Blog | Jakob Berr Photography

This weekend is the Anahaim Comic Con – a convention of Sci Fi, comic and fantasy fans, artists and producers. I went there to shoot yesterday, and it was a pretty amazing experience. Overweight batmans posing for pictures with kids, tired Dumbledores in a coffee shop, baby Supermans with their parents – you name it, the Comic Con has it. Here are some of my selects from the day. As always, I’m happy to hear your thoughts!

Cat 'Shaolin Punk' Parsons, of the OC Roller Girls Roller Derby team, fixes her make-up at the Wizard Mountain Comic Con at the Anaheim Convention Center, April 30, 2011.

Donning a mask with Twilight character Jacob Black's face, J.R. Hipolito, center left, plays against Darren Newton during a promotion of the video game Marvel Vs. Capcom III at the 7evens Gaming stand.

From left, Adam, 9, Allison, 6, and Anakin Bautista, all of Lynwood, Calif., pose for a portrait with Batman (a.k.a. John Whitt, of Minneapolis, Minn) at the Anaheim Comic Con. "I like to meet the movie stars and the action figures," said Angel Bautista (not pictured), the children's father.

Visitors of the Wizard World Comic Con take pictures of cosutmed superheroes.

Comic books are displayed for sale.

Shaunn Lawrence, left, of Los Angeles, takes a break in his $1,200-Dumbledore costume. Lawrence, a professional costumer for 33 years, made the costume himself after taking measurements and sketches off the original during an exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Beverly Hills. "I had to use cotton gloves when I did it," he said.

Autumn Will, left, as 'Giganta,' and her boyfriend Cesar Vargas, as 'The Flash,' pose for a portrait at the Wizard World Comic Con at the Anaheim Convention Center.

In February I went to the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena, Calif., one of the largest of its kind. On the second Sunday of every month, 20,000 buyers and almost 3,000 vendors gather around the famous stadium to sell junk and hunt for treasures. While I was there, I played around with the reflections of people in the mirrors that are displayed all over the place.

Some of these pictures I really liked, so this weekend I went there again to hunt some more mirror shots. Here are some selects from both days:

I love shooting with my Leica, but it does have some downsides. One of them is that you can’t do any macro photography – at least not with the lenses that I have.

A while ago, my friend Valerie Mosley posted photographs she took with a so-called poor man’s macro (holding another lens in front of the lens on your camera). At the time, I didn’t think that I could do that with my rangefinder. Since you’re not able to see what the camera sees through the lens, it’s kind of impossible to focus on such a small scale.

During a hike on the San Juan loop trail at the Cleveland National Forest today though, Beth suggested that we try it. And – much to my surprise – after some initial feebling around, we were able to get some really nice results. Here are some of my favorites:

The Zenshuji Soto Mission in Little Tokyo held a memorial service today for the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami that devastated north-eastern Japan. Photographing the ceremony was incredibly hard. There was next to no light, and even on ISO 2,500 I was still struggling to get anything at all. I did not want to use a flash because I didn’t want to disrupt the service – and paid my dues. I don’t have a single usable picture that shows the congregation coming in front of the altair and offering candles.

Anyways, here’s what I got. If you have any ideas what I could have done differently, I’d be eager to hear them!

Rev. Shumyo Kojima talks in Japanese to the congregation during a memorial service for the victims of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan at Zenshuji Soto Mission in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, Calif., Sunday, March 20, 2011.

Worshippers and temple workers light candles during a memorial service for the victims of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan at Zenshuji Soto Mission in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, Calif., Sunday, March 20, 2011.

A worshipper puts down a candle in front of the altair during a memorial service for the victims of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan at Zenshuji Soto Mission in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, Calif., Sunday, March 20, 2011.

Rev. Wako Kato participates in a memorial service for the victims of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan at Zenshuji Soto Mission in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, Calif., Sunday, March 20, 2011.

Bishop Daigaku Rummé performs a memorial service for the victims of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan at Zenshuji Soto Mission in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, Calif., Sunday, March 20, 2011.