Reflections on Blogging

LC-A (various film)

A couple of weeks back, I started the 'Blogging from the Heart' e-course by Susannah Conway. I wondered while I clicked the registration button, "Am I the kind of blogger who will benefit from this course?"... then in the first week, it hit me that this is exactly the kind of course I need.

Those of you who follow me here at milk&miel know that I mostly blog about photography & rarely about myself or my experiences. This really has nothing to do with me hiding behind my photographs or a lack of want on my behalf to reveal myself, but more to do with not wanting to bore people who are after a "photography" blog with personal make/hate/love lists.

But over the last couple of weeks I've discovered that maybe, after all, revealing more of myself on my blog won't drive away the masses, but will perhaps endear more people towards it.

So let me know what you would like to know... what would you like me to write about? 

Because if left to my own devices I will post about my love of Mexican food, my endeavour for the perfect pair of yellow ballet flats, the arguments for & against skinny jeans, Mac versus PC, my longing for New York City and ultimately the dreaded analogue versus digital photography debate (amongst other things).

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

NYC - Cityscape

LC-A (Various film)

New York City, three small words, one big city. The NYC skyline is memorable, formidable & unforgettable. It seems at times, that each & every building was created entirely to inhabit the city, that it any of these buildings were plucked from NYC & transplanted into any other city in the world, that they would be out of place. They only have one true home.

We have all seen this skyline in numerous films & photographs, a heavy bridge of buildings skirted by the rivers and ultimately the the bay. There is a certain romance & stupor that this cityscape evokes, a feeling of home, of loneliness, of longing & fantasy.

NYC, an island of beauty & buildings; souls & hearts : financiers & artists.

x Mel

NYC - Subway Yellows & Reds

 
 

LC-A (Lomography Slide X-Pro 200, Redscale XR 50-100 & Kodak BW400CN)

One of my favourite parts of New York City was the Subway.... & thanks to my LC-A (& her handy light meter) I managed to capture some of my favorite parts... including the rush of a train arriving & departing the station... the yellow green light of the platforms...  (& almost) the sticky humidity of the hot days of July.

I loved people watching on the Subway... such a different variety of people all on the same train carriage... the whole time I tried to not look like a tourist... a art student who is into analogue cameras - yes! Tourist - no!

Some days/nights I was dressed to the nines... other days/nights in jeans & a t-shirt... from 23st to Union Square... from Times Square to Astor Place... always with a camera ready.

Heart NYC, heart the Subway!

x Mel

A Day Trip to Bacchus Marsh with MSMinc

LC-A (Lomography X-Tungsten 64 film)

Last Saturday I went on a photo day trip out to Bacchus Marsh (about 40 minutes train ride outside of Melbourne) with the excellent Melbourne Silver Mine Inc. crew. 

As always, I took many cameras... but my trusty little LC-A was again, the champion. It was lovely being out of the city for a view hours while catching up with other film camera geeks, snooping through abandoned houses, past farms & generally having a nosey around the streets of Bacchus Marsh.

This was the first time I've used the Lomography X-Tungsten 64 film & I must say I had high hopes... & most of them were met. I love the variety in the cross processed colours & the low speed. Can't wait to use it again.

Has anyone been on a photo trip out of town lately? 

I hope everyone (in Australia) is enjoying their day off for Australia Day, regardless of your view of it's importance.

x Mel

It's always darkest before the dawn

LC-A (Kodak E100G)

Once upon a time, instead of creating photographic snapshots of the world. I took syntactic snapshots in the form of poetry. I would never regret my move into photography, but some days I look back on my poetic past and ponder over those lines of words I created.

Today I stumbled on one of my favorite poems, written, what seems like a lifetime ago. To forget about these small stanzas would be akin to forgetting your own child, as every creation has a parent. So here is a that little poem for you.

Cameras & Coffee

There are two true loves in my life right now... Cameras (Diana Mini & LC-A) & Coffee (Decaf)... I dreamt last night about a past lover & my need to find the right film to document our last days together. In many ways it was beautiful & had that feeling of contentment that has lingered all day... I would love to have sweet dreams like those every night.

"Men should be like coffee, hot, sweet and strong." - Dutch Proverb