Going back in time, Kampong Lorong Buangkok

You all probably know about the last surviving kampong on mainland Singapore, Kampong Lorong Buangkok and I'm kind of glad that it's only a few bus stops away from where i live.

My parents always fed me with stories of their life as a kid living in a kampong, i had seen a few photos but never really saw it in person myself so together with a few friends, we had been planning a trip there for a damn bloody long time and we finally made it happen last week with Angie and Yingzi.

*I actually passed by the area awhile ago and snapped a few photos but didn't go into the kampong.*

This is Lorong Buangkok, the stretch of road along the kampong.

While on the way in you should be able to spot a few houses on this stretch of road.




Once you reach a certain point, you should be able to see a sign saying 'Surau Kampong Lorong Buangkok'
follow the sign and you're on your way in.


Some artsy installation by the villagers.
Do take note that you are now on someone else's property so try not to disturb the residents there.


The stretch of Kampong houses, roads were rocks and dirt.


We were surrounded by vegetation, the air is clean but it carries a bit of smell from the chickens and animals reared by the villagers, the smell of kampong i would say.


Old power lines that we don't see very often.


We came to one house where the kitchen is actually outside the house. Best ventilation you can get which whipping up a nice meal eh?


Also the different ways the villagers decorate their houses.



It's said that the whole area is about the size of three football fields and i felt like we only covered probably half a field. It was a rich experience and we didn't get any mozzie bites probably because it was a really hot and sunny day.

Now here are the some photos of ourselves, well, i was behind this camera so the two probably got more photos of me so better start stalking them!



I shot mainly using my rangefinder but i did bring along my DSLR and here's one shot of us to end the post

Shot on a Rangefinder

Recently got my hands on an old Russian Rangefinder, a Zorki 4 which is a Leica copy and it also came with a Jupiter 8 lens (50mm F2). It's made in 1963 and this means that the camera is actually 49 years old, Fenny and Angie had me thinking how many times this camera had exchanged hands and how the previous owner(s) are like, kind of creepy when i think about it.

Creepy thoughts aside, i just love the vintage feel this camera and now it also allows me to change the shutter speed up to 1/1000s and also aperture from f/2 to f/22, having more control over the settings means that i can now shoot more and not feel as restricted as other cameras i have had fixed aperture and shutter speeds which limits me and makes me think more before i shoot.

It's a pretty good camera to bring around for day or night shots, the only downside is it's heavy weight from it's full metal body construction.(Feels solid thou, i even dropped it once :x)

Here's a photo of the lovely Zorki i took the other day.


And so i met up with Leon for the first outing with using this camera and he was shooting with my Diana Mini. Alright, enough talk, Look at the photos!
Here's Leon with my Diana mini, Shot this at F2, Bokehhhhhhh!


Well we decided stroll around Bugis area to do some street candids and maybe shoot people in their faces but for me, most shots are shot from distance since i was using a 50mm lens.


And we came across a street with lots of pigeons and we tried our luck and see if we could snap any of them in flight and i got lucky!


Also took photos of the interesting things around us and applying the golden rules of Lomography.


Well, we spent most of the time taking photos of each other i guess.
Try to spot him taking a photo of me below.


All the photos are shot using expired Kodak Elitechrome ED 200 and later cross processed, The roll says 24 exposures but i managed to get 25 shots *Inserts Victory Baby Meme*

By now you should have realized that i only uploaded 7 shots here, click HERE to view the other photos i shot that day!

Cross Processed Slide Films

Guess what! I just got back with my first two rolls of slide films developed!

I had been shooting with negatives for all these while and i decided to take the next step and venture into slide films.

At first I had no idea what the difference between the two kinds of films so i did some research and thus found out that slides is instantly a positive image when developed. The next thing i learnt was cross processing, which was to deliberately use the chemical which was intended for another kind of film for processing, eg. using the chemical used to process negative film to process slide films. The end result is some really high contrast image with very strong colours.

Different kind of films tend to have different effects when cross processed,
The shots below was taken with my Diana Mini with the Fuji T64 and cross processed.

The photos below were taken using the Expired Afga CT Precisa 100 Slide film, cross processed too.
Photos turned out differently, some are greenish, some are really warm and some have a very cool tone, this is the kind of photos you will get with expired films, you never know how each shot will turn out.




That's all for now! For more photos check out my Flickr Set HERE *scroll to the bottom for the latest uploads*

Recesky Twin-Lens Reflex

Not gonna have much for you to read here so just enjoy the pictures!


Here's the Recesky Do-It-Yourself Twin-Lens Reflex camera.

I got this camera when i was in KL last year and basically assembled at the hotel lobby and it took me around two hours to assemble.
The toughest part of assembly was probably the shutter which took me an hour to figure out.

Look right down into the viewfinder. Cool isn't it!


The camera have a fixed F/11 aperture and also a fixed 1/125 Second shutter, i had found out a way to bulb using this camera so i could shoot at night, All you have to do is to press the shutter lever halfway down slowly and stop once you hear a click then slowly let the lever go back up. Practice this with the back open until you get how it works and load it up and get ready to shoot at night!
 
This is one of the many night shots i did after i figured out how to shoot long exposures on the camera.


For more Photos taken using the Recesky DIY TLR Camera Click HERE

Cameralicious Updates!

Hey guys! I know i don't usually blog but when i do it's about cameras! Now for the poisonous updates! Guess what camera i had been shooting with lately?

 It's the Diana Mini! And yes! I made a leather case for it.

 Some shots taken with the camera with negative films.

 

  Click here for the full album. 

I had already shot like 3 rolls of negatives with this awesome camera and guess what, I'm just done with my first roll of expired slide film!

Can't wait to see how the photos would turn out!