I’ve had the Minolta Dynax 9 with me for many months now and shot a few rolls with it. But until now I hadn’t managed to scan the films. So here it is finally, the first photo on this photoblog with my Dynax 9. This was shot outside Vienna, Austria in April this year.

The Dynax 9 is arguably the best pro film SLR ever produced, released just before the transition to the digital era. Built like a tank but so easy and intuitive to use. Perhaps the only ‘pro’ camera that you can pick up and start shooting without going through a manual first. It is virtually a crime that Minolta managed to screw up the timing of the release and subsequent marketing of this amazing camera. And they went and further crippled it by not upgrading it but instead releasing a similar featured, technically more modern but less pro Dynax 7. Even though with the advent and convenience of shooting digital I do not use it as much as I’d like to I don’t think I can ever give up one of the finest photographic tools ever produced!

Since I haven’t shot anything new, here is something from my old film archives. This is from a trip to Keukenhof-the famous tulip gardens in Holland, roughly two years back. I’m not sure if you will like this as it is quite abstract and there is not much detail in the photo. But it somehow appeals to me.

Continuing with Cologne’s Christopher Day Street Parade. This guy had the most outlandish costume I had seen in the parade!

Time for some film photos again! Over the next few days, I’ll be posting some photos I shot during the Christopher Day Street Parade (Gay Pride) here in Cologne, circa June 2004.

Another one from the same place as the one posted yesterday. I think the title of this photo explains everything!

Some more digging through my film archives as I haven’t had time to shoot something new. This is from the famous Tulip gardens in Keukenhoff, Holland which I visited roughly two years ago. That place is a flower photographer’s paradise!

This is the final one in a series of three photos. These were taken on my Dynax 5 film SLR. The place is the coffee shop in the wonderful Ludwig Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art here in Cologne where I had gone with a friend to see a Henri Cartier-Bresson photo exhibition right after he passed away. Yes, these photos are more than one year old and yes, I was still caught up in the brilliance of Cartier-Bresson’s photography when I took these photos!

I left this in color as I liked the warm diffused light and the play of color.

This is the second in a series of three photos. These were taken on my Dynax 5 film SLR. The place is the coffee shop in the wonderful Ludwig Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art here in Cologne where I had gone with a friend to see a Henri Cartier-Bresson photo exhibition right after he passed away. Yes, these photos are more than one year old and yes, I was still caught up in the brilliance of Cartier-Bresson’s photography when I took these photos!

This photo unlike the one yesterday looked better in b/w. I like the way the two people are lost in their individual worlds, completely oblivious of their surroundings.

This is the first in a series of three photos that I’ll be posting over the next few days. These were taken on my Dynax 5 film SLR. The place is the coffee shop in the wonderful Ludwig Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art here in Cologne where I had gone with a friend to see a Henri Cartier-Bresson photo exhibition right after he passed away. Yes, these photos are more than one year old and yes, I was still caught up in the brilliance of Cartier-Bresson’s photography when I took these photos!

I was quite tempted to convert them to b/w but I felt there was a certain harmony in the colors which was lost in the process.

Eighteen times I breathed, in your arms, waiting for your answer. Eighteen times I cried, on your shoulder, overwhelmed by my desire. Eighteen times I laughed, on your chest, watching your silly faces. Eighteen times I died, in your words, overcome by sadness.

(Perhaps the last of the recent series of photos from my trip to Berlin last year. Again shot with my Dynax 5 film SLR. This is an installation in the Ku’damm area of Berlin near the Europa Haus.)