ADVENTURES IN FILM SCANNING...

I don't know about you, but, I absolutely hate scanning film negatives; I find it extremely tedious.  I hope one day I will have the ability to hire someone to do that for me. Until then, I've been suffering, trying to find an inexpensive and crafty way to get decent scans out of my Epson V500 and unruly negatives.

My scanner (which was bought from someone off Craigslist at an awesome price) came with a couple flimsy film holders that A) were somewhat warped and B) covered up the sprocket holes. For images from my Lomography Sprocket Rocket, this was a no-go. Thankfully, I love to "research" stuff online. I usually just Google my question, or a few key words, and go from there and I usually find answers. 

At first, I thought I could just keep the negatives flat with a piece of glass, right? WRONG. Apparently, the sheet of glass can reflect into your scanned image, producing Newton rings, which looks like an oil spill on asphalt. And after researching different kinds of anti-reflective glass, I thought, "Oh hell, lemme just lay the negatives flat on the scanner. So I did. Once my negatives were neatly organized in their negative sleeves I'd weigh them down (for days) under heavy books and voila! Flattened-ish negatives, ha. However, I still had the bother of trying to align my negatives in just the right spot and it required a lot of tweaking.

Then, finally, I gave in and bought a Lomography DigitaLIZA. I held off for so long because frankly, I thought this piece of plastic was expensive, which is kinda my opinion on all Lomography items. That aside, I got a good discount, using "piggies" and a coupon code and 5 days later I had me a DigitaLIZA! And so, I embarked on a three, maybe four, week journey of re-scanning my negatives from the last year and a half, pretty much hunkered down in my cave and dead to the world... and 1,200+ 35 mm frames later, I was done! 

The DigitaLIZA is a plastic scanning mask that can hold one row of up to six frames of 35 mm film (they also sell a 120 film holder version) and uses magnets to help you set the negative in place, allowing you to scan the entire frame including sprockets. Here's a video that's quite self-explanatory. 

One thing to take note of is, if you're using an Epson scanner, you may receive error messages because it's wont' recognize the size of the DigitaLIZA, since it's thinner than the film holder the Epson comes with. So, you'll have to create an L-shape stencil to fill the space; use something with the thickness of cardboard or foamcore. Like this: 

Also, I recommend using cotton gloves when handling your negatives (a pack of three pairs is like $3 at Dick Blick) and a can of compressed air to help remove dust. 

Last but not least, here's a random handful of scanned images taken with six different analog cameras:

P.S.
Go here if you'd like to view my photography Tumblr, which is updated daily!

ART IN THE AGE OF THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Being an artist, I think everybody assumes you're ahead of the artistic curve and aware of the latest trends. But what happens when that trend is quickly and easily accessible to any "average" Joe who can get just as much recognition for it? What, then, makes your art special?

"PressPausePlay" (click there to watch it for free) is a documentary directed by David Dworsky and Victor Köhler that addresses the increasing wonders of the "digital revolution" that has occurred within the artistic community in the last decade. I watched this documentary for the second time last week and the words still resonate within me.

The documentary focuses on the advances of technology in music, such as the widespread availability of music software and the ability to share music worldwide without ever really having to leave your home; however, I was instantly able to relate it to my experience with photography.

I've been a photographer all my life. I know a lot of people say that, but, really, I have. My first camera was a Kodak Star 110 and I was obsessed with using it throughout elementary school to snap photos of friends and eventually "upgraded" to some cheap Bell & Howell 35 mm camera. It wasn't until high school when I stepped foot into the school newspaper/yearbook classroom that I realized my love of documentary photography, developing film and making prints. Thankfully, I was able to borrow a Pentax K1000 and had endless amounts of 35 mm film and printing paper at my disposal.

This new found analogue love meant one thing- I needed a lot of time. Here I was, some newspaper nerd, trying to find excuses to cut classes to buy me extra darkroom time. In the beginning, there was a lot of trial and error, lots of test strips, spotty negatives and accidentally exposed paper, but once I was on a roll, it was hard to stop. It was quite easy to be "lost" in the darkroom for hours at a time, in a world that not many students got to experience.

