Showing posts with label xpro. Show all posts

Analogue Shopping: Zenit EM and more analogue goodness!

Tomorrow is my birthday and it seems totally appropriate to celebrate it buying myself a new camera, the first one in ages. I've been obsessing over old Zenit SLR cameras for quite a long time now, looking for them on ebay and everywhere else, trying to find a working and not too expensive one, possibly not from Ukraine or Latvia as my country's customs would keep the parcel for ages. Today, after much indecision, I finally treated myself to a Zenit EM.

I decided to only buy the camera body as I'm always worried the lens might have scratches or fungi on it, so I'm going to buy it someplace else than the evil bay. I paid about £15 [+£18 for shipping], the seller seems to have a good feedback and the shipping should take about 5-9 days, but I live in Italy so you never really know ( -_-')

Do I actually need a new camera? Of course I don't. I own more than 50 cameras, plus a whole lot of disposable cameras and various pinhole cameras I made myself, so no, it is totally futile. But I can't wait to get my hands on some Helios lens and try to get some cool bokeh! [like these 1, 2, 3]

Actually, there's plenty more analogue goodness on its way to me for my birthday... A big thank you in advance to the lady below [aka my sister] - rumors have it she's going to give me some packs of the new Impossible Color Protection SX 70 film! <3
Spring seems to have finally set in, the weather is absolutely great, some less-hectic workdays lie ahead and it looks like my creative juices are hopefully flowing again - I really can't wait for some photoshooting action!

Blurry Pictures From a Gig

The last picture is an example of what might happen if your bestfriend's boyfriend takes your camera.

Blurry Fragments of a Lazy Morning

Taken in the hotel room Bene and I shared last September in London. I'll be going back to the U.K. next Saturday for a few days with Cate.

A few seconds at Piccadilly Circus

I've been to London many many times, and one place I never got to like is Piccadilly Circus. That might be because it's a very tourist-y place, or maybe just because there really ain't much to see but a bunch of huge ads. Whatever. After a whole day of wild shopping in Camden, B and I decided to stop at Piccadilly just because. Just the time to take these three pictures and then we went back to our hotel. The sky was overcast, but my trusty "Russia Day" and the amazing Provia 400x did a great job anyway. I'm in love with this film, if it only was so expensive [€11 per roll] and hard to find 'round here...

Flickr | Lomo | Tumblr

Breakfast at Garfunkel's

On our last day in London last September Bene and I indulged in some massive English breakfast at Garfunkel's at Gloucester Arcade. I really enjoyed the atmosphere... and the food, of course.

Flickr | Lomo | Tumblr

Diana Mini: Yet Another Pub Night





Lomography Diana Mini + Lomo Xpro Slide 200

Diana Mini: The Raging Puppy


Some time ago Dru and I were playing the raging puppies in my bedroom, which is something we do on a daily basis. The roll in the Mini was yet to finish, so I gave it a try.


 I actually thought nothing would turn out as she was shaking like crazy.


She really was indeed.


And she was also making the funniest growls.


I also happened to shoot an accidental double exposure, but her white fur is just too white to see it.


Then all of a sudden she calmed down. And grew quite serious. 


And so I thought to take a couple of silly self portraits.


I told you they were silly. 

Overall, I'm quite pleased with this film, and I guess this camera  is pretty growing on me as well.







[Album in my LomoHome][Set on Flickr, click on each pic for the direct link]

Diana Mini: Seaside Rush


So six months ago Bene and I went to the seaside. Which was absolutely great as it meant spending some time with one of my favorite people while doing some of the things I love the most in life. Like driving my car in the desert highway, eating out at my favorite grill restaurant, drinking some of the finest beers on my windy balcony while staring at a huge red moon reflecting on the dark sea at night, and then watching Clerks for the nth time and drinking some more icy Bud or Viru. And smoking too many cigarettes in between. As you can see from my shadow on her shoulderblade in the picture above. 


As I mentioned in this post, we only spent 20 hours there. Getting there at around 10pm, we could only go to the beach the next morning. The weather was just perfect for testing out some of my [then] newest toys, the Diana Mini and the Russia Day. So we hanged out a bit snapping some pics, bought some food and then went chilling out at the beach. 



I didn't take many pictures as I wished as it was such a fleeting visit, but I think you get the idea of how nice a place it is! Also, I've spent so much time here that I'm sort of used to its beauty.


I used Lomography x-pro slide 200 and [obviously] cross processed it. I really liked the film, even if my 1hour lab must use the oldest chemicals ever, as these pictures don't look cross-processed at all.


Wait a second: did they really cross-process it? I guess they did, I don't think they even know the difference between C-41 and E6!


I'm not much of a fan of the Diana, I guess it depends on the impossibility to process 120 around here,  and I now have mixed feelings about the Diana Mini.


