Full Review: Fujifilm X-E2 the Greatest ILC?

Image taken with Ricoh GR-D IV. 1/42nd sec F/2.8 @ ISO 125. Very simple and sleek design.

I've just returned from my Tokyo trip with my wife. I took 3 cameras with me (Leica X-VARIO, Ricoh GR-D IV, Minolta CLE) and spent a whole month shooting and playing (and testing) these cameras. It was a lot of fun. As soon as I got back home, my special order Ricoh GR Limited Edition arrived from Gastown Photo. The next day, a new camera appeared at my door from Fuji to review. Was I photographically burnt out? Was I tired of reviewing cameras? No way! I was pumped to start putting the Fuji X-E2 to the test, especially comparing image quality with the Leica X-VARIO and my newly acquired Ricoh GR. However, all 3 cameras are very diiferent, although they all have one thing in common: they all use a APS-C size sensor. How did the X-E2 compare? 

Gastown in the Rain in 21:9 Aspect Ratio

I like shooting in the rain because it adds a bit of mood to the image. As long as my camera is easy to hold, shooting while its wet isn't too cumbersome. That's the beauty of the Ricoh GR series cameras, as they are designed for one-handed operation. Its perfect for shooting with one hand, while holding an umbrella with the other.

The above shot was taken in Gastown in front of the Flying Pig restaurant. I liked how the bike was parked, and I liked the two guys sitting at the window eating. I think the movie aspect ratio of 21:9 works perfectly here, as it gives an open feeling to the image. 

ABC 123. Keeping Graffiti Within the Lines!

I was walking down Main and Hastings the other day and came across this old abandoned storefront. I couldn't help but notice the unique 'presentation' of the graffiti on the window. Since the security bars are in the way, these guys had to write within the space. It kinda defeats the purpose of graffiti doesn't it? They're trying to be all rebellious and anti-establishment, but had to keep nice and straight, orderly, evenly spaced, and within the literal lines! Ha ha...maybe they should practice their ABC's next time!

Birks Building at Night with Fujifilm X-E1

I saw my bus coming and I was really tired, but I wanted to get this final shot before I ended my long day of testing the new Fujifilm X-E1 camera through the streets of downtown Vancouver. It rained all afternoon, so I had to take most of my images with an umbrella in one hand and the camera with the other.  I've taken a picture of this building before, but I'm a sucker for blue lights. I just had to get this shot! I ran across the street, waited for traffic to die down, and fired off a few shots at iso 1600 and 3200. Both iso speeds looked great, easily printable to 16 x 20; but the above shot (1600) had the right amount of people and the least amount of traffic...

Lululemon's The Lab: Voyeuristic Future

If you've walked down W.Broadway at Cambie, you probably noticed this unusual "factory" in this very expensive retail space: The Lab by Lululemon. If you look at the first image, you would assume this was a factory in Asia...or at least a factory in a factory part of town. Instead, I'm shooting through a retail window in a higher end retail space. West Broadway and Cambie is not cheap real estate. You can tell by the neon lighting on the sidewalk to know this isn't the factory district of Vancouver. 

Check out the link to see what its all about, but I thought it was a pretty unusual use of high end retail; but a very cool concept of sharing factory and retail space to sell custom clothing. It reminds me of what restaurants are doing with their open kitchen design, but with clothing!! 

P.S. I had to wait around a while before there was no one walking across my picture. There's a bus stop right in front, and often people are lined up almost right to the window...

Old Building Infested by Moss-Like Posters

Have you noticed the moment a building is abandoned or ready for demolition, advertising posters immediately appear? In nature, moss, fungus, mold signifies of an abandoned or neglected building or structure.  In the city however, advertisers appear to move quicker and is a better indicator of a building not in use (you can see the moss slowly trying to catch up by working its way along the bottom and along the trim...) These old buildings are used as frames for  these glitzy new posters, breathing new life and function to these soon-to-be discarded structures. It is this juxtaposition that captures my attention...

289 Abbott Street or Alley in Vancouver?

As I walked through Gastown in Vancouver, I blinked and almost missed 289 Abbott Street. I assumed the difference between a street and an alley is that on a street, you could get two cars to pass, but you can't with an alley (I know there's more to it than that, but you know what I'm saying...).  On this street, you can barely get two people to pass without walking sideways, and on top of that, they line it with plants in huge buckets. Is that to reduce unwanted traffic?!  If I was the business at the end of this street, I would use huge 6' vertical letters running all the way up the wall so customers could find me. If this is the street, I'm afraid to go around back and look at its alley!!

