Klyment.com - Journal

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/hasselblad-h1.shtml

. . . and so mine, with a 16MP digital back, within roughly 72 hours . . . maybe.

A few days ago I noticed hits on my server from a page on AsianAvenue.com. Thinking that I had a fan club going, I decided to check the site out. Turns out that the guy was directly linking to a background rotate script that I was using and was using my backgrounds and robbing me of bandwidth. Photos were of Leanna so I had Leanna kindly write him to change his background. No such luck. So I decided to resolve the issue myself by changing his background images for him since I wasn't using the background rotate script anymore. If you don't mind seeing shemales, gay porn, or animal sex, check out his new website, complete with professionally remodelled backgrounds!

Link to some loser I don't know

I'll check his site daily to monitor his progression back to the path of integrity. While he has his background like this, I'll be taking suggestions and even direct submissions for alternative backgrounds for his website. Have a lot of fun.

Terry and Tannie are schoolmates from my junior high school, S. Bruce Smith. I bumped into Tannie a few weeks ago and mentioned that I was into photography and she informed me that Terry was soon leaving to Ghana for her nursing practicum and would like some photos taken. We planned for a shoot and after much delay finally got down to it. We shot at the legislative grounds as well as in my studio. Terry's on the left, Tannie's on the right. It was a lot of fun shooting with you both. And Tannie is wearing something . . . it only looks like she isn't. Totally unintentional.

This time we had heat in the space as I correctly estimated the time which we were going to be in the studio and my father programmed the thermostat for the space. Thanks, Dad . . . though I'm pretty sure you'll never bother reading this.

I photographed Leanna in studio on January 22, 2005. I used Elecia as my makeup artist for this shoot. She will remain my primary choice for makeup artist in a studio shooting environment and from the quality of the work I've seen so far I feel that this decision is more than justified. The beautiful model combined with the impeccable attention to detail in makeup artistry allowed me to output this photo without any editing. Wind effect was created with a paint dryer/industrial blower thingie on "low speed" (which was hardly low speed). Sorry to both of you for not having any heat in the place, especially Leanna who was barely clothed and standing right in front of the blower. Fabric used was a metallic chiffon mentioned in a previous blog. It was 40% at Shirley Potters. =)

So, I’ve shot about eight rolls of film with the Hasselblad system. Of which probably half will sorta turn out. To be honest with you, my experience so far tells me that this system is far from being my dream system for studio. However, there is a possibility that my focus is as dead-on as I hope it is as is my exposure and understanding of light. It is a pleasure to shoot on location where there is plenty of light and even though shooting is much more involved the process is so much more enjoyable than the casual clicking of a dSLR. Film doesn’t allow me the flexibility in colour that digital does so I think I may have to resist the urge to shoot colour unless shooting outdoors. Still the system holds promise for serious location shooting.

Leanna's shoot later today if all goes well. Road conditions are terrible and my parents and I are competing for usage of our only vehicle with studded winter tires.

Finally, closure to the case of the mis-sent Hasselblad. I finally got in contact with Jack Gold of Adorama's used department this morning. He had been trying to contact me for about 24hours. He expressed his deepest appreciation for reporting that I was sent a significantly more valuable model of camera. I was asked if I wished to return the camera or if I'd like to pay the difference. He looked up the price difference and deducted something out of it, thus making the difference only $110US. I was thrilled . . . considering that the Acutematte-D focusing screen in the body, which is not standard with any of the 500's or 501's before the 501CM, usually runs over $200US on eBay, I very happily agreed to the charge. Mr. Gold also had a Hasselblad A12 chrome back sent out to me after I told him that the one I just bought from Adorama was unopenable (the insert won't come out so I can't load film ). Just before ending the conversation, Mr. Gold extended an invitation to deal with him directly in the future for used equipment so that he may give me a token of appreciation the next time I make a purchase. Thanks, Jack - because of this encounter I shall be a loyal Adorama customer for life and I can honestly recommend Adorama for all used items and film. Haven't purchased any new non-consumables from them yet but I'll definitely write something about that when the time comes.

Friday, which I suppose is today, I'll be shooting TJ in studio. The goal of the shoot is to produce some high impact, polished, simple portraits which will be suitable for a model portfolio. I'll be shooting with both the S2 Pro and with the Hasselblad 6x6 systems. TJ was the first male model I have ever photographed. I met him through OneModelPlace.com. In addition to the work posted on Klyment.com I also have some work posted on my OMP profile. Nothing much new here but you never know. I find the acknowledgements section is fun to look through to see who has visited your page and would like to work with you or who likes your work. I encourage aspiring models and photographers to register with the site. It's not the greatest web system but it is the most established I've found. There is no charge to open a basic model account. I didn't think it costed anything to open a photographer's account either but other people I've referred seemed to have hit a "roadblock" with a $10 annual fee or something like that. Anyway, it's worth it if you want to develop your skills in the modelling and fashion photo industry. If you're a model, performer, or makeup artist and you don't feel ready for OMP or do not have a complete portfolio yet, please contact me. I am always looking for new faces and there are still some faces that I am seeking for my portfolio but have not been able to find them yet.

