NEW STOCK OF CAMERAS THE RUSSIAN EDITION

I hardly ever spend tons of money on cameras. Most of the time my cameras come from thrift stores, second hand stores, and yard sales. These are all really good places to find nice working cameras for usually $10 or less. For these three cameras (Smena 8M, Fed 5B, and Lubitel 166B) I made an exception and went over my $10 limit, but I think it will be well worth it. The Smena 8M is made out of plastic and takes 35mm film, but the coating on the lens is supposed to give the film some really interesting color shifts, so I have read. The Fed 5B is a 35mm rangefinder camera that is really heavy duty and has an Industar lens which is supposed to be close in comparison to a Leica camera, but with a much better price tag! The Lubitel 166B is a medium format camera, 120 film, twin lens reflex camera. I am really excited to shoot with these three cameras!!! Anyone else out there shooting with Russian cameras?

ANALOG TOY CAMERA VS DIGITAL CAMERA: A VISUAL COMPARISON

I have decided that I am not going to have a film photography blog and not pretend like I don’t have a digital camera, because I do and I LOVE to use it just as much as a film camera! Just know that equipment alone does not make a good photographer. Phototgraphy is an art and the shooter is the artist. You need to have a vision, or an idea of what you want to make your image look like. It should be a thoughtful process in your mind. Part of that process is deciding which tools you are going to use and making good choices based on your vision. Just like an artist who chooses which medium to use, which brushes to paint with, and how to apply the paint to the canvas, your choices about photo equipment are directly related. Choose your camera with your end result (vision) in mind. If you want a very sharp, exact photo of what you are looking at then digital is a good choice. If you want to be more free and allow for happy accidents and interesting shifts then a toy camera would be the better choice.

Both images are SOOC (straight out of camera) with no adjustments.

TOP PHOTO: ANALOG

Shot with a toy camera using expired color film, has soft focus, and color shifts

Expect the unexpected when using toy cameras. You never know what to expect, so don’t try to guess. Half of the fun of toy cameras is being surprised by the results you get!

The film photo gives more of an emotional connection with the place. It seems more like a storybook place instead of an actual place.

BOTTOM PHOTO: DIGITAL

Shot with Canon Rebel XTi, has sharp focus, bright vivid colors, extra detail in bright and shadow areas.

You know exactly what you will get by looking at the display on the back of your camera.

You get a very accurate depiction of what you are seeing in the real world.

I am not saying that you cannot be artistic with a digital camera because you really can, but I just want to show the difference in feeling between the two images. To me the analog image just brings so much more emotion and begins to tell a story without too much effort as opposed to the digital photo which is very exact, and while beautiful and exposures are “correct” and all that jargon, on its own seems to look like just another photo of another place. Does anyone else see this?

For these reasons I try to choose my camera wisely before I go out shooting, at least if I know what I am going to be shooting! I try to imagine what I want the photos to look like and then match my vision with the camera that will get the job done. Make sense?

Know the role of your camera (what it will produce and its functionality), what you want to capture and how you want to capture it, and finally how you want the end result to look. These decisions beforehand will lead to better photos in the end and make you a happy photographer!

FREE RESOURCES FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS FROM PHOTOSHELTER

I have been scouring the web to find some really great business advise about photography and I came across one site that I thought was really worth sharing. Photoshelter is a place online where photographers can build really well designed websites for their business, but in addition to this, they also offer free guides for photographers to help grow their business. There is everything from learning about social media, selling photography, how to fund a project, marketing for photographers, tips on staying inspired, and the list continues. I have downloaded all of them now and they are really helpful and really well designed (which makes this graphic designer really happy!)

So why am I sharing this with you on a photography blog that is supposed to be about using different cameras and experimenting with film? I feel that this information is really valuable if you want to take your photography to the next level, which may be the case for some of you. If you want to take a leap from just having a photoblog to creating a portfolio website that you hope will get you a small photography show somewhere. Learning a small amount of marketing can only help you accomplish these things!

I have also signed up for a five week Photo Business Bootcamp. Here is there description of what the course is all about:

“This five week course will improve the way you generate new work and manage your career, whether you’re just getting started or ready to take your business to the next level.

Your weekly email will include up to 10 of our all time favorite interviews, video seminars, and useful articles featuring successful photographers and industry experts who know what works and what doesn’t.” 

If you are interested in learning more about this side of photography then maybe consider signing up for the free course or downloading a few of the free pdfs. Either way you are getting education for free!

 

ASAHI PENTAX K1000 TWO PLANTS

This is just a short post to let you know I am still around and working on the blog! Its been a few weeks since my last post and I just wanted to share an older photo I took back in college that never saw the light of day. I don’t know why I never developed it in the darkroom back then, but I have grown to love this image for its simplicity, repeating shapes, and contrast. I think it would be a nice photo to hang on a wall some day! This was taken with my Pentax K1000 using Kodak Professional 400Tmax black and white film, which I developed in the darkroom!

AKIRA 2000N BEGINNING OF SPRING

Okay, these are the last four images from my trip to the Bloedel Reserve! Spring has just begun and you can start to see all of the little blossoms on the trees and the grass getting greener and greener by the minute! Also there were a bunch of geese just hanging out below the trees on the fourth photo. I will definitely be returning to the reserve to take more photos during summer and will be taking a different camera to test out. There are so many different places to walk and see that I will have no problem finding something new to photograph.

For this shoot I used the Akira 2000N loaded with Kodak Max, ISO400, Kodacolor print film (35mm) that expired on August of 2001. I am really loving the washed out effect from the expired film on the top two images. It sort of gives them a milky appearance that is really unusual and helps to create a look of visual depth. I will admit that I had to crop the first two images because the viewfinder on this camera is whack. To see an example of the issues I had with the viewfinder on the Akira 2000N see this post. If you are interested in seeing more photos taken at the Bloedel Reserve using the Akira 2000N visit my two other posts Lurking in the Shadows and Foliage by the Pond.