Tag: photography

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I have always wanted to visit Cuba! It is a dream and will help me expand my street photography experience….the architecture, the vintage vehicles and the people it all appeals to me on a visceral level. The colors, the sights and sounds…it the kind of thing that makes my photographer’s eye twitch. So the bestie and I are going….she writes a lifestyle colum for an online magazine and I blog. It is a perfect combination and she is the perfect travel partner. So I am going to document my research and the cameras I am taking with me. I have to start this now so my head doesn’t explode before I get there…getting it all down will keep me sane.

Cameras

I plan to take 4-5 reliable film cameras and one Polaroid…my new Minty. I am starting to stockpile film so there is no mad dash to get enough before the trip. My most reliable cameras are the Holga 120CFN, the Holga 135BC and the Diana Mini. I think it is a good mixture of 35mm and 120mm film choices. Unfortunately, my La Sardina’s failed the test when I took them on a family cruise. There were too many issues with film loading and rewinding with all four.

Research

There are so many articles to read…people share their experiences and it makes my heart sing. I can’t wait to see and document it all. I am over the moon excited…my soul needs to be fed and traveling with my bestie is the best way to do this. We are Army girls always ready to go with the flow. We let the locale dictate the days…we don’t have to have fancy digs and plan to live like the locals.

My travel research beings with the first link a subscriber sent me. Where to have film developed in Havana….I will check out this photo lab and may get some film developed while I am there. I will see how it flows. This photo lab seems like a a good place to check out. I will give a comprehensive review on the services#309 Calle Obispo, Habana Vieja, Ciudad de Habana. That’s the main east/west street down the middle of Old Havana, running down from Parque Central to Plaza de Armas.

Fashion

Cool, casual and comfortable is my goal and I want to blend in and look like a local. It is not hard in Cuba…the population covers the color spectrum and mostly look like me. My Pinterest page will be my go-to for storing my ideas so take a look if you get a free minute…my plan is to update it as often as possible.

Join me on the journey from planning to touchdown and let me know what you think along the way. Any tips? Send them my way.

 

 

 

 

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HipstamaticPhoto-555132247.974488I started my Holga journey because I was bored out of my mind after graduate school. I needed something to kickstart my creativity. Film photography is a form of therapy for me and I can lose myself in the camera and the beauty of life around me.

Hipstamatic sparked my interest and after some research I started hunting Holgas, Diana’s, La Sardinia’s and all the different film formats that produced the gritty, grainy artistic photos that I see in my head. My first set of developed prints made me want to cry but I toughened up and soldiered on. I studied my technique, my awful mistakes and the light leaks that destroyed more than a few of my prints. My mistakes made me start paying attention to what the heck I was doing. I will write another blog on my common mistakes this blog is for the light leaks.

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Why Tape Your Holga

The Holga is a cheap, light-weight camera from China that comes with a plastic lens and  a plastic body. Light leaks are natural to the Holga and there is really no way to avoid them unless you tape the entire camera and what is the fun in that. I can understand how  light leaks can be intimidating to someone new to this type of photography but I encourage you to embrace the unpredictablity. Let yourself be surprised by your images.

The first time I developed 35mm film in my Holga I realized I needed to tape up the back of your camera, or light will leak in through the film counter window and over-expose every single shot. Along with my other mistakes I’d ruined an entire roll of film but hey… that’s part of the game of experimenting with your camera. 35mm film doesn’t have paper backing like medium format film does so it has no protection from the light seeping in from the little red window at the back of the camera. Without covering this window your roll will be exposed to light in every shot. A common solution is to seal the window off to keep everything nice and pitch dark inside the camera. I use electrical tape to make a flap so I can tell when I have gotten to the first shot while loading and how many shots I have remaining. I get some leaks but my shots are not completely blown out.

Toni and Holga
Me and my first Holga!

I also cover the bottom of the camera and the metal clips on each side. The cilps are worthless to me a lesson learned after I put my brand new camera around my neck for the day and the weight of the camera was no match for the cheap clips. I watched in horror as my hours-old Holga slipped off my neck and hit the cement. It works….I played with it for hours and coaxed it back to life.

I am not an expert at anything. I research and share my journey with others. Have fun and let yourself go. Follow the Golden Rules! Share your experiences and your photos.

