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A tour of the Neon Museum in Las Vegas was the first reservation I booked when I found out my husband was taking me to Sin City for my birthday. Located off the strip, it’s home to many iconic neon and electric signs from Vegas’ sparkly past. The goal of the museum is to preserve these beautiful signs and tell the story of historic Vegas. In addition to the signs on their property, the Neon Museum has restored and placed a handful of vintage pieces throughout the downtown area.
I knew my Holga with Fuji slide film would be the perfect medium for capturing these relics and I was not disappointed.
The beautiful vignetting and crisp center focus of the plastic lens provided all the drama I wanted. I should really call this post “A love letter to my Holga and Neon Signs” because I can’t imagine a more perfect combination of film and subject.
As our tour guide explained the rich and fascinating history of neon signs in Vegas, I and a few other photographers snapped away. I had my Holga, Fed 5 and iPhone while they sported fancy DSLRs. My husband was my patient and faithful assistant, holding empty spools as I furiously rewound my camera and reloaded film.
I also got some fantastic shots using my vintage Fed 5 and Lomography Tungsten film, but nothing compares to this roll. Holga, I love you!!!
If you’re ever in Las Vegas, the Neon Museum is a MUST SEE!! While you capture some fantastic pictures you’ll also be learning some history and helping this group preserve a dying art form.
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1 comment | tags: "Las Vegas", "Neon Museum", "neon signs", "slide film", analogue, callard, camera, cheap, fi, fidelity, film, history, Holga, ipdegirl, jenni, lightbulbs, lo, lo-fi, lomo, lomography, low, photo, photography, plastic, retro, vintage | posted in My Adventures
I can’t begin to express how nice it is to write without the constraints of rules! Following APA format is exhausting and it really cramps my writing style, so I am happy to be blogging again.
It’s been very busy for me, as you can imagine. I’ve started graduate school…
Finished my first triathlon with a smile on my face…
…plus, I’ve been experimenting with my iPhone.
This week, I’ll share pictures from a recent kayaking trip. I’m fortunate enough to live less than five miles from the Atlantic Ocean, which means there are little creeks, bays and tributaries everywhere. To record our little adventure, I brought along an underwater camera and my iPhone.
The underwater camera shots were underwhelming, to say the least. There’s a stupid blue camera strap on the body and, try as I might, I could not keep it out of the pictures. Every last shot I took had the camera strap in it. Blech!!!! Next time I use that particular model of underwater cam, I am cutting off the strap.
So thank goodness I brought along my iPhone. Encased in a plastic bag, it survived the expedition and the captured some really beautiful pictures.
It was a bit of a challenge to compose pictures through a plastic bag. Composition was difficult because of glare from the sun. Drops of water near the camera lens distorted the image and made the camera lose it’s little computer-chip mind while it was trying to focus. To combat these issues, I wiped the bag and pulled it very taut over the lens. The plastic bag provided coverage and challenges, but it also gave soft, dreamy, Diana-like results. These pictures were all taken in Camera+ and edited in Snapseed.
That’s me in the hat. In order to get that shot I passed my iPhone to my husband using the paddle. It was quite a balancing act.
One of my favorite shots of the day is one I took of Jake and Elias. Someone with long legs (not me) figured out that hanging their feet over the sides was fun. My daughter Phoebe, pictured above, is blessed with long legs and said she could feel fish tickling her toes. We were all relaxing when I took this picture.
I had to straighten it out a little, but it really captures the mellowness of the moment.
I’ve also been using Snapseed’s Drama filter, especially for landscapes. Here are two beach shots I took as some rough weather was moving in.
More dramatic shots will be coming in another post, so until then….happy snapping!
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1 comment | tags: Atlantic, bag, callard, camera, Delaware, experimenting, fi, fidelity, ipdegirl, iPhone, iPhoneography, jenni, kayaking, lo, lo-fi, low, ocean, photography, plastic, postaweek2012, snapseed, Water, waterproof | posted in My Adventures
Revolog’s Kolor film adds rainbow hues to your pictures, giving them an extra dimension of beauty.
I love how the color shading turns an otherwise hum-drum picture into a thing of beauty. Kolor comes in 36 exposure rolls (love!!). Each frame’s coloring will be slightly different with hues in all shades of the rainbow. These shots, taken at a minor league baseball game, just happened to be shaded green, which really accentuated the color of the seats and field.
