hirosan's photostream Pro User

A blind photographer with no sense of light in his eyes.


Above: A photo of me in hospital in 2009, just before losing my eyesight.

A cheeky, sneaky and swanky photographer lost eyesight in 2009 and lost the sense of light in June 2010. After all, I am totally blind.

Though my photography became all about myself with self portrait (I am tagging them with the word "selftake") but since I went to California to learn to "see by hearing" with human echolocation, I started confronting with new subjects and started taking photography.

I intended to learn about human echolocation as the part of blindness rehabilitationfor perceptual mobility, to help reclaim "freedom" "independence" and "responsibility" but I would like take human echolocation one step further , by applying it to blind photography.
Since most blind shooters with no sense of light seem to shoot subjects that make noise,, but I am finding the distance and size of subjects by clicking my tongue and hearing the sound bouncing off from the subject.
Though there are not many of those photos I shot using human echolocation, there are more of them coming out.
Meanwhile, I shoot with sound, such as panning shots of vehicles and people candid shots by following the sounds they make.

Besides "selftake" which I take a photo of myself without any help, photos I took without help, or a little help, I add "hirosan's blind photography" in description. These photo can be found in the dedicated set called "hirosan's blind photography."



My current cameras that I shoot with:

Fujifilm Finepix X100, the largest, retro-fitting compact camera on the market.



Besides APS-C sized sensor and fixed 35mm Fujinon lens, this compact camera features dedicated aperture rings, shutter speed dial and the exposure bias dials, which allow me to shoot manually even though I am totally blind.

Since most cameras on the market, including digital SLRs feature non-stop command dials with visual menus to control cameras, this camera is a rare model that allows me to shoot blind.


Ricoh Cameras - GX100, GR Digital and GR Digital IV:



Ricoh GX100:
The first model of Ricoh's GX series, including GXR, to feature a passive AF sensor for full-press focus. For a compact camera, it is rare to have such an AF sensor that works great for street snap.
Though there are successor of this camera, such as GX200 and GXR with Lens Unit S10, this GX100 is one of my favourite of Ricoh cameras with 24mm-72mm zoom lens.

GR Digital:
This is my all-time favourite of all Ricoh cameras! The first generationn of GR Digital features the passive AF sensor for full-press SNAP focus, making it a perfect companion for street candid photography. Moreover, its wide angle, 28mm GR lens and a unique in-camera process with smooth engine software, it produces great blue in when sshooting in colour, great contrast and sharpness in black and white while retaining film-like grain when shooting at high ISO.
Since it came out on the market in 2005, I keep shooting with this camera, even when when I was losing my eyesight!

Ricoh GR Digital IV:
The salesperson I always buy my cameras from told me that the shiny white colour of the limited edition of GR Digital IV looks great with my white cane, I decided to replace my GR Digital II and GR Digital III with this white GR Digital IV.
The latest addition to my cameras, after trading other cameras I owned, including two Ricoh GXRs with all lens collection.
The latest GR Digital includes welcoming features of the passive AF sensor and smart software for auto exposure, while it retains GR Lens and SNAP focus which is very useful for street snaps and candid photography.

Thanks for checking out my profile.