It was just one of those perfect days. The right weather. The right camera and film combo. Oh, and not to mention there was PIZZA to be had! I love Midtown Memphis!
(^^^my new favorite picture of my mom)
Kiev 4AM • Helios-103 53mm/1.8 • Lomography CN 100 film
I already posted my “Two Rolls In” blog about the Fujica ST605N, but I am pretty excited about Roll Three as well. Though I am in love with the roll of Ilford HP5+ I shot as Roll Two now, I’d struggled to get through that roll because everything was so colorful in the spring (if I’m honest!) I finished the black and white roll on a bright day in Batesville, Mississippi, and I immediately loaded some Lomography CN 100 in the camera to finish out my photos walk in Batesville. I totally feel like I did the right thing, ya’ll.
Caught in the act, Roll Three in progress (taken with my Olympus Stylus Epic)
Lots of cool light fixtures outside the storefronts around the Batesville town square
I am so clever. A double reflected-surface portrait: a portrait of me, a portrait of my mom.
This next bit, I admit that I was totally enamored with my Vans, which had arrived that day, and kept including them in photos…
A double Vans portrait – the actual shoes and the shoes reflected in the window glass.
All the stained glass and red walls oooooooh
Disued gas station. So Americana, amiright?
The next photos were taken in Midtown Memphis, when I was there to shoot Jessica and Dustin’s wedding that weekend (also the location of the photo of the Fujica featured at the top of this post.)
Otherlands’ deck
Tattooed mom
I don’t think the color of the house is an noticeable in the photo as it was in real life, but I HAD to photograph this turquoise vintage Bronco in front of this pink house near Overton Square in Midtown Memphis!
Normally, the above photos would have been posted in two separate sets: one for the Batesville photos and another for the Midtown Memphs photos. The photos below don’t really fall into any particular “series.” I’m throwing all these into one posting because I’m still all about the “Look at what I’m doing with my Fujica, ya’ll!”
I’ve photographed several Harleys at work, and this might be my fave
I couldn’t help it. All the colors were perfect, and I knew this film would nail them.
My Instax Mini 90 and some shots I made with it at work that day.
Dilly, day one
A last-minute baking commission at work
Fujica ST605N Lomography CN 100 film
All the Batesville photos were taken with a Sears 28mm/2.8 lens
The rest were taken with a Fujinon 55m/1.8 lens
My first SLR was a Ricoh Singlex TLS, which wasn’t a proper name brand, but it took a very common lens mount called m42. I have had various m42-mount cameras over the years, but since I have been using Nikon film cameras the last several years, my m42 cameras and lenses have fallen into disuse. I had a mind to change that here of late, so I started looking at m42 cameras again. There are so many brands with that lens mount, you’re actually spoiled for choice if you decide to buy one! I have a Praktica that I like but which needs a new focusing screen (I kind of tried cleaning the one it had and things went very wrong…) Rather than investing in a new screen for my existing Praktica, I happened upon a different model for a steal! I seriously got this camera body for $7.50. Isn’t that crazy! I didn’t need to buy a lens with the camera because I already have numerous ones.
Photo of the Praktica MTL 5, taken with an Olympus Stylus Epic
The Praktica MTL 5 is pretty basic. It will run without batteries, but it does have a built-in meter that needs a mercury battery that is no longer legal in most places. I initially tried to adapt a smaller battery (of the proper voltage) to fit in the camera, but the meter needle was jumpy (meaning I didn’t know if its readings would be accurate.) I eventually bought a battery called a WeinCell that is actually meant as a replacement for the outlawed mercury one that the MTL 5 needs. Unfortunately, the meter needle was still pretty jumpy. Compared to meters in cameras that I knew gave accurate readings, the Praktica seemed to be about a stop too fast (meaning it would underexpose the photos if I shot film at the “box speed.”) I decided to just go ahead and shoot a test roll to see how well the meter was working anyway. Because I was worried the photos would be underexposed, I shot most of the roll at 50 instead of the film’s actual ISO of 100 to compensate for the meter’s inaccurate readings.
One of my frequent camera test subjects lately ^^^
My sister’s kitchen decor
My sister’s dining room table
The rope: another frequent test subject
David recommended I read Jaws *eep!*
Scanning prints for blogs which I have since published (Olympus Stylus Epic, Fuji Mini 90)
^^^my sister’s life philosophy
Cookies and cream cake I made at work
Afternoon spent alternating between crocheting and reading, whilst drinking tea
First signs of spring
Super charged
Wyatt!
“This is what a strawberry tastes like!” after having subpar strawberries for so long, I had forgotten what they should really taste like.
(taken with a my shortest macro extension tube attached to the lens.)
Praktica MTL 5 • Fujinon 55mm/1.8 lens • Lomography Color Negative 100 film
Conclusion:
Well, the thing that makes photos good or bad is usually the lens. The lens I used for these Praktica test photos is one of my favorites, and it certainly proved itself worthy of being held in high regard by me! The MTL 5 though? I can tell that a lot of the photos were a little overexposed, so I probably should have stuck with shooting the film’s actual ISO. And, yes, the exposures were pretty good, but the meter needle still didn’t give me a very confident feeling that it was giving me accurate readouts. I mostly had to use my intuition/experience to decide whether or not I trusted what the meter was telling me at any given time. Because I didn’t feel comfortable with the meter, I actually ordered another m42 before I got this film back. Perhaps I shouldn’t have jumped the gun, since these photos were not wildly under or over exposed. However, if I’m out shooting with a camera, I don’t want to feel iffy about the exposures the meter is indicating, and buying a second camera made sense to me (especially at such low prices!) I won’t be tossing the MTL 5 by the wayside though, I’m sure. I liked using it a lot!