Tag Archives: Film Photography

“Fall Portraits in the Summer,” Part II

November 28, 2015 9:25 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Back in September, I posted a set of photos from a little shoot I did with my niece (and explained my her apparent “sulkiness” in that original post.) When I took those with a digital camera, I was shooting my Fuji GA645i alongside it. I wasn’t sure if it would be redundant to post another set of photos from the same shoot, but I hope you, like I, find some merit in seeing the film versions of photos from that previous post (plus, I got some real smiles from my niece in here 😉 )

Fuji GA645i • Kodak Ektar 100

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

Holga: Back in the Saddle Again

November 26, 2015 9:24 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

While I’ve been off trying to conquer Diana the last few years, I’ve left my true toy camera love, Holga, neglected. I decided to change that this summer, starting with loading my trusty Holga 120N for Holga Week. Now, I didn’t get the film developed in time to share it for Holga Week, but better late than never!

 

Roll #1 was Kodak Ektar 100 (Holga Week)

Otherlands Coffee, Memphis

Otherlands Coffee, Memphis

Mom outside Otherlands Coffee, Memphis

Owl mural, which has been shown here a couple of other times

Bike outside Aldo’s Pizza, Memphis

Looking up from my seat on the patio at Aldo’s

Roll #2 was Fuji 64T, expired (expiration date unknown. In fact, these are the craziest film scans I have ever received. I asked the lab to cross process it, but I am not convinced they did. These scans scream, “Underexposed expired tungsten slides” to me…)

The Orpheum on my birthday

Dodge Challenger Hellcat

Spooky double exposure

Oxford, Mississippi

Oxford, Mississippi

Oxford, Mississippi

Oxford, Mississippi

Oxford, Mississippi

Oxford, Mississippi

Oxford, Mississippi

Roll #2 was Kodak Tri-X

Family friend’s 1957 Chevy station wagon

Dinner at an Italian restaurant we like

Hanging vines at my house

Coldwater, Mississippi

Tattooed mom, Coldwater, Mississippi

Tuxedo rental, Coldwater, Mississippi 

Merican flag, Coldwater, Mississippi

I ONLY included this poorly exposed picture of Dilly because it was the only photo I took on World Toy Camera Day this year 🙂

Conclusion?

I really need to keep shooting with my Holga! Duh!

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

Pentax Espio Mini {Two Rolls In}

September 11, 2015 9:49 am ⋅ 1 Comment ⋅

My point-and-shoot 35mm camera collection has grown again.

Back story:

I have actually wanted a Pentax Espio Mini for awhile now. Always searching for the best compact 35mm camera, ya know. I nearly bought an Espio Mini from Hamish some time ago, but that didn’t work out. As fate would have it, my dear friend David was slimming down his camera collection and remembered the fact that I wanted an Espio Mini. He very kindly sent me his! I’ve seen a lot of photos he’s taken with the camera, and it’s cool knowing he’s used it to capture images of his life and I’m using it to capture images of my life now.

About the Pentax Espio Mini UC-1:

  • The Pentax Espio Mini UC-1 is an auto-focus, auto-exposure 35mm camera
  • It has a 32mm/3.5 lens
  • It features a clamshell design, where you slide the cover open to turn the camera on and close it to turn the camera off. It also protects the lens.
  • User selectable modes, via mode buttons on top of the camera: auto, flash on, flash off, slow-sync flash, bulb mode, bulb mode with flash (plus red-eye reduction mode selectable any time the flash is used)
  • Panoramic mode, via sliding switch on back of the camera
  • Automatic aperture range of f/3.5 – f/22
  • Film speed set automatically with DX-coded film cartridges, ranging from 24-3200 ISO
  • Automatic shutter speed range of 2s – 1/400s, bulb mode usable from 1/2s – 5 minutes (wow!)
  • Focusing distance of 1 ft. (.3m) – infinity
  • Real-time parallax correction shown in viewfinder when focusing at close distance (more on that later)
  • Self timer is 10 seconds long, with a blinking indication lamp on the front of the camera (the camera’s instruction manual says “the lamp starts blinking 3 seconds before the shutter is released, letting you know when to smile.” That makes me smile 🙂 )

SAM_0187

clamshell design

Top and back views of the Espio Mini

A couple of things:

  1. I am very happy about the fact that the Espio Mini has a panoramic mode. I know a lot of people don’t like cameras that just mask out part of the film area to create a panoramic effect, but I don’t mind it. I liked having that option on the Pentax ZX-7 I used to have, so I was excited for it on the Espio Mini too.
  2. This camera has BULB mode. That’s crazy! Only high-end point-and-shoot cameras have bulb mode, usually. This means you can take long exposures with the Espio Mini, and while I haven’t tried it out yet, I’m very excited that the option is there.
  3. I have never experienced a point-and-shoot camera with this type of viewfinder before. Shooting with a non-SLR camera means you don’t see in the viewfinder exactly what is being recorded on the film. This is a problem when you’re photographing something close up. Some cameras have indication lines printed in the viewfinder to give you some idea of what will be included in the photo when focusing at close distances. The Espio Mini’s viewfinder greys out portions of the viewfinder to give you a clearer indication of what the final photo will be like. I can’t explain it that well, so here’s an excerpt of the camera’s manual (which can be found here)

Enough technical stuff. On to the photos!
(note: on the panoramic photos, I included a link to their full size images, because they look better bigger than blog post will allowed them to be displayed. You can click the panoramic photos to see the full-sized versions.) 

