Posts from ‘June, 2009’

I didn’t do much picture taking today.  I was busy dealing with Walmart’s incompetence and frankly wasn’t in much of a mood to photograph.  But, right before bathtime I did manage to shoot this photo of Little A.  He was doing a headstand on the couch (yes, giving me a heart attack) that he thought was really funny.   I tried to get a photo of it but none of them came out.  This was the only one that was in focus (this is the norm for me and trying to photograph my wiggly 2 year old).   I suppose I’d get better results with my DSLR but when it’s a spur of the moment thing I usually just reach for my point and shoot and hope for the best.

I went there today only to find out that when you send out your 120 film to Fuji they cannot process & scan to disc only.  They will either process the film or process it and give you prints.  It would have been nice if someone had told me that earlier so that I didn’t waste my time–weeks and weeks of waiting and they also lost one roll.  I also had their in-house one hour photo develop and scan to disk a regular 35mm roll of film only to get home and realize they only scanned half of the roll to disk.  There are 24 images on my negatives so they somehow just missed half of the images.  When you deal with Walmart you get what you pay for–if you want cheap,  you stand the risk of them ruining your film, losing it, not getting it right (then you waste your precious time going back), and you get poor customer service.  That’s it, I’m done dealing with them.  I’d rather pay more and get better customer service.

I absolutely adore my Holga and I don’t want to give up on medium format film.  So now, out of necessity (because I can’t afford to pay George’s Camera $16 per roll and Walmart sucks) my husband and I are going to research how to develop the film ourselves.  From what I know so far, it is pretty easy to develop black and white film at home (the color chemicals are not easy to deal with so it’s best to have a lab do it).  We’re also looking into a reasonably priced scanner that can scan 120 film, which will be good enough for posting the images to the web.  If I ever like a photo enough to print it out I will have to send it out to be scanned.  I found this great website that offers this service:  http://www.digmypics.com/default.aspx#home

More on all of this later now that I know I’m going in a new direction….I could really use a day at the spa right now.

We’ve been having some strange weather here.  Yesterday it was hot as hell (like turn on the AC kind of weather when it’s still 80 in your house at midnight) but this morning it was sprinkling and overcast.  Then this afternoon the sun was shining bright and glorious so Little A and I ventured out into the backyard.  This is where I met Mr. Grasshopper trying to get his dinner (Miss Ladybug).  Unfortunately for him, Miss Ladybug flew away right after I shot the photo and I ruined his dinner.  Oh well…better luck next time.  I shot with my Sony Cybershot, which I’ve found works very well in extreme close up mode.  I was so close to the grasshopper that his antennas were touching the camera.  Since I don’t own a macro lens for my DSLR (20D) I haven’t had much luck with macros with that camera.

Mr. Grasshopper & Miss Ladybug

Pencil Plant

Happy Mandevilla Vines

Out of all of our vines this one is happiest and I really don’t know why.  Maybe it gets the perfect amount of light?  Anyway, this is where all the insect action was happening between Mr. Grasshopper and Miss Ladybug.

I only had a few moments for picture taking while running errands today, but thankfully Presidio Park wasn’t far from where I was.  The last time I had been there was on a date in high school.  I didn’t realize the park was so big–all those green rolling hills and trees!  I took these two shots with my iphone camera and I must say I’m pleasantly surprised with the results.  I think I shall return sometime soon with C and Little A and shoot when it’s better light.

More on these later….

Fujipet - very hard to find, even in Japan where it was manufactured.  Sometimes go for hundreds on Ebay.  I hope to get lucky and find one for cheap at a thrift store.  Yeah, and if that lucky day comes along I’m also buying a lotto ticket!

Superheadz Golden Half Camera - takes half frame photos thereby doubling the amount of photos you can take per roll, it is so cute and compact, fits nicely in a small purse.  Got it late in the evening 6-27-09, it was still at Urban Outfitters and it was calling out to me, how could I resist?  More on this camera later once I’ve shot a roll through it….

