Cloudshed

How much trickery goes into your typical vignetted, grungy Holga shot? In this case not much. I’ve recorded a video showing how I take this from 120 film to something I can work with digitally. In future posts I’ll pick images that are more problematic in the first place. Hope you enjoy.

“I’m very glad to announce that Play! A Collection of Sixty-three Toy Camera Photographs Made by Thirty-six Photographers in Twelve Countries has been published and is available online at:

http://www.blurb.com/user/store/cwipress

You can see a preview of the book online. For a limited time the whole book is available for preview.

Right now there are two versions of the book online, both at 7×7 size:

The Standard version with high quality acid free paper, cover, and end sheets: $42.95.

The ProLine version, which has ungraded linen covers, upgraded end sheets, and Pearlphoto paper: $70.95

We already have 5 outstanding reviews of the book by people in the toy and lo-fi camera community, portions of which appear on the back cover:

“Play! is a fabulous book . . . the images really blew me away. The artists and the editor have created Play! with the best of intentions and it reminds us all to remember what’s truly important in this world: film. Play! makes me excited about toy cameras again.” (Amanda Moore, Juror, The Holga Show 2008)

“Play! is an amazingly diverse collection of photos by very talented photographers.. By using toy cameras, the photographers convey the memory and dream of play that lives inside all of us.” (Mark Olwick, acclaimed Holga photographer)

“The collection of images in Play! draws a thread between adults captivated by the magic of toy cameras and the people, mostly kids, they photograph in the act of play. What better way to remember the joy prevalence of playtime we once had than by using simple cameras to make beautiful, sophisticated images.” (Michelle Bates, author, Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity Vols I & II)

“Play! is reminiscent of childhood, full of blurred moments. Toy cameras lend themselves so well to these youthful subjects. They’re long ago memories of times & places we hold dear. Play! takes you right back, but in a dream.” (Steph Parke, former Editor, Light Leaks Magazine)

“PIay! showcases a raw glimpse of children in their favorite element. The selection of candid photos tugs at the emotion and draws you in to a world of Play! as seen in its most delightful form.  It’s a journey with children and their toys that you’ll want to enjoy again and again.” (Randy Smith, owner of Holgamods)”

(Bill Wolff | CWIP)

These were taken with my Lomo Action Sampler, the film was expired but I can’t remember the specific type

.

Lomography cameras can be a lot of fun to play with.

360 degree panoramic camera

I just returned from a 3-day road trip to Baker City, Oregon.  I was bold. I left my digital SLR camera at home. Yikes, did I really say that? I packed a Holga 120N with flash, my Hasselblad 500 C/M  and the two new cameras: The Spinner and the LomoKino.

35 mm movie camera

Now I wait for my film to be developed. I’ll have some of it back on Wednesday and the rest next Saturday. The waiting kills me, but I’ll try to be patient. I have other things to do while I wait…..like finally put up the rest of Christmas. Oh, and make my cards. I haven’t even done that yet. I have narrowed it down to 6 photos that I might use, but have to choose one or two.

film to be developed

So what can I say about these two new cameras? I do have some strong feelings about their ease/difficulty of use, but I think I want to wait and pass judgement after I see my first rolls of film. Come back next Saturday and I’ll share my successes and failures.

Here are some of my favorites, the rest can be viewed on my Flickr.

This was my first roll out of this plastic gem. Next I’m loading it with some Revolog Tesla film!

A imagem “Freedom” da série “Blue(s) Project” foi seleccionada durante o mês de Setembro pela “Composing with Images Press - Publishing photo & art books that raise money for charity“, para publicação no livro de fotografias Play! Toys for Tots. Este livro explora o conceito de Brincar e será objecto de doação do valor das vendas para a fundação The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, em beneficio de crianças de zonas assoladas pelos tornados em 2011.

I will see you soon my friend. :)

So I recently cashed in some granted stock from work…and my original plan was to pay off all my debt and chip a big portion of my Visa bill away…and then I realized I keep paying off the same stupid card because I pay it off, then get sad about giving away all of my money and never getting anything of use. Seriously where does the credit go? So this time around I decided to buy a few things I’ve been meaning to get before I give all my money back to my debtors and continue being fiscally responsible Valerie.

