Portraits at a wedding

My mom got remarried last weekend! It was a joyuous event. I am so happy for her. She asked me to take photos at her wedding. I brought both a film camera: my Canon EOS Elan II, and my digital camera: Pentax K7. I used Arista 100 (developed in Diafine) for the film shots. My plan was to get some portraits on film rather than snapshots of the wedding. My favorites are featured below. 

I am continually fascinated by portrait photography. I think my favorite thing to do is to get in really close and focus on the expression of the subject. To me, that is the most interesting thing about portrait photography. I really feel like a portrait is, basically, the story between the subject and the photographer and that story is told in the face of the subject.

A few days after I developed these I found myself searching Google for the best portrait lenses for Canon. This could get dangerous fast! 

Grief

I was visiting my family last weekend in Spokane, WA and had the opportunity and time to go through some of my things from years and years (and years) ago. One of the things I found was this photo. Way back in the days before I decided to become a Librarian, my profession of choice was photographer. I took several classes - one of them being a darkroom class. This was a photo that I took for that class (1992). It was shot with my beloved Pentax P30t (which I still have and use!) I wish I could remember which film I used and which paper I used. I do remember buying the paper because I wanted lots of grain. But now that I am back into film photography and print making I don't understand what kind of paper that would be. I have so much more to re-learn!

This is a photo of my grandmother on the day of my grandfather's funeral. They were married for 50 years and were in love the entire time they were married. She died a year after he did. I feel a little bad for taking this photo. I didn't ask her first, I just shot it. I captured a moment and when I look at it makes my heart hurt because I can see the pain of losing her husband in her eyes. Was it right for me to do this? I don't know. 

Happiness

While we were in Amsterdam, we decided to spend King's Day in Rotterdam where Inge took us on a tour of her home town. The first stop was the  Urban Forest/Cube Houses. I was really excited to see these in person. The museum was open so we got to go inside of one to see what it would be like to live in one of these unique houses. I am torn as to whether or not I would want to live in one. I love it, but kind of think it would be impractical. However, if I did have the opportunity to live in one of these houses I think I would jump at the chance, no question. 

I shot this photo specifically because of the "happiness" poster in the window. I couldn't believe it when I saw it hanging there. I have wanted one of these posters for a long time. They are drawn by Gavin Aung, creator of Zen Pencils. I am a big fan of his work. He draws cartoons of inspirational quotes. The "Happiness" poster is a drawing of and a quote from Buddha:

"Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared."

 

And there is not much more to say about that. 

This was taken with my Canon Elan ii and Arista 100. Developed in Diafine. 

Amsterdam street food

This is another shot with the Olympus XA in Amsterdam. When I used up the roll of Afga Precisa I bought some Tri-x to see how that would fare in this camera. I love the results! I am not used to using a rangefinder and tend to find them a little awkward, but the XA was pretty easy to get used to. 

I've been carrying it around with me this week in my purse, working on a film swap roll and I am falling more and  more in love with this little thing every day. It's the perfect size to carry around for everyday use. I bought a couple rolls of Cinestill film and am going to run that through it and can't wait to see the results of that little experiment. 

I'll share more of of these XA Amsterdam street photos in future posts. 

Olympus XA and x-pro

This is a photo taken in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. On King's day we decided to escape the crazy and take the train into Inge's home town. She and her husband gave us a tour of this beautiful city. While we were there she gave me an Olympus XA that she'd picked up at a camera swap and some Afga Precisa slide film.  I was so excited! 

This camera is so fun. It will be something I go to again and again, I'm sure. 

However, I am still uncertain about cross processing slide film. It seems like whenever I do it my experience is less than stellar. None of my photos look like this. I'm never blown away by the results. My feeling is more of frustration. I think it is that I am having trouble scanning cross processed negatives. my scanner's software does odd things to the colors and I'm not tech savvy enough to figure out how to fix that. 

Fog on the water - photo made with a 3D printed camera!

