Ryu

Intro

2010-07-15T12:44:00.007+09:00

It begins, and i can feel it.

A short intro.

I was waiting for this series for about one year, and finally I could get it started and made this intro.

Pics were taken in shrines...

Fixed.and going clipless

2010-01-18T18:38:00.003+09:00

I gotta say...it is really really fun if you ride a fixed gear and with clipless you rock^_^

Anyway, a decent coaster brake bike is my favor too, they all are fun bikes, so i made RIesama's bike with coaster brake, and then convert my red bike to a fixed gear, bought cheapo track hub set(formula, loose ball), make my old knock off deep V rim bling bling using sand papers, then build them together, bought a cheapo fixed cog, put a lot of grease on both hub and cog, put the cog on, then found out that my chain whip is for narrow chain...ok, using rotafixa to get my cheapo cog tight, tighten the lock ring, put the drive train on, you know, i should say, i am a lucky guy, chain line is ok, it is important to get a straight chain line on your fixed gear.DONE. went out, made a try, without any back pedaling, just mash and mash, back and retighten lockring, and mash again and retighten a lock ring, and don't over tighten it. hope threads on my cheapo hub will be ok.

I have an old but still very very smooth MKS Sylvan pedal with clip and straps, , i really love them, really good build quality, so smoooooooth. but, but i d like to get spin, yeah, spin, fixed gear is a good tool to upgrade your spin skill, i like spin. and, for better spin, clipless set rules... alright, let's try to find out a good and cheapo clipless set for my fixed gear.

After researching, i decided to go with shimano spds, not spd-sl, cause road clipless pedal is a little bit hard to get into, shimano spds for MTB will fit me better. model 520. cheapo cheapo^_^

This time i decided to get my first clipless set from the LBS(local bicycle shop), not from internet, cause i have no idea about my shoes size, went to that shop- M2, i like that shop, price is ok, and today i was lucky, they have a pair of specialized spd shoe on sale, about 9000yen, wow, put my foot into it, great, my size, pay money, get my shoes and pedals, talked a little with owner of shop, a good guy^_^, put my first clipless set into my bag, go home.

Grease all bolt and put cleats on shoes, readjust the pedals, well, let's make a try, after about 10 seconds, i am in love with clipless, for me it is easy to get used to, maybe just because i alway made my straps tight when rode with my MKS. really feel good with clipless, yeah, SPD rocks. I feel my spin is getting better and better and ride faster, let's say it again, CHEAPO SPD ROCKS^_^

PICs tomorrow

Feel bad...

2010-01-02T10:38:00.001+09:00

just feel bad...

Gift

2009-12-24T22:46:00.002+09:00

Well, Chris Eve.

en, i wanna do sth special this time, i am going to give myself a good gift, will make it by myself.

I am a photographer, so, how about a camera?

yes, a camera will be good, a large format is even better. a 4x5 camera is light enough to carry out.

I have an old graflex, i got it from Masa-san(thanks a lot, Masa-san), i like graflex, but i don't like its weight and body surface, so, let's do it.

All i need to do is make the camera completely disassembled, sandblast metal parts and paint wood parts, remove that leather cover, remove rangefinder, remove shutter release system, clean all parts.

In result i got a light weight field camera, with beautiful mahogany wood looking.

Well, it is not a master piece but I like it, will load some sheet films tomorrow and make a test shoot.

(this work took me about one week to finish.)

bike Mania Part2-skin skin skin

2009-12-08T21:30:00.004+09:00

Well, you can see the difference between Before and After.

I like good looking things, so, i just can not let Riesama's bike looks just so so, gotta make some change, the easiest way to change the feel of a bike is changing bar type, saddle, chain ring(i just kept old small chain ring and removed big one, cause she does not need a higher gear set), also a suitable saddle bag and bottle cage will make thing even better.

so, with minimum cost, and we made a skin change. now i can say, yeah, this is my wife's bike, and it's my work ^_^V.

Bike Mania Part1-Wheel Building

2009-12-08T20:38:00.004+09:00

Ok, let's talk about wheel building, first you need a rim, a hub then you need nipples,some spokes and have them cut for fitting your rim and hub.

