. When I was 16 I bought my first camera, the Lomo LC-A. Well this was not a good option for my shaky hands and my impatient character - I was teased by my friends (oh my such a trauma, and they didn't know about crazy lomography). I must have destroyed countless films trying to get good pictures.
 It was digital that allowed me to fall back in love with photography and get proper, non shaky photos.

Camera: Lomo Diana F+
Film: god knows! but not a good choice for my shaky hands.

Analog love link of the day: Irene & Artur travel the world (a beautiful saving by Alice)

the august break. day 4.

One thing I like about the Diana camera is that you can use it without "frames" and you can decide how much you roll the film, allowing for this lateral juxtapositions which I like a lot.

Camera: Lomo Diana F+
Film: (another fail on my notes)

Analog love link of the day: Analog Nights

the august break. day 3

The first Kodak Portras I shot in London were a lesson in light. Being used to strong south european light I learned the hard way (i.e. under exposed images) that light is different in the north of europe. It didn't help that I was using an expired film either. Still this double exposure came out ok and I love it actually, a memory from my first days walking in Camden.

Camera: Lomo Diana F+
Film: Kodak Portra 400NC (expired 7-2007)

Analog love link of the day: Cool Girls Shoot Film (oh yeah!)

the august break. day 2

Camera: Lomo LC-A
Film: ooops don't remember!

Analog love link of the day: We Love Film (I have mentioned this project before but it's always good to remember)

the august break. day 1

Two years ago I joined Susannah Conway's first "August Break". The idea is pretty simple, no rules, a photo per day and off you go. Two years ago I took the opportunity to search for small things I enjoyed everyday. It wasn't the happiest of times but looking at that month, boy, it was a really great month. If you want to join, head here.
This year I decided to make.... an analog month! tcharan! So everyday for a month I will show you an analog image from my archives. I'll try also to add a link on some analog love out there on the web.

So kicking off with style!

A photo from a weekend two years ago at the beach at Lagoa de Albufeira. The beach towels for sale were quite something and I thing that my friend regrets not to have bought this one...

Camera: Lomo LC-A
Film: ooops don't remember but definitely cross-processed!

Analog love link of the day: "What is cross-processing?" + "What the hell is cross-processing?"

I don't really feel to take a full break (I have enjoyed blogging so much lately) so some "normal" posts might come as well. Enjoy!

my queen is better than yours!

I'm slightly obsessed with the waving queen the boy bought to our home and couldn't resist to do a comparison with the real one during the Olympics opening ceremony. Although I didn't catch her majesty in her best face, my queen is definitely nicer :).

The queen actually showed to be a good sport by doing a mini clip with James Bond Daniel Craig and pretending to enter the Olympic stadium by skydiving. Kudos for her! (See the entire scene on BBC at moment 29:00)

Another funny moment was when she was caught on camera playing with her nails, while team GB was entering the arena. I can't blaim her, it took fooooorever for all the countries to do the parade.

My little fake queen has a handbag with a mini solar panel which powers her waving right hand. It can be hypnotizing I tell you.

(And yes, I can find bazillions of things to distract me from my work, yes I can)

weekend stories

The Olympics have finally arrived and kicked off with a huge party friday night. I let go my resistance and watched the opening ceremony. Some moments were actually beautiful (the final torch moment was quite incredible and seeing artic monkeys performing made me quite happy) although in general I found it all a bit too long and boring in bits. I have this feeling that the Olympics are a bit anachronistic and I don't see much sense on it, but hey I have two weeks to see if my mind changes. So far I've been able to escape the chaos in town. My daily schedule is slightly peripherical to the most crowded areas although I've seen thousand of olympic volunteers everywhere. 

Since the weather was nice we celebrated a friend's birthday with a picnic on Saturday! You can never go wrong with picnics. And you can never go wrong with film too :). I have been quite analog recently and lately all my digital pictures are from the iPhone (except the picnic one). I've been carrying my beloved Pentax with a black & white and the LC-A with a color film doing a double exposure experience. Let's wait for the results!

Sunday I headed into town to pick some pictures for my clients (yey so happy to spread my images around the world! You can still get your discount until tomorrow! Hurry hurry - happy 20%). I was very naive to get on the cycle-hire bikes as it started to rain heavily and I couldn't find a docking station so got totally wet. Finally I left the bike and took the bus home. Relief!

What's better to warm you after a soak? Tea and toast oh yeah! Who need summer, right?

Then I did a special packaging for one of my prints which will be a wedding gift :). Packaging is my favorite part when I'm preparing an order and I don't think I've ever sent out two of the same. I have so much fun!

