Japanese maple

Japanese Maple in Spring

Taken with my Lubitel 166.

Double exposure surprise

Last weekend, I developed four rolls of film. While loading two of them, I noticed that they didn't feel right...one loads roll film for development completely in the dark so you can't visually inspect what you're doing. I thought it was odd that there was tape attaching the front of the roll to the paper backing. I chalked it up to it being slightly odd film (Adox 50). While I was in the development process (18 minutes of developer time gives you a lot of time to ponder things), I realized that I probably was developing two rolls of unexposed film. Although this possibility was extremely annoying and seemed more likely as I continue to think about it while processing, I didn't scrap the process because there was a chance that I hadn't screwed up (a very, very slim chance).

Well, one roll was completely blank. However, one of the rolls had been sent through two different cameras on two different occasions. The results were surprisingly good. One set of shots had been taken on the streets of Paris with my Lubitel square format while the other set had been taken at Burroughs Mountain at Mount Rainier with my Fujica 6x4.5.

The mannequins had been abandoned in the street along with some garbage. Notice how there are two shots overlapping the Paris shot in picture one. There is a slight overlap of two shots in the second picture.

Although I was bummed that I screwed up with one roll (especially since Adox 50 is a soon-to-be disappeared film), I am really happy with my error. I don't know that I'll do that deliberately in the future, but I might consider it.

The Colours of Ostrava venue

Colours of Ostrava music festival is held in a massive former industrial complex of some sort (yesterday I posted some photos from this year's festival). It seems like the type of place that processed or produced a variety of things. Perhaps heavy metals of some sort. Maybe chemicals. Whatever its previous existence was, it now is the location for a huge music festival. I'm sure its been cleaned up a lot since its active dates, but I still wouldn't want to spend too much time there (or lick the walls).

This is a Lubitel shot I took of a small section of it:

Film shots of Crysta

Here are a couple shots I took of Crysta with my Lubitel. The first one was with a flash, which gives it that cool look of her set off from the blue blue sky. I'm really pleased with how the flash worked with the Lubitel, especially on a bright day.

 This second one is without the flash. You can tell because the separation of foreground from background is less dramatic. Also, there's more shadow on her face and there's a bit of motion blur in her hands. Although this is an odd photo because of her pose, I really like it. It's as though she was just struck by an amazing notion or an invisible creature. Or as though she were part of a modern dance piece.

 

In my garden

I was fortunate enough to spend some time with a friend this afternoon and take a bunch of portraits of her. She was very tolerant of my "four camera" method of photography, which involves (of course) four cameras (Lubitel with a flash, Fujica 6x4.5, Nikon 35mm film, and Canon G9) slung all over my person and switching on and off a photo flood. I have to take the color film to the lab and get into the darkroom to develop the black & white (I'm hoping I got decent exposures). I may post one of the digital images here in the meantime if she's okay with it.

Because it's so nice, I decided to wander around the garden a bit with the macro function of my G9. I was lucky enough to find this red ant covered in pollen in a dandelion. Unfortunately, this is the only somewhat sharp image I got. At one point I got so close to the ant that he landed on my lens - too close to shoot but it was cool looking - like a dark, ant-shaped cloud.

Hungry ant

I also shot this blue flower - pollen is so cool looking in macro!

Photograph worked in Painter 12

I recently upgraded my Painter software to version 12 so I decided to play around with some photos in the program today. Here is a Lubitel shot I took in Paris this past summer:

 I opened this image in Painter and then applied a woodblock effect to it. After that, I painted it with the different watercolor brushes available. This is the result:

I'm not very adept with the software so the end version isn't exactly what I was expecting. However, it was fun to mess around with the different brushes and watch the "drying" of the paint. Something different.

My entry in PhotoSPIVA 2012

I recently entered a number of photos into a contest sponsored by George A. Spiva Center for the Arts in Joplin, Missouri. Even though the judge only picked one of my entries, I'm pleased with his choice. I didn't like my chances at all; the judge is Andrew L. Moore, who does mainly large-scale landscapes. I sent nothing but small portraits.

He picked this one, which is a shot I took with my Lubitel, square-format film camera:

Young couple in a hammock

I took this picture at Smoke Farm, which is near Arlington, during one of the Treehouse building camps. They were really sweet together. I love her all pink outfit - down to the flip flops.

I can't go to the opening since it's so far away and it opens on a Friday. If you happen to be in Joplin from March 9 - May 6, check it out. There will be a total of 88 photos (chosen out of 800+) on display. This is the first time in many years that I've had a piece in a gallery, so I'm pretty excited.

A portrait - Bridget

Bridget - Lubitel camera

Western Washington Fair in Puyallup

Although the Puyallup Fair ended at the end of September, I thought it would be fun to post a couple Lubitel shots I took last year of the park. Though I don't normally print things large, I'm tempted to try to make a really big print of the 2nd image since there's so much going on and tons of color.

Mighty Mouse

Whack

Oddly enough, the Flaming Lips were playing at the fair this year. What a show...I still get high thinking about how great it was. Here are a couple (not very good) shots from the show.

A photo

Tight on time

I've committed to writing on this blog about three times a week. Unfortunately, this week is extremely busy. Hopefully I'll have a bit of time to post on Sunday or Monday evenings. I'm heading to the Washington coast with a group of students tomorrow. I've brought both the Lubitel and my G9 so I'm expecting to snap something worth looking at. Still haven't had a chance to pick up the color Mamiya C220 shots. Should have them in my hot little hand by the middle of next week.

A response to the Ode to Canon G9

Although the Canon G9 is a wonderful camera for all the reasons I stated in my previous post, I do have other photographic loves that cannot be denied. My Lubitel is one such love. Made in Russia of sturdy plastic, lacking a built-in light meter (I use a piece of paper taped to the side of the camera on which I've mapped out apertures and shutter speeds), and arriving with a poorly translated manual, it has become one of my absolute favorite film cameras. I find the lens to be fairly sharp though it creates a funky, swirly wash when shooting shallow. I have pre-visions of portraits made with this camera - beautiful color portraits with funky, old-fashioned backgrounds.

Best features: it is light and easy to travel with, it shoots in square format, it forces one to slow down while taking photos and it shoots film so you have to imagine what the images look like before you get to see them. All that for about $150. What a deal!