Then...

check on internet, there are a lot of online video to show you how to build a wheel. ^_^(BTW, i got my study video from youtube)

I found it is quite interesting, i mean building a wheel and then true it, sure it will also save your money and time, you can do it at home, you won't get dirty hands.

Tools, wheel building does not need special tools, you can do it even with a spoke wrench, sure, with a spoke wrench you can do your job faster.

Truing, take a little time and patient, but i found it suits me well, i just like do wheel truing, it is like an...like a kind of yoga, you gotta concentrate on the edge of rim, and even your breath, slowly, check, adjust, recheck, re-adjust, things like that. well, i got same feel when i develop my 8x10 inches sheet films in a darkroom. enjoy it very very much( BTW, soon will make a report about my new darkroom, wow, wow, can't wait)

目の前

2009-12-07T20:34:00.004+09:00

最近我几乎没拍照片(是"几乎" 也就是说, 多少还是活动了下手指的), 仔细想了想, 好像真的是这样的...

最主要的那台8x10英寸祥子制木座机还在北京, 这次Riesama可以帮我带过来.

但问题不在这里, 我很喜欢富山这个地方, 很安静, 适合我这个懒人, 节奏慢, 于是拍照的节奏也开始缓慢起来.

匆忙带着猫们和Riesama一起过来, 只带了小机器, 有一搭没一搭, 如同慢板日记, 眼前的出现的人和物, 慢慢地被记录了下来...

那就干脆做成一组图片, "目の前"。

"Before" and "After"

2009-11-28T10:09:00.002+09:00

Before and after.

Attention, it is not a Plastic Surgery CM.

IT IS A BIKE PLASTIC SURGERY CM. haha, Enjoy, man, and i am enjoying.

velosteel

2009-11-27T22:43:00.005+09:00

Warning, this text is for single gear bicycle Mania, maybe it is boring for others.

Not a fixed gear, not a hand break, only rear brake, it is a coaster brake.

If you do a search about coaster brake on youtube, you may find out this rap song MV, it is funny and i like it, though i need a front hand brake for life saving.

Let's talk about coaster brake, recently i only ride on a bike which equipped a shimano coaster brake hub. i would say, coaster brake rocks! and a shimano CB110 is a simple beast, easy to service , but not good looking... not handsome...em, not classic feel. also may drag if you do not adjust it well.

Ok, a handsome, classic feel coaster brake hub and with less drag, em, em, not so easy to find out. You can buy an old Fitchel & Sachs or Sturmey Archer, or, there has another choice-Buying a New One, A VeloSteel coaster brake hub, yes, a VeloSteel. wanna know more about it?! yes, The Velosteel is made in the Czech Republic, and people said it is a knock-off of the old Fitchel & Sachs Torpedo coaster brake hub of the 20th century. Velosteel is a roler clutch design CB Hub, and the roller clutch design was patented in 1904 by Sachs and has a long history of reliability. An individual hub, with reasonable maintenace was expected to last hundreds of thousands of kilometers! and give you less drag when pedaling and coasting compare with a cone clutch design CB hub(Shimano or other modern CB Hub).

So, yesterday i got two Velo hubs from Italy, hehe, right, not from Czech but Italy, anyway, first impression is...Heavy, good build quality, using a lot of stainless. but, needs lube... Factory only put a few grease and the quality is not good. so, this morning i just cleaned and repacked one velo Hub, well, with Dura-Ace Grease it moves much smoother and quieter than before.

After cleaning and repacking, now i need, mmm, a rim ^_^, i will build a wheel using this hub, so i need a rim, spokes, nipples and a wheel building stand and a spoke wrench, say, how about a velocity Deep V rim with Velosteel?! yes, it is getting more and more interesting, isn't it V^_^

(pic-Velosteel Coaster brake Hub)

Face Off...or Frame OFF

2009-11-19T20:03:00.002+09:00

2009.11.18. Rain. from 2:00PM to 10:00 PM

It is cold inside house, so i decide to go out , mmm, to take a look of my lovely bikes.

