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? 

iPhone 5S: An Awesome Panorama Camera

iPhone 5S. 1/120th sec F/2.2 @ ISO 160. Original file 8.2mb 7742 x 2448 image

I've recently upgraded my dying iphone 4 (not the S!!) from 3 years ago to the latest and greatest iPhone 5S. Before the iPhone I was a Palm Pilot guy (Palm T3 was my last one), and even before digital PDA's I always used a paper daily planner with phone numbers, notes, to do list, calender, etc. When the iPhone came out I was excited, as it merged a phone with a digital organizer... little did I realize that this little gadget would change how I viewed photography!

The new camera on the latest iPhone and the software that runs it is very simple and intuitive to use, but it also takes great images. Yes the dynamic range isn't what I would get on a "proper" camera, but the convenience of a camera on our phones can't be denied. Take a picture, edit it in-camera, and immediately share it with the world. I know the new iSight camera has many cool features, but specifically I wanted to talk about the panorama camera feature. I'm currently reviewing the Fuji X-E2 and I've always loved Fuji's "Motion Panorama" feature; the best of all the major manufacturers I thought... until now.

Is Bart Simpson a Working Graffiti Writer?

I was walking through my favorite alleys of Vancouver looking for any new graffiti art and I actually found 3 graffiti artists hard at work on a private parking lot. The owners were tired of all the tagging along their walls and decided to allow proper graffiti writers to refresh their walls with a proper mural from time to time. Even the taggers stay off a properly done up wall out of respect...for a while anyway.

I ran into Combo (professional tag name), Joe and Jordan "The Red" working on this Simpson's themed graffiti mural wall at 300 block West Hastings. They were hard at work trying to finish their cartoon masterpiece before it started raining.

These guys work hard and they work fast, and they don't get paid for what they do... at least not these guys. They can spend up to $100 worth of paint for just a 20' x 15' section, and this mural was probably over 120' x 15'. Why do it then? They're artists. Why did Picasso paint? To become rich? Many artists die poor. They do it because they want to express themselves. 

The Graffiti Writers of Vancouver: Meet Joe

Leica X Vario @ ISO 400 1/400th sec F/4.5 at 36mm equiv

Meet Joe. He's a graffiti artist, or as they call each other, a graffiti writer. He likes to draw with a spray can. He draws on walls, under bridges, and on trains. Why? The same reason why I take pictures, or why some like to play musical instruments. It's an expression of ourselves through our chosen medium, let it be a spray can, a camera, or a guitar. 

I ran into Joe, Jordan and Combo (tag name) as they were working on an amazing Simpson's themed mural in a parking lot in downtown Vancouver. I will post those pictures in the next few days but I just wanted to get this backwards portrait of Joe up first. He's a quiet guy, mild spoken, and very easy to talk to. They just finished the mural as it started to rain, and Joe was taking off to get his hair-cut when I got this one last shot of him. 

Thanks for posing Joe. I hope you get a decent haircut...

P.S. this picture was taken with the super cool but expensive Leica X Vario. I didn't think I would like it as a street shooter, but it's actually really awesome, especially if you know how to scale focus. More on this on my upcoming review....stay tuned!

Life Imitates Art: Back Alley Loiterer

I was walking along my usual picture-taking route, checking out the alley ways for recent graffiti updates. I've noticed that there are always people standing inside the doorways along alleys for some reason. They don't look like delivery guys, nor do they look like employees or drug dealers. They just seem to be hanging out for no reason. Anyways, I found this fresh graffiti and decided to try and make the shot interesting by incorporating the two guys hanging out next to it. 

Another Walter White Poster by Wrk(less)

One of my buddies in the animation industry showed my recent post of the Walter White Apply Yourself wheat paste poster to his director. "I know him, he's my buddy" said his director! Small world. His working art name is Wrk(less) and you can find his work all around Vancouver, although I find the highest concentration of his work in and around Gastown.  I passed on the message to my buddy to tell his director to tell Wrk(less) that I would love to interview him for my blog. I hope to have an interview with him soon. Thanks for the hook-up Jer!! 

