The Journey – An homage to the demise of the incandescent lightbulb…
May 27, 2010 by Juergen Specht · Leave a Comment
When I as a photographer get asked what I usually photograph, I have an easy answer: I photograph light.
Since I was young, I was fascinated by light and the incredible variety of it. But one very old light source will now disappear, the incandescent lightbulb. So I decided to make a last shooting I call “The Journey” as some kind of homage.
Toshiba recently announced that they stop manufacturing these lightbulbs, I in fact had a hard time to actually get some incandescent lightbulbs of the old, clear type here in Tokyo. After checking 5 different stores without success, I finally found them in a sixth store and bought all they had. Most stores only sell LED based lightbulbs these days.
Then I suggested the idea and concept of the shooting to the lovely Ella and she agreed to be my model for this series.
Needless to say, I love the result. But then again, I love my own photos :)
The logistics for my shooting are often quite complicated. Finding a location where we have the required privacy, getting electricity into the middle of nowhere and avoiding snakes are just a few of them. The location was easy, because this series was shot on privately owned land and I had the permission of the owner. Electricity, that what this box is for. And the snakes…since the one we saw was rather long and big and I have absolutely no idea about snakes, we relocated to a saver location and I made sure that the model stayed on a path.
“The Journey” is more like a photo story, so make sure you scroll to the end.
The magic box
May 25, 2010 by Juergen Specht · Leave a Comment
The magic box
I’ve made another invention for my photographic adventures…this little magic box. Today I was using it somewhere in the middle of a forest for the first time and it worked just fantastic. More to come!
The Hino / Renault 4CV
May 22, 2010 by Juergen Specht · Leave a Comment
Today at the Tokyo Nostalgic Car Show I came across this Hino / Renault 4CV built 1958 in very good condition. The owner was an old man who originally bought it back in 1958 and kept it all these years…now because of his age and sickness, he decided to sell it. The asking price is 3,3 Million yen. I had a hard time to resist!
The car has an interesting history, in 1953 Hino Motors Ltd. known today as a maker of heavy vehicles such as buses and trucks, tied up with Renault of France and began the local production of the Renault 4CV under its brand “Hino” in Japan. A lengthy documentation with historic pictures can be found here.
More pictures follow below. Read more
Google has answers to all the important questions…
May 19, 2010 by Juergen Specht · Leave a Comment
No, I haven’t looked for answers to any of these questions!
About the difficulty to photograph Helicopters
May 17, 2010 by Juergen Specht · 1 Comment
While walking around, suddenly several Helicopter flew over me. I was not prepared and had only my walk-around camera with me and took some shots. Later after reviewing them, I realized that I am not a great Helicopter photographer. The trick in good pictures of these fast moving objects is to show that they are actually in the air…and the best trick to do this is to use a low shutter speed, so that the rotor turns into a dynamic blurry wheel. However, this part is not the easiest one.
Read more
BBC News – Tokyo couple married by robot in rooftop wedding
May 17, 2010 by Juergen Specht · Leave a Comment
BBC News – Tokyo couple married by robot in rooftop wedding
Of course!
Email exchange of the day
May 17, 2010 by Juergen Specht · 2 Comments
I usually get a lot of email, especially about my photography or about living in Japan. And usually I reply to 99.9% of all requests…but today was the day where I decided I should re-think my strategy.
This morning I got this email:
Subject: Light / Laser Paintings Body: What kind of device did you use to do the green (laser?) light paintings? I like the way you got the grid? How did you get the grid? Best, XXX
I replied:
Hi XXX, On 5/17/10 4:24 AM, somebody@somewhere.xxx wrote: > What kind of device did you use to do the green (laser?) light > paintings? I like the way you got the grid? How did you get > the grid? are you referring to this one: http://www.juergenspecht.com/explore/series/11/ ? If yes, I created a grid in Photoshop and projected it with an LCD projector on the models body. You can do a lot of interesting effects with LCD projectors, they have incredible "pure" colors. Hope this helps, Juergen -- Juergen Specht - Photographs. Tokyo, Japan. http://www.juergenspecht.com
Just a few moments later, I received this reply:
Yes, how did you do it? XXX XXXXXX www.XXXXXXXXXX.XXX somebody@somewhere.xxx (000) 000-0000
with my entire response quoted beneath. D’oh!
Chiba – a road trip
May 2, 2010 by Juergen Specht · Leave a Comment
Armed with a regular and an infrared camera, I’ve met my friends at 2:30am for a road trip to Chiba.
4:59:36am – Sunrise in Chiba
Powerlines extending into the water
An inaccessible, forgotten plane bunker left over from World War II
Leaves take over the long closed Haikyo Hotel
A view to the other side
From time to time I have to remind myself where I live
Abandoned heavy machinery
Tree outgrowing its fenced jail
These bolts hold the bridge together
The pilot shows off some incredible maneuvers
A shrine in the infrared forest
Attempted self portrait while a Skorj walks nearby
Random Images