PS. Cool clock, top left...but too bad it's not working!!

Try Looking Up and Shoot Buildings!!

Walking downtown, I love shooting up at buildings. I love manipulating my view point by pointing my camera straight up while walking from one corner of the intersection to the next, trying to create the best angle. Shooting upwards is great because you rarely have any obstructions: people, cars, trees, wires, etc. You also get to play with perspective, easily changing the entire image by just tilting your camera this way or that...shooting horizontally, it's alot harder to do this!!

Birks at Granville and Hastings in Vancouver

As I get off my bus and connect to my train, I always walk past this beautiful old building at the corner of Hastings and Granville in Vancouver.  I like this building specifically because it's on a corner, and I love the size...it's a baby building! So cute! With its majestic pillars and tall windows, you would think this building would encompass the entire block!

Vancouver's Crow Highway Mural Revisited

A few months back I took some pictures of the Crow Highway Mural but I was unable to get a good clear shot due to cars parked right in front of it. This time, when I saw the lot empty, I jumped out of my bus excitedly to get a worthy image. Although the parking lot was empty, the gate was closed , so I took two images: one from the sidewalk and one through the fence straight on. It's a beautiful old building, and the history behind the mural and the building is quite interesting too (follow this link). Too bad it's so far back from the street view, and too bad there's a parking lot right in front of it...

Pekin Chop Suey House in Chinatown

I was walking through Vancouver's Chinatown district and I noticed a faded sign on the side of a building. It reads: Pekin Chop Suey House. It sounds very 1950's American-Chinese, and so it should, as this was the old location of a Chinese restaurant many years ago. The lower half was rebuilt and the core was redone with concrete, leaving the top outer shell original. You can see in the distance the entrance-way into Chinatown from the West side on W.Pender, and the far left corner is just a part of the world's thinnest building.  The sun was just going down behind the downtown buildings, and so the lighting was just right for a westward picture.......

Crow Highway Mural in Strathcona

Another spectacular mural in the Strathcona areas of Vancouver.  This one stood out because of the black-and-white with  blue sky colour scheme, as well as the fact that the woman in the mural is Asian.  After doing some research, I found out that Mrs.Lowe is the name of the woman, and her daughter Vanessa, an artist, still lives in the building and contributed to the mural.  Click here to find out more information about the mural, the artists, the original picture that the mural is based on, and an unobstructed view of the entire image.

As for my pictures, it was hard to get a straight on shot because the side of the building itself is fenced in, and all along in front of the mural is parked cars.  So I took some shots along the outside of the fence, as well as from within the parking lot, trying to find unique angles. 

The top image I decided to monochrome the entire mural so as to simplify the busy fence and parked cars. Notice how it looks like she's looking over the fence? The second image, I cropped out the vehicles along the bottom and changed the angle of the image to line up to the building across the street. 

Thanks to Vincent Dumoulin, Vanessa Lowe & RestART for the Crow Highway Mural!!

Jimi Hendrix Mural in His Old Neighbourhood

Biking through the backstreets of Vancouver, I've been finding tons of murals in the most obscure places, mostly industrial and commercial zones. When did we start getting such cool murals here? I found this one just off Hastings and Clark in a heavy commercial-industrial zone.  I thought that painting the dumpster in a similar flower-power style was a nice touch, as the mural naturally flows down on to the dumpster (which in turn influenced the sprouting of real flowers in front of the dumpster perhaps?)

I knew I recognized the style of this graffiti artist on other murals, and so I started looking for some sort of artist's signature, and I noticed the below.........

 

Looking up the name Nomadizm, it led me to the Nomadic Alternatives website, which showcases his work, and prolific is an understatement!!  He's done album covers for K'Naan (you know the one with the camel?), KOS, Public Enemy, logo designs, and tons of murals around town.  Who is he? His name is Nelson Garcia, and he did this mural with the help of his wife Xochiltl. Watch this Youtube video interview and find out more about them, their philosophy, and their work.  

