A "Little" 110 Fun

Pentax Auto 110 24mm f2.8 Lomography Society Tiger 110 Color Film Arista C-41 Kit - From my 1st roll of Lomography Society's new Tiger 110 color film, through my Pentax Auto 110. Definitely both the "little" camera and film that could. Scanning this film is not easy. I am using the Better Scanning Variable Height MF Film Carrier, and taping the film strips to the anti-newton glass using Scotch Tape. Alignment is key to cutting down on post scan adjustment. Dust is also a nightmare when scanning 110 film, as what would be a speck on a 35mm or 120 negative, is a monstrous defect on a 110. The Digital Ice on the Epson V500 helps, but is not perfect. I used an Epson Perfection 500 Photo Color Scanner B11B189011 (Google Affiliate Ad)

Three Lucky Finds

Polaroid Macro 5 SLR Polaroid Spectra Image Film Expired 11/05 - The results of 3 lucky finds.
One: A Polaroid Macro 5 on ebay for next to nothing. I will post on the camera later, but in a nutshell the Macro 5 is a SLR Camera designed specifically for close-up work.
Two: The local camera store, Lynchburg Camera had several packs of expired Spectra Image Film they were willing to part with cheap. After testing one pack to verify the batteries were still good, I could not pass these rare lomo gems up.

Three: Kuroneko, the Kitten of one of the feral cats that rule our neighborhood. Kuroneko wormed her way into the house by managing to hang herself by a rear leg from a fork on a branch in a bush. When my wife found her, Kuroneko had been hanging for several hours and was very weak. The leg from which she was hanging, was injured and appeared to be paralyzed. After a trip to the Vet and several weeks of pampering and rehab, the leg is now fine and and Kuroneko has achieved House resident status.

I am convinced the leg injury was a trick to gain House resident status before winter. Kuroneko has filled the opening left by the passing of our oldest feline resident, Amber, at 14 years old. She has been accepted by our German Shepherds and terrorizes the older cats in the house, like every good kitten should. And as she curls up on a warm bed and licks her once injured leg, I swear I hear her purr, "Mission Accomplished."

Wilted Passions (Instant Love)

Calumet Cambo View Camera Schneinder-Kreuznach Symmar 210mm f5.6 FujiFilm FP-100C Instant Pack Film - I do not believe our strongest passions ever die. They may wilt, dormant, but they are always there. We may never choose to breathe life back into our passions. Ignored they shrivel, simply awaiting the warmth of our attention to be revived. For me, Photography was one of those wilted passions. A love that the became a career, and the career displaced the love. The love is back.

I am finding my way with large format photography. 35mm and Medium Format had always been my weapons of choice. The tedious nature of view cameras did not appeal to me in my unfocused youth. I guess  have calmed, if only a little.

Frames of a Lomkino Movie 10-26-2012

Lomography Society Lomokino FujiFilm Superia 200 Arista -C41 - A scan of some of the framea of the Lomokino movie from my previous post. The format is almost a half frame panoramic and you get around 144 frames from a 135-36 roll of film.

Autumn in Lynchburg VA through the Eye of a Lomokino

Lomography Society Lomokimo Fujifilm Superia 200 Arista C-41 - Just a quick short from my Lomography Society Lomokino. The leaves are at peak color here and this is the view from my back porch. Hand holding the Lomokino leads to very jumpy images as it has hand cranked. This is only my third roll with this camera so I am still perfecting my scanning work flow. This short film is made up of 144 individual frames and scanner separately, very time consuming.

Instant Fetish

Polaroid JobPro Instant Camera Impossible Project PX 600 Silver Shade Film - We all know that before digital, Polaroid was the capture media of choice for those naughty images we tuck away for private viewing. Doubt me? Tickl Magazine (NSFW) is dedicated to the notion. So who am I to go against such a time honored photographic tradition. Again, like the previous instant image post, it is the details the camera and film leave out that make the image compelling. Well that and the fact that they are breasts. Thank You to Mistress Gwen for indulging my request...

Instant Bliss - Impossible Pipes

Polaroid JobPro Instant Camera Impossible Project PX 600 Silver Shade - From my 1st pack of Impossible Project Px 600 Silver Shade instant film. Shooting integral instant films is always challenging, as you are trying to shoot to the films faults as much as any of its strengths. Silver Shade raises the stakes on that notion with its lowered contrast and unpredictable sepia-like brown tones. But like most "Lomo" type imaging, the camera's or film's faults can make a mundane subject mysterious and interesting. What you see is never quite what you get, and it is the details the camera and film leave out that let you draw your own conclusions from the image, regardless of the Photographers intent.

