| things to do for 09 |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|11:59 pm] |
In the past I've made list which half the time I don't follow through. Hopefully this time i'll actually get these things done.
1. Buy film scanner
2. Set up personal portfolio website for photography/film work
3. Start learning how to make alcoholic drinks
4. Buy a shitload of polaroid film
5. Buy at least 2 more lens (one wide, one telephoto)
6. Start cooking more
7. Start buying more DVD's
8. Start buying more music albums
9. Reorganise my DVD collection (yes the WHOLE collection)
10. Loosen up and not worry about petty things
11. Keep on photographing
12. Make 2 photobooks: [1] parties/friends, [2] family
13. Make a decent short film for third year
14. Submit photographs to websites/online magazines
15. Save up for plane ticket to the US of A!
16. Buy a new bookshelf to store my DVD's
17. Make at least 2 short films (excluding school projects)
18. Buy a new compact digital camera
19. Pass my subjects
20. Start buying/reading books again (first up, Kerouac boxset!)
21. Collect every single Seagal dvd!
TBC |
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| list of dvd's i've bought |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|11:58 pm] |
These are the DVD's I've bought this year, my goal is to buy at least 250 by the end of this year. I've already made a list in excel listing all the dvd's I want, it's already 500+ titles and there's certainly more to come!
( the list... ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 26th, 2009|12:41 am] |
My old computer (which is now in my sisters room) has been acting shitty these last few weeks, hence why she's usually on the laptop nowadays. I went on and it was ridiculously slow, I mean the mouse cursor would lag for a good 10 seconds or so before it began to move. My Computer would take ages to load up, what's most scary is one of the harddrive (which has alot of my crap on it, more on that later) seems to come and go. Either it'll lag when you try to open it, or simply won't show up at all (and freeze the comp). Seeing that nearly all the partitions were filled up, I decided best thing to do was to clean out all the junk on cdrive, defrag it and hopefully it'll run abit smoother.
Smoother it is, but just by a tad. Worse comes to worse, going to have to reformat cdrive. There's so much of my crap on this old computer that I figured it was about time i began the transferring process. My external hdd only has like 70 gigs left (most of it being taken up my uni work) so I have to transfer in small chunks. First up was my major music folder, which had a good 383 albums in it. Mind you these are the albums which i've DOWNLOADED and have been since year 11. There's still all my other music folders included ripped albums, limewire downloads and loads more. This folder altogether was a whopping 42 gigs!
I've only copied half the crap on my edrive, there's still 2/3 more drives left to go. Had a look through my old artworks folder, man i was cracking up when i looked at the year 12 gifts i made for people. i wonder if anyone still has them?
From the looks of it, think I'll be needing to buy another external HDD asap. Oh and need to pick up my layby as well!
uni is over. yay! not seeing my uni friends as often, boo! |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|12:18 am] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Kings of Convenience - Misread | ] |
so summer's coming up. and that means beach. and usually when people are at the beach they either: bathe in the water, get sunburnt or have beach parties and play some guitar. and it's a strange thing, whenever summer approaches, that's the time when i feel most compelled to get back into playing guitar. i've been saying for nearly 3 years how i actually want to get good at playing guitar, but just like the changing of seasons, my passion usually dies out by fall. a shame because i've always wanted to write songs, not that i have any actual songwriting skills. besides the usual joke songs and all.
everyone has their special selection of songs that they listen to constantly during summer. for me, it's always been the usual singers who play guitar and write mellow acoustic songs. singers like jack johnson, john mayer and ben harper. over the last few years, i've noticed that most of the singers/bands that i tend to listen to alot, i usually discover their music during the beginning of summer. end of 2007 that's when i listened to alot of The Pipettes and also Tristian Prettyman. 2008 was the year I discovered Priscilla Ahn and Ingrid Michaelson. as you can tell, i love cute indie singer/songwriters. i wish i could date one. that'd be nice.
back to what i was saying, lately i've been getting back into john mayer. rediscovering some old songs, digging his new ones, i seriously can't wait for his new album. whereas continuum was much more bluesy with some soul and rnb touches, his new album battlefield studies instead is more upbeat, reminiscent of the era of 70's pop music by bands such as Fleetwood Mac, Journey and Neil Young. besides that i've been listening to alot of his old stuff. a song which i never really loved was 'love song for no one', it was ok but nothing great. but listening to it again and paying attention to the lyrics made me realise how much i can connect with his songs.
check out 'half of my heart', sure to be one of the anthems of summer (for me)
in the end, what i really want to say is... i feel like playing guitar. the end. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 3rd, 2009|01:31 am] |
So the big 2-1 has come and gone. The last few weeks spending pondering whether I should have a party or just go out to some pizzeria and eat baffled me for quite some time. And now 2-3 days have gone past and I'm feeling abit more emptier then usual. My party was not the holy grail of 21st birthdays and I know there'll be plenty more to come, but a part of me is just wishing to go back and experience it all again. I've been on this planet for 21 years, 4 more years and it'd be a quarter of a decade. I guess it's like going to camp in highschool and having an awesome time and you just never want to leave. But you know you will have to take that 2 hour bus ride back home, that you will spend hours just looking back and contemplating on the memories you've just made.
I should be sleeping, but instead I'm reading old emails from the past.
where the fuck did i go wrong?
it's 4am and i'm wallowing in selfpity and getting depressed over nothing special. what kind of life am i living...