It really is a privilege that someone of this artistic caliber lives and works in our community, and has decided to give back to his city by expanding his canvas by doing murals on sides of buildings. And if you have a chance, take your bike and ride around town and explore the Strathcona area of Vancouver, and you too can view these incredible murals in person!!

Follow @bigheadtaco

Gastown, Gaoler's Mews, Après-Midi and Bicycles

Last week I posted this orange bike parked in front of Après-Midi tea shop in Gastown.  I said it looked like it was parked there on purpose, like it was their sandwich board, like they do in Japan.

On Friday I was out and about with my Fuji/Megadestroyer track bike and decided to drop by again, and no orange bike this time. I did realize that it was the perfect place to lock up a bike as I went in for a quick tea before hitting the road again.

I was there again today with my wife and my buddy Jeremy, and again, no bike.  This time I took a picture of the entire building, found in the middle of  Gaoler's Mews. It's a little pedestrian walk-way just off Blood Alley.  Doesn't it look like an old prison though? There's 3 or 4 little coffee shops and restaurants in this corner alone.  Check it out when you have time for tea. And no, they don't have a sandwich board or a bike parked out front as a business beacon.  Just look for their Open Sign on their front door like a normal person!!

Orange and Green

I've been seeing orange and green in combination everywhere lately.  Even my recent post of the whale painting on a dumpster; if you notice the company logo, it's orange and green.  Many sports teams from basketball to hockey use these colours in combination as well.  It works most of the time. 

The picture above, at first I didn't notice anything weird about the matching colours. But then I realized even though the colour scheme is similar, the truck doesn't belong to the retail store that it's in front of.  The truck is carrying fruit, and the store sells meat. It's just a coincidence that their colours match.  The next building over also happens to be an even brighter and deeper orange. The building next to it? Yes, a faded green.......

Then, on my way home at the end of my bike riding afternoon, what do I notice near my house? Yes, of course! An orange and green house!!!  

What's next?! We shall see....

Cartier in Ginza

My wife and I were sitting in Ito-ya in Ginza (largest stationary store in Tokyo I think, and one of the coolest as well) and looking across at the Cartier store. Not only did they have a door man, but they had another person just inside the door. His only job was to bow and greet every guest as they walked in. My wife just had to go check it out so we did walk in. Unlike many high end stores, they were very nice and genuine (you can sort of tell by the way they smile not only with their mouth, but with their eyes.....). As we walked away from the store, I just noticed how gorgeous the building was!! Ginza is such a nice place to just walk around, people watch, building watch.......I love the wavy building behind Cartier. It's De Beers. Of course it is!!

Tall and Thin

Tokyo has some pretty cool but weird looking buildings. Sure Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers in the world, and some pretty cool ones to boot (the HSBC building is a fully collapsible and moveable building!!); but Tokyo has some very unique and often strange looking buildings. I assume often it is out of necessity, but other times, I just scratch my head and think why so crazy looking? Most often I'm confused by the tall and thin buildings.

Actually, according to Guinness Book of World Records, they claim that a building in my home town of Vancouver actually is the world's thinnest building. This may be true, but it doesn't look impressive. In fact, walking past it, you wouldn't even know it was, since it's physically attached to the building behind it, and it's only 2 stories.

In Tokyo, they have not only thin, but tall buildings. The first picture is of a residential home. Don't you just want to go inside and see how they live in such a narrow space? I bet it's cool inside though. Tons of unique storage areas, and totally custom made cabinets and furniture. The other picture is of an actual functional business building in Shibuya, just across the street from Seibu Dept. Store. So thin (maybe 10ft wide?) but look how tall it is? Insane in the membrane!!

Day 10: 1975?

I love the 1970's, and I love the way pictures looked back then. Since I had a Japanese dad, he took plenty of pics back then, and so any picture that has that same 70's look evokes very strong emotions for me. I actually had a technically better picture to post, but I just want to jump into this picture. I want to put on my brown couduroy pants and my blue and yellow addidas runners and be part of this picture. I took this shot riding downtown on a Saturday afternoon. The weather was perfectly clouded over, and I took this shot on the way home, near Pender and Cambie. I'm sure if I waited long enough, I could of framed in a couple of European hippies coming out of the hostel upstairs. It would have totally looked like 1975.......