Pushing film in Downtown Montreal.

I set myself a challenge to shoot only film for a week, no digital. Last evening I was setting out for a walk downtown with my buddy and realized that this would be a challenge.

I didn't want to use a flash so I decided to use a Kodak 400TX film and push it to 800 ISO. What you do is load with 400 ISO, set the camera to 800 ISO and add 20% more time when processing the film later on. These would be shot in the fashion of Daido Moriyama. I've been wanting to do this for some time after doing it with a digital camera and this was the perfect occasion.

I'm very happy with the result. 15 pictures from a roll of 24 came out to my liking. This was my first time shooting with this Ricoh 35ZF which I got for $5 at a thrift store. Not a bad buy.

Metro Cowboy

In his own universe

Waiting and texting

Place d'Armes Metro station

Chinatown walkers

St-Laurent and Ste-Catherine

Vacuuming after closing time on Ste-Catherine 

Being photographed, twice!

Young Ladies on a night out

McDonald's, "Can I take your order please?"

Shelter from the rain on Ste-Catherine

Walking by the photo exhibit

1970's photo exhibit of Montreal

Sex Shop on Ste-Catherine

Montreal PD on St-Laurent

Thanks for watching.

Gerry :)

Cambridge and Salem Massachusetts in black and white

Here are some shots I took with my Yashica FD-X using Kodak T-Max100 film during my vacation last summer.

Airbrushing with rattle cans in Cambridge

Harvard University

Top down Mercedes in Cambridge

Cambridge Bike Cop giving directions

Phone Cards and Ice Cream on the streets of Cambridge

Being young on Harvard Campus

Tall Ship Friendship in Salem

Sailors in Salem

The Bunghole in Salem

Flower Bike in Salem

Waiting for the trolley bus in Salem

Thanks for watching

Gerry :)

Montreal Evening in picture with a $5 Ricoh FF-70 point and shoot

Film point and shoot cameras are plenty and inexpensive. Case in point this Ricoh FF-70 with integrated flash and automatic everything. Bought at a thrift store for the bargain basement price of $5, it came with the original sales receipt dated August 1986 in its case, $257!

I've been having a hard time taking photos during the evening in the City with my Canon G12. Any type of movement made the images overly blurry, high ISO setting left too much noise in the image and the black and white result isn't that great. I prefer black and white in the evening since street lights do not bring out nice colours. Film for me is the way to go for crisp black and white pictures.

Candles and flowers left on the grounds where Denis Blanchette a 48 year old sound technician and Father , fell. A lot of time was spent in Gimp to have this image in a usable way.

I was heading to the Metropolis on Ste-Catherine on the evening of September 5th in order to document and participate in a vigil organized to commemorate the shooting death of an innocent by-stander. The evening prior while our new Prime Minister elect made her acceptance speech, a maniac tried to get in the theatre to go on what appeared to be a shooting rampage. He was quickly arrested by Montreal Police but he had already killed one and wounded another. This kind of thing never happens here.

I decided to use the Ricoh since it was easy enough to use and I figured I would manage to get shots like they use too back in the day with the integrated flash. I used Kodak Professional 400TX 400 ISO film for the job and I am quite pleased with the results. All of the shots you'll see were done hand held. The Ricoh is great for jamming it flat on your face and remains pretty stable while the shutter opens.

Local TVA news crew setting up across from Metropolis. Flash used.

Metropolis Theatre on Sainte-Catherine in Montreal.

CBC Radio reporter doing an interview. Flash used.

People gathered in front of the Metropolis.

People hold hands while observing a minute of silence for the victims.

The rest of the evening was spent going around Sainte-Catherine trying to find the light and picture opportunities. I was lucky to find a few decent shots.

Bumming for change with a dog and a nice looking fixie bike.

Shish Taouk place on Sainte-Catherine.

Nice Lady who volunteered to pose for me. Flash was used.

Original Archambault music store

Sainte-Catherine and Berri.

Berri-Uquam Metro station

Graffiti from the Under Pressure festival. Flash was used.

Thanks for watching.

Gerry :)

Best Photography tip I ever read.

When I started to get serious about my photography not too long ago, I went on a quest on the web to find some no nonsense tips. Ken Rockwell has a ton of great tips and advice on his site. One that stuck with me was the following: If you see something you like and you want to take a picture of it, fill the frame with it. Or something like that.

So fast forward to last Thursday when I was covering the student protest march here in Montreal looking for some interesting human activity to document when I came across this awesome looking gal.

She was on a step ladder all dressed up and waving at the crowd with one of those beautiful smiles that you don't see often. The outrageous outfit, the smile and the crazy scene confirmed on the spot that I had to take a shot. The first shot was taken right when I noticed her and I must admit that I was pretty pleased with what I saw in the viewfinder and here is what came out:

I was about to move on my merry way when I remembered those words about filling the frame. So I moved in closer, composed the frame while she posed for me and took another shot. You'll agree with me that the result is a lot better than the first one.

I mean the first shot wasn't bad mind you but the second one is getting printed and framed. That photography tip is always on my mind and has paid off a few times. I choose to shoot with a 50mm lens because I want to get close to the action and results like these are the reason why. Whoever you are nice Lady, thank you.

Both pictures where taken with a Minolta X570 on Ilford Delta Pro 100 film at f5.6 on Aperture priority mode.  Lens: Rokkor MD f1.7, 50mm.

Gerry :)

Shooting photographers!

When out for a little street photography session, I'm always on the look out for photographers. We are out there "shooting" people and it came to my mind that nobody seems to return the favor in kind.

So I decided to indulge myself whenever I spot one and shoot. After all, since most of them are busy paying attention to whatever they are shooting that makes them easy targets for candid shots. Here are some shots taken in the past weeks most of them from last Thursday's student protest and St-Patrick's day parade here in Montreal.

Thanks for watching.

Gerry :)