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| rediscovering the beauty of lonely late night driving set to a jazz soundtrack |
[Oct. 28th, 2009|01:46 am] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Kings of Convenience - Misread | ] |
making mix-cds for my birthday this saturday. fun fun fun.
birthday preparations are coming along quite nicely i guess you could say, gotta go to bunnings in the morning to check out some party lights (fluroscents in the backyard are depressingly cold) to amp up the atmosphere. also been discussing what we'll be having that night with my parents, won't be alot compared to a filo party (henry's dads party, woah now that's a buffet), but nevertheless there'll be alot of fingerfood and shizz. alot to help us through the night when drinking it up. shame on you who can't drink! lol jokes, well you can rock it out on the karaoke instead :D
at the moment i've mainly bought vodka and whiskey, probably get some tequila and soho on thursday. maybe some more vodka... but yerh feel free to byo, i've got plenty of buckets on hand.
can't believe i'm basically 2-3 weeks away from finishing my course. FINITO. 3 years have gone by, made some awesome friends, worked on some film shoots, learnt abit... but overall was it worth it? uhhhh no comment. sorta makes me wonder what path i should have taken after i finished highschool. it's strange comparing the end of vce to finishing uni. vce was the end of a phase in our life, the end of our teenage years. it was sad to see vce end, besides all the stress of enters and exams just the fact we knew we weren't going to be highschool students anymore. bittersweet. compare it to uni and most of us are damn glad this course is over with. but i guess the sadness will probably seep in sometime in the near future. eitherway, guess we won't be bludging around as much as we did in the last few years. hello adultlife, what a scary arena we're entering...
seems alot of people are having difficulties figuring out what to get me for my birthday. lol like i've said, a jb voucher will suffice :) but if people seriously want to get me a gift, here's a brief rundown:
seven samurai 3 disc criterion boxset, around 60-70 - at ACMI store at fedsquare
studio ghibli artbooks around 50 - at ACMI store/Minotaur (Spirited Away yo!)
Cartoon Modern book, around 70 - at Minotaur (in the cartoons section)
Michael Jackson boxset with all 5 albums, around 40 - at JB HIFI
Early Spring (Japanese film), around 30 - at JB HIFI
Mighty Ducks Trilogy, around 20-25 - at JB HIFI
Kings of Convenience albums
500 Days of Summer soundtrack, around 25 at JB HIFI
Tickets to Diana Krall concert with special guest Madeleine Peyroux & Melody Gardot :D:D:D
i feel so lame making this list, but that's some stuff i really want. then again, surprise me if you want. and if you're worried i might already have a dvd or what not, here's an online list of my dvd collection:
http://www.invelos.com/DVDCollection.aspx/mbhwee
been getting quite a number of compliments from uni friends about the way i dress nowadays. nothing fancy or anything, i'm not chicken level with those trendy hipster kids nor rollicking in ivy league style clothing. but i guess (like i told my mum), i'm nearly 21 and i think it's about time i got my shit together. need to buy more clothes when i get the dosh (hello cotton suit for summer) but i guess i'm making the most of what i have, which isn't much. also made a list of things i want to do once i finish uni. besides working and doing some studying (will explain another time), gonna try to get creative and do some drawing/animation. get back into that stuff, i miss drawing. and hopefully actually make some short films... wish i had a new video camera, but not happening anytime soon. also gonna get fit and start jogging everyday, maybe gyming if need be. oh and importantly, get my bloody sleeping patterns back in check, not more late nights for me.
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| You love, you learn, you move on... yes I can't believe I'm quoting 'Prime' |
[Sep. 28th, 2009|03:09 am] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Regina Spektor - Us | ] |
"Just because some girl likes the same bizarro crap you do, doesn't make her your soulmate"
I find it really heard to get back into blogging nowadays. I mean, I have so many random thoughts just waiting to be expressed through written form, but I just don't know how to start. From the looks of it, it's basically a matter of control. I know my past cheesy entries have backfired against me, and I know that I've been looked down upon because of them (and other things as well, some of my own doing obviously) so now I tend to get abit conscious about what I write in here. But fuck it, it's my blog. Noone reads lj anymore anyway, so won't be too much of a problem.
To be honest, these days I'm not as 'cheesy' as I use to be back in highschool. The corniness was at it's peak during those years, and slowly died out once I started uni. Not to say I don't feel the corniness from time to time, but I simply don't feel like blogging it like I use to. Which is sort of a shame as it's sort of fun looking back at old entries as seeing how much you may (or may not) have matured throughout the years. Some entries remind you of the good times, some of the worst, and some of the most bittersweet. I doubt I could write something as a passionate as some of my more noted 'entries', an artform I've simply lost. I guess you could say it has alot to with my current mental state of mind. That's not to say I don't overthink things like I usually do, but lovey dovey stuff simply isn't high on the agenda anymore.
Which in a sense is a double-edged sword. On one hand, I know most are glad they don't have to hear me rant on about some girl or like and what not, but on the otherhand it feels like something's lacking in my life, a sense of passion. Stupid I know, but life has become routine nowadays made up of the same activities: waking up, eating, going uni, surfing ebay/buying dvds and watching films. The odd catchup session with mates here and there, but even those are becoming scarce. It's noones fault, it's just how life is. I look back at my old entries and besides squirming at the overbearing cheesiness, I tend to get this goofy grin on my face. I use to feel so passionate, when it cames to girls and corny things it use to consume my mind constantly. Obviously not always for the best, but at least it certainly made highschool a memorable experience. Nowadays the days tend to get so repetitive, there's nothing to hype me up anymore. You begin to feel numb. Like you're not living, but merely existing. And I find that fucking unbearable.
There's a certain moment in both High Fidelity and (500) days of Summer, where the protagonist express the notion of how much media platforms, whether it'd be music or movies play in constructing our notions of love and romance:
'People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss.'