Riesama never used speed shifting function on red bike, and i am a single speed fan, so, let's take those speed shifting system out of that red bike. it is a easy work, just cut the chain, remove front and rear derailers, remove shifters and cables, reset chain, put it on chainring and freewheel, bike gets light and smoother when coasting. if i stop my conversion work that time, i would be happy but not soooo happy. so i made a big decision - i will change all parts from red bike to blue bike(only keep frame, stem and BB)! wow, this is a hard work... two bikes have 120mm frame end, so let's get start.

Use crank tool to take out crank on Blue bike, crank set on red bike is much more user friendly, an allen wrenches will do it ok.

take out all wheels.

cut the chain, remove them from bikes

remove handlebar.

remove front and rear brake on red bike, front brake on blue.

remove saddle.

clean all parts

and grease metal parts

then,

first for Red bike, i just love its frame, it is so classic and sexy, ok, 1 2 3

install crank set, 165mm, my favor.

cut the chain, new chain length.

install rear whell, set up coaster brake, and put chain on it, chain line looks ok, lucky. get the chain tight enough.

install front wheel. and....wait, it is 10pm already...

so that night in garage - red bike without handle bar and brake stand alone, and blue bike...only parts...

2009.11.19 Rain 8 AM to 5 PM

After breakfast, open the garage.

Reset the chain line on red bike, and tight the chain, reset coaster brake, make it smoother and smoother. i love this.

put handle bar on red bike, install the front brake.

Install the saddle, adjust the height, and...problem! one blot broke...god! it took me 15 mins to found another one, yes, i found one, lucky enough.

so, red bike( now it is my bike^_^) looks ok, next- blue bike

blue bike this time will become a single speed with freewheel, and all wheels have quick release, that is time saving!

so first, install the crank, no special tool, easy and happy.

install rear wheel, got some problems with washers, but it is ok, smooth.

chain, new chain length, it took me a lot of time and power to do it, my chain tool is a cheap cheap one, really bad for work...

put the chain on chain ring, check chain line, get chain tighten.

install front wheel.

install handle bar, install brake lever.

install BRAKE...at least two hours, i worked on them. front brake is ok, but rear one...the brake pad position is too high, almost kick the tire, it is no good. So i took red bike's front brake out again, and made a change.

Adjust all brakes, made them central

Saddle install.

5pm, work finished, really tired...but very happy with the results! next will put pics.

so, red bike i will ride on from now, and set blue bike in very good and friendly condition, especially i am happy with all brake on blue bikes, much more effective than before, it is good for Riesama.

ok, boring report is finished.

have a nice evening.

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.

2009-11-16T22:25:00.009+09:00

Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

From " Queen"

First time i heard this song when i was about 18, melody is great, but, that time i was thinking about a car everyday, just got my driver license. But now, this song just suits me well.

After moving to Japan, bicycle became one of important parts of my daily life. Where i live people call it -INAKA, i love this place and life style, but, no subway, only a few bus and taxi(taxi is too expensive, so forget about taxi), and i don't have JP driver license... in fact i don't want to have one. i just get tired with car driving. so, a bicycle will make me free here, yes, a bicycle, a slim road bike frame bicycle.

When i got to Toyama, i bought a cross bike immediately from a home center, a Miyata, i was told it is a famous JP bicycle brand, but soon i got problem with stem and handle bar problem on this bike, so, i returned it. Bought a red good looking, old road bike, a real classic beauty, now Riesama is riding on it.

For myself, i decide to try a single speed, but i don't like free wheel's sound when coasting. also a good fixed gear will cost me a lot, so, coaster brake, yes, a single speed coaster brake, i add one front hand brake on it, coaster brake is not expensive, and looks strong enough, i was a little bit worry about Shimano coaster brake's drag before i got this bike, but, after an O.H. everything looks fine, i put Dura Ace grease into that hub ^_^, i don't feel any notice drag when i ride on it. it is even smoother than Riesama's red beauty when coasting. a simple blue bicycle, will take me to where i like.