Unfortunately, Rite Aid didn’t do a very good job with this film. There were tiny little dots all over the negatives. At first, I thought my scanner was just incredibly dusty, but I think it’s little droplets of residue.
According to their website, the color shading will be more intense in areas of under exposure, making this the perfect film for toy cameras or any other fixed-aperture camera in which under exposure can be easily achieved.
This roll was taken in my Olympus XA4, so I had full control of aperture and shutter speed. Next time, it’s going into my Vivtar UWS or La Sardina.
Once again, I’m thrilled with Revolog’s handmade films. They may be expensive, but they’re worth it. Turning drab memories into a technicolor dream, Kolor can make your film look like it was taken in a leaky camera or cross-processed, all on the same roll. What other tool in your analogue arsenal can claim that statement?
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Leave a comment | tags: analogue, callard, camera, cheap, Delaware, fi, fidelity, film, ipdegirl, jenni, lo, lo-fi, lomo, lomography, low, photo, photography, plastic, postaweek2012, review, Revolog Kolor, toy | posted in I love this film!
Key West is a crazy place, but how do you capture the essence of the insanity? Through a plastic lens and some crazy film, of course.
The view while floating on my back in the pool where we were staying. I miss that palm tree. Shot with Holga on Kodak Tmax 400iso.
Our favorite coffee shop in KW
While I was in Key West I did a little experimentation with double and long exposures, as well as with Revolog’s Tesla II and Rasp films. My results were trippy, mind-warping goodness. These toy camera shots not only show you the sights, they really capture the essence of Key West.
I own two Holgas and they each take very different pictures. The Holga I brought to KW was my zebra-striped special, which has a lens that fuzzes out a lot of the periphery of my pictures. Look at the first picture in this post, the palm tree. You can see the softness all along the borders of the photo, giving it a very dreamy quality. Floating beneath that tree in the pool, enjoying the cool water, was very relaxing and tranquil, a mood that is captured perfectly in this Holga picture.
Let’s start our tripped-out tour of Key West with some black and white Holga shots from my brother’s wedding.
It was a beautiful, sunny day and it was HOT! The sultry air made everyone feel a little lazy. Add some beer and tequila to the mix and the world became a little soft and fuzzy. The Holga plus black and white film brings that mood to these pictures.
I really love using the Holga for long-exposure shots at weddings because it captures the energy of the day, as it does in the long exposure shots of my brother Jim and his wife April, as they cut their cake.
The two shots at the railing by the water are especially sweet. They show Lexi, April’s daughter (and my new niece) gazing out at the sea, one with a friend Shane and the other, all by herself. Check out the clouds…all zoomy and funny looking at the edges.
Next, we’ll move onto some shots made trippy by the film I used. You’ve seen a couple of these shots before, but bear with me. The first two are taken on Revolog Tesla II and show April and Jimmy with lightning bolts.
It’s great when the random special effects on this film show up in just the right areas. Next, a couple taken on Revolog Rasp. The first is very underexposed, the second is just phenomenal.
The textures of Rasp add a funkiness to these shots that I just love.
Back to shots from my Holga, which has a tendency to wind film in a wonky manner, causing some overlapping. First, you’ll see the two pictures separately, then all together.
We’ll finish up with some of the weirdest shots on the roll. I tried for some intentional double exposures, which turned out okay, but when the film was exposed to light as I unloaded it from the camera, these shots became magic.
The background is of a fence with a sign that reads “No Parking Unless Snow Depth Exceeds 2 inches”
Long exposure of a British phone booth in someone’s backyard
Trippy scooter
Sailing off into the great unknown
as my husband put it, “sailing through tide and times”
Toy cameras are the perfect medium for a funky place like Key West. I will never go anywhere eclectic without my Holga and some film. I do love the iPhone photos I took, but once again, film gave my pictures a depth and character that I couldn’t have achieved otherwise. Thanks for virtual tripping with me 
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Leave a comment | tags: "Key West", analogue, boats, callard, camera, cheap, Cuban Coffee Queen, exposure, fi, fidelity, film, Holga, ipdegirl, jenni, leaks, light, lo, lo-fi, lomo, lomography, long, low, ocean, philosophy, photo, photography, plastic, postaweek2012, sail, tour, toy, trippy, vacation, Water, wedding | posted in Lo-fi Philosophies
I’ve been wanting to try microclicks for a long time and I finally got around to doing it earlier this year. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this technique, microclicks is a way of making an overlapping panoramic shot in a Holga or Diana. You aim the camera at your subject, take a picture and instead of winding to the next frame you just wind it 3 or 4 clicks and take another shot. Make sure you turn about 20 degrees every few shots and eventually you’ll have a dreamy panoramic picture that spans the width of 2 to 3 frames of medium format film or, if you choose, you can make the entire roll into one large panoramic photo.
