Saturday, May 24, 2008
After graduation waffles. -4 140 remaining.
Yesterday was Graduation. Er, I guess two days ago. My sleep schedule has been raped by the graduation party which lasted until 3 the next morning. On top of that the gang and I decided to go to waffle house, just like every other red blooded high school student. While we were there I took a few photos to document the great time we had and the friends we spent it with. Touching? Yes.
Monday, April 14, 2008
-2 144 Remaining
I kind of broke out of my mold yesterday photo-wise. I went out on a limb and bought 15 red balloons to go and have some fun with.
I dont know why it was so hard but actually being proactive and taking photos that I actually thought of and executed really inspired me and helped me get out of my "slump" as I call it. Up until now, I had mostly taken photos of things I had found and, frankly, I was tired of it.
Put simply...its hard. You go out sometimes confident that you're going to come back home with a masterpiece, but instead you get 300 photos that you don't like. Its really frustrating and quite discouraging when you get right down to it.
Also, recently I have come to the realization that, for some time, I had been taking photographs just because of the cameras I have. I collect older cameras and use them as much as I can, most of them taking 120 film. That's great and all, but I have been using them poorly. Its like a writing getting a brand new fountain pen and writing gibberish. So, I think, having realized that, I can also come out of that too and return to getting quality work.
Bleah, anyway. Here are the two polaroids from yesterday. These are my favorite polaroids I have ever taken, so they will be big. Enjoy :-)
I dont know why it was so hard but actually being proactive and taking photos that I actually thought of and executed really inspired me and helped me get out of my "slump" as I call it. Up until now, I had mostly taken photos of things I had found and, frankly, I was tired of it.
Put simply...its hard. You go out sometimes confident that you're going to come back home with a masterpiece, but instead you get 300 photos that you don't like. Its really frustrating and quite discouraging when you get right down to it.
Also, recently I have come to the realization that, for some time, I had been taking photographs just because of the cameras I have. I collect older cameras and use them as much as I can, most of them taking 120 film. That's great and all, but I have been using them poorly. Its like a writing getting a brand new fountain pen and writing gibberish. So, I think, having realized that, I can also come out of that too and return to getting quality work.
Bleah, anyway. Here are the two polaroids from yesterday. These are my favorite polaroids I have ever taken, so they will be big. Enjoy :-)
Monday, April 7, 2008
Been a while -3 +20 146 remaining
Its been a while since the last post. Not much has been going on. I took a trip to Birmingham and took some photos, but just one polaroid. I liked the two different colors, but the print doesn't look very much like what I saw. I don't know, maybe I could have shifted the exposure wheel a little to the darker side. Anyway, its not too bad.
The others I liked after forgetting about them for a while. The greens didn't look that yellow. Maybe the exposure wheel again?
Whatev, at least they're exposed correctly.
The others I liked after forgetting about them for a while. The greens didn't look that yellow. Maybe the exposure wheel again?
Whatev, at least they're exposed correctly.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Breaking the bank. +20 129 Remaining
I went to Walgreens today to get some 110 film developed. As I was checking out I remembered the sale on Polaroids they were having a few weeks back, so I excused myself away from the cashier for a moment and looked around. Film! I think they had two twin packs and one single pack. The price had gone way up, though. A few weeks ago a single pack was about $10-11 and now its $14!
I got up to the cashier and handed her a twin pack and a single pack, praying that the buy a twin pack, get a single pack free sake was still going on. But it wasn't. So I ended up buying a twin pack anyway. I couldn't resist. Its ok, though, because I'll have some extra funds coming in soon.
So, anyway, this should make up for the majority of the messed-up photos I took trying to get the SX-70 to work.
I got up to the cashier and handed her a twin pack and a single pack, praying that the buy a twin pack, get a single pack free sake was still going on. But it wasn't. So I ended up buying a twin pack anyway. I couldn't resist. Its ok, though, because I'll have some extra funds coming in soon.
So, anyway, this should make up for the majority of the messed-up photos I took trying to get the SX-70 to work.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Happy Easter! -6 109 Remaining
Sadie, my niece, came over to the house today to celebrate Easter and search for some eggs. Well...jelly bean eggs anyway.
She had a good time and I had the opportunity to take some shots of her while she searched.
Everything still seems to be working great on the SX-70. Nothing to complain about.
She had a good time and I had the opportunity to take some shots of her while she searched.
Everything still seems to be working great on the SX-70. Nothing to complain about.
