Tag Archives: Abstract

Film Photography Projects, Intersections, My Inner Monet, Personal Vision, Portraits, The Story

Fresh From the 1930’s: My Art Deco Camera

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First the Grand Unboxing of my Kodak Jiffy 127 Art Deco Model, produced between  1935-1942.  I do not know the exact date of my Camera.  But let’s not waste time with that.

It came with the original Box.  Note the Eastman Kodak Camera Logo from the Art Deco Era:

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Made from Bakelite, the First Plastic, synthesized in 1907.

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And in A couple of days, the results from my first Roll using Reva ISO 100 B&W Film.

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Note that the Link at the top (and here) has a fairly comprehensive description of the camera. The condition of this camera suggests that it was a display model and never actually used.

Architecture, Film Photography Projects, Inspired By Series, Interior Spaces, Intersections, Landscapes, My Inner Monet, Nature, Personal Vision, The Story, Urban Landscapes

Personal Vision: Inspired By Monet

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” The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the Source of my Inspiration” – Claude Monet

Nature and the Outdoors has always been my inspiration.  My appreciation of the Natural World started with my childhood Family Road Trips, continued through my Geological Work, and finds me now photographing my leisure travels (but always with a purpose in mind).  But I was still relentless in my pursuit of that “Classic Landscape”:

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Above: Landscape Panorama Photo Merge in Photoshop (with Tripod).

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Above: “Classic Landscape” from a Tripod.

RoadsideReflectionFuzzy Landscape………Hand Held, but very attractive.  So much so that I published an article about it.

Now I am finding myself a bit burned out on the classic perfectly focussed landscape.  No, I will not be giving up my Mamiya-7’s.  I’ll have it with me so I won’t miss that classic landscape and later regret it.  But as above with my hand-held ‘Impressionistic’ 35 mm image, I will be exploring the ‘less well focussed’ with more pinhole photography using both my RSS 6X6F and RSS 6X9F, and my Diana and Holga Pinholes.

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So has my Personal Vision Changed?  No, I just need a stylistic change to regain my motivation and inspiration.  I was very engaged by the recent Monet Exhibit at the Denver Museum of Art:

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It reminded me of my love of Impressionistic Abstraction.  And how appropriate is  “The Truth of Nature”?  So in 2020 I intend to bring more of that Abstraction to my Personal Vision while seeking that Truth.  Of particular interest to me were The Late Years, the source of his Water Lilies:

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Before we move on, What IS Impressionism?

Definition: a style or movement in painting originating in France in the 1860s, characterized by a concern with depicting the visual impression of the moment, especially in terms of the shifting effect of light and color.

And so I will be thinking more about Light (and Color when applicable); taking in the Impression of the Moment……..

I also intend to explore more architecture with my Fisheye lenses:

And do a bit more with Interior Spaces:

The Symbol of My Journey

 

So in Summary 2020 will bring more adventure to my work…….This will inevitably spill over into my Frugal Film Project work.  With the Rule Change, I can do more with the camera options I’ve decided to work with.  And indulge my new found ‘love of the grain’ in Ilford HP5.

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Film Photography Projects, Intersections, Landscapes, Nature, Personal Vision, Portraits, The Story

Lomo Purple Revisited: Lessons Learned Part II

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Lomo Purple is definitely an interesting film.  I had never tried a ‘special effects’ film before.  And surprisingly, I like it.  But there are some caveats that never seem to be mentioned in Lomo Purple posts and promotions,

So this is more of a user’s guide than a film review.  I’ll let you try the film and decide if you like it. FIRST:  the angle of the sun with respect to your image scene is the biggest factor for a successful image.  I’ve discussed in a Lomo Purple is definitely an interesting film.  I had never tried a ‘special effects’ film before.  And surprisingly, I like it.  But there are some caveats that never seem to be mentioned in Lomo Purple posts and promotions, I have touched upon this in previous post and hope to publish a full summary review of my experiences soon.  But note that the ideal sun angle is 90 to 180 degrees from the image scene.  In my most recent Lomo Purple roll shown here, I was careful with the sun angle.

 

I have one more roll of medium format Lomo Purple being developed now.  I also plan on running an exposure time test for the RSS Pinhole.  AND in a few weeks I expect an @35mmc summary article of My Lomo Purple experiences to be published.

Film Photography Projects, Intersections, Social Commentary, The Story

Exploring Expired Film

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Recently I’ve had developed some expired film ‘given’ to me by a neighbor.  Here’s the backstory, they were moving and knew that I had an interest in film cameras.  I was given two cameras that contained partially exposed rolls of film:  A Canon Sure Shot point and shoot and a Fujica ST-705.

I told them that I would finish exposing the rolls and have them developed.  To preserve their privacy I will only share the images that I exposed to complete the rolls.  It was also at least 30 year old film not stored under the best conditions. Kudos to Old School Photo Lab for pulling these images out of very dense negatives through scanning.  The images were almost impossible to discern even using the brightest light table.

Interesting results.  First the Canon Sure Shot:  All of the Kodak GC 400 film shifted blue, but many images were salvageable when converted to B&W.  I bumped up the contrast 100-200%:

Below a comparison of the original to the B&W:

 

Next the Fujica ST-705.  Really a neat camera; lightweight and easy to figure out.  This contained some version of Kodacolor film which somewhat maintained it’s color but became very grainy and dark:

 

So where Am I going with Expired film?  It never really interested me before.  I was always in pursuit of the sharp, crisp image.  But lately I’ve drifted into pinholes and a renewed interest in plastic cameras,  which offer very different photographic characteristics.  Also recently a friend gave us a treasure trove of expired films:

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I gave some away to my Emulsive Secret Santa last year, who expressed an interest in expired films.  But I kept the more interesting ones….I was also given a Minox “Spy” Camera with an expired roll that I am shooting now:

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In another twist I was reorganizing my 35 mm camera storage and found my Minolta SRT-202 with half a roll of unexposed T-MAX.  When did I last use  THAT camera? 4-5 years ago?  Certainly expired now.  So I have Expired films to play with…….more coming on the horizon.