For this roll I used my Holga with Ilford’s Super XP2, iso 400 and a yellow filter. If you’re doing this in sunny situations, a filter will be necessary to counteract any overexposure. As you can see in this first shot, taken at the Philly Art Museum, the yellow filter didn’t really help. I was trying to take a shot of the outside of the building from the Rocky Steps.
Oh well. Here are a couple more photos from that day.
Long exposure of a window in the museum’s cafe
I did make some successful microclicks when I took my Holga and yellow filter to the beach.
I’m very happy with these results! I got these by aiming, clicking, advancing the film 4 clicks and turning slightly after each advancement of the film. Next time, I’ll only advance the film 2 or 3 clicks and make a slight turn every 3 or 4 shots. It’s a really fun technique.
Here are two non-microclick pictures from our beach day. The yellow filter really makes for wonderful contrast in these pictures. I’m going to have to start using it more often.
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1 comment | tags: analogue, Art Museum, Beach, callard, camera, cheap, Delaware, fi, fidelity, film, Holga, how, ipdegirl, jenni, lo, lo-fi, lomo, lomography, long, low, microclicks, Philadelpia, philosophy, photo, photography, plastic, postaweek2012, Rocky Steps, technique, toy | posted in How do I....
World Toy Camera Day is always a fantastically fun day for me. Not only is it a great excuse to use any of my cameras, but it’s also the same day as the party of the year in my neck of the woods. My great friends hold their annual Lakeview Invitational Lawn Tractor Race, which is a little poke at the culture in our area, mixed with Halloween costumes and the biggest drinking game on wheels (don’t worry, we only stick to the lawn).
Riders are in teams of two and must be in costume. First person chugs a twelve ounce beverage of their choice, then does one lap around the house. When they get to pit row, the second rider chugs a beverage and hops on until each rider has completed three laps. So that the chugging is the element of speed (so to speak), there is a qualifying round in which the judges take your tractor for one lap to determine your start time, which is staggered so the slowest riders go first. After the race, there’s a wicked Cornhole tournament, then a poker game.
This year’s winners, The Flintstones, with the coveted trophy
The Ref and Fred
I was the Queen of the Tractor Races
Flo the Progressive Car Insurance lady and the Utz Girl
My daughter Phoebe on our borrowed sweet ride
My other daughter Zoe as a Dead Lalaloopsie Doll—she always dresses as something dead
Gorton’s Fisherman and Jolly Green Giant discuss the details
Sarah and Zoe
Favorite shot of the day—Flashing the woods
My husband Jake, dressed as the “One Percent” who’s rich in the USA
Phoebe’s Glamour Pirate Shot
Assessing the Cornhole bracket
Cornhole overlapping shot
All shots were taken with my Holga on Fuji slide film that was cross-processed.
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2 comments | tags: "World Toy Camera Day 2011", analogue, autumn, callard, camera, cheap, costumes, Delaware, fi, fidelity, film, games, Halloween, Holga, jenni, lo, lo-fi, lomo, lomography, long, low, party, photo, photography, plastic, postaweek2012, races, toy, tractor | posted in My Adventures
I have been using my Holga without either the 12 or 16 frame mask and getting some really nice results. I love the exaggerated vignetting and light leaks that occurred on every picture. These pictures all come from The Art of Waiting roll from September 2010, shot on Fuji Velvia.
I also got some really nice overlapping pictures. I don’t remember if these were intentional or not, but they’re still really cool. Here’s one example.
The two shots just bleed right into each other. I really like it. Here are the shots separately. I don’t think they are nearly as interesting.
Here are a few more overlapped shots shown together and then singly.
Unlike the first example, I think these two pictures stand well on their own
This was on the end of the roll. The shot on the left is pretty underexposed so it doesn’t stand well on it’s own.
Here is my favorite overlap on the roll…
…and the two pictures separately, which I think stand pretty well on their own.
I love happy little accidents. I’m going to have it printed and see what it looks like ‘for real’.
Tomorrow I’m going to Philadelphia to see the Van Gogh exhibit. I’m taking the Fuji Natura Classica and am hoping for some good photo ops.