(That frame pad was made by myself, took me two hours, em, but now i decided to leave it and make my bike more simple look like first pic. Handle bar is from "luno", pedal is from MKS, hehe, i bought them from internet, old parts, and i really love them, gotta say thanks to Riesama)

Tateyama

2009-09-10T17:28:00.002+09:00

Tateyama, yes, i 've been to Tateyama mountain last month, it is quite famous here in Japan. but, i am not good at climbing at all... just shoot a short video for memory. I should say - Tateyama is beautiful and you can feel its spirit when you get close to... really wanna go there again with my 8x10, but the weight will kill me^_^.

Tateyama.Japan from tgsryu on Vimeo.

5:09AM 地震了...

2009-08-11T05:09:00.002+09:00

地震, 来到富山后我总是起得很早, 今天早上和平时一样 5点就开始用mac上网随便浏览一下. 猫们都在隔壁房间, 那个房间没安空调, 我这几天都睡在了带有榻榻米并且安装有空调的房间里. 刚开始感觉是猫们在跑动, 紧接着就感觉不对, 跑的动静太大了, 整个建筑在摇晃, 嗯, 摇晃了大概10-20秒左右, 我就抱着我的大mac想, 我是不是应该放下电脑, 做点什么呢, 不过最终还是懒得移动, 干脆进到blogspot里开始地震后的自言自语.

嗯嗯, 总结下, 感觉还行, 没来得及害怕.

出发前夜.

2009-08-02T22:10:00.003+09:00

明天就要出发了, 离开北京.

也没有太多的想法, 可能是因为这次需要准备的事情太多了. 猫们的所有出国手续终于在经历了半年多后陆续完备. 明天对它们来说会是不太轻松的一天, 对我来说也是一样.

一个箱子, 两个箱子, 最后我们准备了三个箱子, 两个猫的专用箱子, 三个双肩背包与两个大腰包, 终于把这次要带的东西都放了进去. 看着这些行李, 有点发愁, 怕自己拿不动...恩, 真的很沉.

所有的大相机都没有带, 只带了最轻巧的135和数码相机, 朋友还塞过来了一套Leica M6和一只50mm的镜头, 让我重温一下, 呵呵. 确实是很长时间没用了. 家里竟然连135的胶片也几乎没有了. 跑去买了30多卷彩色负片, 一个月的时间, 不知道能拍出来什么...拍吧, 除了拍照片好像也没什么其他的事情了...

Third One...This Month

2009-06-29T01:20:00.003+09:00

I don't know what to say. This month, June, summer time, sounds not bad but today thst Half Frame Camera Chaika, after one roll, stooped working for me. So this month, i got three dead cameras...Anybody know what is going on? who is the next?(horrible question!)
Tomorrow my friend Su will visit here from Nan-Ning city. hope he could bring me good luck. hope everything is gonna be fine with my cameras. (it is the first time in my life, three bad cameras in one month)
No pic this time...

New Blood

2009-06-27T21:14:00.003+09:00

Talking about New Blood, well, I got two funny Russian cameras from Pan, he is a great guy, a wonderful designer, and a lazy photographer...yes. One is a half frame camera Chaika(means "Seagull" in Russian) and another one is a Horizon 202 panorama, all they use 135 format films, so, time to back to sweet 135^_^hope i could get some interesting series using these funny cameras.
New blood is good, but, also have some bad news, this month, my old friendly pentax P&S camera and Canon AE-1...they just don't wanna work any more. I tried to fix them, but i failed, camera repairing is not a easy job. Recently i am using AE-1 with a tele-lens to finish one of my series, but, looks like i could not finish that series here in Beijing. Tele-lens is interesting, i think i will find a cheap set when i am in Japan and make a happy ending for that photo series.
Recently it's very hot here, maybe the high temp. killed my lovely old cameras? who knows, anyway, 40 C is not a good temp. to enjoy, so i stayed at home and re-edit my video clip,
here is the link: http://vimeo.com/5061435
I really love that music in video, it is just amazing.

Rain

2009-06-18T11:24:00.003+09:00

Summer.Rain from tgsryu on Vimeo.

