yasmin. a portrait

זמן, זכרונות, אנשים, נשים, מחשבות

50mm

50 mm
full frame

that's the only lens you really need.
it makes your Dslr compact and efficient while travelling, it reproduces more or less what your eyes normally see.
you want to zoom in ? come closer
perhaps a wide over view ? take a few steps back, as you would with your real vision.

until they make us into cyborg, and replace our biological eyes with smart cameras, we are seeing about 42°.

it used to be the real "kit lens" of the analog age.
you buy a nikon F2 - get a great 50mm with it.

unless you're shooting extreem architectural shots, or landscape, you don't need anything shorter.
it has little if any distortion, durable and easy to use. and it can be fast. very fast.

You can produce stunning images with a good old fixed lens. Better for some video work even.

I have a few 50mm.
even the cheaper ones from canon are getting me excellent result, and the better, analog nikon one (with adaptor) produces exquisite result.

Canon 5D MK II with the 50mm canon 1.8
Jpeg original file

Canon 5D MK I + nikon 50mm 1.4 manual focus.

magicial little polaroid shop

while walking through the enchanting streets of old Madrid, we came across a photography shop at   Calle Barquillo, and of course, I could not resist and entered. 

As it turns out, the shop is really a little gem of everything polaroid and it's following team - the impossible project.

An impressive collection of pola-cameras and photographs.

The shop has also a small photo studio and it is owned by now the 3rd generation of photographers.
One of the proudest item is an old wooden camera, fitted with a polaroid 8x10 back, passed down in the family.

The youngest generation is a newly married couple, he's a film maker and she's the grand daughter of the shop's founder. 

They even had their marriage photo, taken by the old wood camera.

They handle everything polaroid, here's their site: 

  http://www.alanstudio.es/

cameras - warning: just for camera freaks !

Back in 1991, I was a hardcore nikon shooter.
Starting with the FM2

which was great to use.

It took a real pro to use, you had manual focus, of course, and if batteries ran out, you could asses the lighting conditions (cloudy, sunny, overcast etc.) and adjust the settings (f8 on 1/125 sec for midday). 

mechanics was great, highly reliable even with hard field use. I shot a few years in desert conditions and it never failed. 

next I saved for the nikon f801 and after that the great f90 

I remember purchasing a used model for an equivalent of about 3500.- US$ !!! used !!

 I still have it somewhere. 

but I remember always dreaming about the flagship model of the time, the great Nikon F4. 

A heavy, professional camera with replaceable everything. Viewfinder, grip and more. 

Fast autofocus, massive.

A college of mine had one. held it in my hand once. a dream 

super-high shutter speed of 1/8,000 sec. achieved with the development of shutter blades made from an ultra-lightweight compound material (carbon fiber compound) which is lighter and more durable than titanium.Our first use of Focus Tracking with Lock-On, to provide optimum focusing by determining any displacement of the focus point of a moving subject based on the distance measurement data obtained while the shutter release button is half-pressed, and then moving the lens additionally to compensate for the displacement of the focus point.High-speed winding at 5.7 frames per sec., when used with the high-power battery pack MB-21 (1.5V LR6 alkaline battery x 6).

today you can get this jewel for as little as 150$ in Ebay. 

back then it was like a hasselbladt, beyond anything you can buy.

interestingly enough, today's flagship has again the digit 4. 

namely the D4s. 

a spectacular machine, no doubt, but somehow it's not the same.

since then, I switched to Canon cameras and glasses and I am quit content with the 5d MKII. 

Get's the job done and very well .

I do meet here and there photo- artist who cling to the Nikon F2. It has something elusive that no digital wonder can replace. some spirit in the machine.

Tel Aviv in Black and white september 2013

Shot entirely in Black and white (digital) with analog 50mm lens
using available light and manual settings.

high way 40 - a journey

yesterday I started a project. photographing the various people alongside high way 40.

one of israel's longest high ways' stretching 320 km from Kfar Saba in the center of the state till deep down in the desert.

I took my digital and my old 6 by 6 film camera on my motorcycle/ 

I plan to make a few excursions, documenting the various people and places along this road. 

here are a few first images:

 

2 Beauties from Gedera

A dog in Kibutz Givaat Brener

An old well in Lod

a street art project in Givaat Brener

a street art project in Givaat Brener

a street art project in Givaat Brener

tel avivienne - new portrait series

shot with the olympus AF-10
pocket camera 35mm
in available light

street photography - in the city of tel aviv with the Olympus AF-10 35mm