How was your weekend? 

Wish you a lovely week! Mine is going to be soooooo full of work but also love as my beloved is finally returning home after some (very long) time away.

summer in london #4

So... when life gives you lemons...

... JUMP IN THE WATER!

Meaning... when London gives you 29ºC run to Hampstead Heath and refresh yourself in the swimming ponds.

And some ice cream too if you enjoy it! :)

/// shop news and a gift for you ///

If you follow me on Facebook you might have noticed that I added new prints to my beloved shop kanpai!. It's been a while since I've done a shop update and I'm quite pleased with the new additions. I hope you too.

So what's new?

/// let's travel /// available here

Oh to travel, to loose countries... A scenic moment on the transiberian railway when crossing the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

/// green deck chairs /// available here

Summers in London, enjoying the greenery. I capture this relaxing moment in Hyde Park.

/// a summer day at the beach /// available here

Stripey chairs forever! This one was captured in Brighton. Doesn't it have a great summer vibe?

/// paris lavender windows /// available here

Elegant design and a touch of lavender. Oh it makes me miss Paris!

/// geraniums by the window /// available here

Nice geranium embellished detail of a Parisian window.

/// unlock my heart /// available here

Last but not least. Love is everywhere!

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So what do you think? Like them? Which one is your favorite?

And now the gift! I'm offering 20% discount in ALL the prints in the shop, not only the new ones!!!

It's valid until the end of the month (July 31st), doesn't include shipping and all you have to do is insert the coupon code XMASINJULY on the checkout.

So go on and stock some presents for Christmas! If you want your print giftwrapped just tell me on the section "message to the seller" or write me at hello.kanpai [] gmail.com and I'll prepare a beautiful gift wrap for free!

weekend stories

This weekend started earlier on Friday afternoon with a friend's wedding! It was a very simple and beautiful ceremony (in which I got tearful... god, I'm such a crybaby) followed by a nice lunch and some drinkings in what is now for me London's most amazing bar: Paramount. The views are superb. Highly recommended if you are in London.

On Saturday I had to make for the previous celebrating afternoon so I stayed at home trying to work. Wasn't much successful so I thought it was a good idea to head to Angel with some friends and dance the night away. It was so much fun.

Oddly enough on Sunday I woke up fresh and jumped out the bed to enjoy the long desired sunshine in this city. London gets an amazing vibe when it's sunny. I think everybody gets slightly hysterical (I know I do). I went to the park for a solo picnic and some study (it actually worked!).
Being barefoot in the grass is the best feeling. A lot of people were just laying on the grass and soaking some sunshine. Now let's see how much it lasts.

How was your weekend? Wish you a lovely week!

summer in england

English summer style. Shorts because it's summer. Wellies because it's summer in England!

#travel week: 5 amazing places I have been and you should go to

(This should have been up on friday but life happened! Sorry for that!)

You probably understood by now that I LOVE to travel. The things you see, the permanent change of scenery, the excitement of the unknown, how much you learn! About countries, cities, history, geography and yourself, your friends, your partner, your life. And as very well travelled dutch man we once met on a train said "travelling is also a re-appreciation of home" (we were sharing a small cabin between 3 men and myself during 2 days). Your bed, your books, clean clothes, running water and a fridge - this always seems paradise after you're away for some time.
I'm sure you don't need me to convince you to travel so I'll head to today's topic. I treasure each trip I have made and they were all great and special, so was a bit hard to choose only five amazing places... but this is what my heart told me:

1. Atacama Desert, Chile

Stuck in the north of the possibly longest country in the world (at least of the funniest shapes) lies an amazing landscape of name Atacama Desert. It is said to be the driest place on earth but don't fool yourself to think it's a long and boring landscape. You can loose yourself in the immense white landscape of the salar, gaze at flamingos, watch the earth explode in geysers,  believe you traveled to the moon, float like in the red sea or indulge yourself in hot springs...

2. Sarajevo, Bosnia

I was taken by surprise with Sarajevo but honestly I didn't know what to expect. Home to horrible events that took place not so long ago, today Sarajevo felt like a vibrant city, full of energy and optimism, more than ready to move on from the terrible war. They say Istanbul is the gate to Asia, but I believe Sarajevo comes first. The mix of cultures, religions, traditions all converging in one place it's truly amazing and makes for such a rich and interesting place. After all, where else in the world can you find a mosque, an orthodox church, a roman catholic church and a synagogue all in the same neighborhood? 


