Digital | E-M5 | San Antonio | 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Portraits of my Parents
I love taking photos of my parents. I usually photograph them when I get a new camera. They never say no, but sometimes you can tell they don't want to have their photo taken. My mom always has an excuse. Either she doesn't have any makeup, or she just got home from work, or she's wearing the wrong clothes for a photograph. Nevertheless, I always manage to get them in front of my camera. I usually take anywhere from two to five photos, it all depends on the media I'm using. By the second photo, they want to get up and leave, but I usually manage to get them to stay. I start with the traditional portrait. After that I tell them to look elsewhere or to do something they want to do. After that I tell them to do something funny, my dad follows this one pretty good. My mom just stares at me. I like to shoot my dad in black and white, don't ask me why. And my mom in color, again, don't ask me why. Here you'll see the progression of a portrait for each of them. These were taken with a Yashica Mat 124G using Kodak Ektar film.
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| "The Traditional Portrait" by Jesse Acosta |
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| "Look Elsewhere Portrait" by Jesse Acosta |
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| "Do Something Funny Portrait" by Jesse Acosta |
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| "The Traditional Portrait" by Jesse Acosta |
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| "Look Elsewhere Portrait" by Jesse Acosta |
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| "Do Something Funny Portrait" By Jesse Acosta |
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
A Father's Reflection
"A Father's Reflection"
Film | Ektar | AE-1 Program | San Antonio | 2013
Film | Ektar | AE-1 Program | San Antonio | 2013
A Father's Reflection, a photo by Jesse Acosta on Flickr.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Inspired by a Toy Camera
If you have been reading my posts, you already know that I bought a Diana F+ toy camera. I've been mostly shooting with the instant photograph back so I've been using Fujifilm instax film. On a recent trip to visit family in Mexico for a birthday celebration I was using the Diana F+ to play with. I also took an old Nikon flash (SB-26) and an Olympus E-M5. I was having so much fun with the Diana F+ but then it soon got dark. The party was in full swing and I ran to my bag and pulled my flash. When I bought the camera I decided not to get the flash attachment so the question was, how to use the flash. I decided that shooting in bulb mode, which is one of the modes on the Diana F+, and triggering the flash manually with my other hand would probably work. It took me one photo to get the flash power where I wanted it. And I shot the rest of the instax pack that way and got great results. Soon I was out of film, so I pulled my Olympus E-M5, but I was having a lot of fun with the Diana F+ that I decided to mimic as much as possible the feel of the toy camera. I set the Olympus EM-5 to bulb mode with an aperture of F/11 and ISO 800 because I get really good "grain-like" noise at that ISO from that camera. Surprisingly enough, those settings gave me the exact same exposure as the Diana F+ with the instax film. I prefocused to about 4 feet, but at F/11 on a MFT camera is enough to have much of everything in focus. I kept shooting, and I was having a blast. Before using the flash on the Diana F+ I tried some double exposure shots, so I was like "let's try some in-camera double exposure." I came up to F/8 and started shooting; exposing two subjects with my flash. As you can see on the photo below, it's a very cool technique, and not that hard to do. I didn't even have a flash sync cord, it was all manual. This could easily be incorporated into street photography when the light goes dim for the day. And I plan on carrying that same flash with me on my street photography outings from now on.
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| "Double Exposure" by Jesse Acosta | Olympus E-M5 | Mexico | 2013 |
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Street Photography (Episode 7)
Episode 07: On this episode I give you a little background about me. I photograph a panhandler then videotape him for a while. I also feature a photo of Jerry Seinfeld as he was entering the Majestic Theater here in San Antonio.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Instant Street Photography With a Toy Camera
I knew it was only a matter of time before I ended up with a Holga or Diana toy camera. In my case, I decided to go with the Diana, even though I wanted a Holga. The reason I got the Diana, was that I wanted the Instax attachment so that I could take instant photos. Since I was on vacation, and really didn't go anywhere or spent money on a vacation, I though I would treat myself to the camera, the Instax back, and some film. I did this right before taking off to do my street photography gig here in downtown San Antonio. We put the camera together, I think it took three or four of us at the store to get all the parts to align correctly. We finally got it working and I took a test shot of my friend John who works at the camera shop. My first impression of the photo was "I spent all that money for that?" But oh well, I least I got it out of my system. Like I said, I was bound to try it sooner or later.
