Frozen Photos

I guess this post is more about the weather than photography. Above you can see the latest view out of my office window. I have frequently shown this same view through the lens of various cameras and shot it with different films but rarely has it looked so white and cold. 

This may not look very impressive to my Northern friends but in South Louisiana we generally keep our ice in a glass with our favorite beverage. Lately however, we have been experiencing what the rest of the country calls “Winter.” This has discouraged me from venturing out to take many pictures.

Here’s another shot showing the edge of my roof decorated with icicles.

I have of course, continued shooting indoors, some church directory photos and a local concert but nothing appropriate for this blog. Stay tuned though, the good thing about weather in this part of the country is that it changes often so no doubt some warm sunny days are just around the corner.

OLIPHANT PHOTO MUSEUM

OLIPHANT PHOTO MUSEUM, a photo by wizowel on Flickr.

Busy, busy, bush these days but here's the colorized version of the black and white photo I posted last week. The black & white was shot using the Olympus XA2 on Kodak BW400SN. This one was shot with the Pentax ZX-30 on Kodak Portra 400.

OLIPHANT PHOTO MUSEUM

OLIPHANT, a photo by wizowel on Flickr.

Here's a shot from the latest roll of BW400CN that I ran through the Olympus XA2. This is a handy little 35mm that is easy to have with you.

I forgot just how much I really like both this film and this camera.

Reboot for 2014

2013 has been an amazing year for my photography. I’ve shot with and written blog posts about a dozen different cameras and almost as many different kinds of film. I’ve been introduced to the world of 110 film format, delved further into medium format with both 120 and 620 film and continued my exploration of 35mm with new cameras as well as some new film stocks.

That’s the good news. While it has been exciting there is a down side to all this too.

First of all I have found myself occasionally confused and struggling with trying to figure out how to make these new cameras do what I want them to do. There is something to be said for using the same camera for years until it becomes an extension of yourself that you never have to really think about because you (and it by extension) just automatically do what needs to be done to capture the picture you want to capture.  There is absolutely a learning curve associated with each new camera or even film and all the experimenting is fun but not really conducive to producing excellent photographs. Plus, you tend to keep shooting the same compositions over and over for the sake of comparison.

For 2014 I want to get back to basics a bit. I want to settle down and shoot just a couple cameras and focus on producing better pictures. I also want to get my own scanner so I can take the “keepers” and produce some high resolution scans for printing and make some prints. I used to actually get prints and fill up photo albums but abandoned that when I became infected with “digitalis.” I am not talking about the plant.  I am talking about the disease that inflicts those infatuated with digital photography and makes them believe that prints are no longer relevant.

The photo above is from the first roll of 620 Portra 400 film shot with the Kodak Vigilant at f11 and 1/100. This is an amazing old camera that produces 6 X 9 negatives - that’s 60mm X 90mm! Its over 70 years old and as you can see, it still works. I love the huge 6 X 9 negatives so this one will be a keeper although I am considering selling of a few of my cameras to help me attain my other goals for 2014.