3. Transiberian railway, Russia

Fact: You can stay seven days in a train and you never leave a country. Russia's size is simply mind blowing. For years I treasured the idea of entering a train in Moscow and travel for days crossing the steppes, whatever that was, but never thought that I would actually do it. So when we entered the train last year I was out of myself. Although we visited truly beautiful places during the journey I was really in love with the train itself (or trains as we changed a few times). It's a whole microcosms with its shared cabins, the provodnitsas (cabin attendants), the reliable samovar always providing hot water for coffees and teas, and lots and lots of time while you cross those steppes.


Here's a very useful guide if you want to do this amazing journey.

4. Houshi Onsen, Japan

It takes a train and two buses to get there from Tokyo. I remember waiting for the second bus alone literally in the middle of nowhere in Gunma prefecture and wondering "What the hell am I doing here?". I sudden realized that the bus might never come, I had only received a "tip" from some another bus driver (pointing and pushing me out of his bus as he couldn't speak english and I couldn't speak japanese) that at that middle of nowhere stop another bus would come and take me to the most beautiful onsen I was about to see. It was cloudy and rainy and I was having lots of doubts. But then the bus arrived and took me to the most beautiful onsen I had ever been and probably will ever be.


Disclaimer: I am crazy for hot springs and even did a research about it.

5. Costa Alentejana, Portugal

An exotic place is a foreign, usually far away place. We are attracted by the unknown, the distant, the exotic and we usually neglect our hometowns, our countries, we just take them for granted and, if you're a portuguese, complain about it the whole time. I first realized I was coming from an "exotic" country when living in Norway. People I met, when I told them where I was from, would tell me how exotic Portugal sounded. I was confused,  I had chosen to live in Norway because it was exotic, Portugal was boring and uninteresting! Ah, but not for them, these people had never been there or the ones that had recalled a totally different country from my experience. But knowing another country is also an opportunity for some comparison and, as everything in life, no country is perfect so travelling IS a re-appreciation of home, and re-appreciation of the beauty of your own country.

Long story to tell you that portuguese south west coast is simply amazing. Small sandy beaches, enclosed by cliffs, small villages with good fish, amazing scenery and that endless summer feeling.

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So what amazing places have YOU been that you want to share?

This is the last post of this #travel week. Hope you enjoyed it!

#travel week: 5 tips for a budget travel

Note: these are tips for independent travellers. I believe you can buy a really cheap package to a resort in Jamaica. But that's too easy!

1. anticipation: plan in advance

marrakesh in the summer? maybe not the best idea if you suffer with heat - hooray for shadows!

Check the best season to travel to your destination (an ideal combination of ok weather and low season - hard sometimes). Check fares in advance. Start saving money early. Check for holiday season in your destination country (for example: never travel to Japan in the beginning of May - it's golden week the busiest holiday season when all japanese are moving around and prices increase substantially). Check if a visa is needed - we europeans are so spoiled for being able to travel to so many countries with and ID only but more distant travelling might require a visa - and this can take some time so prepare (for example last year we travelled to mongolia from portugal and we had to send our passports to paris to get a visa! very stressful two weeks thinking of our beloved passports travelling alone in europe.)

This might all seem pretty basic but in the midst of so many decisions "when can I go?", "how much money do I have?" and an endless list of possible destinations doing some preparation can help to smooth things.


2. departure: sign up for all major airlines newsletters

Easy one although the junk mail can be annoying. Very frequently airlines advertise their promotions through newsletter and it's a first grab thing! This of course demands some flexibility with the destination but hey, maybe you had never thought of going to Bamako and end up having a blast or you can finally go on that trip to Paris on a cheap flight. Or maybe you just feel more frustrated with all the possibilities you can't grab (don't. stay cool.)

3. accommodation: visit friends and family or make new friends / stay in apartments / travel during the night

Couchsurfing mess in our home! Hosting couchsurfers is also a great way to travel without leaving your home!

Ok, this might sound lame and maybe you shouldn't choose a destination based of free possible accommodation (or that shouldn't be a condition) but sometimes friends and family are the reason to travel, because you miss them and you want to know about their life abroad. I have surely done this and it's a great way to see a new place with a local's eye. But don't expect that they will welcome you with open arms (or they might be excited about your visit but still suggest you stay in a hotel). Be considerate about their space availability or privacy standards. They might live in a small bedroom or be in a very stressful period of their lives and your presence be more a disturbance than a pleasure. But, hey you're friends/family so you can talk about it, right?