I couldn't agree more with that statement. It's strange because, I could care less for more standard rom-com's, but it was always the deep and meaningful ones that got to me. Films like Chasing Amy, Before Sunrise/Sunset and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (not to mention my beloved WKW films) that had a role in shaping my ideas of what love would be. Bitter and sweet, you can't have the good without the bad. And I would definitely add (500) Days into the mix, the first film in a long time that not only made me feel corny but actually got me reminiscing about the past. If you watch it, you'll see what I mean. The idiotic things guys will do to make a girl notice you. It's embarrassing.
So in the end, what have we really learnt? I'm still the same guy, never had a girlfriend and still confused/shy when it comes to girls. But watching (500) Days made me realise, it's ok to be corny from time to time. Some people believe in love at first sight, some believe love simply doesn't exist. Some are hopeful, some could care less. It's nice to know that, even though my life is slowly being consumed by superficial items (aka dvds), that I can still feel something. That I'm still alive. And for that, I'm glad.
Well that's enough corniness to last the year.
PS: September has really been a month of bad luck for me.
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 22nd, 2009|12:47 am] |
sometimes i wish i lived in the us, just so i could actually get hey arnold/rugrats/doug season box sets on dvd. can't find shit on ebay. NOOOO
shit i just realised you can only buy them exclusively through amazon, fucken bullshit!!!!! i found season 1 and 2 of rugrats on ebay, 100 bucks!!! and that's not including postage!!! OMGGG |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 16th, 2009|10:28 pm] |
"Just take your time. The more you rush, the longer it'll take"
- Petrol Lady
best advice i've heard in a long time.
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 6th, 2009|02:41 am] |
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“ By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
Second, by imitation, which is easiest;
And third by experience, which is the bitterest. ”
- Confucius |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 4th, 2009|11:51 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Coeur de pirate - Intermission | ] |
Last few weeks have been pretty crazy in terms of dvd spending, jb with there buy 2 get 1 free deal, basically everytime I've entered a JB i would come out with minimum 3 dvds! Easing off now that I've bought most of the dvd's I want, gonna try to buy more music cd's though they tend to be abit pricier (especially the albums I want, which tend to be US imports). So many films, but so little time to see.
Friday nights have been pretty chilled these last few weeks, don't go out much anymore so I just spend time at home bumming around. Feels strange knowing most people would be out drinking or clubbing on friday nights, and here I am trying to learn how to make a decent coffee on the new expresso machine. Who would have thought, but making good coffee is an artform, especially 'texturing' the milk to get that forthy velvety texture you get from cafes/coffee joints. All I'll say is it's harder then it looks, and will take alot of time and patience to perfect it. Or more like learn to actually do it first of all!
Last week had a family party to celebrate mum/fam friend's birthday, drank up with the oldies as usual... though this was the first time i've drank in over a month (since Raye's where I got KO). I say no thanks to shots, give me scotch on the rocks and I'm satisifed. Though I'd like to try some other spirits on the rocks like tequila which from what I've read tastes pretty damn good. I wish my backyard wasn't as ugly as it is and had a patio and what not, where you can chill in the summer afternoons on the hammocks or have dinner while drinking some fine liquor. That would be the life aay.
My brother has been asking me what electives he should choose for next year. I had a look over the electives sheet, alot of subjects have changed but surprisingly there are some new additions. Back in year 8 I did Frightening flicks, I thought it'd be a cool subject. It was ok, had Miss Nasa though so the class got boring at times. Only good thigns that came out of it was watching Vertigo and misery. But my brother told me Ms Ibrido is teaching the subject, which is bloody awesome... for him. She's one of the best teachers I had at CRC, English class in year 9 was such a life changing experience and made me see things in a different light. How horribly cliched and Hollywood like, but I loved that class. Actually in whole year 9 was the best year ever (for me) in terms of my education and overall enjoyment. Fridays were so fun, mucking around with Neil, Laura, Tish, Amanda, Berlina (Shudders) and just having a ball. Stewie teaches Stop the Press (the yearbook subject) and he's practically forcing my brother to do it so he can finish the 'legacy'. By that, he means since me and my sister worked on the yearbook, my brother also has to as well. Finally they now have a 'media' subject, man how cool. As mos tof you know, Media was my favourite subject in VCE, Charles was the bomb. From the looks of it, they have Ianuzzi, which is ok I guess though I reckon Ibrido would make an awesome media teacher she's actually studied film (or something like it) but also was taught by Charles as well! Makes me wish I was back in highschool, I feel drained of any form of creativity or energy by uni.
Anyway, just found a recent photo of Mika Nakashima:
Woah, she's only 26 but she looks much older. I use to have a huge crush on her back in my jap/korean music phase in year 9/10. I wonder if she ended up marrying that 40 year old actor guy she was dating.
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 20th, 2009|01:48 am] |
so got new car on monday, a corolla sedan. nice car, still got that new car smell which can be quite a high at times. think it's time i made some new mixtapes to listen to while i'm driving. the other day i was cruising around to one of my summer mixes on a bright sunny day, awesome feeling. seriously can't wait for summer... although half the time i'll be working, either way nothing beats good ole sunny days. obviously going to beach it, hopefully with the new car i'll be able to take it out and go to beaches on eastside or what not, even nightbeaching would be good. also like to chill out in the parks as well, or go exploring in the eastside like the dandenong ranges or something.
early spring this year, cherry blossoms are starting to bloom. gotta wait a few weeks till they're in full bloom, driving home from the car dealers in preston, was surprised such a shabby looking place had streets filled with cherry blossom trees. either way wasn't as pretty as the ones in japan (obviously) since these were main roads with cars everywhere. bought a pack of polaroid film, 27 dollars. been awhile since i've used it, had fun walking around the block taking photos of sunset and the cherry blossoms. nowadays most of the shops sell the 3 pack (30 photos) which is like 80 bucks :S probably buy one sometime soon, also need to get a new memory card for aisa's birthday.
