Photography: Random film prints

in , , , , , , , , , ,

I love finding a random roll of film that I forgot to get developed in the bottom of my bag, not remembering when I finished the roll and what on earth is actually on it. I finally got round to getting this roll developed today, all photos taken with my Holga over the past year, most of which I had totally forgotten that I had taken. I love the striking colours the Holga tends to produce in bright sunlight, as well as the softness, or slight blur, that appears in most prints. My favourites are definitely the ones taken by the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco last year, mainly because the blues are so dense and pretty, and also because it is one of my favourite places to be in the world. I must make it one of my goals to use my Holga and Canon AE-1 more often this year - and then wait a while to develop the films so that I get more nice surprises.
Link to the full set below.


San Francisco BayWalking the Golden Gate BridgeView from my sideTime n PlaceSunset in JamaicaSnowed in
San Francisco skylineRosie at the beachOleanderGuinness IciclesGolden Gate BridgeFort Tilden
Clearing Orchard StCaribbean SeaCalifornia flowerBridge in the distanceBoats on the water200 Reflections
Film 2013, a set on Flickr.

Photography: Bushwick 2009-2012

in , , , , , , , ,
Roof ViewJefferson_StBiker_BushwickTroutman_Bushwick_EtchingsStatementDesolate
BallparkCommunity gardenPost BlizzardBeauty for SadnessHappinessFrom Above
My Herb GardenDefaced WallBushwick RoadYou Must UniteMichelle and the TagsEvergreen & Troutman
Evergreen & FlushingDown BelowDeserted EvergreenClothes on a wireBlue & GreyPure Blue Sky

Bushwick, a set on Flickr.

After posting the Harlem collection the other day, and after a comment from a friend about how I should build up the collection over time, I started thinking about all of the photos I have taken of my current neighbourhood, Bushwick, over the past four years I have lived here. I started really getting into photography back in 2009, mainly because the sheer amount of street art in my neighbourhood kept catching my eye, and I felt the need to start capturing it on camera.
Bushwick is a strange neighbourhood, part family, part warehouses. There are some very old townhouses and a lot of abandoned buildings, a lot of churches and a lot of noise, unless you live down one of the quieter streets. Over the past 4 years I have seen the area change rapidly, new bars, new restaurants, more organic supermarkets, new coffee shops, new people moving in, but it has still retained the same atmosphere and rents (hopefully, but I hear that a new music venue is going to be opening in Bushwick soon, so I'm sure that will effect rents soon enough).
I know it's not the safest, or the cleanest, or the prettiest neighbourhood in NYC, but it works for me. I don't see myself moving away from here, not anytime soon in any case.

These photos were taken over the past 3 years with different cameras, both digital and film (Canon AE-1 (one from 1980 and one from 1978; Canon Rebel DSLR; Holga). I know that I have posted some of these in other collections before, but feel like they belong in this one too.

Bushwick on Wikipedia

2011 in images (make up your own stories)

in , , , , , , , ,
Santa Cruz BusIce on the bayLoveWalking the dogsOranges in FebruaryBeth's Birthday
RosieReflectionsTrappedThe city from thereTriviaWilliamsburg Bridge
LunaDanaBeth and me at The WartSunset from the roofManhattan skyline from the roofKnow Your Rights
Reading materialPeter Murphy setlistSpringThe end of a 9 mile walkMichelle and meYears

2011 in images, a set on Flickr.

I couldn't bring myself to write a post about 2011 - so much happened last year, and I feel that everything has already been said and done and written about in some form or another. Therefore, I am just posting a set of pictures that I took over the year, some with my phone, some with my DSLR, others with with film cameras. All in all they describe this year somehow in my head.

Happy New Year!

The Holga Challenge

in , , , ,

For the last 8 months or so I have been so focused on using my Canon AE-1 that I haven't really used any of the other equipment that have either bought or been given. That goes for the Brownie Box Karli gave me for Christmas, my Canon DSLR, my smaller Canon, the Holga Karli gave me for Christmas... Coupled with the fact that I don't feel very inspired at the moment I have decided to set myself a new challenge. I have used the Holga once, and was quite happy with the results (I like the vignetted edges, and the way blue skies appear so brightly on the prints), and have been carrying it around in my bag for the past two months, taking random photos here and there. I now have one B&W film to develop and am running through a new colour one. I don't even remember what is on the film!
Beth gave me this book last week as my belated-birthday-get-well-soon present (I had a terrible cold): Fantastic Plastic Cameras and while I was looking at it last night I decided to start a new challenge - maybe it will give me inspiration for other ideas once I am finished. Over the next month I am going to continue to take random pictures with the Holga, focusing on non-posed portraits and all of the usual images that tend to catch my eye while I am walking around. Once I have finished I will have the prints developed once in a drugstore and then I will develop the ones I like best myself (will give me the chance to use the darkroom on Troutman St).

I may be disappointed - there is no real way to know if a photo is going to come out the way you want it to with these types of cameras, but that's what intrigues me. So let's see how it goes!

Here is some information on the Holga for anyone interested: Holga

A photo taken this Spring with my Holga: