Category Archives: Personal

Get a Little Closer

May 1, 2012 7:04 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

I love Twin lens reflex (TLR) cameras. I do.  They’re one of my favorite “genre” of cameras. But most TLRs only focus down to about three feet. While that might be close enough for some people, it’s just not close enough for me! That’s one reason I was pretty happy when an old photo buddy of mine sent me two close-up filters for  my Yashica D TLR in 2010. I admittedly haven’t used the filters that often, so last year I loaded my Yashica with the express purpose of shooting the entire roll with the close-up filters attached. Finishing this roll took months, because I didn’t exactly use the most versatile film for this little project of mine – Fuji Velvia, which expired in 1999, shot at 25 ASA,  with the intention of having it cross processed. This might just sound like a bunch of photog “mumbo jumbo” to most folks who run across this blog, but some of you will know that the technical details about the film I’ve just listed = “Yikes!”

This roll of “close-ups only” film was another one which I finished and didn’t have processed until months later. I’m bad about that when it comes to 120 film, I guess! I’m quite happy with the results though, so this is a good reminder that I need to slap one of the close-up filters onto my Yashica D and take that bad boy for a spin on a more regular basis!

 

 


Yashica D TLR • +1 or +2 Close-up filter

Posted in: film photography, personal ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

{A Worthy Cause} The Hard Places Community

March 4, 2012 10:46 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

I know this isn’t the usual Shoot With Personality subject matter, but I’d like to let you all know about a very worthy cause…

Tonight, I had the pleasure of hearing my dear friend Drew Mellon speak on behalf of the Hard Places Community.  Hard Places Community is a wonderful organization that works to combat sex trafficking of children in Southeast Asia. Drew was speaking in the Memphis area in order to promote the event known as Traffick Jam, a walk-a-thon which serves as a way to raise funds and awareness for Hard Places. To give you an idea about what it is that this organization does, they outline their mission via their website as:

We strive to bring an end to the sexual exploitation of children through prevention, intervention, and restoration. The Hard Places Community was founded in 2008, and has consistently worked among and on behalf of exploited and at risk children in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and other areas around the world.

Here are some resources for more information on the Hard Places Community and Traffick Jam. I hope you will choose to become involved, whether it be through participating in a Traffick Jam near you, by making a financial contribution to the organization, or by just helping spread the word!

  • Hard Places Community homepage
  • Traffick Jam 2012 Facebook page
  • For those who aren’t able to hear Drew speak in person, here is a wonderful video where he talks about Hard Places and Traffick Jam

 

Posted in: a worthy cause, personal

Behind the Scenes {+ Inspiration}

January 27, 2012 10:32 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

You know me and my documentarian nature. While I’ve been working with the owner of Muddy’s Bake Shop, Kat, in her home to do their menu photos, I’ve been snapping photos of the “process.” I’ve also been taking photos around Kat’s home, because it inspired me both photographically and personally!

If you’ve ever been to Muddy’s, you may know that Kat considers the bake shop to be an extension of her home.  As such, I would describe her home as being “like Muddy’s, on steroids.” If steroids made decor extra cute, whimsical, and with an extra pinch of cheekiness, that is. I announced to Kat, “I’m pretending I’m doing a magazine photo shoot of your home because I love it so much.” Which I promise is far less weird than it sounds when I put it that way. But Kat’s probably pretty used to my being forward with my photography by now (“Hold on while I get my camera so I can take a picture of you in your wig!”)

Before I began my tenure at Muddy’s in 2009, I had people telling me “You have to go to Muddy’s! It’s what your bakery would look like if you had one!” It was totally true. By the same token, Kat’s home decor is in the same vein that I’d want my home to be furnished one of these days. I hope she won’t mind too terribly much that I’m sharing these with you all, as my way of paying homage to her impeccable style.

All photos taken with the lovely Yashica Electro 35 GT on Kodak BW400CN film. One of my favourite camera and film combinations of all time. That camera is going to get a much-deserved blog posting dedicated to it soon.