anyway don't know if i mentioned this before, but the film i've been anticipating for so long is (500)days with summer, the new 'romantic comedy' with Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. seems like everyone is slowly learning about it and also wanting to watch it as well. since im a gold class virgin, planning to go watch it when it comes out in gold class. not exactly a film i'd like to go watch in a group, though i wouldn't want to watch it by myself. where's all them pretty girls when you need them?
just finished watching the international with clive owen, a pretty good film. the ending was a tad anticlimatic (in comparison to the shootout in the mid section of the film) but ultimately works for the overall themes and messages in the film. it's a shame that a film like this bombed at the box office (barely shown in cinemas here), alot of it has to do with marketing. same with duplicity, another clive owen film that didn't do well here as well. he chooses such interesting roles that sadly haven't been making much money. i'm hoping it does well on dvd though. i'll definitely be buying a copy of both films, i'm a fan... ok i've got a man-crush on him lol |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 9th, 2009|11:32 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Anna Karina & Jean-Claude Brialy - Ne Dis Rian | ] |
start uni tomorrow. bummer. eitherway doesn't feel like much of a difference since i've been at uni these last few weeks anyway.
i did a rough plan of my financial budget for the rest of the year, i figured if i don't spend any of the dosh i make at work, i could save up to around 2 grand or so. then again, knowing me it'll either be spent on train tickets, food, magazines and dvds. still deciding whether to do something for my birthday or not, house party or eating out... don't want to drink at bar or anything, too pricey and im personally over that whole scene.
so officially will be getting a new car by the end of this week. corolla sedan or something like that, in graphite. looks nice.
last week went with thao's dad to sbs workplace at fed square, ended up doing an interview discussing my course and film and all that sort of stuff. you might hear my broken sometime on sbs radio in the near future! lol
henry asked me awhile back if i wanted to photography his cousin's 18th birthday party. i accepted and only now do i realise how stressful it will be. obviously the way i see it, it's on par with doing a wedding so at least i'm getting some sort of experience. but once it hit me, i began researching and getting a brief idea of what would be required in terms of the photography for that night. obviously i'm no pro, but i do want to capture the best photographs to my abilities but i feel i'm held back by the lack of equipment i have (lens). i would love to have a canon 5d which at a high iso setting such as 1600 can capture great shots with less noise then say my camera. i guess it depends on what aisa wants so i'll have to get in contact with her about that. i was on facebook trying to find photos from peoples 18th birthdays so i could get an idea of how it all goes about. plus im getting paid, so i better not fuck up :X
saw some pretty crazy films at miff, saw some lovely ones, and had to miss out on some cause i was simply too tired. oh well, there's always bittorrent/dvds.
with all that said, it's time for me to get my shit together and start photographing again.
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 18th, 2009|02:47 am] |
What started as a whisper,
slowly turned into a scream.
Searching for an answer,
where the question is unseen.
I don’t know where you came from,
and I don’t know where you’ve gone.
Old friends become old strangers,
between the darkness and the dawn
- Ben Harper |
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| when i want you back! |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|01:22 am] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Lily Allen - Fuck You | ] |
Regardless of my dvd spending habits, yesterday i got my test results back from my lecturer. Last Thursday we had a test covering the topics we learnt through the last 3 weeks, I had skipped one class because of my illness so I sort of had to catchup on quite abit... though i really didn't study much at all. Left it all to the last minute, studying for a few hours before the test. Not a healthy way of going about with uni work (it's gotten pretty bad eversince first year), but sometimes laziness/procrastination overrules. I walked in the the room feeling pretty tired and slightly late, but ended up finishing the test quite early. My main goal is merely to pass my subjects, not very noble when in highschool I would have been pissed off if i got anything lower than 90... but sometimes the bare necessities is all you need. Found out I ended up getting 81.5, I was quite surprised and rather relieved to be honest. Hopefully I'll pass the next text and do an awesome job with my essay and i'll be done!
Last Saturday I was at my uni friend Annelise's house working on our major project for third year, a short claymation piece. Stop motion animation is a bitch, time consuming but once you watch it all play out, you know it's worth it. Basically it's about this young girl living in the country where the drought has taken it's toll on the family farm. She finds this red berry and it reveals this magical forest where the berries can transform into anything she wants (gumby style) like a purple teddy bear for example. Although I'm the director of photography on the piece, I'm more of a consultant and camera operator as she mainly does the creating and animating of the clay. It's a pretty intense project but it's a godsend compared to some of the other projects out there. I'm so relieved I'm working on something simple with no need to worry about getting permits and actors and all that jazz. I personally think if i was to become a film-maker, i'd totally do it guerilla style and just film shit without getting permission LOL!
On the train this morning to uni, for awhile I was feeling sleepy, and only when the train arrived at Sunshine did I realise Jono was sitting next to me the whole time! ahaha had a good chat about photography (why im over it), his upcoming 21st and other stuff. He said he's gonna get me a web domain for my website, something like www.hwee.com or www.huyle.com.au (maybe even both). We were both talking about ways to spark some creative juices within me, like taking photographs of trees... and graffiti, or graffiti with trees lol but yerh it was funny talking to him, and later on msn as we checked out flickr and he talked about wanting to get into skateboard photography.
