In going back through the stuff that I shot in 2013, one thing has become very apparent– With the exception of NYFW in February, I am much more prolific in the warmer months. It isn’t that I’m not shooting in the winter. I’m just uninspired and not as active. Anyway, I have decided to pad this new full width layout with some of the favorite images that I snapped in 2013. I’ll do it in a couple of installations. This is the first.
I tested the silver and black model of the Fujifilm x100s last summer. I kind of fell in love with the camera. Fuji recently announced that they are releasing the all black colorway (above). It is scheduled to be available for purchase in February for the price of $1,299. I really want it. More details here.
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These are a couple of Polaroid snaps that I got walking around TriBeCa Friday morning.
This image is from a series that I did in 2010. Some friends and I went around one night and did long exposures of every Christmas tree that we could think of in Manhattan and Brooklyn. This particular one is directly under the Manhattan Bridge in DUMBO. I did a 30~ second shutter while we ran laps around the tree with sparklers. It is still one of my favorite holiday images. Merry Christmas!
I took a evening jaunt on the high line Saturday, when it was unseasonably warm. It also happened to be Winter Solstice. Even though I know that the worst of winter is yet to come, I take some comfort in the fact that the days will now be getting longer instead of shorter. There is something utterly depressing about having sunset at 4:30 PM.
I brought my Polaroid with me Saturday evening, and snapped the images below with it. The image at the top, is of the same view from the iPhone. Not the most spectacular sunset. But I did like the way that the light was coming through the cotton-like plants in the foreground.
It is that time of year when it has become consistently cold in New York City. Even though it is supposed to make its way back into the 60s this weekend, I’m seriously craving beach weather. The fact that I have started my year-end back up of my images files is not helping. Last night, I came across the folder from July of this year. During that month, I spent some time in Huntington Beach shooting the US Open of Surfing. I never really posted these outside of my tumblr feed. Here are a few of my faves. I’m so ready to go back… Like right now.
One of my favorite activities when I visit the parents, is to go flying with my dad. We almost always go super early in the morning. In the past, we have flown up and down the Wasatch mountain range, to Logan, To Vegas, etc.. During my most recent visit, we took a flight over the mountains to the west of Salt Lake Valley, and over the Great Salt Lake. There is a phenomenon called an inversion that occurs often in the winter in Salt Lake City. It is when the cold air gets trapped in the valley and fills with water vapor/particulate matter. It is gross looking from the ground. But it is actually kind of beautiful from above when it is being lit up by the morning light. Here are a bunch of snaps that I grabbed during our smoggy flight–
This red tailed hawk was not phased when we taxied down the runway 20 feet from it–
I made it back to Salt Lake over the holiday. The last couple of times that I have visited family there, I made it a point to drag along the Polaroid Landcamera 230. I found a place locally that sells Fuji FP3000B, so that I don’t have to worry about the x-ray machine fogging up my film at the airport. The snap above is one of my favorites from the latest excursion out west. It is a my most recent nephew sitting on my old man’s lap at a college football game.
Sunday, I took a ride to Storm King. It was the second time that I had been, this fall. The first– was when my sister and brother-in-law were visiting. I wasn’t thinking straight and forgot my camera that time. Sunday, I remembered to bring it. Even though the leaves are now much past prime, they actually kind of complimented the foggy drizzle. These are a couple of snaps from the visit.
Rapha, one of my favorite British cycling outfitters recently released its Fall/Winter 2013 lookbook. I love the gear. Moreso, I love the decision to shoot the lookbook in grainy BW film. These images are fantastic. More looks here.
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I got this idea from a friend a few years ago. When I use the cam on my phone, I tend to snap 5-10 frames. So when I lumped all of them into a video, it came out like a flip book or stop motion. This vid is actually a bit over a year worth of images from my phone. Each image appears for .3 of a second, yet still comes out on the long side of 10 mins. Anyway, this is probably the most personal thing that I have posted since Jan or Feb of 2012. So, try not leave any hate comments.