What America Runs On....

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Fujifilm NPH 400 Pro Arista C-41 - Sugar, Meat and Carb, the America Travel Diet for as long as there have been roads and diners beside them. It is a shame when I travel these days, there seem to be fewer and fewer of these roadside slices of Americana. Who could argue with a nice thick slice of Country Ham and an ice cold Pepsi.

Food with local flair has slowly given way to mass produced chain restaurant fair or bag and dash fast food served through a window. No BBQ "Jumbo" Hoagie Burgers, Hot Dogs or Pork Spare Ribs insight. Somehow I just do not trust and international fast food chain when they tell me their biscuits are "Home Made." They are not Grandma's biscuits, the recipe passed down through generations, and lovely made by someone cooking because they want to, not for a paycheck. I still occasional like to find a place with the steak and eggs are fried in bacon grease and with a bottomless cup of strong basic, no name coffee.

Kodak Brownie Jumbo Family Restaurant exposure no. 9

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye FujiFilm Reala Arista C-41 - Who needs instagram, a vintage Kodak Brownie Hawkeye and a vintage sign is all really you need. That and several hours for processing, drying and scanning film, but this is the real McCoy. Dark Corners, motion blur and iffy focus all honestly earned. OK, so maybe I am a little crazy, but sometimes the process is as important as the result.

This sign and restaurant are right on Rt. 460 East just before you leave Lynchburg Va.. A monument to another time in the not so distant past. The perfect subject for a Kodak Brownie.

 See the full roll in this Flickr Set.

I am sure it was fine in 1996

Polaroid JobPro Camera Polaroid 779 Film Expiration Date 05/96 - Some times you roll the dice. A risky ebay purchase of of Polaroid 779 that expired in 1996. 779 was the "Professional" varient of Polaroid 600 film, usual sold in bulk to commercial users. Surprisingly the batteries in the film packs were still good, but that was about all that worked. This was the 1st shot I took and the only one with any real image to speak of. It is almost creepy, but this out of date Polaroid weirdness was worth the price of admission. Look closely, there is an image there, I promise.

Autumn is Here

Kiev 60 Arsat 80mm f2.8 Fujifilm NPH 400H Pro Arista C-41 - Autumn is here, time for cool crisp air and fresh color chemistry. This is the first post from an extremely productive shooting weekend. So many images so little time. Noticed this beautifully colored Virginia Creeper leaf set while shooting something completing unrelated. Thought it would be a great way to start off the posts. Great to be back shooting with my Kiev 60's. Every time I use them, I love these Ukrainian Bricks more and more.

Disappointing Fruit of Misguided Labor

Kodak Brownie Bull's Eye FujiFilm Neopan Across 100 Arista 76 1:1 - Sometimes things just do not work out. I acquired a Kodak Brownie Bull's Eye Camera sometime ago and have been dying to try it out. Two weeks ago I respooled roll of FujiFilm Acros 100 120 film onto a 620 spool and loaded the camera. That seemed to go smoothly enough, but life got in the way and it was not until this weekend that I actually got out to shoot the roll.

The Bull's Eye has a "guestimation" focusing system. Basically you guess the focus and set the distance. The camera also has a "fixed" focus setting, where the lens locks at 10 ft and everything from 6 ft. to Infinity should be in focus. Being my first time out with this camera I decided to use the "fixed" focus setting, so I set the lens and threw the camera into my bag and headed out. I happily roamed downtown Lynchburg VA. snapping the 8 6x9cm frames.

On returning home and removing the camera from my bag I discovered mistake number one. Sometime while sliding the camera in and out of my bag ,I knocked the lens off of the 10 ft. "fixes" focus point. Worse yet, I moved it to the close side, so the lens was focused at somewhere between 4 to 10 feet,,, CRAP! Oh well, at least some of the shots should come out. When I went to unload the camera I ran across mistake number two. The film hand wound very loosely. The film was not fully shielded by the sides of the 620 take up spool. This was probably caused during the respooling process by my failure to keep enough tension on the film. Making matters worse the take up spool fits snuggly inside the Bull's Eye and the loose wind meant I had to pry the roll of of the camera with a screw drive,,,, crap, Crap, CRAP!

Pushing forward I developed the film. Luckily the loose wind caused nothing more than some minor edge fogging. That is where my luck ran out. Apparently, the focus on the camera was knocked out of position prior to the first shot. All the shots would suffer from a severe case of near sightedness. I proceeded to scan the film and confirmed my worst fears. The image above shows the results. Though image has a great retro look, and the poor focus would not be uncommon for the cameras of the time, I cannot help but imagine it would have been great if correctly focused.