It's hip to be square.

Ahh...Huey Lewis and the News had it right.....squares are cool.

So, for this weeks blog entry instead of giving you a bit of information on camera functions, or how to make sure your image is in focus, we're going to look at some fun pictures. I am going to show you some images I shot last week using my trusty TLR Yashica Mat 124 G camera.

For those who aren't hip to the jive of the vintage camera world...TLR stands for "Twin Lens Reflex" that means it has two lenses, one you see through, the other one actually takes the picture. These cameras generally require you to look down through a viewfinder located at the top of the camera to help you compose your image.

The particular camera I used takes photos on 120 film, that gives negatives that are 2 1/4 inches wide and
2 1/4 inches tall...well...officially they are 6 cm by 6 cm. The 120 format is generally referred to as Medium Format since it is larger than 35mm (small format) but smaller than 4x5 and larger field cameras (large format) The Medium format is a great way for film shooters to get more detail in their images in the form of larger negatives.

Really the only downside of the format is that you only get 12 images on a roll of film (or 18 if your camera shoots in a 6 cm x 4.5 cm format) instead of the 24-36 many are used to with their 35mm cameras. But y'know...having fewer shots makes us slow down, which if you've been reading my blog lately you know is a good thing.

So, without further ado, here are some of the highlights from my photo expedition through Portland last week.

Back to Basics

The best thing about digital cameras and the computer technology that goes along with them, is that you can cram hundreds maybe even thousands of images on a single media card. A wise man once told me of digital photography "Electrons are free man, shoot it till ya get it."

It's true...you can shoot and fill your card full of 300 images and hopefully capture 10 good ones in what I call the modified Rambo "shoot'em till ya hit 'em" sort of routine. The other option, you can slow down a bit in your shooting and get more good photos than bad. Really think about what you are shooting and make it count. Even though you have 4 gigs of memory to play with, maybe in any given day you only shoot 30 shots, but since you slowed down a bit and really looked at what you were shooting, 25 of your 30 came out well! It's a good thing!

A great way to practice this new outlook on photography is to bust out the old 35mm film camera and run some film through it. When you only have 36 frames to work with, you will tend to slow it down a bit and use them much more wisely. Plus if you have been reading this blog for any amount of time, you know I'm a big fan of film.

 

So get out and shoot, take your time, and make 'em count. I would love to see what you all come up with so feel free to drop me a link in the comment section of any of the posts on the blog.

Geek Hardware: The Toy Cameras

If any of my college professors are reading this post, please return to my webpage and enjoy the pretty pictures...you will not like what you are about to see.

Everyone ready?

Here goes...

I like blur...

There, I said it. I can't take it back now..it's out there. Everyone knows. Even though it flies in the face of everything I learned as an undergrad...that everything must be razor sharp, so sharp in fact that to run your hand down the front of the print would cause it to bleed. It's true...I have developed a love affair with blur. I feel better now.

Of course you can create blur with Photoshop or any other decent post processing software when it comes to your digital files. But I have found that blur looks the best when it comes from film...just like everything else in life. *coughGOFILMcoughcough*

With that in mind there are a whole slew of cameras out there whose lives are built around the blur...many of which are coupled with my other love...the vignette. The darkening of edges to create a dark and ominous mood....mmm...vignette. These cameras are generally plastic in nature and tend to leak light like a sieve. The time tested favorite of these cameras is the wonderfully dynamic Holga.

Holgas are easy to find and super easy to use. The cameras can be found online at Amazon.com and B&H Photovideo. Many local stores also carry them as they have become a big part of what I would like to think is a film revival. I know that digital has become the way of the photographic world,  but I think that there are a large group of photographers that still enjoy the look and feel of film and will be hard pressed to give it up for some applications.

They take 120 film which can be purchased at any decent photography shop. They also generally require copious amounts of taping with duct tape to cover all the loose seams and light leaks.

Focusing the Holga (as well as many of it's sister and simlar cameras..the Diana, the Woca, etc.) is notoriously simple and requires some guess work. They are also a fixed f/8 ('ish) aperture. So that gives you a good amount of sharpness with a good fall off to the blur.

Everyone, go out and get a Holga, a Woca, a Diana Camera, or any sort of cheap 20.00 plastic camera and get out shooting. The results are awesome and everyone will KNOW that you're cool when they see you shoot one of these monsters.