1 year worth of iPhone photos. from Jacob Breinholt on Vimeo.
A great sunset, followed by the trade towers tribute lights.
Some fashion. Some art, etc..
I came across theQ Camera on Hypebeast, this week. I’m kind of curious to try one of these out, if nothing else because they seem to be so versatile and durable. TheQ Camera is designed to allow the user to share images directly to social media platforms. Although that idea is not particularly unique (other major camera manufacturers have attempted this idea [and failed] as a stop-gap for the bite that smartphones have taken out of the point and shoot market), the way that theQ is executing this idea is much more interesting than I have seen in the past. For example, they don’t get crazy with the resolution, capping it at 5mp. For images that people are only going to be viewed on computer monitors and mobile devices, 5 megapixels is more than enough resolution.
The two features that I find most attractive are the manual focus ring, and the fact that it is waterproof. I really like the idea of both of those features because, first: you aren’t going to find either of those features on your iPhone. Sure, you can get an underwater case for your iPhone. But even that seems a bit sketchy. If it leaks, you are losing a lot more than just your images. I like the manual focus ring because I feel like being able to control all aspects of the camera is essential to becoming a good photographer. Like Clive Thompson, I think that photo-centric social media platforms have been very instrumental in helping people discover their interest in photography. Tools like a manual focus ring will further enable people that may never own an SLR, to explore effects like macro and bokeh (which could produce some dramatic images with the f/2.4 max aperture). Additionally theQ comes equipped with a built-in ring flash. That is some pretty innovative design. Finally, theQ took aesthetics into account by making the camera available in 9 different colorways.
Just a fair warning that this is going to be a very photo-heavy post. I recently was visiting my family in Salt Lake City and needed to purchase some medium format film for a Polaroid camera that I brought along. I discovered that a family friend from my parents’ old neighborhood had recently opened a camera store (Acme Camera Rental) that was basically right up the block from my sister’s house. When I dropped by to pick up the film, I was able to checkout the space and some of the cameras that were available for rental. I have been wanting a rangefinder camera for a long time. I love the portability and simplicity of design. They are especially appealing these days, since the image quality rivals that of pro-sumer level SLRs. I was especially perving on the Fuji X100 S (above). Jacob, the owner/operator of the shop was gracious enough to let me take it and test it out. It took most of the afternoon for me to get used to the controls. Once I got a handle on it, I basically didn’t put the camera down. I brought it along with me the next day to my granny’s house, as well as on a hike with my sister’s family. Below I have posted some of the snaps that I was able to get with the rangefinder. As a side note: If you are in the Salt Lake valley and have any camera needs, I would definitely recommend stopping through Acme. In addition to having a gangster selection of cameras and lenses for rent, they sell a wide variety of accessories from film to seamless backgrounds. Plus, they are cool.
Above: a fox near the runway at SL Airport No. 2.
Below: some images from a hike in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
I headed upstate last week the evening of the Perseid Meteor Shower, to a relatively remote spot in Harriman State Park. I pointed the cam skyward on an intervalometer (aka PC computer) and fired off 45 minutes worth of 30″ exposures. It was the first time that I had every attempted to capture something like this. The first thing that I would do differently is shutter speed. The earth moves a long way in 30 seconds. you can see the star trails in the still image above.
Initially, I wanted to layer all of the images into a composite to show all of the meteors at once. That plan got a bit messy. Instead, I threw them all into this vid below. I sped it up, and looped it 4x. The track “Star Guitar” by Chemical Brothers seemed fitting.
Perseid Meteor Shower from Jacob Breinholt on Vimeo.
Pretty stoked to be testing out this little gem. It is a collaboration between Leica and G-Star Raw. I like the styling of the case as much as like the actual camera. I’m pretty sure that if I owned this camera that I would bring it with me everywhere. I’ll probably post some of the snaps that I get with it, later this week or next.
