a cold winter

fui buscar um rolo a preto e branco ao laboratório ontem e estou bastante contente com os resultados - fotos com grão e contrastadas. as fotos são do final de dezembro. passámos o ano novo com uns amigos perto da serra da estrela. no dia em que fomos à torre estava bem desagradável, vento e chuva que tiraram o gozo da neve. o ponto alto foi mesmo a compra de um magnífico queijo da serra que devorámos no regresso à casa aquecida a lenha.
e agora estas fotos... dão-me confiança para disparar mais rolos a preto e branco. pergunta a quem (ainda) usa analógico, que rolos a preto e branco usam/recomendam?
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i retrieved a black and white film from the lab yesterday and was quite happy how the photos turned out - with grain and contrast. 
these are from last december. we spent the new year with some friends in the north of portugal, near the only mountain where is common to snow. the day we went up to the snowy top was really unpleasant, windy and wet. the biggest highlight was to buy an amazing "queijo da serra" that we ate when we returned to the warm house.
and now this photos... gave me confidence to start shooting more black and white film. if you shoot film, what b&w film do you use/advise? 

details: all photos taken with Pentax ME Super + 50mm 1.2 + Kodak 400TX

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

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)

/// 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!

This is me.

I think it was a very funny coincidence that the day I decided to show my face (although in a very shy way) Elisabeth wrote an interesting post about putting a face to the blog author.
I do agree that seeing a blogger's face makes the blog more personal but don't think it's crucial. You decide your level of exposure. In this blog I avoid showing pictures of people in general and specially of friends and family, I don't like to expose them. As for myself, I have a terrible relationship with the camera and hate having my picture taken, it just doesn't feel comfortable. Also I'm usually the person behind the camera and 99.9% of the pictures I have I took them. But really, who cares? Time to get out of the comfort zone! So this is me, black and white and some contrast but me, in front of the entrance to the Barbican.

Picture taken by my boyfriend who has a talent for portraits.

Other faces: Sandra / Rike / Agata / Claire

a walk in northen london

two days ago i went for a 7km walk in northen london. london is such a great city to walk, compared to lisbon. it's mostly flat, with large sidewalks and very lively. i like strolling around with my camera, i never get bored, only tired!
i get the feeling i'm getting quite botanical here. i'm always amazed how every little green corner in london is so luxurious - flowers seem to grow everywhere with no effort. i guess there are good things of being such a rainy country. and the little gardens in front of the house's entrances? so beautiful.

and you, do you like to walk your city? do you take your camera with you?

we love fim

i don't really remember how I got to them... but i liked the vibe from the beginning. we love film is a geek's place and it's such a good thing. it's a place for the film lovers. carlos and andré tour the e-bays of this world and find good deals on expired (and non-expired) film. the massive buy makes the films way cheaper and to make the whole process sustainable they share their buys with really good prices. it's such a nice little project. last year in christmas i bought a couple of films and they were quick, efective and so nice! i remember sending an e-mail late at night that carlos replied immediately and the next afternoon i was in front of the beaux-arts school collecting my films - i remember him telling me "you can pay whenever you want!" how nice is that? i remember thinking, this kid doesn't exist! he had never seen me before! i believe now things are a bit different because the project has grown a lot and with popularity it needed some adjustments (like pre-pay). they sell pretty much only in portugal so if you live around and you love film, i highly recommend!

they seem to be very creative and full of ideas for the project. the first achievement was a curated photography exhibition (all analog, of course) "estas fotografias merecem paredes" , something like "these photographs deserve walls". i really hope it's another step to great sucesses!

it ends tomorrow in lisbon, if you are curious (and speak portuguese) check this post and this post.
this was the teaser video they made:

estas fotografias merecem paredes - TEASER from We Love Film on Vimeo.





































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robert doisneau

happy birthday mr. doisneau!

we endured a one hour waiting line to see doisneau's exhibition about "les halles" (see a bit more about le halles here). it was so crowded it was hard to truly appreciate his pictures but i loved it anyway.

Some flowers for you monsieur doisneau!

and totally by chance i was able to catch a kiss while waiting for our turn to enter! a very (let's say VERY) humble hommage to doisneau's world famous image.

the art of portrait

 

I feel so many limitations when it comes to portraits. I hate asking people to take their portrait and doing it without they noticing makes me feel like a thief. Very often my "subject" will understand that it's being observed and I always feel so bad for doing it. But it costs me even more to go and talk to someone and ask "can i get your portrait?"
The above pictures was a rare event. I actually asked the man in the top image if I could take his picture and he reluctantly agree. I was with a group of photographers so somehow I felt more brave. He was at the entrance of his shop and after the portrait fuss I heard his wife from the inside of the shop saying "you can take my portrait, I don't mind! and she looked so decisively to the came. She has a tought look but a gentle smile, must be a strong woman.

So I felt very jealous when I found this project by dannish photographer Jonas Normann called "Sidewalk Talk". His portraits are very simple yet very engaging and they are really beautiful.
Also he made a beautiful video about this project that you should see:


A tribute to the people of Vejle from sidewalktalk.dk on Vimeo.

Well it's good to know that you have still so much to learn.
And you, do you like shooting portraits? Do you ask people?