Tag: camera

Lomography School

Posted on by stilettocity

Every picture tells a story. It’s one of the reasons I’ve always loved photography. I did some photojournalism a few years back and would go wherever and whenever to get a great shot. It was a major creative rush. But I fell out of doing artistic photos when easy point-and-shoot digital automatics came along. There was no art to it, just capturing the scene in perfect focus, perfect lighting – and perfectly boring. Recently (as many who follow this blog know) I’ve fallen for Lomography – experimental analogue photography using plastic cameras and film, yes, film to completely deconstruct the perfect photo into moody, textured, inspired works that play off happy accidents of light leaks and double exposures.

Sure there are now apps available on your iPhone for that. But nothing is more fun than getting a roll of film back to see what you got. It’s like a prize inside the Cracker Jack box – sometimes you love it, sometimes it’s disappointing, but usually there’s at least one or two shots that draw pure excitement.

Mind you, my first few rolls were complete crap as I learned to work with my camera and started remembering to check all the manual settings. But if you ever need help, the super friendly and supportive staff at the Lomography store In West Hollywood is standing by to show you how to work the camera and recommend films to try for different effects. I love going in there, I always leave feeling part of a community of total enthusiasts just nutty for these colorful little cameras.

I was lucky enough to get a Diana F+ camera for my birthday last month and the Lomography store just happened to have a workshop on how to use it. During a brief session in their upstairs “classroom,” we learned all about the different lenses and backs you can try for endless possibilities – way beyond what you can do with a little digi automatic. I tricked out my camera with a 35mm sprocket back and splitzer lens and we took stroll down Santa Monica Boulevard to shoot what inspired us. Here’s a sampling from my roll.

Click below to see the slideshow:

Lomography Diana F+ Workshop

 Thank you Lomography – you’ve got my creative juices going!

Smile for the camera,

K.

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Tag: camera

A Lesson in Lomography

Posted on by stilettocity

In my last report, I raved about discovering the Lomography store. Well, I made a little shopping trip to purchase a Fisheye camera. I’ve had great fun practicing using the circular framing technique that works best when you get REALLY CLOSE to your subject – much to the dismay of a my best supermodel, my cat!

I went back to learn some expert techniques including double exposure and other tricks at the Dina Mini workshop, one of the many Saturday offerings at the store. We were given a brief presentation on different ways to shoot, a loaner camera and a roll of film. Then it was off to practice. The six strangers in the class became instant friends taking pix of each other and we couldn’t wait to get the roll developed to see what surprises awaited. The fun thing about shooting analogue is you never know what you’re going to get on your film and it’s the unexpected that makes the most powerful photos. I walked out of there with yet another camera and great excuse to shoot a couple of friends in the park the next day. Take a look at my results:

Click the photos below to see the slideshows

Lomography Diana Mini Class

Friends in a skyscraper park

Until next time – shoot first, ask questions later!

K.

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Tag: camera

Sixties and the City

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I recently feel in love – with a store. Invited to attend a product launch at the Lomography Gallery Store, I had no idea what I was in for. I walked into this colorful place and discovered hundreds of cameras in bright colors and designs – crazy fisheye lenses, panoramic shooters and more, all looking like some kind of crazy toys from Hello Kitty to pop art.  Lomography is the art of analog photography, all film, no digitals, these cameras perform all kinds of tricks from wild angles to double exposure to push the envelope on creative expression. With so much possibility, a creative mind could go crazy in this story – and they can help with that too – plenty of books on hand to show what can be done with these cameras plus workshops to try your hand. The store and website aim to create a Lomography community encouraging everyone to shoot from the hip, share tips, enter contests and swap photos. I’m in! The party was the release of the new La Sardina, modeled to look like sardine tin and the party theme was a night in Venice with mandolin players and sales clerks dressed like gondoliers, and don’t forget the Italian Ice- my pal Cary was on hand with his C.K. Farnsworth’s Vintage Soda Fountain serving up handmade, all-natural Italian ice and OMG those are good! All I know is I will be back to this store to start my new analog camera collection – look for some cool photos coming to this blog! In the meantime check out some snaps below from the party.

Click the photo to see the slideshow

That’s a wrap,
K.

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