Kitchen LOMO
No other camera can work with low light as well as a LOMO does. Load a roll of slow film, hand-hold the camera, brace it against a lamp post, hold your breath and shoot…
Posted on May 15th, 2009 in art, film, lomo | No Comments »
Film is not dead…
…But it’s not moving around much.
My local film sources are drying up, and I’ve had to resort to buying film on the (gasp!) internet. Wolf/Ritz Cameras used to sell Fuji Superia 100/24 4 packs but the last few stores I checked said they haven’t received ANY FILM in their last few shipments. WAL*MART and Walgreens are closing out their 110 film; I bought WAL*MART out of their Kodak 400 110 a few weeks back. Last year, Walgreens had a run on Kodak HD 400 and Kodak 400, both great films. I bought 9 rolls, in retrospect I should have bought more – HD 400 has wonderful colors and surprisingly small grain. I haven’t been able to find Lucky 100 film in years, I’m down to my last half-dozen rolls dated March 2005.
100 ISO film has been scarce for some time; as people shot with point-and-shoot cameras, they needed the extra 2-3 stops of exposure to make up for slow zoom lenses. The industry stepped up to the plate, and new 400 and 800 ISO films are much less grainy and much more vibrant than old 400s were in 2000.
So, what’s left? The internet is still going strong. B&H, Adorama and Amazon all have stocks of 35mm. Cheap film is getting scarce, but semi-pro and pro film is still going strong, but at more bucks per image. Your Local $.99 Store may surprise you. Often, $.99 200 ISO no-name film is really Fuji, Agfa, or another brand. If you’re shooting film in a $.99 camera, why not try $.99 film?Ditto for expired film. Don’t be afraid to experiment. The Four Corners Dark Store and the Lomographic Society have expired film specials, and most indie camera stores will sell their expired film or “short” film (film due to expire Any Day Now) at a discount
Keep your eyes open for closeouts.
Good Hunting!
Posted on May 13th, 2009 in film, journal | No Comments »
Barriers
Barriers. Vivitar UWS, Fuji Superia 400 film.
I do most of my shooting with a collection of junk store plastic cameras and a freezer full of film I’m working through. Digital doesn’t compare to film – not knowing what I’m going to get until I get the roll back is delayed gratification compared to chimping on a LCD display seconds after the shot was taken.
…And what can compare to opening the envelope and seeing the print in your hands with that memory captured seemingly forever? Hold the print just right and you feel like you can reach in… Digital doesn’t do that.
Posted on May 12th, 2009 in art, film | No Comments »
Graffiti in San Francisco
Graffiti, SOMA San Francisco. Vivitar UWS.
More fun with the Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim, a cheap fixed-focus, plastic-lensed camera. SOMA/San Francisco, Fuji Superia 400 film.
Posted on May 12th, 2009 in art, film | No Comments »
Pepsi
Posted on May 11th, 2009 in digital | No Comments »
Yellow
Posted on May 7th, 2009 in art, digital | No Comments »
Greyho
Greyhound Station, San Francisco CA. LOMO LC-A, Kodak HD 400 film
Posted on May 4th, 2009 in art, film, lomo | No Comments »
Krappy Kamera Gallery
(I so missed this – that’s what I get for not subscribing to EVERY BLOG OUT THERE… Do check out the link to the 2008 winners…)
Soho Photo Krappy Kamera® Competition
In the upstairs gallery, the Krappy Kollage–all the entries (over 1,400) for 2007’s Krappy Kamera show.
The beginning
Posted on May 3rd, 2009 in art, film, journal | No Comments »
Phone Line
De Soto Cab Phone Line. Lomo LC-A, Kodak HD400 film.
Posted on May 2nd, 2009 in art, film, lomo | No Comments »
Continuing my window study
Window, LOMO Colorsplash camera, Fuji Superia 400 film.
A window I pass by every day on my way to and from work. This time, with a Colorsplash and Fuji Superia 400 film.