But, fast-forward ten years (oh my, has it really been that long?!) and it's no surprise to see children, who probably don't even know how to spell their own last name yet, pick up an iPhone and snap a photo. Photography has advanced to the point where cellphones have their own photography category (iPhoneography) and budding photographers can easily spend thousands of dollars on the latest gear.

What does it all mean?

This digital revolution comes with a price. In the grand scheme of things, I believe there's an odd dichotomy the revolution encourages. For one, to the untrained eye, all photographs may seem like good photographs, thereby lowering the standard of quality of photography overall. What I mean by that is, things like editing software and smartphone apps can instantly slap on a warming filter, add a dreamy haze-y look and make anything picture perfect. At a certain point, all the images start to blend together and, for me, become instantly forgettable. Sunsets are pretty... flowers are pretty... puppies and babies are pretty... but does that make them interesting photographic subjects? Does that make them good photographs? With that said, it becomes easier to predict the type of photographic images that becomes marketable and profitable, leaving those who choose to photograph anything else to fend for themselves.

Secondly, this digital revolution can feel as though it encourages the idea of "the bigger the better". Digital photography gear is expensive- there's no two ways about it. And it's always evolving, so there's no real way to always have the newest make/model (unless you have endless funds). I find that digital photography can quickly become the game of "who has the most expensive gear" versus, "who photographs the most interesting content".

However, there's always a pro where there is a con and "PressPausePlay" takes that into account also, which is, most notably, the ease of which we can share our love for all things digital and, consequently, make it widely available to the masses. Quite honestly, I love the fact that I can log into my Tumblr and instantly view art and photography from all around the globe and, hopefully, they're viewing mine. In doing so, I think it creates discourse among artists about the content of art.

"PressPausePlay" caused me to reflect a great deal about how the digital revolution has, and will continue, to change my life, for the better and worse and I'd definitely suggest artists of all types to watch it.

DIGITAL LOMO?....WELL, KINDA....

Happy November! I recently moved and have had so much to catch up on, create and adjust to in the last month and a half. But of course it didn't stop me from hounding Craigslist for deals! I recently scored an awesome grab bag of five cameras; yes, yes, another Craigslist-full-of-awesomeness-find.

Albeit an impulse buy, the Diana F+ (with flash, flash adapters and Instaback) that was included pretty much sold me on the grab bag of photographic goodies. Also included in that grab bag was a camera simply called VX5 by JoCo People, a company based in Singapore. It's billed as a "digital Lomography" camera, basically because it can shoot in seven different color settings, as if you had used colored filters on a flash, like most Lomo-ers do, and has a slight vignette. I knew nothing about its existence until I owned it. The VX5 is 12MP and also shoots video. It's fairly compact, very lightweight, uses three AAA batteries and has a memory card slot for photo storage. The flash is pretty powerful and the images aren't bad overall.

I would consider keeping it if I wasn't into collecting actual Lomography analogue cameras and if I didn't know how to use Photoshop, because basically, with one click of a mouse, I can turn any photo blue, pink, yellow, purple, etc. So, sure, it's a fun camera, but for fans of Lomography, it's probably not something worth pining over.

Nonetheless, it's easy to use and could be a decent "day at the park" type camera.

Behold, the camera:

**click for more camera info**

And my test shots with it:

 Last, but not least, I finally got myself a legit Gorillapod! Which came with a new friend for my beta fish named Machete.

WHAT CAN YOU DO IN 3 MINUTES?

Craigslist, to me, is like a Willy Wonka factory of second hand wonders. It is also usually the first place I go to when on the hunt for any kind of photographic equipment or materials. Seattle's Craislist has been good to me; I have procured my negative scanner, countless rolls of 35 mm film, a couple of Lomography cameras and now this:

the Fuji Instax 210

I had been dying to get my hands on a camera for my instant photography whose film was more readily available than Polaroid. (All the while my Polaroid Spirit collected dust on my self.) Luckily, I found a woman on Craigslist in a neighboring city who was selling her Fuji Instax 210 (with one cartridge of film) for $20! *Score*

This camera is huge and bulky, but I think that adds to the character of the aesthetics of the camera (it's definitely a talking point with strangers). There are only 10 images in one film cartridge, so I wanted to be certain I would capture something awesome, but that I could send as mini gifts to friends and family back home. The Space Needle at the Seattle Center was the obvious choice; it is the one landmarker that I never get tired of seeing. It is beautiful at night and helps me figure out where I'm at when I'm meandering about downtown. In short, I love it! The totem pole displayed at the Seattle Center was carved dozens of people in memoriam of John T. Williams, a First Nations wood carver who was unjustly and fatally shot by a Seattle police officer.

