Former Yorkshire Brewery, Collingwood.

LC-Wide (Kodak Ektar)

I managed to catch one of the last sunny warm weekends to spend on a photo walk around Collingwood with a few of my fellow film shooters. One of our main destinations was the former Yorkshire Brewery in Collingwood, that is now derelict & awaiting council sign off before being turned into a multi-storey apartment building.

However, currently it is a mix of bright graffiti & urban flotsam... with nature slowly taking over. Sometimes its nice to get out and shoot in places you've not been before & if you can find some friends who have local insider knowledge of what is out there, then that's even better!

How that winter is slowly setting in, there will be fewer warm sunny days... so it looks like I'll have stick to Portra 400 film & try to overlook the clouds & rain that are on their way.

x
Mel

Mother Megan Love

LC-Wide & Belair X6-12 (with black borders)

To say that I'm over the moon about the birth of my best friend's little girl, Harriet would be an understatement... so I wanted to post a few more of the photographs I took back in February for Megan's pregnancy photo shoot.

These are some of my favorite shots from the whole day & I really love the way that they show just how happy Megan was to welcome her first born into the world. I feel that they are a mix of celebration and heartfelt happiness, which were exactly the emotions that that Megan was expressing on the day.

I had the opportunity not only to use my beloved LC-Wide, but also my new Belair X6-12... this was only the 2nd time I had used my Belair & I found that it gives such a beautiful quality to these portraits. I can't wait to use it in more portrait sessions in the future.

I especially can't wait to take photos of little Harriet when I am next in Brisbane. 

x

Mel

O'lovely!

   

O'lovely - LC-A, LC-Wide & Diana Mini (various film types)

Back in January I had the pleasure of joining the wonderful O'lovely girls, Laura & Shakira for a photo shoot, here in Melbourne. The theme was 'runaways', so we spent the afternoon shooting at a local train station & getting up to general hijinks.

O'lovely have just arrived back from recording new material in New Zealand... so keep an eye out at the links below for new music.

O'lovely at Triple J Unearthed
O'lovely My Space
O'lovely Facebook

x
Mel

The Winter Wait

LC-Wide (Kodak Ektar 100CN)

Oh, the Winter Wait (as I call it)... that time when you are just trying to wait winter out... when you really do know deep down inside that there is a minimum of 6 weeks of chill left. Sometimes I think a bit of englishness rubbed off on me from my days in London, like taking about the weather... yes I most definitely talk about the weather too much.

To think that this time last year I was in a New York City "heatwave"... I remember how lovely it was to be warm again, then I also remember the sunburn & the noisy airconditioner in my Chelsea hotel room. It really does only feel like yesterday since my days in New York... *mental note - need holiday*

I know that now I'm helping out with the excellent Australian/NZ people that my opinion of Lomography products will sound biased, but just to clear that up... this is MY blog... I promise only to talk & post things that I think are completely awesome & amazing... in this tradition I want to mention how much I love my LC-Wide... in hindsight it really was worth every cent I spent on it. I highly recommend that anyone who has used an LC-A before should get their hands on a LC-Wide & at least put a roll of film through it. I still love my old Russian LC-A, but I must say that the LC-Wide is slowly & surely swaying me her way.

Antipodeans, stay warm. Everyone else, stay cool.

x

Mel

The Lovely, Chanelle Davis

LC-A & LC-Wide (Kodak BW400CN, Kodak Ektar 100 & Lomography Slide 200)

The excellent & amazing Olivia invited me along to shoot with the beautifully talented Chanelle Davis a couple of weeks back. Liv shot DSLR & skirted around her with my LC-A & LC-Wide. It was my first real shoot & I have already learned many lessons from the results I got... but it was a super fun day & I can't wait to hang out with these awesome Kiwis again soon.

x

Mel

NYC Guest Post: Fotodudenz

“In the gift shop” Hasselblad Xpan & 30mm, Kodak BW400CN

"Hi, my name is Matthew, some people know me as Fotodudenz and two people know me as Wideboy. In September 2010 after years of deliberation I finally made it to New York, girlfriend, 3 film cameras and one digital camera (purely for the video) in tow. Mel has asked me to share a few images and write some words about my experiences.

My biggest fear about shooting film in the USA was how many X-ray machines my films would have to endure as you pass through the overly paranoid TSA at the airports. I visited New York on the 9th anniversary of 9/11 and they were extra paranoid. I just took a minimum amount of film with me and bought more when I arrived, you can’t go New York without visit to B&H!"

“Canal Street Station” Voigtlander Bessa L & 12mm, Kodak Ektar

"When you arrive you’ll probably be jet-lagged to all hell so make the most of it and get out there and shoot! The early morning light is amazing, when the sun comes up it peeks its way through the gaps between the buildings and make these amazing slithers, it also reflects back and forward off the windows and makes pockets of amazing soft light. It’s also well before most people in New York get up and you pretty much have the streets to yourself.

If you’re into shooting people New York is awesome, most of them seem to not give a fuck but use your common sense, oh and don’t worry, they’ll tell you if they don’t want to have their photo taken. I had a few conversations with people I took photos of, the most interesting was with the couple who are in “The Sunbather and the Ice Breaker”. I was taking a photo nearby and he yells out “So do you like photos?”, he showed me photos of Coney Island in the winter and there was snow on the beach! Surreal. I must go back in winter. She didn't give away too much about herself, she looked like she had spent a lot of time in the sun. We were there on September 11th and she told me that she hadn't been to Manhattan since 9/11."

"The Sunbather and the Ice Breaker" Hasselblad Xpan & 30mm, Kodak BW400CN

"What to see: The all of the obvious places like The Statue of Liberty, The Guggenheim, Central Park, The Empire State Building, The Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges and Grand Central Station. Don’t leave anything until the last minute, I got sick on the second last day of my trip and I didn’t get to see some stuff, oh well, I’ll just have to go back sometime. Check out Coney Island, it’s about an hour south from Manhattan in Brooklyn and if you’ve got heaps of time, Montauk, East of East Hampton."

“Tucker” Hasselblad Xpan & 30mm, Kodak Ektar (I think)

Matthew can be found at www.fototheque.com & on Flickr.