I don't think any of the guys realised this, but last Thursday was the offical 5th anniversary of Prickxor! LOL well i'm glad our good behaviour bonds are now finished, can't believe it's been 5 years already! My plans of doing a remastered limited edition dvd set of Prickxor has come and gone throughout the years, but hopefully i'll get around to doing it one day. Should be awesome. Anyway just wanted to say thanks to the guys, we've been through some crazy times over the last few years. Those four volumes we made back in 2004 will always be with us and managed to capture a period in our life when things just seemed to be much simpler (not necessarily). I still get a kick when I watch Prickxor and hope you guys enjoyed the whole experience as much as I did. So kudos to John, Francis, Jeffrey, Dex, Michael, Peter, Denis, Neil, Age F, Age R, Jamie and Lawrence, couldn't have done it without you guys. And kudos to our supporters back in the day, you know who you are. Good times, good times... ooohh your a holiday!
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| never meant to make your daughter cry |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|03:41 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Outkast - Hey Ya! | ] |
So anyway here's another entry about my reckless spending sprees. Today I decided to head to Borders to buy Towelhead dvd and maybe a book. I couldn't find Towelhead, but as some of you may know, Border is having this massive foreign dvd sale (which has been on for a few weeks). Basically most foreign films tend to be $30-35 or so, but they're currently selling them for $10-13!!! Obviously I've been taking advantage of this sale and slowly buying more foreign dvd's, I've had to restrict myself sometimes but it's alright, they'll probably have another one in another 6 months or something lol. I also bought Jack Johnson's 'In Between Dreams' album for 13. Only when I went to JB they were selling it for 10! (usually it's like 26 bucks). Then once I come home, I realise I already had a copy! :( but luckily I managed to sell it to Neil hahah oh Neil (long story lol)
I headed to Target where they're having the big toy sale... dvd's included. I bought some more Looney Tunes dvd (Bugs Bunny specials) 3 for $20, of individually 9 bucks each. Talk about a bargain! Next up is to get the rest of the series, including Wild E Coyote/Road Runner, Daffy/Porky Pig and Sylvester/Tweety. Once I left Target I popped over next door to JB with plans to get Gone Baby Gone. Totally forgot about it once I came in as I was enamoured by all the cheap dvd's and music on sale. Seriously wanted to buy the MJ boxset with all 5 albums, but apparently they don't have it yet. I'm wondering around heading to the Foreign section when I see all these Madman dvd's priced at 16 bucks!!! As mentioned before, they tend to be 34 so they're now half price, couldn't believe it so I got four films :D lol also got Towelhead and Delicatessan as well. And add an album into the mix (Colbie Callait's 'Coco') and rounded up to around $105... yeh bad spending habits, but it's all worth it. Just gotta save up my pay this week to continue my splurge! haha
On another note, the moment I entered Borders I saw on the table a book about religious cults, so wanted to buy it but it around 30 bucks :S next time baby, next time... |
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| and please, don't cry... |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|02:19 am] |
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| |  okay | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | São Vicente Feat. Ituana - Don't Cry | ] |
One film which I definitely can't wait to see this year at MIFF is Lars Von Trier's 'Antichrist'. One of the most controversial films at Canne this year, this will definitely be one of the most talked films of the year I reckon. I was initially very excited when i first heard about the project, the initial concept revolving around the concept of Satan being the creator of the world, not God. He decided not go forth with the idea but did refer to the idea throughout the film (nature being satan's kingdom... watch the film and you'll know what he means). Anyway this has sparked some creativity regarding one of my film projects 'Cleaner', which would revolve around a religious cult/sect. I've been reading alot about Satan/devil lately, and personally I find the whole thing quite fascinating. Don't worry I'm not becoming a Satanist or anything but I have to say it's really quite different from what you get in the bible. I could go on about it but here's a quote from the book I'm reading that's got me thinking...
"I think that if the Devil doesn't exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness"
In slightly 'lighter' news, I watched 'Ruslan' (Seagal's new film) and I gotta say, it's actually one of his better direct to dvd films. I mean obviously too stylised with the rapid editing and camerawork but hey he plays a badass Russian mafia boss in this one! haha it actually got me thinking about directing action, like how would I stage a shootout and all. Definitely would do it John Woo/Michael Mann style, can't wait for Public Enemies (though im really worried about the HD... it's been getting alot of complaint, maybe Mann should use the Red camera instead).
Nooo uni in a few hours :(
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| (no subject) |
[May. 21st, 2009|07:16 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Spandau Ballet - True | ] |
EDIT: Now that I think about it, if i get a compact digital, i'll definately want one which has video recording capabilities (hello HD). SO my brother can film stuff as well as myself lol
SO this year for my brother's year 8 camp, CRC are doing something abit different. Stewie proposed this new camp idea where the year 8's have 2 camps: one will be spent in the city and the other in the wild. The students spend 2 days and one night at each place, in the city they rented out a motel for all the students/staff while the country camp they'll actually be camping it out in tents and what not. My brother's house are going on their camp soon in a few weeks, basically they're learning about media in their english class and basically they have to make a video on Melbourne. THe 5 aspects they have to focus on include arts, entertainment, architecture, sports and food. I was mesmerised when I heard about this, I mean I think this is one fucken awesome camp and wished we had somehting like that. I mean spending 2 days in the city just going around shooting a film, what more could you want? They also get to have pizza for dinner on lygon street, watch a movie at mc, go eureka tower and have breakky at victoria market.
I've been taunting my brother about the possibility that I may go as well, it's strange cause he doesn't want me to go but i can sense abit of him really does! LOL like they're learning about media and film-making and lately he told me he's now also interested in filmmaking as well! I'm quite proud of him though i don't want him to end up in the position I'm in now where I'm loathing the course I'm doing lol. But anyway yesterday he told me for hsi group's short film, he's the screenwriter and he wanted to see if it was ok if he sort of did a remake of my media film GRAVITY!!! LOL oh my goodness I was definintely surprised, like shit my brother wants to remake my media film! He's been writing the script these last 2 days and although i haven't checked it out yet, I think it's time i gave him abit of brotherly guidance and critique his work. I didn't do this course for nearly 3 years and learn nothing, i'm gonna try and help make this something he'll really be proud of. To be honest, I'm really jealous of him, I seriously long to be making films again like we did back then with Prickxor. Carefree guerilla style of shooting, no worries about permits and shit like that. I guess you could say for me, filmmaking is more of a hobby rather than a career.
