New camera, new apartment, and of course, new shoes
I apologize for the lack of posts and negligence to this blog, this summer has been crazy and crazy fun. As you've probably noticed, I'm back up to school in Washington now. I started school back up (yay..) yesterday and continuing working at Overlake Church in Redmond as a Young Adults Intern. Not quite sure if I mentioned this or not but I'm a Law, Societies and Justice Major and aiming for a minor in Ethics.
First things first! The new apartment
This is the only other picture I have of it as of now, this is where I have all my clothes and of course will be displaying my shoes. I'm living off campus in my own studio apartment but it's right across from the school so I can still walk to my classes. I was actually really excited to furnish the place (it was unfurnished) and had a lot of fun doing it. Shoutout one time to IKEA (especially for the fake plants, which I've named Henry and Jeff). Seriously, IKEA is the best. The stuff looks great, is pretty easy to put together and is relatively cheap. Those little coffee tables I got were $8. If you want more of a tour just FaceTime me!
Second, I can't mention this summer without mentioning Paul. Paul is a pretty famous YouTuber who does videos on streetwear, Fear of God, FOG x PacSun and pretty much put mnml.la on the map. I've been a long time subscriber since I love FOG/Fear of God, knowing he lived around my area but never got the chance to meet up. One night I went to Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa and I just happened to see Paul, because he was hardcore flexing, wearing YEEZY Zebras, Fear of God Indigo denim and a Fear of God x Maxfield LA Staff long sleeve. I had to go say hi and introduce myself. But because Paul is such a real and genuine guy, I didn't feel like I had to take a deep breath and prepare what I was gonna say. I just walked up, told him "hey I'm a long time subscriber!" and introduced myself and from there he invited me to sit with him during service. Keep in mind I literally just met this guy like 20 seconds ago and he's already inviting me to sit during service. After service we chatted a bit more, exchanged some info and from there we started hanging out, shopping, taking photos and such. No we're good buds, he brings out the worst shopaholic in me possible (he convinced me to get some of the shoes I'll show later) and I've unleashed his inner sass. It's a good tradeoff. If you want to check out his channel, click here
Paul, thank you for all the good times hanging. It's been awesome getting to know you, and I look up to you in the way that you use social media/your YouTube channel as a platform to spread the love of Jesus Christ and being so genuine about it. Can't wait to see you back at home!
Onto the shoe pickups. These are my "grails" as we say in the streetwear community, which is to say that these are the ultimate want that I had on my list for a long time. Ever since I saw these, I loved them. But my wallet and the retail price tag said otherwise. As a Fear of God piece, they weren't cheap at retail, and most places were sold out and resell was crazy. So, I placed them on the back-burner in my head and as part of the "when I'm older and make more money" list of things. Fast forward to hanging out with Paul too much, I decided I'd sell some of my shoes and bite the bullet. Thank you to Paul and Khanh for helping this dream come true!
Little review, the construction is amazing. The attention to detail is ridiculous; every stitch and eyelet seems to have had the utmost care put into it. The nylon is sturdy but not starchy, it can hold its own but is supple enough to be comfortable. The all leather interior helps vastly with comfort and just attests to the build quality of these shoes. The zippers are honestly not super incredible, they are good, but I honestly expected better from RiRi. It might just be because my legs are fat. Who knows. These will be perfect for the fall/winter up here in Seattle. Not sure how waterproof these are but I know I'll be doing that myself
You can't hang out with Paul and not end up with a pair of Vans Vaults. Vault is the Vans line that brings back the older silhouettes and colors from back when Vans first started. The midsole is a little higher, the materials used are of much better quality, and they get a little bit more of a lux look to them over your average pair of Vans. These ones are the Vans Vault OG LX Authentic VLT in White. I know, a mouthful right? Basically they're white leather Vans from an older design, but I really enjoy these. They're more comfortable than a normal pair of Vans; I think they put some different insole or something because there's actually a little travel when you step in them which is nice. Sometimes my sneakers, which are a lot of running shoes, can be a little sporty and these are a nice addition to make an outfit look less casual but still be casual (if you know what I mean). Being leather, these will stay cleaner a lot longer than their canvas counterparts. I got these for $30 off my local Facebook marketplace, which is a steal considering these are $85 retail. I have another pair of Vaults on the way because of how much I love these
Onto the new camera! This was also a "grail" of sorts of mine. If you've been around me when I'm taking pictures or talking photography, you've known that I've wanted one of these for the longest time. I introduce to you, the Leica M 240 and the Leica Summilux 35mm f/1.4. This mirrorless powerhouse is incredible.
"But Andrew, the 5D Mark IV and arguably even the Mark III beat this camera on paper in every single aspect, AND this costs almost double them!"
To explain my purchase a little, I did not get this new/for retail because I don't think I'd ever be able to pay that much or would pay that much for a camera and one lens. You can look it up if you want to
There's a difference between a camera on paper and the results themselves. Looking at charts and features, the 5D Mark III/IV blow the Leica out of the water. ISO capability is vastly better, the Mark IV has 4K video, it has autofocus (I'll touch on this in a bit) and overall there are a ton of more features such as WiFi capability and multiple card slots. But paper results and charts aren't what make a good camera good. I learned that the hard way with the Sony A7ii. On paper, it looked incredible: 24MP, in body stabilization for lenses, incredible dynamic range and unparalleled low light capability in its class. And yet, when I got it and took pictures with it, I hated every picture that came out of it. The colors were absolutely horrid, there was a bit of a oversaturated and manufactured vibrance look to it, there was a constant green tint and skin tones were impossible to work with. It was probably voted the #1 camera that year, but not for me. So I sold it
The Leica has no autofocus. It's barebones, focusing is done through the rangefinder on the top left of the camera. Automation for exposure and aperture is pretty limited. There is no "auto" mode. The screen honestly isn't that great. And why did I want these? I didn't really, but the pros far outweighed the cons. The lack of autofocus brought the fun back into taking pictures, brought back the experience of creating a photo that I lost to automation. Did I get this camera to show off that I don't need any of those features and to show that I'm hardcore? No not at all, in fact it makes taking pictures a lot more difficult and not as quick. Which is also part of the fun and charm of this camera. It's a lot smaller and I can carry it anywhere with me. With the 5D Mark III, I HAD to LUG it around with me everywhere, that thing was massive and heavy. Often I started to find myself leaving it at home just because I didn't want to have to carry it around all day. The Leica has solved that. It's lenses are absolutely incredible for their size, in fact I'd go as far to say that this is by far the best lens I've ever used. It's left a good first impression on me, it's not that hard to pick up and use, of course there is a slight learning curve but once you get the hang of it, the photo quality is amazing and the experience of shooting it is so much fun. I do not one bit miss my 5D. There is something almost intangible about the photo quality of the Leica that makes the photos so unique; many call this the "Leica Look" that is unique to their cameras, and I'd have to agree that they are unique. And for that, I think this camera is here to stay for awhile.
That's it for the little update, obviously there are a lot of things I didn't cover in this blog post and it's honestly pretty sloppy and all over the place writing/flow wise, but hey it's an update. Until next time
fin