I put the camera in my bag along with my other four cameras and drove to downtown San Antonio. While in downtown, and still in my car, I saw some people dressed alike and wearing some funny hats. Perfect moment for a toy camera since a shot like that it's not going to win any awards. I got it out, set the focus (there are only three focus settings: near, not as near, and far/infinity), set the aperture (there are only four settings: sun, overcast, cloudy, and pinhole) and I took the photo. I pressed the button to release the photo and set the photo on the passenger's seat and waited for it to develop.
I shot some stuff with my Canon AE-1 Program and some other stuff with my Yashica Electro 35. I finally reached the spot where my friend Santos hangs out. As always, he was there. I took a few photos, and they were not good. The viewfinder didn't seem to align with the lens. This was parallax error on steroids. Basically, the view finder is unusable. You have to sort of just point the lens at the subject and hope for the best. No wonder these toy cameras are used to shoot from the hip. So I tried to compensate from the parallax issue, and again, another bad photo. Third time's the charm, close but no cigar. I got most of Santos on the image, but that wasn't the composition I wanted.
Then as I was talking to Santos a person was walking towards us, so without thinking I pointed the camera and snap! I took the photo. Now for being a toy photo, I think this photo came out OK. And also the one with the kids with the funny hats.
After this photo I felt a little bit creative. So I tried the pinhole setting but unfortunately I did not have a tripod. And here's the result.
I kept on taking photos until my ten photos were used and came to the conclusion that it is a fun camera to play with. I'm pretty sure once I shoot more photos I will find its quirks and make them work to my advantage. So I will keep this in my bag from time to time and shoot without seeing, seems like the shots were best when I was not looking though the viewfinder.
Happy Shooting
Jesse
I put the camera in my bag along with my other four cameras and drove to downtown San Antonio. While in downtown, and still in my car, I saw some people dressed alike and wearing some funny hats. Perfect moment for a toy camera since a shot like that it's not going to win any awards. I got it out, set the focus (there are only three focus settings: near, not as near, and far/infinity), set the aperture (there are only four settings: sun, overcast, cloudy, and pinhole) and I took the photo. I pressed the button to release the photo and set the photo on the passenger's seat and waited for it to develop.
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| "Checkered Hats" by Jesse Acosta | San Antonio | 2013 |
I shot some stuff with my Canon AE-1 Program and some other stuff with my Yashica Electro 35. I finally reached the spot where my friend Santos hangs out. As always, he was there. I took a few photos, and they were not good. The viewfinder didn't seem to align with the lens. This was parallax error on steroids. Basically, the view finder is unusable. You have to sort of just point the lens at the subject and hope for the best. No wonder these toy cameras are used to shoot from the hip. So I tried to compensate from the parallax issue, and again, another bad photo. Third time's the charm, close but no cigar. I got most of Santos on the image, but that wasn't the composition I wanted.
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| "Santos Third Try" by Jesse Acosta | San Antonio | 2013 |
Then as I was talking to Santos a person was walking towards us, so without thinking I pointed the camera and snap! I took the photo. Now for being a toy photo, I think this photo came out OK. And also the one with the kids with the funny hats.
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| "Back From the Supermarket" by Jesse Acosta | San Antonio | 2013 |
After this photo I felt a little bit creative. So I tried the pinhole setting but unfortunately I did not have a tripod. And here's the result.
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| "Pinhole Attempt" by Jesse Acosta | San Antonio | 2013 |
I kept on taking photos until my ten photos were used and came to the conclusion that it is a fun camera to play with. I'm pretty sure once I shoot more photos I will find its quirks and make them work to my advantage. So I will keep this in my bag from time to time and shoot without seeing, seems like the shots were best when I was not looking though the viewfinder.
Happy Shooting
Jesse
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Street Photography Gear
New to Street Photography? On this video I talk about my gear. But please note that gear is not important. Any point and shoot camera will work. However, a camera is a tool and as such, sometimes you need the right tool for the job at hand. On this video I talk about both film and digital cameras, my bag and other gear. Sit back and enjoy.
Monday, July 1, 2013
The New Blog
Welcome. In between Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube pages, I decided to start a blog to house relevant content from all these outlets into one central repository. Any stories behind the photos will be published here along with useful information. Although keeping with all these sites might pose an impossible task, I will try my best to keep the information on this blog up to date. I encourage you, the reader, to comment on my posts. Questions, comments, and encouragement is always appreciated.
I'll start by posting the most recent photo on Flickr. Thanks.
I'll start by posting the most recent photo on Flickr. Thanks.
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| "Night Parkour" by Jesse Acosta | San Antonio | 2013 |
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