December 2010
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Happy Accidents (light leaks)
While walking through the snowy field, I finished a roll of film and wound it up. At least, I thought I wound it up until I opened the camera back, saw the film still there and yelped in distress. I was sure I’d ruined a good four shots.
Nope - the magic of film came through for me once again! Instead of ruin, I got back the most beautiful light leaks.
{Olympus OM-1, Kodak Portra...
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I love my mom!
Getting her to pose naturally for a photo is like pulling hen’s teeth (to use my friend Trisha’s expression) so I was thrilled with how these two stealth candids came out, despite the minor focusing issues.
{Olympus OM-1 and Kodak Portra 400NC film}
d1v1d asked: Did you use a filter on the OM-1 when you took the Ektar shots?
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Ektar Blue Christmas
As sung by Elvis:
And when the blue snowflakes start falling,
That’s when those blue memories start calling.
You’ll be doing alright with your Christmas of white,
But I’ll have a blue blue blue blue Christmas.
I took all these photos on my husband’s family farm in North Carolina while visiting for Christmas. (Well, my...
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Crystal Trailer Park
This is where my mom lives in North Carolina. I took all of these photos during a 20 minute walk around the trailer park while visiting for Christmas. The people pictured are not related to me, but they are not strangers.
The place is visually interesting and extremely different from where I live now in Chicago. This was my second time using my new old Rolleiflex....
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An Olympus Christmas
The shop did not have my Nikon fixed in time for me to take home to North Carolina for Christmas, but they are letting me use an Olympus OM-1 for free. The Olympus is very similar to my Nikon and my Minolta (which also needs to be fixed) and has the same 50 mm 1.8 lens configuration. Fully manual, just the way I like it. It feels less hefty than my Nikon, so I’m not sure if the...
adventuresinfilm asked: Re: C41 colours - they look about how I'd expect cheap colour film in a disposable camera to look, so I'm happy in that respect. Left the scanning software to sort them out, I don't always find scanning colour negatives very easy.
It's early days yet, but processing colour negative film looks to be one of those things that - in principle at least - really...
It's early days yet, but processing colour negative film looks to be one of those things that - in principle at least - really...
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The Photography of Vivian Maier
Have you heard the story of Vivian Maier yet? If not, you’re in for a treat, as it is almost too amazing to believe.
A quick overview: In the 50’s and 60’s, Vivian Maier, a woman who worked as a nanny, roamed the streets of Chicago (and other cities to a lesser degree) taking photographs with her Rolleiflex. She was very private and apparently did not show most of her...
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Change of Focus
This is the same shot, same settings, different focus.
I was surprised by how much the star disappeared. This is useful if you want to take pictures from a dirty window, maybe on a train or car. The specks of dirt won’t show up in the photo. Shallow depth of field + manual focus.
I wrote about the basics of focus here.
{Nikon FM2 and Kodak Ektar 100}
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Camera 911
My Nikon FM2 is seriously ill. This morning after I loaded a new roll of film, he jammed - the shutter won’t fire and the film advance won’t wind. I removed the film and still no dice. I plan to take him in to a camera repair shop tomorrow, but I’m worried that he won’t be fixed before I leave town to visit family on Thursday morning.
The camera is so mechanical,...
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Frozen River
A refreshing (aka freezing) walk along the water.
{Nikon FM2 and Kodak Ektar 100 film}
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Diner Breakfast on Film
Welcome to Daddio’s Diner. After a late night, their chicken and waffles really hit the spot.
Life without a flash is training me to be still and steady - it’s a work in progress.
The light in the diner was dim, so shooting with 100 film was challenging, even with a fast lens that stops down to 1.8. The waffle shot was taken at 1/30 of a second and I’m happy to see...
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Downtown Chicago
I take pictures of the same scenery a lot, but I’m downtown often and I’m always trying to improve upon past shots.
{Nikon FM2 and Kodak Portra 400NC}
Tumblr Question
There must be a simple answer to this, but I cannot figure it out. How do I leave a note on someone’s post? I love getting notes from people, but I’m never able to leave any myself.
Update: Thank you for all the replies! I see how it works now. It only took me 6 months. :) Too bad you can reply only through the dashboard, not directly from someone’s page.
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pin-hole asked: Dottie, thanks for your interest in a print of mine - since only you and one other person replied to the question, I decided I would offer both of you a free print of one of my photos. Please choose one from my blog here on Tumblr, or one from this photo set on flickr (there will be some overlap) http://www.flickr.com/photos/poetas/sets/72157623692551491/. Please also specify if you would like a...
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Oh, Christmas Tree
Sunday in Chicago: watching the snow storm and setting up the Christmas tree.
{Nikon FM2 and Kodak Portra 400NC film}
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My Film Firsts: the first good shot
This was the first photo that made me realize my old film SLR could be as technically impressive as my digital SLR: nice depth of field, sharpness and exposure (despite the lack of light meter). In fact, I felt the photo was even better than a digital image, in a way I could not quite put my finger on.
Although this is a fairly boring picture of a water bubbler in downtown Chicago, I kept...
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Medium Format
Here are the proper scans from my first Rolleiflex 3.5E roll. Something about medium format appeals to me so much more than 35 mm at the moment. I’m really excited to explore the medium (bad pun intended!) more in the future.
Speaking of medium format, The Photon Fantastic is back! A good day for intelligent discourse on Tumblr.
{Rolleiflex 3.5E and Kodak Portra 160NC...
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Snow pictures in the park
More photos from my snowy Saturday walk in Lincoln Park.
{Nikon FM2 and Kodak Portra 400NC film}
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Golden, Snowy Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park, Chicago
{Nikon FM2 and Kodak Portra 400NC film}
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