Saturday I'll be doing a fine art shoot with my girlfriend also in studio. The chiffon material purchased earlier was purchased was purchased for this shoot. It'll be a semi-nude-ish type of shoot . . . not sure exactly how to do it. If the shots are presentable they'll likely go into my portfolio. As a delayed Christmas present to Leanna I intend to use the photograph to make an enlargement on canvas and have it mounted or framed for her room. Don't bother telling Leanna to ruin the surprise: she already knows. Anyway, I'm not aware of any modelling aspirations that she may have but if you agree with my opinion that it's something she should consider, please drop me a line and add your name to the petition.

http://www.beardsworth.co.uk/news/index.php

Not sure of the exact spelling of the store name. Anyway, Shirley Potter's appears to be seeking a new warehouse-like location to move to in order to combine all three floors of the current floor into a single-floor building. While they are planning a move, ALL of their fabrics are priced at 40% their regular prices. I was told by an employee that they may continue reducing prices until it is all gone but only up to a point where it would be more profitable for them to sell the fabric than to make costumes from it. I just picked up some irridescent, shear, chiffon-like fabric for about $8/m which is roughly what it would cost at Wal-mart for a narrower width and poorer-quality material. The store does not appear to have a website. I believe its address should be about 106 St. and roughly 102 Ave. in Edmonton.

. . . for the second time in a year. A whole pile of medium format stuff. If you have any need for the following film:

• 120
• Fuji Reala (100)
• Kodak Tmax (100)
• Ilford XP-2 C-41 (400)
• 220
• Fuji NPS (160)
• Fuji NPH (400)

I'll sell each roll for $1 less per 120 roll or $2 less per 220 roll than the lowest local selling price even if that lowest price is from a propack. =)

I'm going to bring my new old camera to school today. I also have to bring along a light meter. =P Since this term will likely be my last ever in the University of Alberta School of Business I have decided to start taking photos of people with whom I have worked with and spoken to extensively over the past three years + one (for pre-professional). I'm doubtful many people I will be shooting will see this entry but if you see this guy:

Around the school with that beautiful black and chrome box he's holding, be sure to stop him for a pic. In exchange, after I've had the film processed I'll give you a small print of the photo I took of you. Looking forward to photographing everyone over the next four months. The back is currently loaded with TMY. I'd shoot Reala (and it'd be cheaper) but it's only available at ISO 100 and I don't want to use a flash. And I'm not a big fan of Portra or NPH. We'll see. =)

Thanks go out to my girlfriend, Leanna, for the photo above. Love you lots.

. . . with a Ukrainian-made TTL prism finder. Hey, don't blame me . . . Hassey metered prism finders starting at about $1000US will have to be able to drive me to school and make breakfast in the morning if I'm going to pay that much for them. Here's what I'm considering:

http://www.araxfoto.com/" hspace="0" src="http://klyment.com/serendipity/uploads/equipment/kiev_hassy_PME_spotTTL.jpg" align="absBottom" border="0" />

Photo from the auction site. Hopefully the copyright holder won't mind me using this photos: bringing his auctions some extra attention. Anyway, as you can see, for about $130US including shipping, plus GST, I can get a CW and spot metered TTL prism finder for my camera. Biggest concern is that it uses three batteries. Hopefully they last a long time and can all be identical; the auction description is a bit awkward. I'll pose some questions to clarify before I buy.

Yesterday, I brought "my" Hasselblad 501CM and 80/2.8 T* into McBain Camera's main store to find it a back. I called my friend Robert, the only "Bob" in the entire chain of at least four in the main store that is insistent on being called by his full name, to check for the availability of any Hasselblad 500 series backs. Robert called around the chain and found two A12 backs (12 6x6 exposures on a roll of 120 film). One was in Red Deer and the other was in Edmonton and would be available in the store Friday 3pm. I was back in the store by 3pm as was the back. Unfortunately, the back had black trim instead of the classic chrome, was in pretty rough shape, and was missing the dark slide. Too bad, I thought. Plus, they wanted $300CDN . . . a bit pricing considering A12 backs with chrome trim are usually about $120US plus shipping online in excellent condition. Still, Bob Edwards was willing to help me work out a deal. $219CDN (About $170US) including a brand new dark slide. He spent a lot of time with me and helped me out and, in a way, I felt obligated to buy the back. So I did. But between yesterday and today I've been having second thoughts. The back worked fine . . . I ran a roll of my favourite black and white film, TMY, through it and it at least seemed fine. I think I'll wait for the other back to arrive from Red Deer. If it's a chrome back I'll exchange them. If it's also black I may, sadly, have to return this back and find a used chrome one online.

Bob thought me a trick to figure out the year of manufacture of Hasselblad camera equipment from the two letters in each piece's serial number. I know it works for Hasselblad 500 series bodies and backs.

