Impossible Project Film

Rule #1

Rule number one: never leave the house without a camera.  I'm not the greatest at following this rule, but I am getting better.  Saturday, I decided to do a little shopping.  I was just going to Target to pick up a few things, but the little voice in my head said, grab a camera Kirsten.  You never know what you might find out there.  I felt a little silly, but I grabbed it on my way out nonetheless.  On my drive home, while stuck waiting on a train, I happened to see a sign for a free antique car, and airshow. I had just picked up a bunch of expired Fuji Velvia 100F film, and was eager to see what it might do. Soooo, I followed the sign out to the Academy of Model Aeronautics and shot around for a bit. These aren't great, but I had fun, thanks to the little voice reminding me to follow rule number one.

Beautifully Damaged

I have FINALLY gotten around to getting that damaged roll of film developed.  After loading it into a new canister to be taken to the lab, I was certain that nothing was going to come out.  The black paper taped to the outside of the clear canister the lab tech put it into months ago just didn't seem light tight enough, but it was!  I was pleasantly surprised to receive these little gems.  Now if I could only remember what I soaked them in to do this kind of damage!

Yes, I am alive. No, I was not abducted by renegade squirrels; though I'm sure I might have gotten some good pictures if I had been.  My cameras have been sitting untouched, gathering dust in anticipation of my return to normalcy.  This past weekend I finally got in some shutter-time.  These are a couple of shots from a toy camera, (Action Sampler) I picked up a few moths ago.  This was my first time playing around with the new little gadget. I think this camera may be a keeper this summer.

Weekend Shots

Here are a few shots taken with the tank, (Vivitar 400/SL) last weekend. Oh, how I love this camera.

12 Months of Photos - February

So, I didn't quite get them all, but I had fun trying!

Red

Favorite Gadgets

Loved Ones (My little sister Laura)

Hands

Party

Something I Don't Love (These clearly are not in the sink waiting to be washed, but I hate washing dishes.)

Free Shot (I just liked this one.)

Oh Well

This last Sunday was the anti-photo day of all days.  A friend and I went driving/walking all about in search of a few nice shots.  What we found were strong winds, nasty sun glare, and angry geese. Okay, the geese weren't angry until we got too close to a heavily protected nest.  The real mother goose is nothing like the one we learned about during story-circle in kindergarten.  We were squawked at and chased up a muddy hill before I got off a single shot.

When we finally gave up and decided to head to the photo lab, I was feeling a little disappointed in our excursion, but was excited about a roll of damaged film I had been shooting on.  This buoyed me through the wait for my prints.  As my friend and I approached the counter to pick up our prints, we heard the film tech equivalent of the blue screen of death, "I'm sorry, but...".  Apparently, my damaged film had not dried sufficiently enough to be sent through the developer.  My roll was returned to me in a plastic film canister, wrapped in black paper.  I am still not quite sure why they completely removed the film from its metal canister if they weren't going to develop it.  Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that the black paper around the plastic canister is not light-tight.  Sometime this week, I'll roll it into a new metal canister and hope that the entire roll is not destroyed.

So, after all of that, here are a couple of salvaged shots from the day.

Diana is still my favorite little camera.

Damaged Film

Below are a few experimental photos taken over the weekend.  I read an article about damaging film, and just had to try it.  This can be done in a number of ways.  I chose to soak my film in mouthwash.  The end results, (if you haven't completely ruined the film) are odd colors, splotches, and other distortions.  Because my film was wet, I decided to use a little camera I picked up at a flea market for one whole dollar.  It was basically a re-loadable disposable.  It worked well for this purpose.

Latest Challenge

This is my latest little challenge, a Polaroid 210 Land Camera, circa 1967.  I was thrilled recently to find that Fuji is still making both color and black and white film to fit these cameras. I promptly ordered a pack of each.  Sadly, I ruined almost an entire pack of the color film before I managed to figure out what was going wrong inside this little piece of history.  I persevered however, and believe I have solved the problem.  I will hopefully have a few shots to post here soon!  

Current Favorites

These are currently my favorite "toys".  The tank, (as I like to call it) on the left is a Vivitar 400/SL SLR, circa 1975.  The cute camera on the right is a reproduction, (modified in size, to use 35mm film instead of 120) of a toy camera called the Diana, originally introduced in the 1960's.

Railing with shadows on a sunny day.  This picture was taken with a Diana Mini, using Kodak BW400 CN film.

Rusted metal beam lying in grass near the Jackson St bridge construction site. This picture was taken with a Diana Mini, using Kodak BW400 CN film.

Old bike with weeds and helmet. This photo was taken with a Minolta X370, using Ilford XP2 400 film.

Wonderful Shadows

Taken with a Diana Mini 35mm camera, using Kodak BW400 CN film.