Either way, my brother wants to remake Gravity!!! LOLL
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| another entry about cameras/photography |
[May. 19th, 2009|12:10 am] |
Continuing on with my rants about cameras and shiz, i brought my dslr to jackie's 21st last week. Once again faced with a near no light situation, it was a bitch to photograph anything... hard to focus with my lens since i could barely make out anything to focus, flash was being dodgy on me and i didn't want to resort to using on board flash. Mission failed... oh well at least there were some hotties at the party :D Besides that, it got me thinking about these sort of situations and like i've mentioned before, i think it's time I invested in a compact digital camera. I love my digital slr and it gives me great shots, but sometimes i just need something compact to take everyday photos like when out at pubs or what not. Cause sometimes that's all you need, something decent which can autofocus and take the shot.
However, I've been doing abit of research on some quality digital cameras which have some sort of manual control and OMG it's doing my bloody head in. Man I thought buying my DSLR was bad, this is like a whole different ball game. Maybe I've just become so accustomed to the quality of my dslr that i want nothing below what I already have. Obviously I will have to compromise, I want something not too expensive but it can't be just a basic point and shoot. I mean lynh's camera... that small thing was a bitch to use lol no wonder she refuses to use the flash and rather have blurry shots instead. Personally I'd like one which had the hot shoe so I could attach my flash as well. would be weird having a small camera with a huge flash on top but hey if it ends up being a nice photo then i'm down with it.
Lately I've been thinking about using my film slr again, i just miss using it in my every day life. For awhile I've been trying to figure out what it's so fucken hard to focus on my digital slr. I thought by buying the sigma 30mm lens it'd be much similar to focusing on my film camera, sadly it's not. The viewfinder is so small and everything is bloody sharp which makes it hard if you want to focus on one element or what not (depth of field). It was only just no while reading stuff on flickr that I found out that it's actually because of the focusing screen inside the DSLR! This probably is irrelevant to most of you (like most of my entries) but to me it's a fucken revelation! My plan is to hopefully buy a new one and replace it so i can manually focus which would be so much easier like my film slr! I still have to double check in regards to the autofocus and all that shebang but from what I read it shouldn't be a problem.... I hope.
Anyway I've managed to reduce my spending habits when it comes to dvd's. Yay. Haven't entered a jb store or anything for awhile, just saving up money for the roadtrip! I seriously can't wait, uni is stressing the fuck out of me and I just want to get away and drink and chill with some good mates and forget about it for a few days. Besides that, saving up to buy some new clothes and also get ready for the crazy month ahead... it's gonna be one hectic month aay!
This is a sneak peek of a photoshoot I did yesterday night, my job was to take some promotional shot of the cast members for my friends tv pilot which he'll be filming over the holidays. To tell you the truth, i was pretty darn nervous when taking photos of her, abit intimidated... she was extremely nice though, quite photogenic and knew how to work them poses lol and she's got this keira knightley thing going on ;)
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| (no subject) |
[May. 6th, 2009|10:37 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Lucky Soul - My Darling, Anything | ] |
Yesterday I bought a new camera bag. The Crumpler 7 million dollar bag, cost $165 and was one of the last in stock at camera stores before they were sold specifically in Crumpler stores. A nice bag, abit on the chunky side and I would ahve liked to have a compartment to store a book or what not. Either way I'm glad because now I can actually take my camera around with the necessary lens and shiz. To be honest, I regret not taking my camera to Kingpin for Tish's birthday, i mean i had the camera on me but decided to leave it in the car because I couldn't be bothered taking it back once we went clubbing. Man coulda just left it in the cloakroom or some shit. Oh well, point is, take your camera wherever you go. Missed some candid moments, seems to be something i'm doing far too often lately. Need to start taking photos reguarly again.
Anyway I scored a bargain yesterday at The DVD Collection store on elizabeth (opposite MC), I went there once in the past and was shocked at the prices of the dvd's. Only recently when I returned there did I realise that most of the DVD's were US imports hence the high price tags. They had so many awesome titles there but pretty expensive, I saw Martyrs and I jizzed my pants... but for 40 bucks, I definitely had to think whether it was better off buying it on ebay instead. Instead I saw they were selling Criterion edition of Vampyr 2 Disc with a book, for $45! Totally a bargain, it woulda been sold for at least $60 on ebay or what not, and it's definitely one of the creepiest silent films I've seen. I love criterion editions but they're so darn expensive, I saw Chungking Express and wanted to buy it but man I'm so poor. Dvd bargain hunting is fun, but I really have to stop cause this habit is spiralling out of control! I've realised the only thing I spend my money on these days is food, magazines (GQ and MC) and DVD's. Some life aay lol.
Well ever since the recession hit, I read in the local paper how we should support local businesses by buying from them and what not. I relish in the fact I'm stimulating the economy with my ridiculous dvd spending habits, and now planning to buy more dvd's from local retailers.Usually prices are abit higher then ones at JB or Borders (depends on the dvd) but hey it's all about supporting one another. Since working at Video Ezy I've seen what it's like to struggle as a business whether it'd be my own shop or the neighbouring ones so if buying some dvd's/food could help them with their lease or what not then so be it.
