Winter, just passing through

LC-Wide (Kodak T-Max 100)

I seem to be shooting more black & white than usual these days, discovering new film favourites and letting the winter light speak for itself. I'm enjoying spending my days at the studio, working on projects and having the time to go out and shoot in daylight hours.

x Mel

P.S. I'm running a Introduction to Lomography workshop in Melbourne on August 15th if anyone is interested! You can find all the info and booking details here: Introduction to Lomography Melbourne.

Surprising Studio

LC-Wide (Kodak BW400CN) - ACDC Lane - Cherry Bar.

So, Melbourne. You have been been impressing me lately. Yes, you are getting colder, but you have resisted too much of that silly rainy windy mess that you are known for. Among other things you have opened some pretty amazing doors lately, including of the physical variety... the physical art/creative studio variety. 

I have longed for a little while now to have a place where I can dedicate my time to my creative artistic projects, my post-grad coursework and my Lomography freelance work. A few of weeks back I responded to an advert of the Creative Spaces website for a desk space in a communal studio just a couple of blocks from my house in Carlton. After meeting the awesome bunch of people who share the space, they decided that I fit the bill & I was welcomed into the world of Bouverie Studios! Hurrah!

The past few of weeks that I've been working in the studio have been super productive & very much worth the extra rent. I recommend anyone who doesn't feel like they have the space or solitude they need in their current working space to seek out a studio space, it very much worth it for your own peace of mind & the best outcome of your work. I'm surprised just how much I can get done on nights & weekends, more than I ever did working out of my bedroom in a share house.

What has surprised you lately?

x 

Mel

Spotty Melbourne

LC-Wide (Kodak BW400CN) (colour spots added in Photoshop)

I'm a big believer in being authentic in analogue film photography, especially when portraying the end result truthfully. I'm not big at editing my film shots, I pretty much just remove dust & straighten the occasional photo. However since doing Blogshop in Sydney back in December, I've been inspired to add a little something to a few of my film photos. I don't think this will become a regular occurrence but it was fun &interesting to play around with a few effects & such in Photoshop.

These photos are from a selection from I took in Melbourne back at the end of last year... & these three just seemed to work well together to me.

How do you feel about post-processing / digitally editing your film photos?

x
Mel

Oh, LC-Wide!

LC-Wide (Kodak BW400CN)

Forgive me Visa, Forgive me MasterCard - for I have sinned! I promised myself that I wouldn't buy any new cameras this year & I did very well at this, until a couple of weeks ago, when I caved & purchased the Lomography LC-Wide. (Trust me, now there will be no new cameras for a very... long... time!)

I always have a few nervous rolls of film when I start with a new camera, it can take a couple of rolls to really feel the camera's mojo & by the time I shot my 2nd roll of film in my new LC-Wide... I can confirm that it's love!

I love my LC-A, but I must say that the LC-W is doing it's best to win a place in my heart. The wide lens is... W I D E & I was a little scared off in the beginning about having to get so very close to my subjects when shooting, but to be honest I am really liking some of these 'people from a distance" shots... something about the wide lens works so very well with the little lane ways of Melbourne.

Getting used to only 2 distance settings after using a LC-A for such a long time has been interesting & even though I've not used the square frame, half frame or MX options yet, I can't wait to really see what this camera can do.

In other Lomography news, the Australia/NZ Lomography crew are setting up a Lomography stall at the Melbourne Finders Keepers Markets on April 20th & 21st, so if you're in the fair city of Melbourne next weekend come along & have a look & play with all the cool Lomography cameras & gear. (You may even see me hanging around, so come say Hi!)

x Mel

Friends in Black & White

LC-A (Kodak BW400CN)

I often forget how much I love using black & white film in my LC-A... a wander around the streets of Melbourne & a couple quiet drinks with some work friends easily changed that.

The season is slowly changing here, the nights are getting cooler, the mornings have a slight chill, jackets & cardigans are slowly emerging from closets. Soon the light will become scarce & I will be pushing 400 & 800 ISO film through my cameras & watching the leaves fall.

x Mel

Shutterbugs - Episode 7 - Stakeout

L-CA (Kodak BW400CN)

Diana F+ (Lomography 400CN)

Diana F+ (Lomography Redscale 100CN)

Diana Mini (Kodak BW400CN that had gone through an airport scanner)

These are a few of the photographs that were taken as a part of my contribution to the online comedy web series, Shutterbugs. The theme for my episode was 'Stakeout', so I decided to stake out the streets of Fitzroy with my L-CA, Diana Mini, Diana F+ and La Sardinia (& loads of film!).

You can view the new episode of Shutterbugs (& more of my stakeout photos) over at the Shutterbugs.tv website. (also while you're there you can catch an interview with yours truly about what I love about photography. *blushes*)

I would like to thank all the wonderful people who have put so much hard work into producing Shutterbugs, you were a pleasure to work with & I hope we can do it again sometime.

x

Mel

On Top of the World in NYC

(Lomo LC-A with Kodak BW400CN)

Oh, the top of the Empire State building on a hot, smoggy summers day in Manhattan!

x Mel

New York in Shades of Grey

Here is a small sample of my first self-scanned negatives... I think I have a fair way to go before I perfect my scanning technique. These scans were happy accidents, they are actually cross-processed slide film negatives, but I scanned them in black & white by accident, then I scanned them properly & I still preferred them in shades of grey.

I anyone has any scanning tips, please let me know... especially for scanning longer than usual frames.

x Mel