Dan's blog about Photography and things

I've been shooting the "Author Series" for the Hay Adams Hotel in DC Since spring of 2011.  They invite well known authors like Toni Morrison and David McCullough to a lunch at the hotel where they would have a book signing and a presentation about their book they've released.  It is usually followed by a Q&A session where attendees can ask questions directly to the authors. Canon 50mm 1.2L, Canon 5D MKII. The meals are specifically prepared by Chef Peter Schaffrath with full intention of incorporating the elements of the theme of the day which would be the theme of the book. For instance, for this series the book "Caleb's Crossing"was set in the 1600's in Martha's Vinards. So the chef did some research to come up with a modern version of something that would've been prepared around that geographical location and during that time period.  Pretty cool. The Hay Adams Hotel take pride in their literary heritage. This hotel is built on ...

Now and then I like to take my film cameras out for a spin.  These mechanical cameras have to be 'exercised' or they can crap out on you.  Its like that with Stradivarius violins. You have to play them or they feel that they have no purpose and crap out.  I'm serious. When I had a mediocre scanner awhile back, I wasn't too happy with the image quality so I shot very little film.  But couple of years ago, I got the Epson V750 with the wet mount tray, and boy am I happy with the results. But I don't use the messy wet stuff. I just use a high-grade plate of glass to sandwich the film so it remains completely flat. I've done some tests and anything bigger than 35mm you'll have problems with getting unsharp scans due to film curvature. Even with the dedicated film holder, the film does not completely flatten.  Sure, you get more contrast and dynamic range if you do the true wet mount, but wetting and drying negatives each time you scan doesn't jive with m...

Shot the Arena Stage few days ago.  I have the deepest respect for both architecture and architects.  In some sense, I think photography and architecture are somewhat similar to each each other in the fact that we both have to be very familiar with technical knowledge along with artistic. I've met the Media Director Kirstin Franko of the Arena Stage, a while back while scouting for a photo shoot for the Design Army.  She was very helpful then and very helpful now when I wanted to shoot the theater for my portfolio. Canon 5d MK II, 24 3.5L TSE II This building has huge wooden pillars that sits up along the perimeter of the windows.  I find it interesting that in this building, you can't find too many right angles. The structure is mostly made out of concrete and glass but the addition of wooden posts and the lack of 90 degree angles give it more organic feel to such modern structure.  Canon 5d MKII, 24 3.5L TSE II Because of the wall of windows, the light ...

I've had the privilege of shooting the Hay Adams Hotel in Washington DC.  I've shot a number of their "Author Series" in the past and I was hired to shoot some of their interiors recently. 24 3.5L TSE II, 5D MKII I love this hotel!  It was built around the turn of the century (1913 I think?) and it is just a wonderful place. It is considered to be one of the best hotels in the United states.  It has won many awards and their attention to detail is remarkable. One of the best asset to this hotel is the view.  How is the front lawn of the White House for a spactacular view?  No sudden moves, because the secret service guys on top of the roof will "take note" of you if you linger around too long with a lot of equipment. 50 1.2L, 5D MKII The suites are immaculate.  Plush bedding, steam pressed drapes, carved ceiling panels... Top notch.  24 3.5L TSE II, 5D MKII Used the Canon 24mm TSE for this project. Great lens. For this kind of work, you can't...

I can't believe that I used to live here about 30 years ago.  Brunswick, a very small town on the border of Virginia and Maryland. Bessa R3M 40 1.4 MC Nokton. Kodak Portra 400 I was about 10 years old and my parents ran the only grocery store in the town.  After school I would go to the store and hang out and rummage around some old junk in the storage...  Old tin beer signs, big poster boards with items that was on sale and other junk that would only fascinate a 10 year old child who recently immigrated from a country he hardly knew himself. As I was deep in my mischief, I would always hear the horns of the freight trains that was less than a block away from the store. Me and my brother used to play around the tracks too. putting down coins or rocks on the tracks and hiding behind a bush before a big diesel locomotive would run by and smash it to a point where we couldn't find any traces of them after it was run over. Bessa R3M 40 1.4 MC Nokton. Kodak Portra ...

I was hired to cover the H St festival in Washington D.C.  It was a nice festival. hordes of crowd and food everywhere.  My assignment was not to cover the festival but to capture the interesting subjects that will be attending.  The look should be more realistic with natural lighting. It was cloudy most of the day so it created nice soft lighting.  It did drizzle a bit but that did not stop the crowd from enjoying the day. By the way, does anybody know when Pabst Blue Ribbon made a comeback?  Everybody was drinking that stuff at the festival!  In my days we only drank that stuff because we couldn't afford anything else...  Is it something like using outdated film for its coolness? 50 1.2L Canon 5dMK2  The challenge was to shoot these real people in a way so others in the festival would not be too recognizable.  The reason is since it can be used for commercial purposes, we needed model releases.  Can you imagine getting ...

Got my hands on a 617 medium format panoramic camera. Its a Gaoersi 617 .  Its built like a Chinese tank! Not as pretty as Linhof 617 , but at 1/8th of the price do you really care? But the glass is German, Grandagon-N 90mm 6.8. Its interchangeable with most large format lenses using their 'cones'.  The camera is heavy, painfully slow to reload, and the viewfinder is not that accurate (its a 'ballpark' finder). Focusing is done by guessing the distance and turning the ring to the proper distance. You only get 4 shots per roll of 120.  So most of the time you're reloading the camera... Did I tell you that its a pain to reload? So noticing its poor handling characteristic of this camera, I thought it would be perfect for street photography.  Some would say I'm smoking crack. Your typical pano shooters are obsessed with getting things leveled, and they love their tripod. I could understand why. but I wanted to use this camera in a way I wanted to. Hand-held, l...