FINALLY, I ordered my film scanner, which in the end is going to save me about 3-5 dollars per roll being developed not to mention the 20 dollars it costs to get a professional negative scan when I need to scan something hi-res, granted I may loose some sleep because while the quality reviews are amazing, apparently this process is slow as shit and I am impatient. I foresee many wine and scanning nights. Either way, I finally put my money where my film is and sacked up to buy one.

I’ve been lusting after this TLR like a cougar stalking her prey at a sports bar on college night for far too long and it will finally be mine. I will finally have in my possession a toy camera that I can respect.

And to accompany my new little toy I decided to get some fun film to experiment with since I’m not really known for testing the waters when it comes to switching up my films. I’m a Fuji and Illford girl, what can I say? I also added a couple rolls of Kodak Ektar and Porta films to see how I feel about those, since I’ve heard great things.

Though I may be out a couple hundo, at least my heart will be happy and I can actually USE these things for years to come (well not the film but ok). I’m going to justify my shopping spree as an investment in my artistic self. So, Merry Christmas to me. :)

by e l l i o t i n w o n d e r l a n d

I am thankful for my great home – the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

by Kings Christina

I am thankful for water (drinking, swimming, bodies of water).

by .honeylamb

I am thankful for nature.

by kiely the wizard (myself)

I am thankful for my boyfriend and great bestfriend/roommate.

by kiely the wizard (me)

I am thankful for my brother and other members of my family.

by inesac

And finally, I am thankful for film photography, and the people who continue to shoot with film!

Wide Lens Camera Series.

Uma casa. Uma árvore.

Um imaginário.

De uma casa na árvore.

Memórias de infância.

Risos soltados.

Silêncios ouvidos.

Espaços conquistados.

Independências sentidas.

Inocências vividas.

E jamais esquecidas.

Uma casa de família foi construída e fotografada segundo este imaginário.

Assim nasceu esta série lomográfica, com uma Holga 120N e filme Kodak TRI-X 400.

O meu trabalho “A Casa da Árvore” irá estar patente de 2 a 27 de Novembro, na sala Virginia Woolf da Fábrica do Braço de Prata, em Lisboa, inserida numa exposição colectiva do THE PORTFOLIO PROJECT durante o Mês de Fotografia.

another magic from this industry! a future past, camera for a stop motion frames, in 35 mm film.

you can’t not love it.

http://www.lomokino.com

A house. A tree.

An imaginary.

Of a tree house.

Childhood memories.

Laughs.

Silence.

Conquered space.

Independence.

Innocence experienced.

And never forgotten.
A family home was built and photographed under this imaginary.
Thus was born this lomographic series with a Holga 120N and a Kodak TRI-X400 film.

“The Tree House” series will be in exhibition from 2 to 27 November, in Virginia Woolf room in Fábrica Braço Prata in Lisbon, within a photo exhibition of THE PORTFOLIO PROJECT during the Month of Photography.

O meu trabalho “A Casa da Árvore” irá estar patente de 2 a 27 de Novembro, na sala Virginia Woolf da Fábrica do Braço de Prata, em Lisboa, inserida numa exposição colectiva do THE PORTFOLIO PROJECT.

Junto com o meu trabalho “A Casa da Árvore” estará o de 7 outros autores deste colectivo: Andreia Neves Nunes, José Morais, Luis Pinto, Mário Pires, Rosa Reis, Rui Velindro e Susana Paiva.

Mário Pires, um dos autores, fez uma imagem panorâmica da sala Virigina Woolf, exibindo o trabalho dos 8 fotógrafos, no dia da inaguração da exposição.

My work ”The Tree House” will be in exhibition from 2 to 27 November, in Virginia Woolf room in Fábrica Braço Prata in Lisbon, within a photo exhibition of THE PORTFOLIO PROJECT.

“The Tree House” series will be among the work of seven other authors of this collective: Andreia Neves Nunes, José Morais, Luis Pinto, Mário Pires, Rosa Reis, Rui Velindro and Susana Paiva.

