Figure3 collaborated with King Street Food Company, the parent company of BUCA, to set the stage for a transformative experience that would redefine the intersection of residential luxury and culinary indulgence. The project was envisioned as more than just a restaurant; it was conceived as a lifestyle-driven destination within one of Vaughan’s first residential buildings.
Poor man's Vintage Noctilux f/1?
Photography Diary | Voigtlander Nokton 35 1.2 Aspherical II Lens
Modern lenses have more perfect optical performances. In contrast, vintage lenses or the characters of imperfections become a distinctive flavor.
This 35 Nokton II has a painterly look with swirly bokeh that is not perfectly round, a bloomy glow, and lower contrast at f/1.2, along with the associated colour fringing at high contrast edges similar to a Noctilux.
The charm of a large aperture lens is indeed its light-gathering capabilities in dark situations, and the play of focus and blur, where depth is depicted, like a cinematic frame. People find this look intriguing as we can’t see the world this way with natural vision.
On a full-frame sensor, blur is more contrasted due to the wider field of view, it can focus down to 0.5m which exaggerates the depth. See the images below of the branches, it’s like a virtual fog machine was on with the perceived depth in a 2D photograph. They are shot on the Leica SL2-S to take advantage of the close-focusing feature.
I purchased this lens about 10 years ago based on the recommendations made by Steve Huff. Although I ended up getting the 35 Summilux as well like him, I kept this lens for its vintage flavour. It’s a bit of a beast to carry due to the size and weight, but just pretend it’s a Noctilux - as mounting it on the M8 with the cropped sensor is about equivalent to a 50mm, call it the poor man’s Noctilux as you can enjoy some of those lens characters. Below are images shot on the Leica M8.
As visible, the painterly and cinematic feel is created by the lens. Below are some images and a crop to show the character of the bokeh balls and blur.
Here are some more images of the lens in various lighting conditions with a play on the focal points.
Heller Furniture x The Adelaide Project
CoR Collection and The Adelaide Project featured an installation with Heller’s classic furniture in February 2024.
Avison Young Toronto Office
Avison Young’s Toronto office at 222 Bay Street. Built by Greenferd Construction, and designed by X-Design. Furniture by Holmes & Brakel.
The Magic of AI-Powered Denoise
Rangefinder Diary | Bestowing new power for older camera sensors?
Whether cryonics will work on humans is yet to be seen, but for Digital Negatives, it has merits. Keep your RAW files until newer technology can unpack and extract more, we are seeing the advantages these days with AI imaging help.
Traditional noise reduction software is bound by the limits of maneuverability with pixels and noise artifacts. New AI noise reduction is based on deep learning where AI can accurately distinguish between image details and noise, granting it abilities to recover details and produce images with less noise intelligently.
I was recently blown away by Adobe Lightroom’s Denoise “magic”, it is quite impressive indeed. You can see an extremely manipulated image with severe under-exposure brings up all kinds of flaws. In this case, the M8’s antiquated CCD from the 2006 era has more limits compared with the latest CMOS sensors. Review the image comparisons in the post, it took care of a lot of things, although it can’t decipher whether the severe banding is content or blemishes. In the big picture, the image is “revived” and went from unusable to passable!
Well, we live in exciting times. We can't beat making proper images technically, but this Denoise AI tech can help improve image quality and save otherwise unideal images at times.
The higher noise tolerance has implications for all digital cameras. Most photographers have a mental cap on the highest ISO they would use for each camera. I think this AI Denoise feature can be up to a couple of notches. In the case of the M8, I was treating it as a film camera with ISO 640 Kodak film. I think I would feel less reluctant to use ISO1250 if pushed.
Keilhauer NYC Showroom
Keilhauer's flagship NYC showroom in the New York Design Center at 200 Lexington Avenue.
Designed by world-renowned firm Figure3, this innovative, revitalized space effortlessly accommodates industry events and productive co-working amongst sales teams, designers, architects and more.
Concord Seasons Condo
Caivan Oakville Presentation Centre
Caivan Presentation Centre - Designed by Figure3. Set within a charming condo community in Oakville, ON., Caivan’s presentation centre is designed to facilitate a less stressful home purchasing experience. With a sleek, gallery like feel, this versatile space is perfect for hosting broker events, and houses zones for pre-and-post-sale activities that guide customers on a discovery based journey.
Mattamy Homes
Concord - The Gloucester on Yonge
Menkes Office
Menkes Development Office
Designed by Figure3, the project infused a modern sophistication that reflects the company’s forward-thinking approach and respects the rich history of the Menkes legacy. From the finishes to the commissioned art pieces, the essence of the Menkes brand is seamlessly woven throughout the design.
QuadReal Lounge - Green Room
WeCare 2023
MillerKnoll Canada Associates, Dealer Partners and Design Industry Leaders partnered with University Settlement to spread holiday cheer to children and their families. They hosted 250 children and the positive impact was felt by the children, parents, and volunteers alike.
I am honored to contribute to capturing some precious moments for everyone who participated. 🎄
Art Photography Series: 2023 AD
You know I am inspired by trees, here is an art photography series with an analog and digital mash-up. You can see them on my website page.
Lena's Floral at the Union Station
This gorgeous flower shop is designed by MPAP Interiors and has won an award from the London Design Awards 2023 under Interior Design: Retail, Shops, Department Stores & Mall. It is such an eye-catching design, people just can’t stop taking selfies at the shop!
AGF Toronto
Keilhauer Toronto Downtown Showroom
The North American furniture manufacturer's first downtown Toronto brick-and-mortar showroom makes its King Street debut.With showrooms already open and operating in the major American design centers of New York City and Chicago, Keilhauer is proud to announce the opening of their first furniture showroom in downtown Toronto.
Located in a gorgeous heritage building at 150 King Street East, this gallery-like showroom was designed by world-class interior design firm Figure3, who elevated the classic space to align with Keilhauer’s fresh new branding.
Within the showroom, a balanced mixture of lounge and conference configurations effectively show off Keilhauer’s carefully-curated iconic pieces and bestsellers, while added tones of wood make the space as warm as it is functional.
Markham Residence
Markham Residence by Paul Raff Studio
Happy New Year 2023
2022 was no doubt an interesting year, it was great to be back to normal in due time. I am glad to work with you and craft photography artistically together.
Here is a look back on some of the projects I photographed. I also participated in the Art by Designers group show where I presented the art piece: “Ghosted Notes”. Thanks to all who came out and supported the show.
Best wishes for 2023 and may the new year bring you success and joy abundant!
We Care 2022
We Care is hosted by MillerKnoll yearly for the Design and Construction Community to give back. Children and families enjoy food and have fun making holiday crafts as gifts for their loved ones. I am grateful to participate and contribute to the charity, it was a magical event indeed. Thanks to everyone who organized and contributed to this meaningful event. Below are some highlights.
