Fotorican's Blog

Long lost filed rolls of 120 shot on a Holga in Cuba

fotorican — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:29:21 +0000

I have the bad habit of getting into these streaks of wanting to shoot film. I have a box full of expired 120 and 35mm film. So one of the last times this happened I was in Cuba and decided to shoot exclusively with my Holga. Of course I filed the film away and it wasn’t until about 3 years alter, when I found a lab in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, that wouldn’t rip me off completely that I decided to process the black and white 120 film.

I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up the negatives. I remember shooting the images I was looking at, I had just forgotten them. Here are a few of the frames I re-discovered.

I’m in love and it was love @ first virtual sight.

fotorican — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 13:48:55 +0000

She is soooo very fine and I can afford her. This is the rangefinder I’ve been waiting for and I can get her. In fact, I’ve already put an order in for one. As soon as I get her I’ll be gentle @ first but eventually she’ll have to adjust to my lifestyle and rough it a little bit. She’s gonna love it here in in my beach apartment and on the nasty streets of Puerto Rico. You;ll see some our work together. I’ll even post some video clips.

Stay tuned:

http://www.finepix-x100.com/

Newspaper photographer…again…for now

fotorican — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:19:10 +0000

I accepted a full time job as a staff photographer for a subscription based, digital newspaper aimed @ smart phones and web use. I have not been a staffer for the last 3 years so this was a drastic change in the pace of work since I left my last newspaper job. Been doing a lot of running around. Fortunately or not, depending on how I look @ it, we’ve had a university strike which has taken a lot of man hours to cover. A lot of pushing and shoving, running and the occasional contact with pepper spray or tear gas are part of the course now. I’m probably going to limit my work days to 2/week so I can continue paying attention to my freelance career which I’m really happy with these days. Also, my destination wedding photojournalism side job also needs a lot of attention.

Here are a coupla pics of me working in my NotiCel.com job.

Good advice

fotorican — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 10:49:07 +0000

This article is from the folks who designed FotoBiz and FotoQuote:

http://www.cradocfotosoftware.com/tips/10-ways-to-fight-for-your-digital-rights-as-a-photographer.html

Last roll of Kodachrome

fotorican — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:54:43 +0000

I shot a little Kodachrome and a lot of Ektachrome when I started out as a pro photographer in the 80′s. This is a nice piece by a shooter I’ve always admired but have never met, Robert Cohen. He was leaving South Florida when I was starting out as a Miami Herald intern there.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/multimedia/vmix_4e9f782a-aca0-11df-806f-00127992bc8b.html

After Charo and Mike’s Old San Juan wedding…a beer and some jazz

fotorican — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:25:35 +0000

The Island Wedding Fotos Puerto Rico team of Jose Jimenez, Isaida Ortiz and myself (Angel Valentin) shot Charo and Mike’s awsome wedding in Old San Juan last weekend. It was a hot hot Puerto Rico summer day. Destinations weddings in Puerto Rico in the summer are beautiful and fun, but HOOOOTTTTT. I changed shirt 3 times !

After the reception ended Isaida and I decided to grab a beer @ the Old Harbor Brewery (http://oldharborbrewery.com/) less than a block from the venue. Traffic out of San Juan was brutal and we were tired. To our delight Old Harbor had a jazz sextet jamming away next to the bar which is where we sat. Had a good hour or so of R & R with nice music, cold beers and some appetizers.

Here’s a snap I shot with a 5D Mark II and a 50mm 1.4 @ 2000 ISO.

Zmo in bikini, Miami

fotorican — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:45:23 +0000

Was in Miami recently and was recruited to shoot a promo campaign for a bathing suit designer. The model, Zmo is a good friend. This was fun and easy to do. The only problem was the underwater housing started leaking water in the middle of the pool shoot but the camera wasn’t damaged, I don’t think.

My Review of Flashpoint Vertical Battery Grip for the Canon 5D Mark II

fotorican — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:07:55 +0000

Originally submitted at Adorama

Flashpoint Vertical Battery Grip for the Canon 5D Mark II

Great (for the price…)

By Fotorican from San Juan, Puerto Rico on 5/3/2010

Pros: PracticalCheap

Cons: You get what you pay for

Best Uses: Portrait Photography, Digital Photography, Travel

Describe Yourself: Pro Photographer

I never buy 3rd party items. I only got this grip after a colleague’s highest recommendation. I bought 3 of them, 2 for 5D2 and one for a 7D. Out of the 3 I only got 1 bad one. It sometimes fails to operate and when on disables the top dial on the body. This is frustrating when it happens in the middle of a wedding or news event. I called Adorama and was told to return it, no questions asked. I wish I’d had the money to buy the Canon brand ones but I didn’t and I have to say that the other two I got work perfectly. I love the option to use the grips and to take it off when I do some jobs. I just noticed the price dropped. Nice.

(legalese)

Isabela fisherman, Jobos Beach, Isabela

fotorican — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:13:17 +0000

I overnighted with some friends in their rental apartment last night. This morning I got up early, as usual, and drove around the beach and spotted this fisherman getting his “yola” wood motorboat ready to go out and check on traps left overnight to catch fish. Shot a few frames with my Canon S90 point and shoot but got the best frame with my iPhone. Go figure.

Calle 13

fotorican — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 12:24:01 +0000

The New York Times asked me to shoot Puerto Rican artits Calle 13 for a story in their Arts & Culture section. I got to work with an awsome writer, Larry Rohter, whose name I remember from when he was bureau chief of the Times’s Miami bureau. Very knowledgeable and smart writer and super easy to work with.

Rene Perez and Eduardo Cabra, the half brothers who lead the band and use the stage names Residente (Rene) and Visitante (Eduardo), are really incredibly down to earth and courteous. I have nothing but great things to say about the two. We basicaly hung around with the two for two days. No ego, very interested in Larry’s broad knowledge of music and pop culture and super easy to work with.

The story ran today (4/11/10) as a preview to Calle 13′s performance next week in the Coachella concert in California. The online version that I just saw only ran one of my photos so I figured I’d post a couple of favorites here.

Angel