I really love its size, its look, its weight, and the half frame format really comes in handy when you want to "pack light" and get 72 frames out of a 36 exposures roll. I would love to try the square format too, but my camera seems to be stuck on the half frame mode. 


The half frame mode can be quite tricky too. This picture above wasn't meant to be vertical at all, but I forgot about the hf-thing, so here it is, a sliced graffiti. My bad '-_-


It took me so long to get this roll processed because 72 shots can be too much sometimes. I guess I'm more of a 12 exposures-girl. That's the main reason to such a useless picture.


Occasionally this camera yelds strong vignetting... which I love!


Ok, maybe this is a bit too hardcore a vignette, but I like it anyway!


Bene aka my favorite model. This picture makes me wonder why we don't go there more often. I mean, that's some nice chilling out... gotta go back there asap, I guess. Weekends in the city: screw you.

Holga 135BC: My favorite double exposure

Long time no see, right? I still have to get quite a lot of rolls developed, so I had to dig in my old shots, and there out came this one, which I particularly like, as I think it is my best... er, well, most decent, at least, double exposure so far. Taken in late July/early August 2010 at the seaside on Fuji Velvia 100. They're Vale [horizontal] and John [vertical]. So this was my only lucky moment with multiple exposures. Too bad.

Latest analogue news is Lomography published another article of mine, which is an attempt at reviewing my Sexy Lomo with the Funny Logo. Thanks to Mikahsupageek you can now read it French too: does it get any sexier than this?

Also, I've bought some amazing pro slide film expired in the 1990s... and made a few lab-rat experiments I'll be testing these next weeks [and most likely develop in 2057]. Wicked.

Coming up next: playing around with the crappy instant back of the Diana F+.

Have a great weekend!

Pokoj LomoWall in Lodz: I've Been Featured!


A few days ago I received an email that totally made my day: one of my pictures was featured in a huge LomoWall in Lodz [Poland]! Here's a link to the list with all the participants, click here if you have no clue what I'm talking about, or head over to this article to take a look at the LomoWall itself [there's also a video off Vimeo featuring the different corners of the LomoRoom].
I couldn't find my photo amoung thousands of others, but I'm so excited if I think that one of my pictures is being exhibited in a land so far away. Too bad I'm not there to spot it in the real life.

Thanks Lomography for choosing one of my pictures, and congrats to all participants!

Holga 135BC/Fuji Velvia 100 xpro
Summer 2010, Italy

Holga 135BC: (Vertical) Summer 2010




Some pictures I took in Summer 2010 with my Holga 135BC, the film is Fuji Velvia 100 expired cross processed. I'd love to live in a world with such colors, it would feel so much better.

I've managed to finish some rolls with my Konica Pop and Olympus XA. I've been using the SuperSampler every now and then too, and it's quite fun, especially if you have dog puppies all around, but I'm far from finishing my first roll [which has been sitting in that camera since Summer 2010 as well]. I still have three rolls from old cameras I inherited [Eos 100 from dad, Nikon FM from grandpa, Olympus µ from mom] to get processed. It's a tough time and I guess it would bring some comfort to look at some "new" old pictures, if something ever comes out from these rolls.
I still haven't tested my green Konica Pop, I love the red one too much! And I've taken many funny pictures with it - ikea, old friends and pub, and that's just a tiny hint.

Next week I'll be off to Milan and I really can't decide which cameras to bring along, sure thing my brand new Lomo LC-A+ Russia Day is coming, then I was considering the Fisheye for some cool self-portrait of me and my best friend with the Duomo di Milano in the background. We're both kinda lazy ladies, so a multilensed camera is not even an option!

Holga 135BC: Last Summer








Last summer in July Marti and I packed up our stuff and went to the seaside. We spent there three weeks or so and had the greatest time. We always were at the bathouse, sunbathing, photo-snapping and joking with the guys. Nights were filled with friends, laughs and alcohol. A tablecloth-theft also occurred, and the same night we also accidentally stole a violet plant. But having no vase to put it in, we decided to plant it into a plastic cup. We didn't notice there was still some Negroni in it. We found the poor thing dead the morning after in our bedroom.

Going home was always quite adventurous, being wasted most of the time. We've spent whole nights chatting in the bedroom we shared in the attic, once safe and sound-ly at home. Dirty laundry and shoes on the floor, smeared make-up on our faces and sand all over the mattress. I've never seen a room that messy ever before.

Gine came for some days, John came for some days too, and we had lots of fun, met amazing people, and we both lost it all in the end. Everyone did loose a lot, and I guess we're all to blame. But time goes by, and I don't care anymore. 

I don't regret a thing, I never do, it was fun back then, now it's gone. Oh well.

All pictures taken by me on Holga 135BC on Fuji Velvia 100 cross-processed
[except photo #3 taken by Marti]