I've been feeling inspired lately to make something (why do i always write this) yet I have no clue what I want to make? I was reading this black and white photography magazine and it had a special about bookmaking using blurb.com, it definitely had me pumped up again to make my photobook. Ideas were running through my head as I wondered what sort of book I'd like to make. As mentioned in previous times, I wanted to make a photobook just full of photos I've taken at parties/drinkups and that's something I'd still like to do. I was also thinking of possibly adding some text, maybe a short narrative throughout the whole book or something. I guess reading Murakami has got me inspired to start writing again though I'm not exactly sure what the hell I'd write. It's still something I have to consider, or would a simple book full of photos suffice?
My uni now has the Nikon d90 for hire, which like the Canon 5d markII also allows HD video recording! It comes with basic 50mm f1.8 lens so that's reasonable, I want to hire it out and try my hand at filming something short and sweet... That'd be nice. No idea what I want to film, I've got a basic idea which I'd like to expand and hopefully film in the near future (end of this year would be awesome). It's a very basic storyline about time-travel similar to il mare, but hopefully i won't draw too much from that film (on a random note, when will there be a fucken good version of that film released?!?!). I want it to be a mix of stills and motion so obviously it might be something challenging but exciting to do. Obviously I haven't done much on it, but hopefully by end of this semester I've got a script written. This will hopefully be the main project I aspire to create by the end of this year, hopefully I actually make it!!!
Besides all that, I'm so pumped for roadtrip yoooooooooooooo
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| (no subject) |
[May. 2nd, 2009|03:10 am] |
Man I just got home, after dropping some of the guys off home
bloody hell, so annoyed... had to clean up neil's mess (you guys know what I'm talking about)
I can still smell it... gah just imagine my dad's reaction when he takes the car to go to work this morning!
Anyway enough of that, brought my cameras and took some shots for the rhythm speaks gig
not bad, I'm still newb when it comes to concert photography (first time doing it)
I also took photos at liions pub while on dance floor, there i realised this:
you can have an expensive dslr, lens and flashgun
but it doesn't mean you'll get sharp photos!
Well it's more a problem because of the extreme lowlight, the lens can't focus hence blurriness
last time it was the photos i took of thai drunk at baby nicholas' one month, now it's this
Wide aperture lens doesn't help, it just makes the photos even blurrier!
Hence I guess that wideangle lens I had wasn't so bad after all
Though my flashgun eats up my batteries like hotcakes, I need to get my rechargeable batteries off Tracy (been nearly 2 months or so LOL)
In times like these where you're in a club/pub on dancefloor and it's extreme lowlight
sometime's it's the normal digicam that works best
either way I had a rocking time, will be posting photos soon!
besides that life is pretty dull and ordinary, finished all of one tree hill, well up to season 5 so got nothing else to do
been reading again, love Haruki Murakami's work, i've started listening to jazz again because of his novels
social life is nonexistent, so is lovelife... abit of confusion here and there but basically i still feel neutrel about it all
really have a bad dvd habit, i have to stop... but it's impossible. :(
oh and Happy Birthday Tish :)
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 25th, 2009|02:33 am] |
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Man I feel incompetent in everything I do. Uni mates tell me I have skills and talent, but i find uni sucking it all out of me. Once again I'm having a creative block, don't feel like doing anything artistic. Found out yesterday theres this photography/film competition ending this monday, too bad I haven't taken any photos lately... Looking over the photos I took at Denis' 21st, they're not great. I had this idealised vision of what type of images I'd like to take (mainly flickr inspirations like Tommy Oshima or Edward Olive) but instead they were just... crap. So dissapointed in myself, and to think I wanted to be a wedding photographer lol. Need to brush up on my photography skills, start taking photos on a regular basis. Maybe bring my camera everywhere I go, lomo style. Need to buy new bag, crumpler one would be nice though a tad expensive. Can't seem to stop buying dvd's, bought the Louis Malle early wooks collection, good bargain for 30 bucks. I'm on ebay looking at dvd's which I know I'll never buy anytime soon. But it's fun. Really feel like filming something, a short atmospheric mood piece would be nice. Horror? Might hire out the Nikon digital slr which also allows you to record HD video, want to try it out. Classes are draining the shit out of me, I can't believe I'm actually busy these days with work and all. One Tree Hill has taken over my life, probably one of the best drama shows I've seen in awhile. Too bad I've finished season 5 already, need to get season 6 asap. Today I'm going to friend's house to do some camera test for her claymation project, should be fun. Lives in Pascoe Vale though, takes awhile to get there by train though :( Anyway can't wait for roadtrip woohooooooooo though i haven't gotten around to asking my parents yet lol should be awesome yah |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 12th, 2009|03:00 am] |
Friday night after I finished work, i headed straight home to change and get my cameria
problem was, i couldn't find my flashgun anywhere
i was getting frantic and decided to ditch the camera and went straight to rhythm speak's gig instead
looking at rix's photos, i wish i did bring my camera...
then again, i just found my flashgun, it was in my camerabag all along *bangs head on table*
eitherway, funny night. lol thai and shiz getting drunk, late night maccas, mark and mikes 'serious face dancing'
good times.