Posted in: film photography, personal ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

“Hey…Remember that time I went to England?”

November 22, 2011 8:50 pm ⋅ 2 Comments ⋅

I have to admit. Every year around this time, I get a fit of nostalgia (or, a dull pain in my heart, to be more accurate.)  That’s because I went to London in November of 2006. I’m sure most most people who hear me reminisce about it think I must have been there for a year or some other extended amount of time in the Motherland. It really was just a eleven days. But those were among the most important eleven days of my whole life.

Why am I talking about all this now? It was five years ago, and I wanted to commemorate the anniversary for myself by revisiting the photos from the trip and the blog I wrote once I’d returned. The written portion of Shoot with Personality didn’t exist until 2009, so I registered a WordPress url and officially had my first blog. It was my first official blogging experience.

Things to know about me and England:

  • I have felt an affinity with England since my fourth grade class studied the country. This also began my career as a baker, because I made “tea cakes” for my class’s British-themed party.
  • I bought myself a ticket to England as a birthday present to myself in 2006. Some people thought it was a sudden decision. It wasn’t. I had started saving for such a journey, I thought I should check plane ticket prices so I’d  know what number I was saving towards, and I found some insane deal: a round-trip ticket for a little over $500. I had $500. I picked travel dates in a way that only just qualified as being “non-arbitrary.”  I bought the tickets.
  • I quit my job a week and a half before I left for England. This made people think I was making a rash decision. I wasn’t. I had been wanting to leave this job for awhile so I could move to Memphis. Once I got my plane ticket, I decided I had better work up until nearly time to leave, so I could have money to navigate “Old Blighty.” It was my exit strategy.
  • If it wasn’t clear up until this point: I went to England alone. One of my friends thought it would be so boring to travel on one’s own. I explained that I actually enjoy my own company. I knew I wouldn’t mind hanging out with myself exclusively for most of my stay in Great Britain. It didn’t occur to me until after I left for England and returned that it was sort of crazy that I went so far away on my own. I came back in once piece though, so I guess it my decision wasn’t that bad!
  • My main activity in England was photographing my journey. That’s probably a given, considering that it’s me, Amanda, who’s writing this. What did I pack in my camera bag for this transatlantic photo journey: some film and a few 35mm cameras. I had a good digital SLR, I just didn’t want to do digital photography in my “favourite country I’ve never been before.” Even though, as tends to happen when over 4,000 miles from home, I ran into some problems with one of my cameras, but I still wouldn’t have changed a thing. Film all the way!
  • On the subject of photography: One upside to traveling alone was that I was able to spend as much time as I needed at any given point of photographic interest in order to get the photos I wanted. If I travel with others, I do my best to be considerate of those other people with whom I’m traveling. It was good to know that I wasn’t being selfish by spending so much time photographing whatever I wanted.

Five years ago today, the 22nd of November, was a pretty good one in London. It was rainy, but I got to do some great things.

I lunched with a very nice African lady I’d met at a church I visited that week.

I visited the National Gallery for a second time. It’s free, so why not??

I walked to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey and produced some of my favorite images of London.

I ended my day by going ice skating with an American ex-pat, on an outdoor rink at the historic Somerset House. I felt like it was a once in a lifetime experience for a girl from the Mid-South in the U. S. of A.. Even if I am horrible at ice skating (or anything that involves skills of coordination!)

 

I’m hoping sharing this fit of nostalgia (slash dull pain in my heart) with all of you will help me get over it more quickly. It’s still my next goal in life to return to England in the next year. I continue to pour coins into my bluebird of happiness bank, so I can exchange those US coins for some British pounds sterling one day. I even held on to a five pound note from last time. I thought I could buy a cup of soup and baguette with it upon my return to the Motherland.

And, hey, maybe next time, I’ll bring someone along with me.

If happen to be interested in such things, I don’t mind if you take a look at my little “Amanda Goes to England” blog from 2006.

Posted in: personal, travel photography ⋅ Tagged: ,