You take Victor Hasselblad's initials and spell "PICTURES" after it like so:

VHPICTURES

You then number off each of the letters from 1 through 9 and then 0 like so:

V	H	P	I	C	T	U	R	E	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0

Then, look up the two letters in each serial number against this "decoder". For example, if you had a camera serial number 123SP34234, you would have a camera that was made in "03" or 2003. Or if you had a back that had a serial number like UT2394235, you'd know that that back was made in '76.

My Hasselblad 500C and 80/2.8 T* arrived on Thursday from Adorama.com. I paid $189US for the 500C and about $350US for the 80/2.8 T*. However, I didn't get shipped a 500C in E+ condition - I was instead shipped a 501CM in mint condition. It was an odd dilemma that I spent most of the night following the camera's arrival deliberating upon: should I call up Adorama and tell them what happened? I talked to my mother and she seems to have said that I should keep the camera. I talked to my girlfriend and she said the same thing and added that I should keep my mouth shut. I spoke to Dong, my primary shooting buddy, and though his first reaction was to ask whether or not I was going to return the camera he seemed to have rationalized the situation later on and figured that I couldn't be responsible for what happened. So I decided to do something very un-democratic and called up Adorama Friday morning. The phone conversation went something like this:

Jeff L: Hello and thanks for calling Adorama. Jeff speaking. =) (he didn't really say "happy face" but it sounded like he was smiling . . . probably wasn't early enough for him because it was 9am MST and they were two hours ahead)

K: Hi Jeff . . . is that "Jeff L" by any chance? ("Jeff L" was the sale person whose name shows up on my invoice)

Jeff L: Yes, yes it is. How may I help you?

K: This is Klyment calling from Alberta, Canada. My Hasselblad 500C and 80/2.8 T* CZ arrived yesterday and I'd like to thank you. So . . . thanks.

Jeff L: You're welcome.

K: However, I wasn't shipped a 500C. I was instead shipped a 501CM.

Jeff L: . . . <odd silence>

K: Ummm . . . the Hasselbald 501CM is three generations newer than the 500C. It's worth more. A lot more.

Jeff L: . . . <odd silence> :-o  (<--dunced look? Hahah, something like that =P)

K: The condition is right, though! E+! And the lens is right, too.

Jeff L: Could you check the Adorama part number for me please? It should be somewhere on the body on a white sticker.

[I find the sticker on the bubblewrap that was used to pack the camera . . . some minor details here and then . . . ]

Jeff L: Well, that's the part number of the item you purchased . . .

K: Hmmm, that's strange, the part numbers all match up with the invoice but the descriptions are all different . . .

Jeff L: Could you give me a minute? Let me check up on this.

[Jeff L is gone for roughly a minute. Upon his return . . . ]

Jeff L: You know, that's really bizarre. In fact, nothing has really happened like this before. The descriptions in the database, online, and on the sticker don't match up but all of the part numbers do and the descriptions are all fairly similar. But what's even more bizarre is that you called in to report that you have gotten a significantly more valuable item than what you paid for! (I think Jeff L just realized the differences between the 500C and the 501CM at this point)

K: Yes, that is bizarre. I'm not sure why I called . . .

Jeff L: Hold on to the camera until Monday and I'll give you a call.

K: Can I use the camera in the meantime?

Jeff L: (Laughing) Yes, go ahead.

K: Thanks, Jeff. =)

Definitely quite weird. Anyway, this incidence is completely unrelated with why Adorama is a cool place to get used stuff. The reason Adorama is cool for used equipment, especially medium format gear, is that the selection is excellent and the ratings system is pretty conservative. Furthermore, prices are often better than that of KEH.com and even eBay! On top of all of that, they give you a ten day satisfaction guarantee and a one hundred day warranty on used gear. There are also multi-year extended warranties available.

Looks like I'm aiming for the Minolta Dimage Multi Pro. They seems to be available online for around $1500US new. It all depends on whether or not I can sell my current film scanner, the Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED and the fifty mounted slide auto feeder. I'm selling the feeder and the scanner together for $900US (about $1100-ish CDN). That's lower than the lowest eBay prices (last sale of the scanner was just shy of $600US and the feeder was about $350US). I'll throw in free shipping anywhere in Canada. For those interested, here's a list of specification highlights and benefits which I discovered while using the setup:

• Fifty slides can be loaded and automatically batch scanned unattended (scan for friends, coworkers, businesses, artists, etc.)
• Highspeed Firewire interface (higher sustained transfer rate than USB 2.0 despite a slower maximum burst speed), card and cable included
• Very high dmax . . . 4.8 or something like that. I guess it doesn't say much, especially considering that we're now all aware of what Ken Rockwell has written about dmax and how that differs with dynamic range but I can assure you image quality is very good
• I have produced 40 x 60" prints from 35mm Provia 100F scans with this scanner that are currently being used in advertising boxes outside a high profile local eye wear retail location.
• If you're not yet ready to shoot digitally and you intend to shoot 35mm and shoot a lot of slides, this is one of the most cost effective and automated solutions you can get.
• Even if you have just a whole batch of slides to scan and nothing else, you can pick up this system, do your scanning, and probably unload it for barely less than what you paid for.