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| this isn't going to end well |
[Apr. 11th, 2009|02:32 am] |
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I've been a mess for some time
Now I get what I deserve
For someone who leaves behind
A life I can't do better
So I take it with a grain of salt for the other means
I wonder why it doesn't keep you up at night
(Up at night, up at night, up at night)
Like it does me |
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| looks like i'll be buying some more oth dvd's... |
[Apr. 7th, 2009|12:20 am] |
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“You ever look a picture of yourself, and see a stranger in the background?. It makes you wonder how many strangers have pictures of you. How many moments of other peoples life have we been in. Were we a part of someone’s life when their dream came true or were we there when their dream died. Did we keep trying to get in? As if we were somehow destined to be there or did the shot take us by surprise. Just think, you could be a big part of someone else’s life, and not even know it.” -Lucas Scott, One Tree Hill |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 1st, 2009|11:55 am] |
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FUCK YEH LENS AND FLASHGUN CAME IN THE MAIL YESTERDAY AND TODAY. EXPECT SOME AWESOME LOOKING PHOTOS IN THE NEAR FUTURE! |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 19th, 2009|08:49 pm] |
babyface - mad sexy cool
keyshia cole - fallin out
keyshia cole - please don't stop
frankie valli - can't take my eyes off you
priscilla ahn - red cape
feist - la sirena
all this talk about careers and the future has got me scared shitless of my own future. but a part of me deep down inside knows in the end it'll all be fine. que sera sera. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 17th, 2009|11:52 pm] |
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Cat Power - I've been loving you too long |
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| gahhhh |
[Mar. 16th, 2009|01:22 am] |
EDIT: OMG WTF I JUST WENT ON EBAY AND NOTICED THE SAME LENS
FROM AUSTRALIAN SELLER (IN NSW), BUY IT NOW ONLY 530 + 20 FOR POSTAGE!!!
OMFG ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Man I just bidded on the Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens
ended up being 303 EURO (including postage) which equals...
$610!!!!!!!
I'm annoyed because had I actually thought about it
I could have instead bought it from a different seller/store
which would have been guranteed to be new
with express postage meaning I would have gotten it in like a week after payment
And it was only $640, only an extra 30 dollars but it would have made me feel so much more satisfied
Whereas this is used, and the postage time could take forever!!!
ARGHHHHHHHHH
Then again, I FINALLY HAVE THE SIGMA 30MM f1.4 LENS!!!!
Hopefully I get the damn lens soon, want to start photographing asap
just browsing through flickr again, noticed I'm so behind
need to start taking more artistic shots again, abit more variety besides party/drinking photos
next up on list of things to buy, new flashgun ($100)
Man wheres that 900 dollars when you need it!?
Anyway off to sleep I go |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 5th, 2009|01:20 am] |
“Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, “Where have I gone wrong?” Then a voice says to me, “This is going to take more than one night.”
- Charlie Brown
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| LOL |
[Mar. 2nd, 2009|01:25 am] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Feist - Lover's Spit | ] |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 2nd, 2009|12:54 am] |
seriously not looking forward to starting uni again (in a few hours)
besides that, shitty day at work... bloody douchebags
flashgun is sorta broken, might need to get another one :S also saving up to buy the sigma 30mm f1.4, that is my next buy
hung out with vic and gee again on saturday night, it was goood...
i'm not gonna wait anymore! fuck that shitttttt |
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| cinematic lunch break |
[Feb. 11th, 2009|07:06 pm] |
See this is the type of photos I want to take. This guy is a pretty awesome photographer, here he just takes photos of two people on their phones during lunch break and it looks fucken cinematic like hell. As you all have probably experienced, I've taken my slr around taking photos whenever we hangout or what not, but those photos are nothing compared to this. So jealous!
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| sample |
[Feb. 9th, 2009|05:18 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Priscilla Ahn - Red Cape | ] |
So about a month ago I decided to make a test photobook. I didn't use blurb but instead chose to try viovio instead, it seemed abit cheaper and basically i just wanted to see the quality of the book. I chose some photos, chucked it in and had it made for like $20 (not including postage). It came in the mail today... here's a few pages (40 page book / 20 pages with photos)
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| Lens I want to buy |
[Feb. 3rd, 2009|02:38 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Ingrid Michaelson - Over the Rainbow | ] |
Continuing on with my rambles about photography, here are a list of lens I'd like to get:
The Sigma 30mm F1.4 prime lens, it's a fast lens and it's pretty much equivalent to a 50mm lens when used on my digital SLR. This is good because my 50mm lens i bought last time is equivalent to an 80mm lens which though decent felt weird when looking through the viewfinder. The lens goes for around $650 on ebay including postage/handling so I won't be getting it anytime soon, though it looks like it will be a worthwhile purchase. If I get this, doubt i'll even use my 50mm f1.8 lens anymore lol.
The Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 lens, a decent zoom lens and totally shits over my basic zoom kit lens I have at the moment. Though it's quite expensive (around $600 on ebay), it's awesome because the aperture stays consistently at F2.8 hence I'll be able to zoom and still get good lighting (most zoom lens, the image usually gets darker when you zoom). It'd be perfect for not only taking photos at party but just everyday moments (perfect example was when I was taking photos of baby Nicholas at the hospital).
The Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 lens, pretty much the same as the Tamron 28-75mm lens, only it's a tad wider. This one is slightly more expensive at around $650 on ebay, but they both do pretty much the same thing. It's basically a toss up between the two, I won't be buying any of them anytime soon but I will be purchasing one of them by the end of this year! Now you see why photography is such an expensive hobby lol.
And to finish it all off, a new camera bag to store my camera and my new lens. I've chosen the Crumpler 6 Million Dollar bag, pretty expensive ($165!) but looks like a worthwhile purchase. Only going to purchase this when I buy at least one of the aforementioned lens.
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 19th, 2009|10:07 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The Pipettes - Because it's not love (but it's still a feeling) | ] |
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| Scan Comparison |
[Jan. 16th, 2009|02:40 pm] |
The top photo is the scanned photos I got from the lab. Supposedly 6mp quality, the quality is terrible: high contrast, enhanced grain and sharpening. The bottom photo is the scan I made on my film scanner: tonal range is much better, colours and texture are much more true to the negative then the above scan. Processing and scans at the lab costs around 30 dollars, basically 8 bucks was spent on processing and the rest on scans. I'm so glad I have my scanner now, though it's not too great when it comes to 35mm black and white film. Everything else is great though! |
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