One thing post 2020 is for sure, being prepared for whatever is key... Which is why I've been testing my old gear, since I expected to be on the road the next 2-3 years.
I won't go into the details, that is too complex and another topic, but until yesterday my plan included simply ditching most of my big gear, not expecting to be able to use it again.
Its been a great help to have all our cats around, here Tiger and Marigold are helping me. The table in the background is full of gear to sort.
This is perhaps the only time ever that I remember when some high level policy change happens which is helpfull for me haha! And also there are literally hundreds of variables and plans that have changed, its soon 24 hours since the news arrived and I'm still adjusting and rethinking everything.
So why not get that big bag out from the shed, now that it might find some use?
This set of Mamiya RZ67 cost as much as a car a few decades ago, its high quality 120mm analog gear. When I started buying this type of gear it was possible to get it for next to nothing, when I checked recently the prices were sharply up too haha!
I used Mamiya for a bit of travel photography back when I was roaming Europe in those huge, old Mercedes vans that I had, flying with this type of gear is not recommended...
But who knows, maybe I'll be able to do Gunung Padang or Angkor Wat now, or the Himalayas?
Of course the resolution is higher even with smartphones now, but there is a lot to be said for sensor size, or in this case film size. It has a "look" of its own, from depth of field to simply how everything is rendered.
I was never a studio photographer until around 2008, and shortly after I took over the shared studio space. That made me go in the completely opposite direction, getting into all the details, including investing in old gear, even getting a full van of seriously ancient stuff for free. More on that later!
This studio lamp is older than the nineties generations that tended to be unstable, so if it works after staying in a damp, Asian shed it will work for another generation. I'll know soon...
So, why not use this opportunity to start sharing studio photography! I chose a folder at random, this was during the last year where I had the studio to myself, so there was a lot of activity with this project we set up with amateur models & photographers.
This was on random, but its still a good example of what can be done with studio lightning. I wanted to have this particular look, with lots of backlight, and lots of soft light that could render these pastel colours in a good way.
Actually I did not apply any colour corrections for this one, so the basic work in studio was done right 🙂
It will be interesting to see what happens the next days, everything will change, almost all of the underlying stress the past years is gone now.
I've got a one way ticket to Kathmandu now that I do not have to use, but I'll probably use it. Maybe 2-3 weeks there to do videos and photography of the monsoon season could be cool?
We'll see!