If you don't know no one in town, why not meet? I'm a huge fan of couchsurfing, the internet network of travel interested people that make their couch available to travellers. All you have to do is register on the site, build up a profile and start contacting people in your destination. It's not magic, takes time to choose a person you might like and you have to be lucky that they like you too and have the time to host you. The whole system is based on referencing so it gets better the more you use it (if you collect good references, of course). A few rules: if you start by hosting you might get better chances of finding a place when travelling; Be kind and considerate - people do this for free!; Never offer money - instead bring a present from your home country or offer to prepare a traditional meal; If you're staying at someone's house always clean after yourself. Enjoy!

Hmm... still couchsurfing not for you? Well you can always stay in hostels or find a private appartment through sites like airbnb, where you can find private accommodation at affordable prices. This can help you for the following tip.

And last one: try to do long travels during the night. Although your back might complain, you save a night and you don't loose a day "just" moving (you might also loose great sightseeing and opportunity to listen to your favourite songs).

4. food: cook / buy food from farmer's market / supermarket

Oh the glamorous noodle soup (but with beer!) - it tasted like heaven!

Another basic one but if you stay in an appartment (or a hostel with kitchen) you can save a lot of money by doing your own meals. I also like to shop in supermarkets/farmer's market during the day and eat lighter in parks instead of always going to restaurants. This might also sound like a drag - you're travelling and you have to cook or go to supermarket? That's boring! That's real life! What about all those amazing restaurants you can see in every street of Florence? Well, you don't always have to eat bread and noodles: I'm a huge fan of balance and compensating, I prefer to save on 5 meals and then splurge on one amazing place than to have 6 meh meals. 

5. transport: travel slow

Best (and cheaper) way to visit Lisboa, my hometown? Walking! 

This is a tricky one because you always want to see the most of it - there is this hunger to know the place right? But I've been learning that dragging myself around 300 places in one day or 45 cities in one month is not for me! You get tired, you loose the mojo, you just wanna go home.
I rather choose a neighborhood per day and walk around and I prefer to take buses and local trains when visiting different cities. It takes longer, it's (usually) cheaper, you see less but you enjoy more.

Another tip (that might contradict the previous): sometimes buying a pass is a good idea, interrail, japan rail pass, daily or several-day tickest when visiting a city can make you save a lot of money in individual tickets and simplify your life.


Well, this was what I could think of that can make a travel more affordable. What about you? What do you do to save money on your travels?

#travel week: 5 musics to set the scene

What's travelling without music? Well, what's living without music (oh no i'm going abba here!)? I really enjoy packing my mp3s with t-shirts and sweaters and a good song can make a moment more special. So while travelling I imagine the songs as a soundtrack of a personal movie and these songs always travel with me. These are not songs to listen out loud but to put your headphones and travel away. That computer desk you're sitting at will look much better in the end of this post.


1. let's get out of this country - camera obscura




The perfect song while you close the appartment door behind and hit the road!


What does this city have to offer me?
I just can't see... I just can't see... 
(and the rest of the lyrics...)


2. tonight we fly - the divine comedy




I can find a song from The Divine Comedy to suit any life moment. this music one actually fits a lot of them, it's just perfect. I love the optimism of the lyrics, the beautiful orchestration. I never get tired.


And when we die
Oh, will we be
That disappointed
Or sad
If heaven doesn't exist
What will we have missed
This life is the best we've ever had
(and the rest of the lyrics...)


3. chicago - sufjan stevens

If there is a country for road trips it must be the USA. So I guess the best road trip songs must be north-american too. 

I love this song, the feeling of re-starting, of leaving the past behind, the freedom...

All things go, all things go.

I made a lot of mistakes, I made a lot of mistakes.

(and the rest of the lyrics...)


4. 'till the end of time - devotcha




I just think this music is beautiful and always puts me in a good mood. It helps that was on the soundtrack of this amazing movie.


And look at you and me still here together
There is no one knows you better
And we've come such a long long way
Let's put it off for one more day
(and the rest of the lyrics...)

5. 10 mile stereo - beach house



Any good trip includes long hours in buses, cars or trains and a beautiful landscape to gaze at through a dirty glass. For this you need a long beautiful and melancholic song that reminds you of how amazing life is and how lucky you are to be able to experience that. Even if it's a sad song. Take this song with you.


ps. Take the whole album. Take the whole new album too. Enjoy.


The heart is a stone, and this is a stone that we throw
They say we will go far, but they don't know how far we'll go

(and the rest of the lyrics...)

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This was harder than choosing the films! I think because music is so much more personal. But anyway this are my 5 songs to a travel soundtrack.

And you? Do you have special songs for your travels?