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2 comments | tags: "art of waiting", analogue, Beach, callard, camera, cheap, Delaware, fi, fidelity, film, Fuji, Holga, jenni, lo, lo-fi, lomo, lomography, low, ocean, photo, photography, plastic, postaweek2012, September 2010, toy, Velvia, walk | posted in My Adventures
Funny things happen when you start to clean up your office, like finding rolls of film that you thought had been developed. Remember that cool FlashFun camera my friend Pam gave me?
I can finally share with you the first roll of film I ran through it. It was taken in the summertime on a hazy day at the beach. One of my best friends and her husband were visiting for the weekend. Brad is probably going to kill me for posting these pictures, but he’ll have to drive two hours to do it first!
This is Brad. My BFF Loretta just doesn’t trust him to put on his own sunblock. He burns in 5 seconds outside and she didn’t want to take any chances
Elias getting buried in the sand by Emme, one of Loretta and Brad’s daughters
Four of the kids tentatively going in the ocean. It was a little chilly that day.
Ruby, one of my favorite little people and the second of Loretta and Brad’s daughters
Random shot that I forgot I took with the camera. We were in Gettysburg for a soccer tourney.
Overall, I’m totally digging this camera. The light leaks are very cool and so is the overall exposure level. I wasn’t sure those beach shots would turn out, since the light was so grayish, but they look rather nice. My roll of 127 film should have yielded eight exposures but I only got five. That very well could’ve been my fault, but I can’t be sure until I run another roll of film through. If it is indeed a flaw of the camera, I’m going to have to try some microclick-type action with it.
Speaking of which, I also got a roll back from my Art of Waiting project from September. I ran some Fuji Velvia through my Holga (minus the 12 or 16 mask that usually fits in the back) got some wicked-cool melded-together pictures, but you’ll have to wait until next week for that
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Leave a comment | tags: "Flashfun", analogue, antique, Beach, callard, camera, cheap, Delaware, fi, fidelity, film, Hawkeye, ipdegirl, jenni, Kodak, lo, lo-fi, lomo, lomography, photo, photography, plastic, postaweek2012, retro, review, toy, vintage | posted in Camera Reviews
Earlier this week I decided to tackle a pile of black and white film that’s been waiting to be developed for months. As I was setting up the chemicals my oldest daughter, Phoebe asked if she could help. Since I had four canisters to develop, each at different times, I readily accepted. I’ve been hesitant to let the kids help me with the developing process but at twelve-going-on-fourty-five-years-old, Phoebe is plenty mature enough to concentrate on the task at hand. Plus, I was excited to introduce her to this side of analogue photography.
With chemicals at the right temperature and the right kind of tunes on the iPod (funk and soul, of course!) we started dancing to the music as we agitated the film in the wetting stage.
Having Phoebe was really helpful. Our first two tanks had developing times that were 30 seconds apart, so I was able to start her developing process ahead of mine. With good timing and preparation we were able to finish the process together. Since I had four tanks to get through, it was a huge time saver.
I suppose the first clue that something was amiss would have been the dark, cola-like color of my developer, Ilfosol 3. I opened it about six months ago and it lives in my garage, which has seen a few temperature changes in that time. I’ve always stored my chemicals in the same place and I’ve used Ilfosol 3 when it was brown before, so I didn’t anticipate any problems, until I saw pink liquid drain out of the tank after the developing step.
Undeterred, it was on to the washing stage for both of our films.
I noticed our film looked kind of pinkish but stranger things have happened. It was when the Permawash turned bubble-gum pink that I knew something was wrong.
Yeah, that’s never happened. Still we plugged on, but when it was time for the final, magic step–the reveal of the pictures on the negatives–this is what we saw.
As the father in “A Christmas Story” says..”He looks like a big, pink nightmare”. I was frustrated. Not only were two rolls of film ruined, but Phoebe didn’t get to experience the fun of seeing the pictures on the film. I was sure she’d be my darkroom buddy forever after seeing pictures appear on the film because it’s such a great reward after all the mixing of chemicals, timing of steps and shaking of canisters.
I quickly went back over the process in my head. Maybe I didn’t dilute the developer properly? This time I made extra sure to be very, very careful when measuring and calculating. Here’s what the next two rolls looked like and where they ended up.
GRRR!!! Six rolls of film turned out to be really, pretty garbage. My fixer was fine, even after the process. Here’s a shot of Phoebe testing it when we were finished.
The stop bath, too, appeared normal. It was still the same lovely shade of yellow at the end of our session. I can only infer that the developer went bad in the garage. Fortunately, there was none left after our disastrous session.