又到了時不時可能會下暴雨的夏季了, 16日的暴雨讓我想起Zakka還在國子監的時候, 於是拿起攝像機從家裡僅有的三個窗口把這場雨記錄了下來. 那時天黑的厲害, 上午11點竟讓讓人感覺如同傍晚, 人們紛紛打開了房間裡的燈, 我好像非常享受這樣的天象...我喜歡暴雨來臨前的感覺, 不知道是否算個怪人.
今天天氣還是依然的昏暗, 我的相機們好像都不太防水, 如果遇到16日那樣的暴雨, 估計相機們就是溺水而亡一條路了, 而天氣預報說, 還是有可能要來場大雨, 不過我還是需要出去一趟, 家裡沒有米了...嘿嘿, 還是要堅持多自己做飯的.
這兩天, 兩個系列的拍攝有些停下來的感覺, 更多的時間用在了編輯與整理, 把一些照片從系列中挑了出來...拍攝的過程大概是這樣的, 一段時間會比較順利, 感覺良好, 然後停滯, 整理, 把原來感覺良好的片子剔除一半...於是便期待下次良好感覺的到來, 嗯 , 是的, 我正在期待中.

www.liu-tong.com

2009-06-15T22:43:00.007+09:00

www.liu-tong.com
Yes, I got it, for about one month a little more, i worked with my friends, designing, editing, changing, wow, it was not a easy work. but we got it, we got it here and I d like to say thanks to Mr. Y.Liu, Q.Zhao and my sister, and Kevin . Especially - Kevin, he is a genius, knows everything about site building, about soft... well, genius is genius, right?!
I still have one short series, only four pics, waiting for uploading, but first i need to design the page for showing these four pics, series called "Red", really really red and simply red.
Today, on Internet, finally we can see how Olympus EP1 looks like. I don't know if you like it or not, but it is not my favorite, an old and real Olympus Pen will make me happier. I feel that i can get some interesting images in Tokyo using this half frame little camera, so, first i need to know when i could visit Tokyo, hehe, and second, I need a Pen^_^.

Cut, final cut.

2009-06-09T20:40:00.002+09:00

It is not easy, not easy at all, you know when you start to edit a video, first you will notice, that your computer needs more memories, Raid hard disk, faster chips...but, the most important is...patient, this is my point of view, yesterday i worked with my first HD short film, first time in my life i made a short but full film(or video). I feel lucky that i am working with a HDV, not a AVCHD camera, AVCHD format needs very very very powerful computer, even a macpro with default setting is JUST ok...JUST ok.
Video taking is my hobby as I said before, so after this first difficult video, i d like to take some easy videos, not so many after effects, even no music, next one i d like to make a 100% pure RECORD, a real world we see here.
BTW, I found a very very old tripod, emm, maybe 20 years old, made in japan, looks cheap, light, short, not stable but easy to carry, for my HV30, is ok.
Alright, here is the video clip, not so good but good enough for me for memory.

Sky of Soliloquy from tgsryu on Vimeo.

A rainy day

2009-06-06T09:31:00.006+09:00

外面在下雨, 今天估计是不会出去走动了, 都已经走动了好几天了. 昨天在Suncity的暗房里将最近拍的8x10的底片冲了出来, 得到以下几点感受: 首先, 天气热的时候, 冲洗是件很不靠谱的事情. 其次, 如果底片不是用来做所谓完美诠释影调等正经事业的话, 那天气还可以再热点...
冲完底片, 已经是夜里, 开着我的小buick往城里赶, 又忘记洗车了...(不过今天看到外面的雨时, 心里暗爽了下). 两只猫在家里等着我, 凄惨地叫着, 以为是把两个小祖宗给餓着了,忙不迭地把食物准备好, 吃了两口就不吃了, 接着围着我诉说心中的苦闷, 看来猫还真是种蛮有情绪的动物.
这几天都在郊外用8x10相机在拍我要的那些东西, 变换真的很大, 一个人开车的时候经常能回忆起早前的日子, 音乐声音开的很大, 就是人比那个时候胖了不少... 一直想用视频来拍些机场周围的东西, 那些飞来飞去的飞机, 各种庞大的配合机场的仓储物流, 蛮有意思的.
这张黑白照片是三号机场在建设的时候拍的, 那个时候经常带着xpan, 开车去机场附近, 也没特别限定主题, 就是为自己做个记号.

