envy

Lately I've been spending a lot of time looking at other peoples' houses on the internet. Is that weird? I think it's because my house is so chaotic now that there's two people living in it. I've been paying particular attention to the way people keep & organise their records. Mine are newly alphabetised by artist, which is quite nice, but I long for the day that I can have proper shelves built, with a chair close-by especially for listening to them. 

Here's some other peoples' solutions. Envy.

reaction

It's really starting to grate on me how it's so easy to make digital photos look as if they were shot on film or Polaroid or peel-apart. Mostly because there's no skill in doing that, all you have to do is point your camera vaguely at the food/face/feet that you're shooting then apply a filter. It's all very well and good, but it means when someone makes an effort to buy & shoot real film, it's often pretty hard for the casual observer to know the difference, and therefore appreciate the effort. It's fine. 

This is an actual real photograph. For those interested I shot it through the Holga instant back using Fuji 100B peel-apart film. 

 

impossible PZ680 colour

My dear sister (Kirsty) bought me a couple of packs of The Impossible Project's PZ680 colour for my Spectra for Christmas, and I've just recently been motivated by the appropriate amount of 'stop being so lame' to actually use it. It's not that the Impossible Project film is hard to use, it's just that it's a big adjustment from the old Polaroid days of -point-shoot-wait-rejoice-
I tried the colour shade first. It reacts differently to the PX70 & PX100 I tried last year. It doesnt seem to like light the same way the others did. It was best in low light, and even then I had the light dial on 'darken'....

this was taken in bright sun light & possibly not shielded quite quickly enough.

after I caught on, I was pleased with the last few shots - it's quite nice & moody. 

As fun as it is, experimenting with the temperamental films that Impossible are bringing out, I'm still very nostalgic for Polaroid. Those idiots.

Got to support the Impossible Project though. Do it.

spectra

I felt inspired this morning, to use up my secretly hoarded polaroid image film inside my beloved spectra. Although the camera won't win any prizes for aesthetics, especially not sitting next to the SX70, it sure does take a good picture. 

Of all my cameras, spectra & I agree most often.

...wintery trees with a filter & a (self indulgent) double exposure self portrait.

everytime

...everytime time I feel sad, I go straight to this song. 

elliott smith - somebody that i used to know.

minty cam

For the first time since I left uni I have been back into the idea of homemade cameras. Recently it's rare for me to have the motivation to do something like this from scratch, but somehow I got off the sofa to make a pinhole camera out of a little altoids mint tin. 

I mostly followed the directions from the book form of Christ Keeney's directions.

I shot, developed & scanned the negatives at home - and it still feels really amazing. One day a darkroom? 

Here are a couple of the pictures I managed:

More hours in the day please.

temporary elation.

i went to Liberty today. on the fourth floor i experienced something akin to euphoria. the reason for this state? the christmas floor at Liberty, that's what. it's a magical place... i don't care if it's too early to think about christmas. christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.

i bought this decoration to remember the happiness i felt on the fourth floor of Liberty today.

incidentally all of the floors at Liberty are spectacular. have a look at their website.

DIY developing.

Today I shot a roll of Black&White film, I developed it and I scanned it in. I'm really pleased. 

I took pictures on my walk around Hitchin today, to be honest I didn't take a great deal of care taking these photos because the main objective was to try out my new chemicals. I used to develop film all the time at uni (I did a photography degree) and at home during the three year course, but it's been over 4 years since I tried my hand at it. It all came flooding back, especially the smell (not entirely pleasant). After developing, stopping and fixing, it was with baited breath I opened the lid & unrolled a small portion of film - images. What a relief. 

Here's some of photographs from today -

Beautiful un-tampered-with black and white images straight from the negatives. They probably need 'neatening' up a bit, but I like them a bit scruffy. 

Onwards...

jacknife posters

pretty much all of the stalls at glastonbury were the same as you get at every festival, i.e. cheap shit... but one stall caught my attention - cut to jacknife posters - independent screen printers who are commissioned by bands/events/organisations to design and produce hand made, limited runs of screen prints. check out their website here. 

these are few of my favourites: 

i wish i had the skillz... X

glastonbury

in shocking news, i think i must be one of the only people in attendance to think that glastonbury was only 'okay' - maybe it was the incredibly inconsistent weather (varying from rain storms to blistering heat) maybe it was the uncompromising mud (prevalent, difficult) maybe it was the sheer size of it all (overwhelming, crowded) or maybe it was just all the idiots (unavoidable, everywhere).

highlights include some of the excellent bands we saw; tame impala, the kills, radiohead, battles, biffy clyro... and sitting on top of the hill at the park stage and watching the little ant like attendees go about their festival business. 

although in my head i am already romanticising the whole event, i doubt i will be returning to glastonbury festival soon. i get the impression that glastonbury has changed a lot from what it first set out to be, and i think i'd prefer to go to the festival that glastonbury wants to be, as opposed to the festival that it has become.

here are a couple of photos i took while i was there:

photograph 1 taken on a disposable camera, photographs 2, 3 & 4 taken on canon eos 300d with holga lens attached.