Friday, March 21, 2008
SUCCESS! -2 115 Remaining
This morning I woke up eager to test out the SX-70 after replacing the photo-cell filter. I'm in the shower thinking of what picture I want to take when my brother yells at me from the hallway letting me know he's at the house. I quickly get dressed and go and talk to him. We discuss the camera and the fungus in the lens when I start telling him about the filter on the photo-cell. Then I ask him to go outside and pose for me because I hadn't tested it and I knew that anything to do with jeremy and a photo will be a riot. So, with the new "filter" in place and the exposure wheel set to slightly darken...
SUCCESS! A perfectly exposed Polaroid straight from the SX-70. WOOHOO! Now I don't have to waste anymore exposures trying to figure what's wrong with the thing. Now I can just focus on taking pictures.
--later---
Tiffany and I are at Chewacla soakin' up the sun when I take another, wanting to show her my triumph.
Again, another well-exposed image! I think I could have even left the exposure wheel at normal, what with her shadow and all.
So yeah, a good day for Polaroids and the SX-70. I couldn't be more relieved.
SUCCESS! A perfectly exposed Polaroid straight from the SX-70. WOOHOO! Now I don't have to waste anymore exposures trying to figure what's wrong with the thing. Now I can just focus on taking pictures.
--later---
Tiffany and I are at Chewacla soakin' up the sun when I take another, wanting to show her my triumph.
Again, another well-exposed image! I think I could have even left the exposure wheel at normal, what with her shadow and all.
So yeah, a good day for Polaroids and the SX-70. I couldn't be more relieved.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Lake Martin. -10... 117 Remaining
I woke up this morning excited about the 600 pack I had put in the camera the night before. Wanting to see what the new pack had in store, I immediately got up and took a pretty neat looking photo of the horn on the vintage-ish record player Tiffany had gotten me as a present some time back. (exposure wheel set an normal)
I liked it, but i could tell that the shutter was open for a little too long. There was plenty of light, and there was noticeable camera-shake on the print. (Also, I had already forgotten that this wasn't SX-70 film and tried to manipulate it. It worked to some degree (black lines))
This worried me, and, in my mind, a well-exposed image outside would do my nerves good. In the backyard, I took a photo of Patch (my dog) in the shade with exposure wheel set at normal.
As you can tell, it's ridiculously overexposed. At this point I was pretty annoyed/confused. Shade+normal exposure+ND filter SHOULD turn out a well-exposed photograph. In another attempt, solely for the sake of experimentation, I took a photo of a flower in direct sunlight with the exposure wheel at its darkest setting.
This came out reasonably well with only slight overexposure. regardless, it was 100x better than the photo of patch. Colors were good, clear image, black blacks and white whites. Good stuff for the most part. So keeping the wheel at the darkest setting was the answer......
Later...
Tiffany was off work today, so we went to lake Martin and hiked some trails. I took my less-than trusty SX-70 along for the ride in hopes that, under pressure, I can find a way to make it work. We're walking and talking and having some fun, when we come to a scenic point where the trail runs alongside the lake-shore. Still in my ever experimental mood, I try to take the photo and capture some of the colors and leaves underneath the water. Exposure wheel at its darkest setting.
Ok, not COMPLETELY overexposed, but you can't see the colors very well and there is little definition. I shook it off and trekked on. Along the trail there were more photo-ops, which I took.
All of them were slightly overexposed, which was a little disappointing. I wanted to be able to catch the rich colors that I was seeing.
Another photo-op. The trail had led to a point where it met the lake-shore. You could see the water reflecting on the golden rocks underneath the beautiful teal water. I stepped out, got in position, framed and...jam. Not good. This time I had no idea what could have started it. I tried to take another picture, but to no avail. I could hear the gears turning inside, but no photo. With hair standing on the back of my neck, I sat down and tried to fix the problem without having to expose the rest of the pack.
Finally, after not being able to take out the print myself, I sacrificed a polaroid and took out the pack. I put it back in in hopes that the camera would spit out the jammed photo after being closed. Nothing. Retried. Nothing. Finally I was able to pull the twice-exposed photo out of the camera.
Unfortunately that meant that another photo as wasted, but at this point I just wanted to make sure that nothing was wrong with the camera itself. I put the pack back in the camera. Still no photo. After some more finagling...
I thought about the ND filter. Could that be keep the film from coming through? Again I took out the pack, sacrificing another polaroid, and removed the filter. After putting it back in, out comes a photo.
Already mad that I had wasted 3 shots, I took another photo of Tiffany looking at my troubles
No ND filter. Overexposed, but looking good. The last of the pack. Nearly a whole 10 images wasted.
I have come to the realization that trying to fix this bloody camera will require a lot of sacrifice. But, however, 600 film is still being produced in Mexico (I think) so there is still the possibility of acquiring more.
