OK, so my Birthday was in May. Those of us that use film know that rolls sometimes aren’t finished in a timely fashion. But these were beautiful, sent to me by my eldest brother and his wife………….Back in May. It was my 60th Birthday, so I wanted to highlight them:
From my X-700, HP5 Film and 50 mm Minolta MD f/3.5 Macros Lens.
I’ve been living like this for more than a year. I was told that 3rd Cranial Nerve damage was always allowed a year to see how much it might recover. Monday (August 24th) was my surgery day………….
The next two images show how much progress I had made. Here my eye closed without the glasses. Imagine wondering around for a year with your eye closed….no depth perception, for example:
Waiting the year (and having the Botox treatment) did make my left eye and eyelid a bit stronger. Before the surgery I could keep my eye open, but didn’t because the eyes were not aligned………
Since the eyes were not aligned it caused double vision. Below, my immediate post op photo:
The wound continued to drain overnight, ;eaving my eyelids stuck together by morning. I had to use several hot, wet face cloths to soak my eye (instructions say NO RUBBING), Finally the eye was open:
I will still need still need special glasses to restore near normal vision, but for now I have a ‘sweet spot’ in my current glasses that allow me to see stereo vision. Each day my vision and the coordination between my eyes is better,
Now moving on to the MORE…….That more being further complications from the original tumor. Or rather, complications from the Radiation Treatments. I had very high levels of radiation with the Proton Beam, resulting in Necrosis defined as:
“The brain tissue necrosis is a delayed effect of radiation therapy and can occur several years after the radiation treatment, but it usually occurs within the first 1 to 2 years.[1]Jul 8, 2020“
This Necrosis results in cysts growing in the Cranial Space and surrounding tissue. They started growing sometime after my 6 month check up, appearing in my May exam. The follow-up is every 8 weeks. I have that 8 week check in last week. Some cysts are smaller, some unchanged, and a few new ones have appear (but they are very small). So another MRI at the end of October and we’ll see where we are……
The Irises display more of a difference, being both richer is color and truer to the colors I saw. You’ll have to trust me on that. I had intended to make Portra 400 images for all the garden shots, but that camera malfunctioned. However, I do have some Portra 400 35 mm images. One posted ant the end for comparison. As before, you’ll have to make your choice based on which color balance you prefer.
We will start with Yellow Irises, since we did see a difference in the Yellow Tulips:
As before, the E100 is on the left and the Velvia 50 is on the right. You can see the richer saturation in the Velvia 50. Something that we are expecting.
Varying the contrast and brightness had no affect on the absolute color, which is what we are interested in here.
Now we move on to Purple, which was a color that Velvia 50 favored in previous examples:
As before, E100 on the left and Velvia 50 on the right…….
For me, the Velvia yields a more attractive color and is closer to what I saw. Now let me tell you a little secret. Once in a Physics experiment in college, it showed that I tend to see a little bit into the UV spectrum. That is probably why the richer purples appeal more to me.
However, if you want truer color I think we have to get out the Portra 400 (below). Again, I think it is an aesthetic choice…….
My February Frugal Film shoot started out with an Urban Renewal Theme, but ended up with portraits from my Valentine’s Day Bouquet. The Image above will be posted on the Frugal Film Project Site. The Features image, as shown below are not the same roses and show a slightly different perspective.
Themes proposed for the first two months this year included Texture (January) and Structure (February). I missed texture for the first month because I had already planned my own theme using my fisheye lens. So I invite you now to enjoy the texture of the flower petals and the structure of the roses themselves.
Some of the roses were beginning to fade, so I have started a new series highlighting the Roses as they dry…….and below a little Inner Monet…..somewhat out of focus.
A quote from Linda Ronstadt:
“You do it for the work. If you are doing it for the prizes, you are in big trouble”
and a Quote from Cole Thompson:
“In the past I’ve considered those accolades as the evidence of my success, but I now think differently. My success is no longer measured by the length of my resume, but rather by how I feel about the art that I create. While I do enjoy exhibiting, seeing my work published and meeting people who appreciate my art, this is an extra benefit of creating, but not success itself.”