A few days before I left for Amsterdam I ordered a Schlem P6*6 3D printed pinhole camera from Todd Schlemmer. Todd lives in Seattle, a mere hop, skip, and Jump away from where I live near Portland. So I fully expected to receive the camera via mail after our trip. However, Todd was planning on going to Amsterdam as well so he offered to deliver the camera on WPPD in AMS! It was very exiting to receive it on this most special day. My husband used the camera that day and enjoyed it very much. I wanted to use up the film before we left Amsterdam so I shot the last few frames, the one above being one of them. You can see my husband's WPPD submission with this wonderful camera here in the WPPD gallery. 

I really loved using this camera! I love that it has a lens cap, it makes exposures less shaky (see this post about that trick). There are other awesome features too: A cover for the red window in the back (to prevent light leaking through the paper, causing marks to appear on the negative), and a clip to hold the film roll together to prevent light leaks when you remove it from the camera. 

Plus, it just looks bad ass. I mean, look at it! It's freakin' cool!!

I can't wait to use it more! I am going to run some color film through it very soon. 

You can order one pre-made by Todd by going here.  You can download the plans to print one yourself by going here.  (assembly required). Todd is very awesome and accessible and if you  have questions he is there to answer them. 

A pinhole camera printed by a printer. Technology is amazing. 

I am pinholeing myself etching my pinhole camera at Rembrandt's house

One of the museums my husband and I visited while we were in Amsterdam was Rembrandt's house. It was one of the best museum experiences I have ever had and well worth the cost of admission. Usually they will have people doing demonstrations throughout the house of paint making and print making. Sadly, the day we went there were no demonstrations. however, the disappointment was erased when we went to the studio at the top floor and found an etching workshop! We made and etching of our own onto plexiglass and then made a print from our etching - all of which we could take home. It was a fantastic experience! 

I decided to draw a picture of my pinhole camera and make and etching and a print of that. And then as I was drawing it I decided it would be kind of awesome to open the shutter and make an exposure while I was doing this. The pinhole photograph isn't the best but it was a fun little experiment.

Here is a photo of a print of the etching that I made. I am not very good at drawing, as  you can see. But still, it's fun to do. Printmaking is another fascination of mine that I would like to explore in the future. it was kind of fun to mesh two of my interests together. 

My WPPD Entry

I am back from Amsterdam and had an unforgettable week there. I am still trying to process it all. I've been enjoying going through all of the photos I took. I thought I'd get back into my blogging routine by posting my submission for WPPD. Here is a shot of our group in the Jenever bar Inge took us to. This was exposed for about 30 minutes with my Zero 2000 using Ektar. It was hard to choose just one but I picked this one because for me the highlight of the day - and the trip - was meeting this fine group of folks. Pinhole people are the best! 

I'll write more about my trip in the coming days. I have lots of great photos to share. 

Alex wrote a great post about our day on his blog Pinholista. 

You should also check out the WPPD gallery from our group at the pinholday website. 

A good spot

Today's image is from Seaside, Oregon over Christmas. I enjoyed sitting here for a few moments while my husband explored the rocks. 

And this concludes my week of pinhole fun! I am about to board a plane for Amsterdam where i will spend Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day with some of my friends.  I hope you enjoy the day (Sunday) as well. If you are not a pinhole photographer, consider using this day to explore this wonderful form of photography. Check out the WPPD website on how to participate for the day. Also check out their resource page. 

Camera: Holga WPC (6x9 mask)
Exposure time: 5 seconds
Film: Kodak Ektar 100
Pinhole: 0.3mm
Focal Length: 40mm
ISO: 100
Aperture: f135
Dev: C-41 by lab
Scan: Epson V500

Street Fair In Astoria, Oregon

I love what pinhole photography does to crowds and people. In many instances, the long exposures will remove a crowd from a busy scene. In this case, my exposure wasn't very long and so I got motion blur. 

