Poladarium 2013!

 

 

I was lucky enough to have two of my Impossible Project SX-70 Polaroids included in the Poladarium 2013 calendar (see above). Its lovely seeing your photographs in print, the thrill never really wears off... it's one thing that makes all the film, cameras, patience & time involved in film photography very much worth it. Submissions for next year's Poladarium are opening soon, so keep an eye out if you shoot Polaroid! 

x

Mel

UNSENSORED12: An Exhibition of Analogue Photography

The Melbourne Silver Mine presents:

UNSENSORED12
Collingwood Gallery
292 Smith Street Collingwood

Opening Night:
Friday 14th September 2012 from 6pm

Exhibition dates:
Saturday 15th September 2012 – Wednesday 26th September 2012

Gallery open daily:
10am – 6pm Saturday & Sunday
Midday – 6:30pm Monday – Friday

This year’s show features photography by 47 Melbourne Silver Mine members.

I shall be exhibiting these photos 1 2 3.  I hope you can make it to the show.

You can grab the Exhibition invites here, please feel free to circulate them:
Square format: web | PDF (photograph by Emma Starr)
Landscape format: web | PDF (photograph by Nicole Davis)

This event is also listed on 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

Diana F+ Pinhole Adventures

Diana F+ Pinhole (Lomography 400CN)

This year was my first World Pinhole Day, so I went out with my Diana +, put it on pinhole setting, removed the lens & hoped that a couple of exposures would turn out... thanks to my handy iPhone light meter & a ISO chart, my luck was on the sunny side, considering the cloudy Melbourne weather.

I can't wait to try it out more with different film & maybe even some night time shots!

Have you ever tried pinhole photography?

x

Mel

Reaching Out

LC-A (Agfa Precisa 100 shot at 50 ISO x-pro )

Sometimes you need to know when to reach out. You need to know when enough is enough. You need to let your mind focus on what makes you happy. You need to find your little happy place amongst all of the rush of daily life.

Sometimes it's the little pleasures. A good cup of coffee. A new pair of shoes. A phone call from a friend.

Other times it's just knowing that others are close by when you need them. Distance can often not only be a physical power, but an emotional one. So today, let someone know you like them, buy a friend a cup of coffee or tell them how pretty they look, offer a hug to a colleague, tell your boss how much you appreciate them or call your Mum & tell her you miss her. It's those little things that make the big things in life even more special & powerful.

We need to remember, everyday, that sometimes you just may need to ask someone - "Are you ok?".

xx Mel

NYC - The High Line

 

 
Diana Mini using bulb setting (Lomography Chrome 100 X-Pro)

One place I marked as completely necessary to visit while in NYC was the High Line. I had read about it & was intrigued by the urban re-utilisation project & also the thrilling views from it's various platforms & overpasses.

The story behind the High line is a fascinating one. Here are are a few facts about the High Line:

It was built between 1929 and 1934.

It cost over $130 million in 1930 dollars, equating to more than $2 billion today.

In 1980 the last train runs on the High Line, pulling three carloads of frozen turkeys.

April 2006, construction begins on Section 1 (Gansevoort Street to 20th Street)

2008, Landscape Construction begins on Section 1, with construction and installation of pathways, access points, seating, lighting, and planting.

June 9, 2009, Section 1 (Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street) opens to the public.

June 8, 2011, Section 2 (West 20th Street to West 30th Street) opens to the public.

You can discover more about the High Line at thehighline.org.

See how I painted the night on my Diana Mini with views from the High Line.

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.

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

Brisbane City Lights with La Sardina

La Sardina (Lomography CN 800)

Ever since my luck with long exposure bulb shots in New York, I've been slightly obsessed with taking night shots... especially since most of the cameras I use require either natural light or a flash, its nice to know that there are other shots you can take at nighttime.

These photographs are of Brisbane at night, taken over the Christmas holidays while I was visiting my family & friends. It wasn't easy to get a whole lot of light trails, since there were hardly any cars on the road, but I love how the lights of the city & Southbank glow in these shots.

I had Lomography CN 800 film already in the camera, so I wasn't sure how long to leave the shutter open while using the bulb setting, but most of these shots are between 20-30 seconds.

Apologies for the quiet time on the blog front, being back at work & training up a new assistant... along with enjoying summer, I've sadly neglected blogging. 

x Mel

New Year Film Giveaway Winner is...

 

The winner by lucky hat draw of the New Year Film Festival Giveaway has been drawn....

Congratulations Much Love Anna!

A million thanks to those who took part in the giveaway... it has been wonderful to get to know new people & new blogs!

Remember to keep an eye out for all your analogue film needs at the Film Festival eBay store... especially when wanting to try out new types of film, you will be pleasantly surprised how easy it can be to experiment with B&W, slide and high speed colour negative films.

I hope the New Year has found everyone happy, healthy & with renewed spirits! Who knows what we are capable of in this year of 2012... I think we might just all surprise ourselves yet!

x Mel

Diana F+ & Madison Square Park

    

   

Diana F+ (Lomography 400CN film)

Back in July (how can it have been all those months ago when it only feels like yesterday?), while I was in NYC I went to a couple of workshops at the Lomography Gallery Stores in the West Village and Gramercy. One of which was a Diana F+ workshop, my first time using the Diana F+. 

I fell hard & fast in love with the beautiful 120 soft focus. I knew pretty quickly that my days of 35mm exclusivity were drawing to a close, but I was so happy that I had the opportunity to get some 120 NYC mementos to take with me.

A couple of months after my return from NYC, I relented & brought myself a early birthday present of the Diana F+ Parisian on sale at urbanoutfitters.com. I am still very much in love & can't wait to spend the summer experimenting more with my new little 120 film plastic wonder.

x

Love in the shape of SX-70.

I have wanted to get myself a Polaroid SX-70 for quite a while now, but the unreliability of the new Impossible Project film & the cost (& expiry) of old 600 Polaroid film put me off.

While I was at the hanging night of the Unsensored 11 exhibition I got chatting to the other members of the Melbourne Silver Mine Inc. & then suddenly I was agreeing to buy a SX-70!

I must say I think I will continue to have a love/hate relationship with the new Impossible Project film, but there is hope for instant film!

Also see Elle's excellent Polaroids from NYC!

x

UNSENSORED11: Exhibition of Analogue Photography

The Melbourne Silver Mine’s annual exhibition of analogue photography UNSENSORED is set to return to Collingwood Gallery on Friday November 25, 2011. And I am lucky enough to be showing three of my photographs in the exhibition!

UNSENSORED11 offers a glimpse into what film in its various formats can produce today. Once again the members of the Melbourne Silvermine Inc. are presenting a diverse range of images in both subject matter and tools/techniques. The exhibition includes images produced using traditional processes and techniques through to hybrid works that blur the line between film and digital.

If anyone is in Melbourne, the opening night is this Friday 25th November from 6pm.

UNSENSORED11
Collingwood Gallery
292 Smith Street Collingwood

Opening Night:
Friday 25th November 2011 from 6pm

Exhibition dates:
Saturday 26th November 2011 – Wednesday 7th December 2011

Gallery open daily:
10am – 6pm Saturday & Sunday
Midday – 6:30pm Monday – Friday

For more information see http://unsensored.net.