Superheadz Blackbird Fly - twin lens reflex (TLR) camera….this is a bit pricey for me, but it is just way too cool for words.

Lomographic Action Sampler - takes four shots in succession and splits the frame in four frames, great for action shots and showing progressions.

Contax T2 - considered one of the best point and shoot film cameras (with a Carl Zeiss lens) from the 80’s.  Made famous by fashion photographers.  Goes for hundreds on Ebay.

Lomo LC-A+ - It was the LOMO LC-A that the Lomographic Society was inspired by.

Smena - Antique Russian camera.

Rolleiflex - vintage TLR camera, hope to find one at a swap meet someday

Yashica Matt 124 - another cool TLR I hope to come across

Mamiya C220 - one of only two TLR medium format cameras with interchangeable lenses.

Hasselblad - someday if money is not an issue I’d love to own one of these (a Leica would be cool too)

Canonet QL17 - highly sought after rangefinder (this was the camera to have before SLR’s came out), great for street photography due to its quiet operation and compact size, not as noticeable as a huge DSLR

Yashica Electro 35 - another rangefinder on the lower end of the price range

As you can see, I really do have GAS and I’ve yet to find a cure. LOL

I stumbled across this website while surfing for reviews on the Superheadz Golden Half camera, which BTW is pretty cool.  It takes half frame photos thereby doubling the amount of pictures you get per roll of film and it is so tiny and cute that it could fit into a small purse.  Darn, now I wish I’d snatched it up when I saw it on clearance at Urban Outfitters.  Oh well.  Yet another to add to the list of cameras that I covet.  Apparently I have GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome).  Just ask my husband.  I’ve got it bad and that ain’t good for the checking account.  Apparently there is no cure for GAS.  Once you get it, you’ve got it for good.

Anyway, this website here lists 80 film cameras you can find for $50 or less.  They had a contest (which was last year).  Photographers could submit a review on the $50 or less film camera they found and one roll of film they shot with it.  Very interesting stuff they came up with and I love reading the reviews too.  Just click on a photo of the camera to read the review and see the rolls of film people shot.  It’s nice to see there are still many film enthusiasts out there and that film is still very much alive!  Digital did NOT kill film!

http://blog.epicedits.com/2008/09/17/80-film-cameras-for-under-50-dollars/

Today I felt like doing nada and just putzin’ around the house.  After our busy week I had like 8 loads of laundry to catch up on.  I wish I had something more interesting to share but at least this is amusing.  Our dog Miles (lab mix pound rescue) somehow got a hold of Little A’s lion, chewed him up and got him all dirty in the backyard.  Today I ran the lion through the wash.  When he came out his mane looked like it could use a good blow dry.  So, after considering just letting him air dry I decided to just throw him in the dryer with the rest of the clothes.  Well, let’s just say when he came out he was a changed lion.  He looks all tore up–one eye is all jacked up and he has a permafro for his mane.  And if he could roar before, he probably meows now.  It’s a good thing Little A doesn’t care how he looks.

The Lion who now meows

Took my toddler to Legoland today.  Wow, what a place!  We’ll have to visit a few more times before we see all of it.  Anyway, I’m exhausted.  If you’ve gone through the terrible twos and ever feared letting your toddler out of the stroller, then you can probably relate.  It was a great time minus the times getting him back into the stroller and getting off the rides (yeah, cause it’s all mommy’s fault we have to get off the ride).  We’re in a rough phase.  Let’s hope it passes soon.  I’m off to get a tui na masage.  I so need it.  P.S. I couldn’t decide on a photo so I again broke the rule and posted 4 of them.  I took a bunch of photos on my toy cameras but those will take awhile to come back.

Breakdancers in "New York"

Cool Lego Church

Lego Gas Station

Little A and Thomas

Today we buried my uncle.  The military salute was such a beautiful part of the funeral.   What I’ll always remember about him is that he loved to fish (notice the cool fish on the left side of the casket) and he was always videotaping all of the kids at family parties.   I will miss him very much.