In your bag No: 1455, Alex Tran
Alex is a sucker for punishment, as he is back to share his third bag with us. Still, it is a pretty awesome bag. Though I am not sure about the plant, does that go in the bag too?
My name is Alex Tran and I’m a 25 year old New England native. However I’ve recently moved across country for work and I now reside in Seattle, WA. Instead of flying over I decided to grab a few friends and take a cross country road trip from Boston to Seattle. We spent 12 days on the road, spanning 4800 miles (7725 km) while visiting many sites and national parks along the way. It’s definitely one of the best experiences of my life, which I’ve documented in my blog.
Now that I live in the Pacific Northwest, let me share with you what I packed on a recent trip to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. (No I didn’t pack the plant)
Parkland Meadow Backpack: A simple bag that looks good, gets the job done, and is surprisingly weatherproof.
Pentax 645 w/ 55mm f/2.8 lens: I got into medium format a month after moving to Seattle. Looking back it wasn’t a surprise since the first friends I’ve made here were big into shooting MF (and I’m very easy to convince!) The Pentax 645 is a great starter camera for people like me to get into MF. It’s relatively inexpensive, easy to control, and it’s built like a beast!
120 film – Portra 400, Fuji Pro 400H, and Portra 160NC: I’m fortunate enough to work near a lab that can develop/scan 120 film for a decent price and quick turnaround time. It definitely gives me more reason to shoot film!
Fujifilm X-T1 w/ 18mm f/2 and 53mm f/1.4 lenses: My go to digital set up. I love Fujifilm cameras since they operate just like analog cameras. All the controls are exposed making it so fun and instinctive to shoot with.
Here are some links to my work:
https://www.instagram.com/atranphoto/ (my Instagram)
http://atranphoto.com (my website and blog)
– Alex
Thanks for sharing your bag with us, Alex. That 645 is a beast.
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Cheers
Japancamerahunter
Great bag Alex. Care to share the Seattle lab that you like. I’m just getting back into film and would love a local lab option. Well as local as I can get to the San Juan Islands.
Cheers and thanks, Bill
My guess is that he’s referring to Panda Lab.
I’d love to know as well. I’m across the pond in Victoria
David, check out Canadianfilmlab.com in Hope, BC.
The lab I’m talking about is Kenmore Camera in Kenmore, WA. $10 to develop a roll with high-res scans included. Next day pickup isn’t too shabby either!
Alex-Thanks for sharing that story. Love that you chose a road trip to go coast to coast. Did that myself years ago from Phila to LA, and back a few years later.
I’ve been seriously thinking of getting back to film myself, and want to go MF too. Been really looking hard at the P645.
How has that been for you? Where did you find one? JCH, eBay, other?
Anything to watch out for?
Have also been considering a Fuji GSW690II, which is the 6×9 with the wider 65mm lens. It looks bigger than the Pentax, but smaller front to back if that makes sense. 2×3 proportion vs 3×4, but really just because the format is bigger, and that bokeh starts happening even more. Not a reflex though. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!