 

Camera: Holga 120 PC
Film: Kodak Ekar 100
Pinhole: 0.25mm
Focal Length: 48mm
ISO: 100
Aperture: f192
Exposure: 5 seconds
Dev: C-41 Lab (Blue Moon Camera)
Scan: Epson V500

Pinhole Film Swap with Aware Of The Void

As I mentioned a few posts down, I became interested in doing pinhole film swaps several months ago when I discovered people were doing them. As I thought about pinhole film swaps I came up with an idea. What if a person just sent an entire camera with film re-rolled to another person? My Pinholga is lightweight and cheap, so if it gets lost in the mail it's no big deal. Also, using the same camera would ensure the frames matched up. So I asked my friend Brendan if he would be interested in trying this and he was! I spent the next few weeks shooting a roll, then I sent it overseas to Ireland. I have to say, it was really fun seeing my little Holga on location in Ireland on Brendan's IG feed every now and then. And I am now thinking my little Holga needs more Transatlantic adventures...

I really love how the shots came out! I am really liking the way pinhole film swaps turn out in general and I really want to do more of them. The weird, dreamy nature of pinhole works well with the serendipity the double exposed image. 

Here are my faves. Click the thumbnail for bigger. 

I will get my camera back next week in Amsterdam - with a fresh roll ready to expose -  so stay tuned for a round two! 

You can see more (previous) film swap results from Brendan and I on my Flickr. 

You should definitely check out Brendan's wonderful photography. You can do so on his Flickr or his blog, Aware Of The Void. 

The North Side Of The Lake

Today's pinhole shot was taken at Trillium Lake. This lake is a favorite destination for Portlanders in the Summer, for good reason. It's a cool, alpine lake located in the shadow of Mt. Hood. The location is peaceful and beautiful. Most of the shots I get here Mt Hood is looming over the water. This was taken on the other side of the lake. 

Camera: Holga 120 PC
Film: Kodak Ekar 100
Pinhole: 0.25mm
Focal Length: 48mm
ISO: 100
Aperture: f192
Exposure: 5 seconds
Dev: C-41 Lab (Blue Moon Camera)
Scan: Epson V500

Red Mist

Today's pinhole shot was taken in June 2013 during a pinhole class I took with Zeb Andrews at Newspace. If you ever have a chance to take a class with Zeb Andrews I highly recommend it. He is a fantastic teacher. Some of the day was spent in a classroom where he went over technical aspects of pinhole photography, and then the rest of the day was spent on a photo walk around Portland with Pinholgas that were passed out in class. This is a photo of a couple of classmates watching ducks while a crowd of people passed by. 

Camera: Holga 120 PC
Film: Kodak Ekar 100
Pinhole: 0.25mm
Focal Length: 48mm
ISO: 100
Aperture: f192
Exposure: 5 seconds
Dev: C-41 Lab (Blue Moon Camera)
Scan: Blue Moon Camera

Candy Colored Sunbeams

Today's photo was taken last summer at another of my favorite places, Trillium Lake. I used my Zero for this and probably Ektar 100 but I haven't a clue how long it was exposed for. 3 minutes maybe? I remember my husband wandering up the path for quite a ways while I sat here in this spot. 

I LOVE what the pinhole does to sunbeams. Love the candy colored stripes. 

Pinholeaganza

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day is coming upon us fast! I thought, as a lead-up to it, I would post a pinhole photo every day for the rest of the month. 

This photo was taken back in December 2013 at Wildwood Park, near my home on Mt. Hood, Oregon. I love this particular spot. It is so peaceful. The river is the Salmon River and it is the clearest river I have ever seen. You can see the rocks on the riverbed in this photo! The river runs directly from Palmer Glacier on Mt. Hood. 