This particular Walter White poster is just outside Bangtown Hair Studio on West Pender. Go check it out, as well as Bangtown. I'll have a review of Bangtown up sometime soon as well...

Apply Yourself: Walter White Graffiti Poster

I've seen this poster-style graffiti all over DT Vancouver. I don't watch Breaking Bad so I don't know anything about the character of Walter White, or if this is a line he's famous for saying in the show.  I don't yet know the name of the different artists around town doing most of the graffiti art in Vancouver either. Are they paid? Commissioned? Illegal? Grey area? Hopefully I'll run into one of these artists in the act and I'll interview them. Until then, here you go...

Shot on Fujifilm X-F1 at 50mm equiv. Full review soon...

Fujifilm XF1 Review and Motion Panorama

Walking along the alleyways of the DTES of Vancouver, it can be a bit scary. It can be even scarier if you don't fit in and lug around a whole mess of conspicuous camera equipment. That's why I really appreciate the size of the new Fujifilm XF1. It has many of the same features as the it's big brother the X-10 and X-20, but it easily slips into a front pocket, or even hidden in the palm of your hand as you walk discretely through crowds and alleyways.

I have an upcoming full review of the Fujifilm XF1, but so far I'm loving the camera! The retrostyle reminds me of the old Nikon 35ti film camera, but the operation is clearly digital in execution. In the old days, I would have to drag around a Noblex panorama camera on a sturdy tripod to get a shot like this. All I have to do now is find the feature buried inside the Advanced feature section of the main dial and then sweep away!

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!

Review: Fujifilm X-E1 with 18-55 Lens

Full Review: Fujifilm X-E1 with 18-55 F2.8-4 O.I.S Zoom

Thank you for waiting patiently for my full review of the Fujifilm X-E1 with the 18-55 F2.8-4 zoom lens. I apologize for the long delay. I had a stack of notes and a (virtual) stack of pictures to go through and analyze, so it’s taken a bit of time to come up with this review. Instead of making you wait to the end to read my conclusion, let's start with my final thoughts...

Palindromic Graffiti Logo at Emily Carr?

Walking past this graffiti outside Emily Carr Institute on Granville Island, something struck me about it, so I quickly took the picture and moved on.  Weeks later, as I looked back, I examined it, wondering why I liked the way the person decided to break the word ATTACK in two lines.....very cool I thought.

The top ATTA is a palindrome, and even the double T looks like the Greek letter Pi, which is also palindromic in shape. As a palindrome, there's this balanced look to the ATTA, almost iconic or logo like. The CK along the bottom is pretty cool too because it's a repeat consonant like the double T in ATTA, both the C and K making the double K sound in English.  

Aesthetically, the roundness of the letter C really adds to the overall balance of the rest of the letters, as the other letters are all made with straight lines.  The kerning on the two lines, how the cK actually touches the ATTA makes it clear that this is meant to be a single word or symbol, not two.  Even the angle of the A's work with similar angles on the letter K as well, and the cK reminds us of an iconic brand, only adding to the strength of this logo-like graffiti. Over analyzing? Yes. Just a kid with a spray can who had 15 seconds to make it count? Probably.

Do You Give a Hoot about Truck Graffiti?

I've been noticing graffiti on white trucks lately, and I don't know if it's true graffiti, or if the owners are allowing random artists to spray their trucks.  This one looks like a commissioned job.  I thought it was cute. Owls are pretty cool. Big headed birds. Although this owl can actually change his face to look like a bat when it senses danger or competition. Insane!!

Evil Genius Sideshow Bob Makes an Alley Appearance!

I like how the rust on the dumpster matches the red brick of the building. I've been noticing more and more dumpster art recently as I walk the alleys.....it makes sense to find Sideshow Bob in a dark alley planning his next evil yet elaborate revenge plan against Bart.  Look at that evil-scheme smile!!