8x10

2009-05-27T23:50:00.004+09:00

嗯?... 好像中文字体比前段看起来好了不少. 那就用中文写看看吧.
终于, "Soliloquy"经过这段时间的拍摄, 停下来了. 连着几天无法拍出满意的影像. 突然想起来我的8x10英寸Chamonix木制相机的片夹里还有4张底片一直没有拍. 而之前使用8x10拍摄的一组照片也同样是因为某些原因自冬天过后就一直处于半停滞状态, 是我很看重的一组照片.
不插电, 呵呵, 用了段时间的数字相机后, 终于又回到完全手动的机器. 因为很熟悉, 所以也没太多新鲜感觉, 大包小包放进车的后备箱, 出发.
很快就开始了拍摄, 一张, 两张, 感觉很好, 顺利得让我有点不敢相信. 但一直到太阳落山前, 才非常勉强地拍了第三张页片. 晚上冲出来后, 果然, 勉强拍摄的第三张, 嗯, 非常不理想. 是不是头两张就把RP用完了呢?!呵呵, who knows.
第二天拍摄继续, 一直到傍晚, 拍摂完片夹里最后一张页片后突然感觉很累, 并不是因为大画幅相机本身的重量让我吃不消, 而是在拍摄时, 同样也会遇到时机问题, 快速地摆弄这个大木头家伙, 很容易让人感觉疲劳. 坚持回到Suncity, 晚上把页片全部冲洗了出来, 因为太投入, 忘记了Riesama嘱咐我的新月许愿的事情, 还好Riesama那边替我许了...
明天是端午节, 我需要去办理去日本的机票和Haku Chichan的随行, 不知道能不能一切顺利. 今天已经跑了一趟西单咨询, 那边的国航女工作人员, 眼神迷离, 话语飘忽, 恩, 文艺女青年范儿, 只是碰巧我不懂文艺女青年, 也不喜欢"范儿"这个词. ^_^ 希望明天不是那位女士坐前台.
周六, 一切正常的话, 继续8x10的拍摄. 希望一切顺利.

Hot May days

2009-05-20T00:17:00.003+09:00

I was told that today's highest temp. is about 35 C... so it make me feel that summer time starts from May here in Beijing. I stayed at home all day, not only because of high temp. but also i need to do some edit of my pics. And as normal 2 pics have be chosen from 66 pics, this series is not about snap shot, so i don't have to shoot a lot to capture the best moment, anyway, i need keep this rhythm. So tomorrow i will go out again, but this time, i will take my car, i will go to east part of Beijing. hope tomorrow will not be that hot like today...
Yesterday evening one of my friends came to my apartment, we talked about photo taking for a long time, he really loves photo taking, and we talked for a long time, a wonderful guy, a toy camera lover. I have a lot of toy cameras, and i love them, but recently i decide that i will stop using them for a period, cause their lens 's impact, too strong some time, if you do not pay a lot of attention on it, you will lose your own style, and image will be controlled by toy camera, not you. after my "skin-deep" series(a 100% holga work), I feel that I need to back to normal, so this time i take a 50mm standard lens(with no flare, sharp enough if you want^_^) to make series- Soliloquy, 50mm lens is wonderful in 135 format, I can not handle a super wide angle very well, also tele lens are too big, heavy(but maybe good for diet), so a light weight, compact 50mm suits me well.
(I cleaned my F64 camera bag today, this bag is better for summer. can put my A900 and Hv30 and accessories into it easily, so, come on, Summer time, i am ready.)
Today i watched news about H1N1 in Japan, hope everything will be fine with Riesama and family, all my friends and ...all people.

Blocked...

2009-05-17T00:42:00.003+09:00

Can't believe it! Crazy. even blogger.com has been blocked here in Beijing. What are they thinking about?! ...
But, for me, nothing changed, just open one software, two clicks will get rid of this barrier.
yesterday, I worked all day with my mac, and finally i got my walking day's result: i got 2 pics from 73 pics! emm, not bad, I will be very happy if every time i can have same result when i go out to take pics for this series. ok, i will post one of them here.
And yesterday i found that my macbookpro's DVD-Rom is OK, works. i don't know why, but that means i don't have to take time to go to that apple store.
I still have problem with video capturing in Final cut express, checked a lot of web info, maybe a Final Cut Pro will solve this problem... but, man, Final cut pro...well....anyway, mainly i am a still image photographer.

