My Birthday Shoes

These are my birthday shoes. Aren't they cute?

The first time Evan saw them, he said they looked like bowling shoes.

I promptly decided to divorce him. But . . . then he did something cute (like he always does) and I reconsidered. Still, a man needs to learn not to mess with his woman over shoes. It's always a bad call.

The shoes come from J Shoes, a British shoe company that makes really lovely footwear. I particularly love the old-fashioned look of the soles of these ones, and I had to take a picture before I put them on and permanently scuffed them up.

So why are they my birthday shoes? Well, J Shoes was crazy generous enough to email me with an 80% off coupon during their winter sale (which is now over, sorry ladies), making shoes that had previously been $200 (out of my general price range) a mere $20 (MUCH more doable).

Needless to say, I bought a few pairs. So many, in fact, that I just never really put these ones on. I mean, they're white, which can be a difficult color in footwear, subject to so many rules that I can never really figure out when one is allowed to wear it. And it was wintry and rainy for a while, which is also not a great time to wear white shoes.

So they stayed in the closet until May 20 (my birthday) when I finally brought them out. I wore them to my birthday dinner with Evan and my brother and his girlfriend. It was a nice, casual, Thai dinner. (No bowling involved!)

It was a good night, and a great birthday. And what can I say? My feet were happy.

Merri

Merri's a budding actor and she needed some new headshots, so we got together to take a few photos in my 'studio' (read, part of my house that I have configured to do some portraits in - it's nothing fancy but it does get the job done and it's nice for a little more control)

It was such a great shoot. First of all, Merri is awesome, which I think is pretty obvious to anyone who's had the pleasure of meeting her, even briefly. Also, it was just really nice, laid back and relaxed.

We started with some portraits near my hallway window, which has great light.

And then we pulled out my black background, which I've been itching to work with.

Wouldn't you just kill for those dimples?

And then we moved on to my new posing couch, which I absolutely love working with.

And finished up with a few more shots in the hallway.

Doesn't she just have the most gorgeous eyes?

Merri, you're amazing, and I'm sure you're going to take the acting world by storm. Can't wait to see where these new photos show up!

Is Film Better? Who Knows? Is It Harder? Yes, Maybe. Is It More Expensive? It Feels That Way, Yes.

OK, here are some shots from my first roll of film with the Elan 7n (what does the n mean? I haven't been able to figure that out yet. Nifty? Naughty? Negligent? N . . ?)

I bought some Kodak Ektar 100 and some Portra 160 to start with. These are all Ektar shots, I'll show you the Portra next week.

But first, I would really like a huge round of applause for having ANYTHING to show you at all. Honestly, I was expecting wildly over and underexposed shots, maybe some light leaks or the film not advancing properly (look, I know it's not a Holga, but I'm a beginner, ok?).

When I went to drop off my film for process, prints, and scan I was surprised that I didn't have to pay up front.

"That's because we only print the frames that were properly exposed," the surprisingly friendly guy behind the counter said.

I laughed nervously. "Well, hopefully all of them."

"Right."

But I think we both knew that wasn't a given.

So when I came back two days later to be greeted with 72 prints (36 from each roll! yay!), I was just a little bit proud. Proud that shooting in manual mode on a film camera I hadn't totally screwed it up. Good pictures, bad pictures, who knew, but at least I had pictures. I was also a little shell-shocked that 2 rolls had cost me $50 to process (with 4x6 prints and a CD). That brought the total per frame to almost exactly a dollar each. I'd spent more on the first two rolls than I had on the camera.

So, anyway, here's about 25% of that roll. (I still haven't completely broken the habit of shooting multiple shots of the same thing, but I'm working on it.) Let me know what you think. I'm honestly not quite sure myself.

These shots are of the same subject as this blog post. Not shot the same day, so it's not an apples to apples comparison, the light was different, but they do have quite a different feeling.

And this shot is one that I think would also have felt completely different in digital. For one thing, I'm pretty sure that the sky would have been a bit more blown out.

The flower doesn't seem too different to me, however.

Also compare to the sunflower here. Again, different day, different location, different light, but still. I think you can see what the film brings.

I purposely haven't edited these photos at all, except to resize them a bit for the blog. Color, contrast, crop, it's all just the way I got the scans.

So, what do you guys think? Is film a fool's errand these days? It might be. But I think I'll play with it a little more. Any recommendations of other films I should try? I have a roll of Neopan 400 in the camera right now, and I'm finding it difficult to compose in black and white. And I think I want to try out Fuji's 160S and 400H sometime soon. Any other tips from people with more experience than me?

My New Toy

So, I have a secret to tell you.

I got a new camera.

I know, right? It's honestly the last thing I really need. Because I already have two cameras. That's, like, twice as many as I can use at one time. One for each hand. Now I'm going to have to start taking pictures with my feet. And that's just going to be awkward for everyone.

But I'm going to let you in on another little secret. There's something different about this camera.

Take a look. What's missing?

 

There's no LCD on the back! Gah! But how do you review the photos after you've taken them?? How do you know if it was in focus? Or over or under exposed?

Short answer is, you can't. Long answer is, you can not.

Just kidding. Except . . . I'm also serious. Yup, it's film! My first film camera, since my little baby Olympus point and shoot in middle school, or something like that. And the first time, for me, that I have to just guess exposure and hope that things work out ok.



So yeah, it's a pretty heady sensation. And I know, everyone used to shoot film. That was the only option. So I shouldn't make a big deal out of doing it myself now, except that it feels like a pretty big deal. And it also feels a little decadent, and risky, and magical. And the anticipation of waiting for the negatives to be developed is killer.

It's a Canon Elan 7n, if anyone's wondering. I bought it used off Amazon for $44 plus shipping. The person I bought it from even threw in this bag, which was pretty cool of them! I can use all of my Canon full frame lenses with it, so it's not a huge investment, which is always good.

And mostly, it's fun. It's something different. I like to think that it will help me become a more careful shooter, and help me think through each shot before I push the trigger. In the week I've had it, I haven't shot much digital for fun at all, since this camera is my new fun camera. We'll see if that holds true. Chances are, I'll still probably be mostly digital.

But now, a little analog too.

Come back tomorrow to see some of the scans from my first two rolls of film!

Out the Window

Sometimes when I share a photo I feel like I might need to explain why I took it. Usually, this means I didn't really succeed at what I was trying to say with it, since I do subscibe to the belief that photographs should  for the most part communicate on their own, without too many words to shore them up. 

These are kind of like that. I can't explain it, but I was just mesmerized by the interplay of the light and the color through the screen on my window. Sometimes things just get me. You know? And I don't always succeed in completely communicating that through the photo. But that's why it's all a work in progress. The work of photography is never finished. There are always more photographs tomorrow. 

And honestly, that's the best part.

Happy Memorial Day!

Thanks for the sunflowers, Mom! Hope you're having a great time in Hawaii.

Evan and I are sitting at home, having a lazy holiday morning. My coffee sits beside me, the cats are off sleeping in the warmest spots they can find, and Evan is enjoying some 'relaxing' Diablo 3 while I process some photos, hang out a bit on Facebook, and write some blog posts.

I love the weekends when we're busy busy, off doing exciting things. (Including this weekend - we went down to Half Moon Bay to attend the wedding of some good friends of ours.) But sometimes it's great to just be homebodies, enjoying each others' company and getting in some serious veg time. Plus, you know, cleaning the house, and other things that just won't do themselves.

I hope all of you are having a great weekend, whether you're barbecuing, vacationing, or just enjoying the opportunity to sleep a bit later than usual.