Anyway, I hike the rest of the trail with the thought of wasted Polaroids weighing heavy on my conscience. Fortunately, that means thinking of ways to overcome the situation at hand. While hiking, I decided that I would replace the ND filter in front of the electric eye with a clear piece of plastic. This would allow the electric eye to see more light and adjust shutter speed accordingly, hopefully giving me a correctly exposed Polaroid (for once)....So I did.
http://photojojo.com/content/photojojo-original/discontinued-polaroid-projects/
Compare that with the photo I took the other day.
I REALLY have high hopes for this mod. I put the same ND filter on another pack of 600 film, but made sure that everything was secure and that it wasn't preventing any of the camera's operations. The ND filter, along with the piece of plastic in front of the photocell amounts to a -3 exposure stop. I think that's the right terminology.
Usually all it takes is two stops, but...I don't know.
-1 Pack of 600 film
I liked it, but i could tell that the shutter was open for a little too long. There was plenty of light, and there was noticeable camera-shake on the print. (Also, I had already forgotten that this wasn't SX-70 film and tried to manipulate it. It worked to some degree (black lines))
This worried me, and, in my mind, a well-exposed image outside would do my nerves good. In the backyard, I took a photo of Patch (my dog) in the shade with exposure wheel set at normal.
As you can tell, it's ridiculously overexposed. At this point I was pretty annoyed/confused. Shade+normal exposure+ND filter SHOULD turn out a well-exposed photograph. In another attempt, solely for the sake of experimentation, I took a photo of a flower in direct sunlight with the exposure wheel at its darkest setting.
This came out reasonably well with only slight overexposure. regardless, it was 100x better than the photo of patch. Colors were good, clear image, black blacks and white whites. Good stuff for the most part. So keeping the wheel at the darkest setting was the answer......
Later...
Tiffany was off work today, so we went to lake Martin and hiked some trails. I took my less-than trusty SX-70 along for the ride in hopes that, under pressure, I can find a way to make it work. We're walking and talking and having some fun, when we come to a scenic point where the trail runs alongside the lake-shore. Still in my ever experimental mood, I try to take the photo and capture some of the colors and leaves underneath the water. Exposure wheel at its darkest setting.
Ok, not COMPLETELY overexposed, but you can't see the colors very well and there is little definition. I shook it off and trekked on. Along the trail there were more photo-ops, which I took.
All of them were slightly overexposed, which was a little disappointing. I wanted to be able to catch the rich colors that I was seeing.
Another photo-op. The trail had led to a point where it met the lake-shore. You could see the water reflecting on the golden rocks underneath the beautiful teal water. I stepped out, got in position, framed and...jam. Not good. This time I had no idea what could have started it. I tried to take another picture, but to no avail. I could hear the gears turning inside, but no photo. With hair standing on the back of my neck, I sat down and tried to fix the problem without having to expose the rest of the pack.
Finally, after not being able to take out the print myself, I sacrificed a polaroid and took out the pack. I put it back in in hopes that the camera would spit out the jammed photo after being closed. Nothing. Retried. Nothing. Finally I was able to pull the twice-exposed photo out of the camera.
Unfortunately that meant that another photo as wasted, but at this point I just wanted to make sure that nothing was wrong with the camera itself. I put the pack back in the camera. Still no photo. After some more finagling...
I thought about the ND filter. Could that be keep the film from coming through? Again I took out the pack, sacrificing another polaroid, and removed the filter. After putting it back in, out comes a photo.
Already mad that I had wasted 3 shots, I took another photo of Tiffany looking at my troubles
No ND filter. Overexposed, but looking good. The last of the pack. Nearly a whole 10 images wasted.
I have come to the realization that trying to fix this bloody camera will require a lot of sacrifice. But, however, 600 film is still being produced in Mexico (I think) so there is still the possibility of acquiring more.
Anyway, I hike the rest of the trail with the thought of wasted Polaroids weighing heavy on my conscience. Fortunately, that means thinking of ways to overcome the situation at hand. While hiking, I decided that I would replace the ND filter in front of the electric eye with a clear piece of plastic. This would allow the electric eye to see more light and adjust shutter speed accordingly, hopefully giving me a correctly exposed Polaroid (for once)....So I did.
http://photojojo.com/content/photojojo-original/discontinued-polaroid-projects/
Compare that with the photo I took the other day.
I REALLY have high hopes for this mod. I put the same ND filter on another pack of 600 film, but made sure that everything was secure and that it wasn't preventing any of the camera's operations. The ND filter, along with the piece of plastic in front of the photocell amounts to a -3 exposure stop. I think that's the right terminology.
Usually all it takes is two stops, but...I don't know.
-1 Pack of 600 film
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