Roll #1 was Ilford HP5 Plus

I can’t resist photographing lace curtains

Nor can I resit photographing a Vespa. This one was at the auto auction where I work a couple of days a week. 

My family enjoyed having ice cream at Area 51 ice cream in Hernando, MS this summer. Here are a few photos take outside the shop.

Barber shop next to Area 51

We took Dilly with us to Area 51 one time

Dilly, on a car ride with us

Pei Wei in Midtown Memphis before I had a photo gig with Muddy’s

Area 51, again!

AM, having some mint chocolate chip ice cream at Area 51

Owl mural in Cooper-Young, Midtown Memphis

Aldo’s Pizza Pies in Cooper-Young, Midtown Memphis

My sister, visiting Otherlands Coffee for the first time (Midtown Memphis)

Me, in a mirror at Otherlands

On the rooftop patio at Aldo’s (we ate there twice in one week, actually. This was taken on a different day than that earlier photo from Aldo’s…)

My Kiev 4AM, at Aldo’s with us

Corner of Cooper and York, Midtown Memphis

Parking lot behind Aldo’s

Some onions in the kitchen at home. Not my onions, obviously. Onions are my arch nemeses!

A few panoramic shots outside the auto auction (Memphis)

Roll #2 was Agfa Vista 200

This roll has all the signature “Amanda” things: cars, red shoes, my niece, mirror self-portraits.

I photographed this car two different days at the auto auction. The first time was in the lobby of the auction’s building, because I didn’t know I’d later have the chance to shoot it in the auction bay, with better lighting and fewer distracting things in the background…

Dodge Challenger Hellcat, take two…

Another Harley at work

Malco theatre in Oxford, MS, where I took my niece to see the new Dragon Ball Z movie

You know me, taking my photo in bathroom mirrors since way back in the day

THIS WAS THE BEST! We went to Bottletree Bakery in Oxford, found out they were about to close for the afternoon, ordered some coffee to go, and were handed a box of free, delicious pastries as a consolation prize. 

Me, in a mirror outside Bottletree Bakery

What your to-go cup of coffee looks like when you wear red lipstick

Me and some models in a clothing shop window in Oxford’s town square

I love red shoes and I love tiles

AM, having some iced tea outside Square Books in Oxford

Mom, browsing the sale table outside of Square Books

Mirror in a boutique’s sidewalk sale in Oxford

My shoes and some books, Oxford

Statue on the town square in Oxford

Conclusion?

I like it. I really, really like it. I’ve said before that I wish the features of Konica Big Mini and Canon Sure Shot Sleek were combined in one camera, and I feel that the Pentax Espio Mini does just that. Not to mention it has features that none of my other compact 35mm cameras do. Sure, it’d be cool if it had an f/2.8 lens like an Olympus Stylus Epic, but I am really not complaining since I’ve gotten use to the f/3.5 due to using the Big Mini and Sure Shot Sleek. Plus, the Pentax’s lens is wonderful. All in all, I think I’ve found my go-to compact 35mm camera. Thanks so much, David!

Posted in: baby photography, camera equipment, camera review, film photography, shop talk ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

{Red, Red, Red} Scale

September 8, 2015 11:57 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

You’ve seen redscale film a few times on this blog before. As a refresher, redscale film is regular film which is loaded into a camera and shot backwards, if you will. The light has to work extra hard to get to the side of the film that a photo is exposed onto, which also causes color shifts in the resulting photos. I usually do my own 35mm redscale film because it’s super easy. It’s possible to make redscale out of 120 (medium format) film, but it’s a little more tricky to DIY. Medium format film has “backing paper” on it, that keeps light from getting to it. The backing paper is what makes turning it into redscale more difficult, because you have to remove the tape holding the paper to the film, turn the film upside down, and retape it. The paper and film can curl up, making it even more difficult. Mind you, all this has to be done in a  completely dark room! All that to say this: Lomography makes redscale film in medium format, and I’d much rather buy theirs than try to mess with it myself.

The Lomography redscale film I bought is XR 50-200.  “XR” stands for “Extended range,” as they say it can be shot from ISOs 50-200, depending upon the effect you want to achieve. If you shoot the film as if the ISO is 200, you will get photos with tones of deep red and orange. That’s because the film is being vastly underexposed since the light is having to fight harder to get to the light sensitive (emulsion) side of the film. I, however, prefer to give the film as much light as possible. I chose to shoot this film rated at 50 (or thereabouts.) I wanted to have more muted color tones in my photos. Most people tend to shoot film like this in toy cameras, like a Holga or Diana. But I like to shoot redscale film in cameras where I have exposure control, like my Yashica-Mat (which I used for these photos.)

New red shoes for my birthday

(Hi there!)

1959 Ford Fordor I saw in Hernando, MS

I normally wouldn’t post such a blurry photo, and I was very disappointed that camera shake ruined it. But it was so lovely: on my birthday, my mom, my best friend, and I went to The Orpheum to see “Hook.” There was a little memorial to Robin Williams set up on on his star outside the theatre. I wish the photo had turned out better, but it’s still something I want to remember. Ya know?

My favorite place in Memphis…

In the foyer of The Orpheum.I had to guestimate the Bulb exposure for this, and I’m happy with how it turned out! 

Flower at my sister’s house (close-up filter used on the camera lens)

Yashica-Mat • Lomography XR 50-200 (shot at 50)

I have a couple more rolls of the Lomography XR 50-200, and I think I will try to shoot it at 25 ISO. The colors were a little more orange and red in some of the photos than I like!

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