A walking day

2009-05-13T23:16:00.004+09:00

Oh, finally i got back home, after a hot shower, i feel much better. I walked for about 5 hours today, made two stops, each for 15 mins, yes, I felt the difference today, after i quit smoking, i got some extra weights, about 7-8kg, recently i loss a little a little weight, but, still have 5 kg extra, these 5 kg extra made me so tired after walking...man, i need more diet. Now i am hungry, but I am not gonna eat anything...
I am gonna move from Beijing after 3 months, so for these 3 months I decide to use mainly digital-my sony a900 and a canon HV30, about my film cameras, one of my 8x10 project is still in processing, so maybe i will only keep using my 8x10, and rests - digital and digital for these 3 months. i think it is a better choice, for 3 months i can do much more testing shoots using A900, let digital save my time. and print them, i think i will do it in Japan, can't wait to try a A3 size contact print using a digital negative.
So today's result - I am tired because of those 5 kg extra weight, i shoot about 80 pics (if 35mm films it will be 2 rolls and a little more), so see, basically there is no big difference between Digital and Film camera for me to shoot, from these 80 pics i can pick about 2-3 pics for my "Soliloquy"series i think, mmm, it is normal for me. And also shoot some footage using HV30. today, i won't do anything with these pics and videos, i can not, i will take a good rest first. and I'd like to share a wallpaper, now i am using it on my mac, a wallpaper made from my Anonymous series.
(A900 using aperture to open its raw file, you can get very decent quality of images, can give you about 120MByte 16bit tiff file, isn't good?! Another good news, finally Riesama got her internet ok, it is very important, very.)

Mac, Pages and Photoshop.

2009-05-12T22:48:00.006+09:00

Yes, I am working with my new site, for three days, I did not go out. there are about 200 pics, first, i need to open the photoshop to resize them for showing on web, make them about 600x400 if they are 135mm format for example, and then, I gotta resize them again, cause i need thumbnails for my pics, not so easy, right?! but it is just the beginning, fonts i'd like to use for this site could not be supported by a PC...(I am not good at computer's terms), so i have to use Pages, type what i want, and then make a screen shot, and then, import this screen shot to photoshop, resize(again) and save it. as you see, after these work, people just easily get mad, or get sick. (BTW., Pages is good, I like this soft, but PC user can not open my Pages file directly, this is bad...)My Macbookpro got sick already, the famous DVD-Rom issue, not stable at all, now just refuse to read any of my CDs or DVDs, I need to go to that big local apple store, ask those apple genius to change a new DVD-Rom for me.
So for my health and brain, I decide, I will go out next day, also i will try to keep working on my photo series, I need to go out and take more pics.

A piece of Sky

2009-05-10T11:40:00.005+09:00

->> I am not a local people here in Beijing, though i have a Beijing ID card...anyway, it is not so important, i am gonna leave from this town in autumn, I live here for about 8 years, and here in Beijing I got my first job, first pay, i got married here(but I found my wonderful wife in Thai ^_^), and here i became a photographer... I really want to make a record of my life in Beijing, this time i choose using a video Cam to do this job, try to catch my true feeling to this huge city...
Sounds good... but that means i have to deal with all those video software, oh my god, for me none of them is user friendly... right, maybe Final cut express is closer.
Well, here is you can see this short footage, I made them old 8mm feel, this is just a part of my plan, later i will try to import this footage into a bigger clip with a full story, and also, shooting and editing experience of my whole video plan may give me more ideas to my photo series "Soliloquy" shooting, recently i am working on it.
A piece of sky. shoot and edit by Ryu. Music from "unbounded" by Amethystium.

A piece of sky from tgsryu on Vimeo.