Of course, view more of my photos on Tumblr! And buy a one (or two or more) of my photo zines!

WHAT'S THE POINT?

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A PHOTO ALBUM (in my opinion, anyways)

It's difficult for me not to get nostalgic about photography. One of my fondest memories of elementary school is carrying around my Kodak 110 camera and snapping photos of my friends and teachers. That began my interest in scrapbooking. Even as a little 6th grader I was building my collection of photo albums. I continued taking photos of friends and family throughout my childhood and teen years and quickly built up volumes of scrapbooks depicting events like my first tattoo, first piercing, holidays, concerts and road trips. It wasn't until I was out of high school that I bought my own 5 megapixel HP digital camera (oh, it was SO amazing to finally have my own digital camera!). But every moment prior to that had been captured with film and printed at the one hour photo lab.

I left my collection of scrapbooking supplies at my Mum's home in Texas and since moving to Seattle I have, predictably, taken tons of photos (both film and digital), but hardly print any out because, what is a girl to do without her scrapbooking supplies?! That is, until last month when my boyfriend printed photos from our adventures during the past year together as a surprise anniversary gift. It was an incredibly thoughtful gesture and especially fun because these were his memories of our adventures, his point of view. I spent a Saturday afternoon trimming and arranging our photos in a salvaged photo album. But, even as I was creating our new album I was questioning my effort and time spent on this thing, this book of images that will most likely just sit on our self, taking up space. What's the point in print, trimming and arranging photos in an album when I can keep hundreds of images on my external hard drive, or online on my Snapfish account, or saved in an email?

The answer is the same reason why I enjoy reading a newspaper or magazine, rather than skimming a computer screen: I want to feel connected to what I'm holding and viewing. Holding a photo gives me the time to pause and reflect on the image, the occasion, the memory. The abundance and bombardment of social media has indeed made it easier to send and share photos with friends and family through cyberspace, but I can't help but feel that one of the consequences is the ability to amass an absurd amount of contrived and useless photographs.

The flexibility in digital photography is great in that it allows for plenty of room for error and experimentation in image making, but the element of surprise and concentration that a person may use more cautiously in film photography is something that is taking for granted.

In summary, LONG LIVE FILM PHOTOGRAPHY!

And just so this isn't a rant without an image, here's one of my favorite photos I took in El Paso, TX with my Diana Mini, using black and white Arista 400 ISO.

TRIED AND TRUE...

Last summer I stumbled upon an automatic 35 mm camera at Goodwill in Ballard (neighborhood in Seattle) buy Yashica.  It had two corroded batteries which still held some charge because I "tested" it by clicking the shutter and heard the beautiful sound of the motor whirring within the camera.  For $1.50 I couldn't lose; it also came with the original camera case!  One of the quirks that sold me on the camera is that the film loads from right to left.  I threw in one of my remaining rolls of 35 mm Walgreen's brand film and shot away and we've had a love affair ever since.

The official name of this camera is Yashica Auto Focus Motor from Japanese manufacturer Yashica, which originally began in the early 1950's.  Yashica initially began making parts for electric clocks, then began making camera components and within four years released its first camera, the Yashimaflex (beautiful, isn't it?).  Yashica was eventually bought out by Kyocera in the 1980's and has since changed to another Japanese company that specializes in all things electronic.

My Yashica has definitely become my trusty back up and combined with the "grainyness" and saturation of Fuji Superia 400 ISO, *mwah!* its's perfection!

The black and white images are were shot with Arista 400 ISO.