Mário Pires, one of the authors, made a panorama image of Virginia Woolf room exhibiting the work of the 8 photographers.

with and without flash

Let’s talk about the Holga camera before I tell you how I did these photos. The Holga camera is a plastic medium format, 120 film, toy camera that is made in China. Photos have the characteristics of vignetting, blur, light leaks and a slight distortion. These are some of the quirky qualities that have earned the camera a nearly cult status.

The camera, first made in 1981, was made to give the working-class Chinese an inexpensive camera to use, but soon 35mm film took over from 120 and the Chinese market dried up for the camera. The manufacturer decided to seek a market outside of China and the toy camera revolution was born. Check out the Lomography web site to see how far this has gone. Now there are many plastic toy cameras to choose from, all evolving from the Holga and Diana, its predecessor.

an original Diana

The camera has many followers and there are Holga groups on Flickr. Users like its simplicity of a point and shoot, but there is also a resurgence of the use of film. The camera has even made it into college photography classes giving students an introduction to film and in an expensive way.  The camera itself is pretty cheap, costing between $30 and $50 depending on the model you buy. It has only two apertures, f8 and f11, with a speed of 1/125. The camera teaches you to think creatively. You don’t fire off hundreds of photos to edit later in Photoshop. There are only 12 or 16 exposures per roll, your choice. It’s a light-weight camera so easy to take everywhere you go and it comes in different colors.

it has to be pink

So you may ask, why do I make these holgaramas that all look like I forgot to advance my film? because I can. You can’t do this in a dSLR. Oh, you can stitch multiple photos together, but with the Holga you do it in the camera and you are never sure exactly what you’ll get until you pick up your developed film. SURPRISE!

four frames

5 frames

How do you do it? Shoot one frame, then turn the film advance dial about 3/4 of a turn or turn the dial so that the head of the arrow ends up where the tail left off in the previous shot. It takes some practice, but it doesn’t matter if it isn’t perfect because that is part of the creative process. The end result might have major light leaks and dark corners, but it’s art, so who cares.

three frames

two frames

Okay, so this one was a bit disappointing. I hadn’t wound the film tightly so when I removed it from the camera more light got into the ends of the first few frames. Oh well, I said it was quirky.

film was not wound tightly

O meu trabalho “A Casa da Árvore” irá estar patente de 2 a 27 de Novembro, na sala Virginia Woolf da Fábrica do Braço de Prata, em Lisboa, inserida numa exposição colectiva do THE PORTFOLIO PROJECT.

Junto com o meu trabalho “A Casa da Árvore” estará o de 7 outros autores deste colectivo: Andreia Neves Nunes, José Morais, Luis Pinto, Mário Pires, Rosa Reis, Rui Velindro e Susana Paiva.

Esta exposição sobre o tema “Casa” e inserida no Mês da Fotografia na Fábrica do Braço terá a sua inauguração no dia 2 de Novembro às 19h30.

My work ”The Tree House” will be in exhibition from 2 to 27 November, in Virginia Woolf room in Fábrica Braço Prata in Lisbon, within a photo exhibition of THE PORTFOLIO PROJECT.

“The Tree House” series will be among the work of seven other authors of this collective: Andreia Neves Nunes, José Morais, Luis Pinto, Mário Pires, Rosa Reis, Rui Velindro and Susana Paiva.

This exhibition during the Month of Photography of Fábrica Braço Prata and under the theme ”Home” will have its opening on November 2 at 19:30.

Come view the compelling images made by artists who have chosen Toy Cameras to create their work. The artists are a diverse group from across the country united in their passion for producing images using cheaply made cameras with substandard plastic lenses. There will be a display of Toy Cameras on view. In conjunction with the Low Tech/High Art Exhibition; images from the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs Plastic Camera class past and present will be on view in Venue 515.

It's a Diana Mini!

I haven’t blogged about this before but I truly love shooting with film. There’s just more mystery when shooting with film compared to shooting with digital cameras. I love imagining what’s in the roll of film I’m about to drop off at the lab, and I love holding the developed photos in my hands. For sure some of the photos will appear overexposed or underexposed, or the multiple exposures will be wonky, but even if just one photo comes out the way I imagined it, it will be enough to make me buy more film and repeat the process once again.