Hot Mac

2009-05-09T00:37:00.007+09:00

I love my Macbookpro, I got it from a friend for 9000RMB, then i bought an apple care for it, so i still have two year warranty for this mac. Everything is perfect with this macbookpro except temp... too hot, when i run photoshop with my pics(files are big...from 120MB to 600MB) or my final cut express, so today, I turned on my air cooler, not for me, but for my macbookpro. BTW, today when i worked with finalcut express, I've got a warning from Finalcut, said that maybe there one or more frames were dropped during play back... oh, does it mean my mac is not fast enough?...or just maybe it is too hot so mac just slow down cpu's speed? who knows...
I got a good news, maybe friends could make my website ok till the end of this month. it is really really good, I will have my own official site made by a pro, many thanks. but, that also means i should prepare hundreds of pics and thumbnails for site, well, i need resize them and make them looks OK on web, not a easy work, i will try to finish is as soon as i could, and my Macbookpro will keep enjoying the air cooler.
-this B&W pic is from my "Tunnel" series, also with "Tunnel" i had my first solo exhibition...time flies."

Testing Video. Haku-sama

2009-05-07T11:54:00.001+09:00

Intro Haku.HD Ver. from tgsryu on Vimeo.

Haku is my cat, he is a boy, actually i live with two cats, another one is Chi-chan, girl.
This is my first time edit a short short clip using Finalcut Express, not so user friendly like Imovie but much more powerful.
I think i should upload more videos, especially video of Chi-chan , Riesama will be happy with these cat's videos. ok, will keep working on it and pls, pls enjoy.
(if you wanna see video with window bigger size, just click "Intro HaKu.HD.Ver".)

Web design for 15 hours

2009-05-05T00:06:00.004+09:00

It is getting hot and hot here in Beijing, so it makes me worrying my macbookpro, like today, till now, it worked about 15 hours, non-stop. Maybe from next week i should turn my old air cooler on, just for protecting my mbp from high temp..
15 hours, for web design, i am not good at dreamweaver or iweb, actually, i don't like making website by myself. That is why I still have problem with my own site, but this time, something different, i will get help from friend. So all i need to do- is design, make a web design, i use cs3 to make every page, well, it takes time to make a web design, about 15 hours, I've made 80% ok, that was really good for me. hope tomorrow I can finish this work and go out for photo taking - i need to work more with unfinished series.
So here is one of small sample from my 15 hours work, it looks simple, isn't it.

Cut.

2009-05-03T22:15:00.000+09:00

Yes, Riesama is not at home(fourh day), i am going to live alone for about two months... emm.
Also i am gonna leave from this city after 3 months too, so right now, i have to end some of my photo series, and will do photo editing in Jp.
Alright, let's back to main topic, i got a final cut express, not a pro, pro is too big, my macbookpro's hard disk is just not big enough for a finalcut pro, also, my wallet doesn't allow me to do it. I am going to make a record of my life in Beijing using a DV cam, i am a Mini dv tape fan so i choose a HV30, lovely, also maybe a jag35 adapter could make things even better. anyway, i found it is much much more difficult than using an imovie, I need to ask some of my friends about final cut using, they are pro of video and motions. hope i could make a good dv record, i am not video photog, and will not be, that means i can use dv cam like everybody for daily life.
That B&W pic is from "Flying Bird", a small series. shoot by my holga, holga is my favor, light, cheap and stable. i am not sure if every photog is a camera fan...but i am. i recommand holga fo every photog, also tried Diana, i feel that holga is more comfortable for snap shot, Diana is smaller and more functional...
(See, Blog is a good place for soliloquy..., suits me well)

I think... it is time to get start.

2009-05-02T23:05:00.000+09:00

So, first, I am a photographer, i am married, and i live in Beijing China : ) , let me see if i could find a suitable font for my Chinese inputting, ok, let's try this- 啊, and this- 啊, emmm, i don't like it. alright, i will try next time.
Recently, i am trying to make a new series, also i am trying to work with this new series using a digital camera- my Sony a900, it is a good camera actually, but i need more time to get used to shooting with a digital SLR.

Let's see how it works, here is 3 sample photos from this unfinished series, in fact i am still thinking if it could be a whole normal series, i will keep working with it.
Ok, it is my first post here in my blog, it is 2nd May 2009, gotta remember this date. BTW I was told that my lucky number is 5 this year...