Monochromatic Graffiti Style in Gastown

There's an alley just off Cambie St. in Gastown that has graffiti from one end to the other, and on both sides. I often see photographers using it as a backdrop to a fashion shoot, to give it some edge and street-legitimacy.  As I rode through it one day, all I could smell and see was urine and dumpsters, so I know it's not a "fake alley" with graffiti; it's the real thing. Much of the art is simple and cliche, but I noticed one that stood out. It's a single colour piece, but with different shades.  I wonder if the artist had multiple shades of black and gray spray paint, or if there is some technique to create the different shades? It's a pretty complicated piece of graffiti, working with shades instead of colours, so I thought I would share......

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!!

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Odd Location for Cool Mural

This was the first picture I took when I started my ride yesterday, and it was in a very unusual location: underneath an isolated overpass in a very obscure corner.  I've passed by here many times and never noticed it, but when I looked closely at the mural, I can tell it's been there for a while now.  It's too bad the sun hit only half the mural, but that's probably the only reason why I noticed it while I whipped past quickly (I actually had to do a u-turn to go back and get this shot!!). This is the type of street art I enjoy, although technically I guess it's graffiti art.  Old man feeding a squirrel.  I like it.......

P.S. Location is underneath the overpass to get to the ports, just off of McGill East of Renfrew St.  You can tell this is a popular shortcut for cyclists, as you can see one approaching me in the shot in the shadows......

Mural to iPhone to Blog in Minutes!

I haven't posted in a while since I've been mostly home-bound the past few weeks. I got out today on my bike and got shooting immediately. What I noticed most about Vancouver is the increase of murals, official and unofficial (aka graffiti art). I love this one, although I'm sure this is a digital print on aluminum substrate and mounted in multi-pieces. It doesn't take away from the coolness of the image though...... 

I wanted to take a straight on shot, but not possible. Fortunately, I knew I could edit later with Jotnot Pro for iPhone, and as you can see, it corrected the angle of view just fine. 

I also did a quick touch up in PS Express for iPhone (contrast, sharpness, frame) and then sent via email to my Blogger acount. I shot, edited, wrote and emailed all from my iPhone.....

I went back in later on my laptop to fix the layout a bit, change font, and add labels (not possible in e-mail mode), but other than that, all done on my iPhone.......

Blood Alley Graffiti Art

I've been finding lots of great images walking through Gastown lately.  This temporary graffiti wall can be found in Blood Alley, which is just next to Gaelor's Mews.  As graffiti artists go, I hope that Banksy will come here one day and do something really cool for our city (unless he already has?), but something more permanent. But I guess that's the beauty and tragedy of graffiti art.......

Complex Canvas for Corporate Graffiti Art

I noticed professional graffiti art on the side of a building next to an empty lot, nothing special.  Looking closely, I noticed it was Corporate Graffiti, for Scion cars.  

As I backed up, I noticed the random wall was actually the side of a small, boutique Scion dealership downtown.  Makes sense.  But I noticed something unusual about the building wall.....

The wall is totally uneven!!  The bottom is almost 2 feet out further than the rest of the wall!!  But from the side, you would never no it.  Pretty good job corporate graffiti artist guy or gal!! Even the red brick was coloured in (see other pics).  Notice the complex brick pattern that makes up the main part of the car drawing!  That's not easy to do. At least I don't think it is........

25' x 40' Canvas

I love street art.  Too bad Bansky doesn't live in Vancouver.  I'd love to see his stuff around town. You may recognize this large mural from the picture of the urban farm posting, just to the top right of the image.  But from this angle (low and looking up) it looks different doesn't it? I tried taking it with my other camera (Panasonic FX50) but I just couldn't get the right feel, so I took a few with my iPhone and the Hipstamatic program and voila!! I got what I was looking for.