I didn’t get upset, although I did express my disappointment to Phoebe. I told her how fun that moment is when you unwind the film and see your pictures. I told her I was bummed that she didn’t get the same experience. “Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. That’s just the way it goes with film” is what I told her. She was really great and told me the next time I had film to develop, she’d love to help.
Another thing that needs help? The Photo Palace Bus! I know I keep mentioning it but it’s such a worthwhile cause and with only four days left, they’re still really far behind in getting their funds together. Please, if you haven’t already, check out their Kickstarter page and consider supporting their cause.
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2 comments | tags: "The Photo Palace", analogue, callard, camera, cheap, children, Delaware, developing, disaster, fi, fidelity, film, ipdegirl, jenni, lo, lo-fi, lomo, lomography, low, misadventure, mistake, philosophy, photo, photography, plastic, toy | posted in My Adventures
It all started in the early 1990’s as an idea to capture portraits of America but with the advent of digital photography, Anoton Orlov decided his traveling darkroom, called The Photo Palace Bus, could serve a higher purpose: to educate and spread the knowledge of traditional and silver based darkroom techniques. Now he and co-creator Ryan Kalem need your help to spread analogue love.
Orlov and Kalem, both graduates of San Jose State’s photography program, are trying to raise $16,000 by February 1, 2012 so they can take their 1978 vintage yellow school bus on the road. Visit their kickstarter site to support them. If they don’t reach their goal by February 1, they get ZERO DOLLARS so it’s important to get your pledge in before the deadline. This is a sketch of what they hope to create from the vintage bus.
The two main goals for The Photo Palace Bus, according to their kickstarter site are
• The Photo Palace will provide traditional photographic education and hands-on experience opportunities in every corner of the country. The goal is to preserve the traditions of analog photography.
• Using the north-light studio and incorporating street photography we will create a 10.000-negative portrait series about New Americana. From pop to fringe – all aspects of culture will be addressed via portraits accompanied by narration and quotes.
Impromptu and scheduled art exhibits; free lectures, demonstrations and workshops will be the core of The Photo Palace’s curriculum. Topics such as photo history, gelatin, silver and alternative printing techniques as well as studio and location photo techniques for portraiture and still life photography are just some of the subjects that will be covered.
The vintage yellow school bus will be equipped with darkroom equipment, a viewing area, a fold-out North-Light studio which can be installed on either side of the bus and living quarters on an upper-level, which will be created by installing the bodies of two VW buses on the roof of the school bus. Here are some Polaroids taken the day the two bought the bus.
Orlov and Kalem are following in the footsteps of some of the pioneers of the trade, most of which had no choice other than to have all their materials on-hand at all times. Early photo techniques, like wet-plate collodion, depended on having a darkroom set-up within feet of the place the photo was taken. Even after the invention of dry film photographers continued the tradition of setting up darkrooms in the field so they could be fully immersed and integrated with their projects.
Anton Orlov moved to California from Moscow when he was 17. His passion for photography has taken him to Central America, Asia and all across the continental US. He operates a darkroom facility in San Diego where he offers workspace to photographers and private lessons in analogue photography. His favorite camera is the Rolliflex TLR. These are a few of his works, which are being offered as thank you gifts.
Ryan Kalem works in primarily large-format photography. This format forces him to slow down the process and really think about all elements of the photo. During The Photo Palace’s tour, he will take up permanent residence in the bus, which will give him a deeper understanding of the area and people he is capturing. Here is one of his gelatin silver prints that is also being offered as a thank you gift.
You can follow the adventures of the construction of the project at The Photo Palace blog. This is a picture of their vision of the bus’ interior.
By becoming a backer you’re not only supporting The Photo Palace financially, you’re also helping to plan the route! Orlov and Kalem state that your pledge ensures that the vintage bus will be rolling into your town or wherever you want them to go. I don’t know about you but personally, I’ll be super-excited to meet the photographers and see the bus first hand when they roll into my little corner of the world. Until then, sit back and check out this video.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/351976604/the-photo-palace-bus/widget/video.html
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2 comments | tags: "The Photo Palace", analogue, antique, bus, callard, camera, darkroom, fi, fidelity, film, fundraising, ipdegirl, jenni, kickstarter, lo, lo-fi, lomo, lomography, mobile, photo, photography, plastic, postaweek2011, retro, toy, vintage | posted in Cool People You Should Know
ipdegirl