Camera: Holga WPC
Exposure time: 23 seconds
Film: Kodak Ektar 100
Pinhole: 0.3mm
Focal Length: 40mm
ISO: 100
Aperture: f135
Dev: C-41 by lab
Scan: Epson V500

Pinhole Film Swap with Square Peg Pinhole

I really enjoy doing film swaps. I love the collaboration between my fellow film photographers and I love the serendipity that occurs. At some point I realized that people were doing pinhole film swaps. Of course I needed to do one too. It combines two things that I love! So I let fate decide who I was going to do my first pinhole film swap with. One day in January I mentioned on Twitter that I wanted to do a pinhole film swap. Within moments my buddy Herschel (AKA Square Peg Pinhole) said, "Yes! Let's do this!" I was thrilled! I've admired Herschel's pinhole work for quite some time and so doing a film swap with him would be quite an honor. 

He suggested that we both shoot a roll and send it to each other and that we both use Holga WPCs. We decided on the 6x12 mask. I shot my roll that weekend and sent it off to Nashville where he lives. A few days ago I received the results via email (click thumbnails to see them in all of their wide-angle glory):

I am very pleased with how they came out! The pinhole aspect adds to the dreamy nature of film swaps in general. 

The film we used for this was Portra 160.

You should totally check out Herschel's work. You can find him here:
Flickr
Website

And now that I've done another film swap I am wanting to do more! I've missed doing them. If you are interested in doing a film swap  with me - pinhole or otherwise - let me know! It's a lot of fun! 


Birthday Self Portrait

For years and years I have taken a self portrait on my birthday. This is the first year I have done so with film. I finally developed the roll of film this past weekend that contained said portrait. 

I like how it came out. I had a really good birthday this year and this portrait, I think, captures my happiness. It's kind of a miracle that the lens decided to focus exactly on my one eye closest to the camera. 

I used my Canon EOS Elan for this one. Film was Arista 100 and it was developed in Diafine. 

The lesson of the group shot

Yesterday I spent the entire day meditating with this very wonderful group of people. We all decided that we wanted a photo at the end of the day to mark this occasion: it was the first real retreat of our little local sangha. Sometime in the middle of the day I remembered that I brought my film camera loaded with black and white film. I was wanting to use up the roll on my walk to the retreat so I could have something to develop. I was delighted that I would be able to capture this moment on film!

When we gathered together for the shot I decided to take a photo with my iPhone first.  Here is the shot that I took: 

In the iPhone photo everyone is smiling and happy and it truly depicts the way we were all feeling after a day of meditation together. After I took this photo I took two more with my film camera. When I developed the photos from my film camera and scanned them the only shot that was useable was the one at the top of this post. It's not a bad photo but the faces are more stoic and not as smiley. 

I thought about what I might have done as the photographer to make the photos different and I remembered that for the iPhone photo I made a joke. I told them to "say whiskey." Everyone laughed because for the situation it was kind of out of context and maybe a little irreverent and our group laughs at irreverence.  For the film photos they had been standing  there for a few more moments. The joke was over and everyone was ready to move on.

These are some things to keep in mind the next time I take a group shot. Maybe the first photo is the best? And maybe I should have a few more jokes up my sleeve for the second and third photos...

Sakura

One of the things I love about my town is that it is quiet at night. I live in a small town about 45 minutes away from Portland and I love the stillness of it in the evenings. The downside of this is that there isn't much to do here in on a Saturday night. Often, my husband and I will go for walks. This past Saturday our walk took us to the local Goodwill - the only business (besides the bars) that is open until 9:00 on a Saturday night. 

I made a beeline straight to the discarded camera section. It is bin in the very back of the store filled with all kinds of sad, old, electronics. Every once in awhile I will find something interesting. There were quite a few good things Saturday but the camera that I came away with was a Canon Sureshot.

I took it out for a spin yesterday and am rather delighted with the results of this little camera. It didn't do well with close up shots (I tried a few portraits of my husband and they were blurry) but it did pretty well otherwise. You can read a great review here on Jim Grey's blog "Down The Road." 

Here is a shot I too on Hawthorne Blvd  in Portland. 

Film used was Arista 100 and it was developed in Diafine.