 

Next up….My common mistakes and what I learned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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IMG_5853The rainy winter season has been taking a toll on my need/desire to take photos so I spend the time researching and choosing new equipment. I have had two cameras on my list since Christmas and finally decided on the HolgaGlo 135BC a 35 mm version of the Holga. It is smaller than the Holga 120 CFN and GCFN’s that I have already but I am pretty happy. It joins my other pretty girls…the Holga family and the La Sardinas. (photo below)

The La Sardina collection was a compete fluke. I ran across them on Amazon and completely fell in love. The set of four cameras was extremely affordable at $159.00 making it a no brainer purchase and the free overnight shipping …one of the flukes of being a Prime member made me pat myself on the back. When you want to start a hobby it is important to look everywhere for your tools. HipstamaticPhoto-537075141.850249Cameras, film, flash units all require tons of research so I am always on YouTube and Ebay looking for that thing that catches my eye and inspires me to hold it in my hand. I need a camera that makes me smile, one that makes me want to carry it and look at it all the time. So that is what the winter months are for…research and camera sprees. It’s sick…I will pass up a great pair of shoes for film and new cameras. I am officially obsessed! Take a look at my babies and stay tuned because the Summer is going to be camera fierce!

 

 

Folllow me on my Lomo journey and don’t be afraid to get one of your own.

 

 

 

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Blog Revamp! 

HipstamaticPhoto-532235655.059912I am passionate about Film Photography, Blogging, Travel and Journaling so it is time to combine my interests. Join me on my journey and allow me to bombard you with CAMERAS, FILM AND PHOTOS! I carry a camera or two everywhere and want to share my highs and lows with you. It has taken a lot of soul-searching and thought to get to this point and I am really excited. The research alone keeps me busy and fully engaged. I love the journey! I hope you are as entertained as I am.

I want to reach as many people as possible and creating custom content is the first order of business. Successful relaunch requires a total Blog Revamp, Search Engine Optimization research, along with plans to start a YouTube channel. Your comments and observations are valuable to me so feel free to share.

Welcome to Life In Lomo!

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Ahhhh my hobby….it consumes me and I love it! I am constantly doing research and watching vHipstamaticPhoto-538193775.959969ideos for the best tips and tricks. It has been a cold winter and I am done with grad school so it is the perfect time to dig into my film photography hobby. I love the research! I watch YouTube tutorials and read countless blogs. I don’t have many subjects….the dog is tired of my camera in her face so I have lots of selfies. I experiment with light and different types of film and film settings. Today was a different day. It was over 60 degrees out so the fiance and I went for a nice long walk. I slung my Lomo’ Instant around my neck and stuffed a few packs of Fujifilm Monochrome in my pocket and off we went. Meh…I didn’t have much success as you can see from the photo but I love trying and will never stop trying to master this camera and the Monochrome film. So if you are reading this please understand that I am by no means an expert. I am amazing with a digital camera but where is the challenge. I need to learn to slow down, check my settings, be aware of the light and shoot from the heart.

HipstamaticPhoto-536885842.316455My FujiInstax Mini 8 is the first instant camera that I bought and the easiest camera to deal with. Everything is automatic and I don’t have to think as much when I use it but where is the fun in that? My photos from the Fuji are clear and give me the effects I want but it is almost too easy. So I go back to the Lomo’ Instant time and time again. I refuse to be beaten by a plastic instant camera! So if you are looking for a challenge go for the Lomo’ Instant it will hurt your feelings and waste your money but it will challenge you and make you think.

Bottom line…enjoy the journey, relish the challenge. Don’t be hard on yourself and do the research. Most importantly…DON’T GIVE UP!

 

 

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LomoThe summer season is winding down and my thoughts are turning to fall. It has taken me all summer to get my head out of grad school mode. It has been hard….re-focusing my after a commitment like graduate school was tough. So I channeled my energy into analogue photography and it has helped me find peace.

 

I started reading up on Lomography and my curiosity went into overdrive. Lomography is the style of pop photography based around the quirky cameras by the Austrian camera manufacturer known as Lomo.  There are several camera types that fall under the images-3lomography genre. Among some of the more popular, are the Diana and Holga. These cameras, and (all of them in the Lomo line) are usually poor technical cameras. They are inexpensive, plastic and often have light leaks, poor alignment of their lenses or other defects, which makes it a cool signature look. They are inexpensive and can be found on Amazon and Ebay for less than $100.

