Discoveries

So this lomography thing keeps proving to be very useful to me in that I am reading up on photography processes (experimental and non-experimental) very consistently now. That hasn't happened in a long time. College has a way of sucking all excitement about what you're studying right out of you. Or it did that to me, at least.

Anyway, couple of interesting things I've discovered recently:
Concerning the Recesky DIY Twin Lens Camera Kit--
It seems that lately...or maybe it's just this particular brand of kit...the viewfinders are kind of faulty. They're supposed to be slightly opaque so you can see the reflection from the mirror piece and actually focus. It seems people are getting clear viewfinder screens in their kit for some reason and that makes you see the mirror piece directly--it doesn't work. You can't really see the full image that you'll get and you can't focus at all. This discussion on flicker is what helped me out: Click here to read . The idea to use the post-it note tabs absolutely works. I had my doubts but it works perfectly. That first image is definitely what your viewfinder should look like when you point your camera at a subject...if you're getting a round image...you need to try the post-it note trick.

What else, what else?

Developing my own color film:
I've never really thought it was possible/practical to develop your own color film at home but this video makes it look pretty simple: $18 bucks will develop approximately 8 rolls of film...it would be $18 bucks to get 3 rolls of film developed at say walmart (which is my only option around here, unfortunately). So yeah, that's definitely worth it, I think. Plus, I'm kind of a dark room junkie--I love developing my own film and prints. Been a while but I'd loveeee to get back into it. And developing color would be a brand new experience for me. I guess I figured it would be a lot more expensive than that for chemicals to develop color film. Good to know it's not.

Mad scientist chemical experiments with film (bwahahaha):

I've stumbled across some interesting articles on lomography.com about putting film to the test. It's funny because my photo professor always freaked out about how fragile and precious film was. I guess I get it if you're concerned about proper technicality. But now--I'm a graduate, not a student, and I can do whatevvvvver I want! ;) And it seems that putting your film through a survival test can produce some very cool effects. Here are a couple articles that suggest odd things like overdosing your film with cough syrup and getting it crunk (well..with rubbing alcohol...but hey, maybe someone should give vodka a try and see what happens?). Home developing would probably also give me the option of cross processing which produces this kind of crazy vintage look:

Cross processing is when you take slide film negatives (usually developed with E6 chemicals) and develop them in the chemicals typically used for regular color negatives (C-41). Most people seem to cross process slide film in regular color negative chemistry.  Haven't really looked into E6 chemistry yet/cost/etc.

Soooo I'm still hoping to be able to set up a dark room of sorts when we get to El Paso. I think it will open up a lot of new avenue's for this hobby I've taken up. Haven't really been taking that many pictures, though to tell the truth. I haven't really been anywhere recently that's caught my eye or struck me as picture worthy. But I've been taking a camera with me when I do go places usually so I'm ready if the opportunity comes up. Definitely can't wait for the move! Need a good change of pace and new things for my eyes and camera lens to take in.

Still Figuring Out the Holga

Got a couple rolls of film back from my first Holga shoots.
 There were a few pretty sweet shots and the rest of the rolls were just...nothin'. Or just nothing good (but mostly nothing). 
That's part of Holga cameras and lomography in general (so I've been reading), you never know what you're gonna get. But I can't help feeling that I'm not getting shots I like because I'm sitll not using the Holga "properly". Granted, there is no "properly"...but still.

I think I've determined that one of my main problems is using a low ISO film. Been using Fujifilm 200...and it's just not doing the trick. What I'm reading says you pretty much need 400 or more. I picked up a pack of Fujifilm Superia Xtra 400 today and I've got a roll of lomography 120mm 100 ISO in my Diana F+ right now. We'll see how that turns out.

All the shots I've taken in the dark with the flash have actually turned out pretty good on the Holga. I've just gotta work out the lighting. Something I saw on a Holga tip website today said to take a digital camera and set it at an aperture of  f/8 and f/11 with 1/1000 of a second for the shutter speed and that will emulate what the Holga gives you, more or less. That way I can take some shots in different lighting and see how it looks immediately so I know how to use (or not use) the Holga in that same lighting. Pretty nifty idea. 

So I'm gonna try that and see how it works and I'm also researching films. After I see how this Fujifilm 400 does I want to try some Lomography 35mm 400 and 800 ISO. Now I've just gotta research 120 film and see what I like. Probably going to try the lomography brand 120 400 ISO next (Man, I really wish there was a lomography store around here. Or an Urban Outfitters--I know they sell lomo stuff there). I really hope that roll I have in my Diana turns out nicely.

The only drawback to shooting film is it IS kind of expensive to develop and print. But I guess that could be helped if I stopped snapping my camera at everything I see...although, where's the fun in not trying to capture every moment, eh? Hah, just means I gotta start selling books to support my habit I suppose. ;)

Built it Mah-self! (Twin Lens Reflex Camera)

Nevermind the fact that it took me a whopping 4 hours longer than the box said it would (...partially due to all the breaks I kept taking and the television distracting me and there was an hour and a half stint with the shutter mechanism which I will get into later...) I have successfully put together my very own Twin Lens Reflex Camera!!!

This was my Christmas present from Noah: The DIY Twin Lens Camera Kit. It really did kind of take me all day but I love building stuff so I had a lot of fun putting it together. I've always thought the old school twin lens cameras were pretty cool. Never bought one that I came across because I was always afraid they wouldn't actually work. Hah, so hopefully I did the job right and this one doesn't fail me.

The directions are kind of weird--it's a straight translation from the original Chinese (I think) so it's worded a little strange in some places. The photos are okay...but a little dark so it's hard to see which part they're talking about. (I'm not knocking the kit, don't get me wrong!). I found this website which helped me a lot--clear pictures that helped explain everything better.

The only real problem I had was with the shutter mechanism. First off the directions that come with the kit are misprinted--Spring C is the smaller spring that goes on the "shutter roller" and Spring D is the large one that goes on the "shutter push pole axes". Secondly, the Spring C that I had was too long/the hook and longer part weren't in the right position to fit in the camera like the instructions say. I read (later) that in such a case you should curl the spring on around the axes of the shutter roller so the long side lays along the "isolating plate" or the part separating the shutter and viewfinder areas (for anyone who stumbles on this while trying to put one of these kits together). Anyway, I jumped the gun and cut the spring down. Then had to tweak (and tweak and tweak) it until the spring action worked correctly. Thank God for my relentless persistence when I think I can fix things, hah. I was just about to throw in the towel and order a new kit when I miraculously got it working. This video shows how the shutter should operate.

So yeah, other than that part it was pretty easy. I'm excited to start using it! The end of the instructions talk about different ways to use the "reaming plate" to get different effects with your photos so I'm interested to see how the different options (behind lens, in front of lens, not used at all) affect the results of my photos. 

Gotta get some different kind of film though--the stuff I'm using (and the only stuff available around here...at walmart, unfortunately...) isn't quite cutting it. But that's a story for next time.  

Here's a link to some photos taken with Twin Lens Reflex cameras on lomography.com, check it!