Woodblock in Bullfighting

Design and copyright by Roland Lee 2012

 My latest work in woodblock printing are images of bullfighting. The event is sublime by nature which make for interesting images.  The image above is the final print and the images below show parts of the process of printing.

Design and copyright by Roland Lee 2012

Design and copyright by Roland Lee 2012

Design and copyright by Roland Lee 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos from the Brownie Hawkeye

So the results are in. . . I took a bunch of pictures with the 120mm film and they the camera yielded hazy and dream like photos. Actually pretty difficult to achieve naturally in this day and age with digital. The wonderful and unique thing about these photos are that they are 5x5" and not just the ordinary 4x6" or 5x7". The camera is from the mid-century and it had built up dust particles throughout the viewfinder and the lens behind the shutter. So, I took it apart and cleaned it. Currently I'm shooting another roll of film to see if the picture quality will improve.

Brownie Hawkeye Beauty

Browsing through piles of stuff that people have collected over the years at the Hawaii's Annual Collector's Show, there was one thing that caught my eye. A brown box with a lens that called me over from across the room. My eyes opened wide in excitement when I saw that the price was right and I asked the vendor if this Brownie Hawkeye still worked and he handed it to me while snapping the shutter to show me that it was in perfect working condition aside from a few scuff marks from 50 plus years of wear and tear. I reached into my pocket and handed him his money and I said, "I'll take it!" Two rolls of 120mm film are in development.  I'll post some pictures when I get them back from the lab.

The Contemporary Museum Art Spree

The event was about a family day filled with activities. The exhibit was about meditation and quiet time. There were mermaids, synchronized swimming, a cabaret, food, activities, and fun... oh yes, and art!

A Double Hibiscus

Sometimes a flower isn't just a flower. Usually a hibiscus flower has five petals, and this one has double.

The Bus and the The Egg

What stood out was the yellow yolk and the whiteness of the shell both contrasting against the dark cast iron pan. For a moment it reminded me of the colors and the design for the Honolulu Bus. As weird as it may seem hurling an egg into a pan and watching it splat became inspiration for bus photographs!

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Tilt Shift Effect

There are lens called tilt-shift lens made by Lensbaby that allows one to capture a unique perspective of wide angle shots. The resulting effects are images that look miniature and toy like. This can also be achieved by using photo editing programs such a Photoshop or Lightroom. I'm not one to spend a lot of money on equipment as long as I can bring it home with the end results so I opted to use photo editing to enhance the pictures for the same tilt shift look. I may one day decide to make a tilt-shift lens.

People and Events

It's been a while since I've updated this blog mainly because things have been hectic. The only art that I've have had time for is taking photos. Here are some fun pictures at a local carnival.

 

Open Wide

Bathroom art to remind me to floss every evening.

What a Find!

I was gallivanting around on a lazy Saturday morning right after the sun had risen. I had noticed a garage sale sign so I decided to follow the direction of a hand drawn arrow on a piece of cardboard which led me to a junk filled backyard. There was an old typewriter, some vintage metal frames, a trunk filled with old letters and black and white postcards, a few ceramic bottles, some trinkets and jewelry, and a couple of used surfboards that looked dinged up. Good stuff but nothing that I would collect, I thought. Then I peered across the way to find this painting. The guy only wanted a $1! What a steal I said to myself, so I whipped out a dollar and secured my purchase!

Painted by Clare I. Tyler

Forty Views of Diamond Head

Splash!

Hi everyone, I've been quite busy so I wanted to be the first to wish you Happy New Year for 2012! Yay!!! Wooohooo!

I know that it is winter and chilly so I thought that it would be a great time to share a flavor of summer with this post through some of the outtakes from my project of compiling photographs into a book called  "Forty Views of Diamond Head." The book was inspired by Hokusai, a great Japanese woodblock printer who is probably most famous for his print of the Great Wave. He did a series of 36 prints of Mount Fuji in Japan called, "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji." Being that I'm not very good at printmaking, I decided to use a camera instead chipping away at woodblocks like the old master. These photos were taken with a Nikon D-40. Although not obvious at first, all of the images shown have an image of Diamond Head in the background.

I love the red Lehua flower... legend has it that if you pick it, it will rain.

A lifeguard stand and Diamond Head in the background.

This house was burnt and totally ruined!

To my surprise, a kitty cat was there to greet me!

Japanese tourist missing Diamond Head behind them as they were busy photographing Koko Head.

Deborah Butterfield displayed at TCM and Diamond Head peering through branches.

A couple enjoying the day at the beach and a view of Diamond Head.

For some a view of Diamond Head is right at their doorstep!

A view from one State monument to another

A nostalgic drive in and a view of DH with a big honkin tree blocking my shot!

I wish that that lady didn't step into the shot!

University of Hawaii

We have VOG... Volcanic ashes causing a cloudy haze over the city!

A blurred background of Diamond Head! 

The view of Diamond Head was too small.

They turned away once they saw the camera come out.

Ilford HP5 Plus 400 film

 My favorite black and white film that I like shooting with is Ilford HP5 Plus. The results that I get with my 1966 canon ft are sharp low key photos.

The photograph above is of two elderly gentlemen that were sharing a conversation and a bottle of congnac.

Bell Peppers

Bagels

No Biodiesel 

Iolani Palace

The perspective of the photograph of Iolani Palace tells a story of how the monarchy fell when the Queen was held captive in her own palace in the early 1900's. The palace fades into the background and the foreground are of arrow tips of the front gate which is the way I had planned to take this photo. What I didn't plan for was very neutral contrasting and so the photo doesn't pop but nevertheless, it stands on it's own because it captures the essence of the subject matter. Perhaps if I had used a film with a lower ISO, then the results would be better contrast.