 

I carry one or two cameras everywhere I go and follow the Golden Rules of Lomography… “Don’t Think, Just Shoot” motto! After all, Lomography is all about having fun while taking good pictures, so memorize them by heart or break all the rules; either way, be ready to throw your photography inhibitions away!

 

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The Golden Rules of Lomography…who doesn’t love Golden Rules?!

Be prepared to shoot in the moment! Carry your camera everywhere and observe life as we live it. Find beauty in the simple things. Most of all have fun!

Break the rules and use it anytime you want. Research ISO’s and film combinations and shoot in low light. Inside or out, day or night. Do your research and most importantly….take a chance!

Lomography photography is not an influence on your life….it enhances it! Embrace your art! Your camera is hungry for thrills and spills, whatever the weather, whatever day of the week it is and whatever time it is. So keep shooting restlessly and relentlessly; give your memory a kick in the ass with your lovely, crazy, beautiful, artistic and silly Lomographs. Esse est percipi est Lomographi. Use your camera whenever you’re alive!

Shoot from the hip! Try different angles and see what pans out! Don’t look through the viewfinder; forget about safety margins and unnecessary shyness! And why should a photo always be taken whilst standing up and looking through the viewfinder? If we did that all the time, every photo would be from the same kind of perspective. How about holding your camera below the knees for your next shot? Or as high as you can hold it above your head? You’ll end up with all manner of crazy photos you never realized were possible…..it may take a few rolls of film, get them developed and see where you ‘eye’ takes you!

Don’t think….Shoot! Your best shots won’t be the ones you plot and plan! Shoot when people least expect it….capture the beauty of life! I discourage posing and stiff smiles…..I want to shoot the living, breathing beauty of the world we live in. Shoot blind without a care in the world.

Be Fast! Hold your breath, be brave, take a chance, move, shoot, have fun and act fast – that’s Lomography!

Be patient! You will not get the instant gratification that you are accustomed to with lomography photography. You shoot, switch film and go on. The results come after you have handed your precious film over to the lab for processing. Yes, you have to wait! But when you get the film back you can proclaim yourself an artist!

Don’t worry about any rules! You don’t have to know what you captured on film…be patient and trust your instincts. See the beauty in your creation lol….the good the bad and the ugly. Adjust your shots, learn your camera and practice!

 

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Next up…Shooting with the La Sardina in low light.

 

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OriginalPhoto-518069418.627040I have written many blogs on my love of photography and I am always on the hunt to add a new twist to my craft. So here it is I am done with grad school with a freshly minted Emerging Media Master’s from @LoyolaMaryland and a lot of time on my hands. I was gifted a powder blue Fuji Instax mini 8 camera and a load of film….so off I go to capture art and life as I see it.

The Fujifilm Instax mini 8 is a basic point and shoot camera that takes instant photos and develops them like an old school Polaroid camera. The analogue camera looks like a toy and and is guaranteed to have serious hipster appeal.

The Instax mini 8 looks like a big kids toy from its matte plastic finish, chunky lens and big buttons. It’s not exactly pocket-friendly, but it’s light enough to throw into a bag without trouble. The buttons and features are basic. Up front is a button to extend the collapsible lens and turn on the camera. Around the lens is the brightness adjustment dial you can twist to choose the different exposure levels. On the hand grip is the camera trigger with the viewfinder above and the always on flash just beside it. Around the back is where you’ll find compartments for film and the battery on the hand grip. Yes it takes batteries, two AA ones to be precise. This is an analogue camera in every way.

Bottom line….it is a lot of fun! The photos have vibrant color with a vintage feel. I can’t wait to take this camera on my weekend walkabout. The film is not cheap but this is my hobby and it is all about keeping me busy before I get bored enough to jump into a doctoral program. I was able to find black and white Instax film at my local Target and will update this post with pics of those pics tomorrow.

Be and individual! Don’t Follow the Crowd! Take it back to the days before technology ruled us. Most Importantly…..Have Fun!