Posted on May 1st, 2009 in art, film, lomo | No Comments »
Don’t think, just shoot
This LOMO mantra’s been getting easier for me – since I’ve been growing my hair longer and spring breezes are here, I’m having a hard time looking through the viewfinder without my hair getting in the way of the lens or the viewfinder!
I shot a roll of some generic $.99 cent store ISO 200 film on my way home last night and didn’t look through the viewfinder once. We’ll see how it turns out!
<Obligatory photo posting>
Posted on April 29th, 2009 in art, film, journal | No Comments »
Always check your settings…
I’m a bargain shopper, and when I see film on sale or closeout (which is happening more and more these days) I stock up.
I bought all of Walgreens’ Kodak HD400 film when they closed it out a couple of years ago, and it sat in my freezer ever since. I’ve had a fixation with slower speed film and my LOMO in a quest for the most saturation and finest grain, and so shot 100 speed film in my LOMOs and 400 in my SLRs. 100 speed film is getting harder to find, and I thought I’d try out 400 speed film to see if my bias was unfounded.
One benefit of 400 speed film in a LOMO is the extra two stops of film sensitivity. With the LOMO’s guesstimation zone focusing system, being able to stop the aperture down 2 stops helps widen the depth of field.
I loaded up a roll of HD400 in my LOMO and took it to the Mission Open Studios I blogged about yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised at how short the exposures were inside, even shooting in available light. I took 12 shots and was looking forward to seeing them. This morning, I took out my LOMO and noticed that I’d forgot to move the aperture setting back to A after shooting flash shots. This meant that ALL my shots yesterday were taken at f/16 and 1/60th second. I might be able to pull some detail out of them with photoshop; we’ll see how that turns out when I get the prints back.
The moral of this story is ALWAYS CHECK YOUR SETTINGS BEFORE YOU SHOOT.
Posted on April 26th, 2009 in film, journal, lomo | No Comments »
Plastic Camera Redux
I found a roll of old photos from my TIME Camera and tried cleaning up some of the spots and lines from processing in Photoshop.
Posted on April 26th, 2009 in art, film | No Comments »
HS TAK
HS TAK. Vivitar IC100, Fuji 400 film.
Posted on April 25th, 2009 in art, film | No Comments »
My new plastic favorite, the Vivitar IC 100
The Vivitar IC 100 is rapidly turning into one of my favorite toy cameras. I broke from my usual “100 speed film only rule” and shot this roll on Fuji Superia 400. With the fixed 1/85th second shutter and f/5.6 aperture, I can use all the light sensitivity I can get!
Posted on April 24th, 2009 in art, film | 3 Comments »
Art Explosion Open Studios this weekend!
From my friend Splicer’s blog.
I’m going to try to make the opening tonight, otherwise I’ll be there tomorrow.
Splicer and I go way back. He’s someone who knew me first as “Poindexter”…
Posted on April 24th, 2009 in art, journal | No Comments »
Refreshing
This pic came off the first test roll from my Vivitar IC 100, a $1 plastic camera I picked up recently. It’s pretty standard looking. The insides could come from a LOMO Colorsplash or any number of unremarkable cameras. A simple lens, shutter speed and aperture fixed at 1/100th sec and f/5.6, and cheap enough to take anywhere (and not worry about it)…
Posted on April 23rd, 2009 in art, film | No Comments »
Mannequin on Piedmont Avenue
Mannequin on Piedmont Avenue. Canon FTb. Fuji SuperHQ 100 film.
Posted on April 23rd, 2009 in art, film | No Comments »
LOMO at night
45 second exposure, LOMO LC-A, handheld. Fuji 100 speed film.
Posted on April 22nd, 2009 in art, film, lomo | 1 Comment »
Light Fixture
Light Fixture, Nikon D70.
Posted on April 21st, 2009 in art, digital | No Comments »
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