My first baby is a Holga 135BC, which I named Albinus Maximus Cornelius. The name seemed apt for such a strong looking camera. Albinus belongs to the family of Holgas, the medium-format camera famous for its plastic lens and for producing dreamy square photos coupled with extreme vignetting. The only difference of my camera with its predecessor is it uses 35mm film instead of 120 film. The vignettes can still be achieved through the black corner (BC) mask in the camera.

Albinus Maximus Cornelius hamming it up for the camera.

The Diana Mini is my second toy camera. It’s the little sister of the Diana+ F camera, also a medium-format camera. When I saw her up close, I was surprised at how tiny she was. My phone is probably even longer than her! So adorable. I named her Amarantha Cynthia Celeste.

I haven’t taken her out for a spin yet but what I like about her is that she also uses any kind of 35mm film, may it be color negative, slide, or black and white. What drew me most to this camera is its ability to take half frame photos. That means instead of shooting just 36 frames, I’ll end up with 72. I can capture contrasting scenes and make stories through my pictures.

Comes with the Diana F+ Flash, 12-pack color gels, Diana-to-hot shoe flash adaptor, Hot shoe-to-Diana flash adaptor, lens cap, and neck strap

This "Shoot Forever" book is also included

"Your life will never be the same again" (I'm sure of it!)

I’m so excited to take my new baby places. And I also can’t wait to use the flash and the color gels. Analogue really is love.

Are you also interested in film cameras?

For more information on the cameras, visit the Holga and Diana Mini microsites.

The next few posts will be the remaining photos from my experience at WJMC. Personally, it effected me greatly; my confidence was kindled, my opinions were sharpened, my horizons were expanded. My inner character was not altered but was instead illuminated by my self discovery.That is not to say that I have solved the mystery of myself, I do however have a clearer perception of the person I am and who am meant to be.

I am I am simply meant to be me.

Time Magazine camera as I received it

The Time Magazine 35mm film camera.  I picked this one up in the local Animal Aid thrift store.  I believe it was 2 or 3 dollars.  It was a cruddy and dirty mess, but I had seen some nice results so figured it would be worth cleaning up.  ­­Heck, it even had a hot shoe!  It features the 50mm Kinetic Optical lens…sounds great, huh?  Settings include the “Diana-ish” sunny, partly sunny, partly cloudy, and cloudy for aperture and one guy, multiple guys, or landscape for focus.  I have enjoyed using this camera and have had fun with a flash on it.

Joel DaSilva's pedal board as seen by Time Magazine camera with flash

Ansco Pix Panorama with case and user guide

I believe the second camera of this genre I picked up was the Ansco Pix Panorama.  I had a very similar camera in the early 90s and really liked it, but I think I broke the rewind lever on it…go figure on an all plastic camera   This one is panorama except you can remove the “mask” that goes over the film frame, which I did.  I used it for a while this way and just guessed through the viewfinder until I hacked it up to resemble the full 35mm frame view.  This is an uber basic camera with only a lens cover, shutter button, film winder, and film rewind.  I truly love the simplicity in shooting this offers…no doo-dads to fiddle with…just pure composition to think about.  I now have two of these, one with the mask removed and one intact…although I have yet to really use the intact one for panorama style images…think I prefer to just shoot “wide angle.”  And on that topic…I did try a Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim and actually preferred this model…it’s not quite as wide, but also does not feel as though I am going to crush it in the pressure of my hands 

"Heaven's Gate" shot with Ansco Pix Panorama

The third camera I will mention is my latest addition, the “no name” blue and black “Sports” model 35-55 zoom 35mm camera!  Just got this for $2 at a new Goodwill store I just found.  Haven’t run film in it yet, but will soon.   Its controls include a manual zoom ring on the lens that even zooms in the viewfinder…how high tech!

Newly acquired "Sports" zoom camera

If you are dabbling in film at all, I highly recommend this type of camera.  It’s great when you are feeling overwhelmed with f-stops and shutter speeds and all of the other decisions to make when shooting.  It brings photography to its purest form of light/shadow and composition.  And as I like to say, it’s not the camera that takes the photo, it’s the artist behind it!