Today I went from, “I think I’m getting the hang of this film stuff” until about 4:45 when I went to pick up this past weekend’s photos. Then I thought, “Who took these photos?”. They look like the graveyard we visited, but these aren’t the pictures I remember taking.
The photo above was a ghostly accident. I don’t mind it, however. That’s Mike taking photos of the cemetery coyotes. Apparently twice, because it looks like I forgot to wind the film between photos. I like the effect. But could I do it again? I’m not so sure.
The next photo I like even though it’s completely out of focus. I can’t explain why it’s out of focus. I may have left the close up lens on? Again, if I had to replicate this “creation” I doubt I could.
These next two photos totally stink.
What do you think this next animal is?
Is it a bear by the garbage bins on the North Shore? No. It’s not. It’s actually Oscar, with the close up lens and the flash. That sure worked out well. I’m not sure I understand what close up means in relation to this camera lens. I thought it meant you get closer to your subjects and it would be in focus.
DENIED.
Meanwhile, I’m pretty sure I took a photo of the entire cross, but this is what turned out on the printed photo:
I don’t seem to be getting the hang of the viewfinder yet.
As I was getting huffy about this tonight, Mike reminded me that “part of the fun” of shooting in film with a manual toy camera is waiting to see the results.
Thanks for the reminder.
My digital camera is ready for pick up tomorrow. Thank goodness. I need to take photos in focus. STAT.
Thank you for your patience with my analogue film experiments. I’m hoping to get the hang of it by September 12th for the film photo marathon.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Trial and error is all part of the fun of film.
You have to learn from the school of hard knox.
While I havnt used a toy camera, I think even the photos you dont like have an artistic quality to them.
Nice.
You are being waaaaay too hard on yourself. Anybody can take a perfectly focused picture with a digital camera. Ghostly photos and feline inner beasts are much harder to capture.
The cemetary ones are worth keeping. I think the skewed perspective is interesting. Sometimes you need to change your perspective. Sometimes you have a happy accident.
I really like them- they are “happy accidents”!
I love the 1st picture. Very dreamscape! Um. Maybe nightmare.
My cheep point and shoots would not allow the shutter to go if the film was not wound. I think you have an amazing opportunity to get some very interesting shots if you can repeat expose the film. We were shown shots at UBC by a guy who picked up a 4″ x 10″ pinhole camera in a junk dealers. The lens was on a mechanism that exposed that huge film in an arc. (No viewfinder. No f-stops. Load one exposure at a time under a blackout blanket.) He took pictures in the shade using 7 exposures that showed the sunbeams moving! The exposure was so rich! And that isn’t even different subjects! Oh, I think you have a marvelous opportunity!
I think the black formless thing is a Jaberwalk. Beware! Snicker-snatch.
This is from the wikipedia page on medium format cameras, “While most professional medium format cameras are very expensive, some inexpensive plastic imports, such as the Chinese Diana and Holga, are gaining in popularity, particularly with toy camera enthusiasts. Due to the poor quality of the cameras, the exact image captured on the negative is somewhat random in nature. These cameras often have plastic lenses that offer poor or uneven focus, light leaks that oddly colorize an image, extreme vignetting, and a multitude of other “flaws” that are generally undesirable to photographers. While these elements certainly are “flaws” in camera design, they can produce interesting, artistic, or enjoyable results. Because of the popularity of lomography and toy camera culture, medium-format photography has seen a resurgence with amateur photographers. ”
I support the more avant garde photography turn your work is taking. Now one of my favorite photo things we did was to make pin hole cameras http://www.pinholeday.org/support/. You have to give up a lot of control with this process. Its full of surprises. I also think you should keep your eye open for a mamiya medium format camera at VV boutique.
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