I’ve been through this thought process before. But this time a different twist. Now showing will be going dark for a while. I haven’t deleted it. Just hidden. As I mentioned before, I always get the sam level of award. They know I’m good enough to deserve some attention, but my personal style and personal vision are obviously NOT in vogue right now. So do I stick with what I enjoy or literally ‘shoot for the hip and trendy’?
My husband recently found an interesting blog post on this very subject by Ellen Borggreve. From “Photography is not a Competition”:
“Even though there are photographic competitions, photography itself and art in general is not a competition. In the creative process there is no finish line, no competitors, no comparison. All creative endeavours are in their essence subjective, personal and incomparable. Yet the modern digital reality has created this sense of urgency and competition which I feel is hugely detrimental to art.”
Honestly I wouldn’t know how to shoot for the ‘hip and trendy’ because I do photography to make myself happy. As Comfort and a personal creative outlet. I find online activities like the recent #camerachallenge add some spice and allow me to interact with more like-minded photographers. I will be keeping my Publications Page, because that actually does matter.
If I enter a contest I will still post the results here. But no more “Now Showing” because I don’t want THAT to be my focus……..And what people on Twitter, Instagram, Blogspot or WordPress find interesting, may not be what’s interesting TO ME.
Sacred Datura from my Garden; Kodak T-MAX 400; cropped from a Mamiya 645 frame with 80 mm Macro Lens.
Mayo Clinic Cactus Garden
I decided to use Kodak Color Plus 200 for my Frugal Film Project. However, I didn’t have the camera that I planned to use with me in Arizona. So I did a preliminary film test using my Minolta X-700. Here I present side by side color rendering examples from both films:
For all of these examples, Kodak E100 (@EI 125) is on the left and Kodak ColorPlus 200 is on the right.
Here I don’t think I’m showing precisely the same orange cactus flower; but it gives you an idea.
As with my previous experience all of the E100 is colder. And we know I prefer the warmer colors…………
I’ve played around with Holga for years, after being introduced to Plastic Cameras in an Experimental Photography class back in Monterey. And even though I spent 6 months shooting Holga for the 52 Rolls Project back in 2016, I never quite developed a sincere affection for it.
Plastic cameras are fascinating though and I’ve continued to experiment with many types. But something weird happened when I was ‘given’ this 110 format Diana with one of my Lomo purchases:
The 110 roll actually forms the back of the camera. It literally sat in my basement for years. And one day I decided to unpack and try it.
The results were better than expected:
So what is the Pre-Lomo Origin of the Diana Camera? The Diana camera originated in the 1960s, produced by the Great Wall Plastic Co. in Hong Kong. Production continued through the 1970s but ceased sometime thereafter.
Check out some Diana Camera History here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_(camera)
And Here: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Diana
Fast Forward to 2018 Pinhole Day Preparations; All kinds of items on sale for promoting Pinhole Day. Having had some success with the Holga Panorama Pinhole, I decided to try the Diana Pinhole. After all, that 110 cameras wasn’t a real camera!
I had read an article on Hand Held Pinhole Street Photography, and decided to use the Diana for that. And then I was hooked!
So it was just a matter of time before the Ultimate Diana entered my life:
…………and with inter-changeable lenses. Are you kidding me! Of course a sale attracted my attention, offering the soft focus telephoto as another one of those seductive Lomo ‘Gifts’. So, it was going to be mine, with the addition of Fish Eye and Close-up lenses. Arriving in time for the newly promoted ‘Diana Day’ on August 4th.
Diana F+ Macro
One limitation on the Macro is the suggestion tat you carry a small ruler since the precise focussing range is 6 inches. I just “guestimated”. Not carrying a ruler around with me, and it worked out pretty well.
Diana F+ Fish Eye
And No Fisheye post would be complete without my Feet!
Oh please do not come out with a new Diana Model! I’m not sure I can handle it……..This is getting almost as bad as my Mamiya Addiction, and you don’t want to know how many of those cameras I have!
I rarely post color here. But I really liked this last shot from my garden (before it all froze):
myvintagecamerasblog 