sarahnb

Snowy Stirchley with Zenit E

2012-02-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

Today I got the film that I mentioned developed and I really like the photos, so yay.

More flash experiments

2012-02-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

I liked these photos I took so I decided to try it again with some prettier plants.

Flash experiments

2012-02-05T15:48:00.000-08:00

This week we got the title for this new photography unit, and one of my ideas for it was to combine natural and man-made things, like photographing a plant with a bright flash and that sort of thing. Then after my interview at a university yesterday I looked at some of the work by the person who interviewed me and it just so happens that they've done a similar thing. (have a look here, in the still life section) So that inspired me to have my first attempt tonight, and this is an example of what I ended up with.

Snowy Stirchley

2012-02-05T05:20:00.000-08:00

Hi! Sorry it's been almost a month since I made a post, I have been busy doing non-taking-photos photography work (i.e. my personal study) and going to university interviews. In that time though, I've gained a new follower bringing the number of followers I have up to a staggering 5!

This is just a brief post with a few photos I took this morning on a snowy walk. I finally went photographing round Stirchley, which is what I've wanted to do for ages. I took my Zenit E out to remind it of its home country so I'm looking forward to getting the film developed but for now here are a few I took with my Nikon D40.

Self Developed Film

2012-01-06T14:04:00.000-08:00

The other week, with the help of my sister, I developed some more of my own black and white film, this time at home instead of at college. How exciting! The first film we developed was Ilford Delta 100 that I used in my Praktica MTL 5 before it broke half way through (it's working now though) and the second is Ilford Delta 400 I used in my Zenit E. Check it:

(Praktica first)

Now Zenit...

Christmas Phenix

2011-12-18T04:36:00.000-08:00

A while ago I posted about a lovely Phenix camera I borrowed from college. I used it to take the photos on the first film that I developed myself and really loved it, so I decided to borrow it again this unit to take my finals with. I also needed some different film so had a trip to AG Photographic and bought a roll of Kodak Portra 800 for the first time. Some of the photos I took for my finals turned out well but others didn't so much because they were set in the dark and it was difficult to see whether I was focussing properly or not. I had a few photos left on the roll so I used it to take photos of (a particularly Christmassy) Birmingham before taking it to be developed, and they've turned out to be my favourite photos on the roll...

Block to the Future - Severn Roller Torrent vs Manchester Roller Derby

2011-11-29T10:01:00.000-08:00

On Saturday (26/11/11) SRT took on MRD in Block to the Future. SRT won 261 - 105 which is awesome. I used the zoom lens I borrowed from college and it was really worth it, it was really fun to use and the photos have come out well.

Zoom lens!

2011-11-25T13:24:00.000-08:00

Today I finally borrowed a zoom lens from college (which I've planned on borrowing before but never have) and as soon as I got it home I started messing around with it, and being amazed by it. I really wish I'd taken it before as it is very cool. I borrowed it with the Severn Roller Torrent v Manchester Roller Derby bout in mind which is tomorrow, and I might take it to town with me in the morning to get some more interesting photos, but these are the ones I took at home earlier today. You may not find them as amazing as I do because you don't see these things every day from the same place and know how far away they actually are, but I still like them just as photos too.

Ash and The Parlotones

2011-11-23T11:32:00.000-08:00

Today I got a roll of Lomo CN 400 developed. It has photos of Ash, The Parlotones and a few other things on it, the Ash ones are the best. I do like this film for gigs despite it being a grainy mofo.

There are more here.

'The Art and Technique of Taking Portraits' book from 1963

2011-11-20T06:04:00.000-08:00

The other day my grandad gave me this Focal Viewfinder book from 1963, 'The Art and Technique of Taking Portraits'. It's mostly just illustrations but there are a few pages of really cool photos in the middle...

More Holga 135 BC

2011-11-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted in so long (I don't really know who I'm apologising to because I only have 4 followers and one of those is Cloggs but I'll apologise anyway) but I've been stupidly busy with college (partly because I didn't do any photography for the first few weeks back after summer because of Bluetones gigage and then I had loads to catch up on) and have been going to university open days and the like.

But anyway, I got a film developed from my Holga 135BC that I used mostly while we were on holiday in Yorkshire this year. The roll was a little bit hit-and-miss (there were a few more blank frames than usual, down to the fact that you can take multiple photos on one frame meaning there's nothing stopping you from accidentally pressing the shutter when you're carrying the camera around in your bag and taking blank photos) but there are some nice double exposures on it, like these:

and this one that I've been wanting to try for ages:

And my favourite single exposures:

The rest are on my lomography.

The Bluetones Farewell Tour #3 (Final UK Show)

2011-10-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is the post for film and digital photos from The Bluetones' final UK gig, at Shepherd's Bush last Tuesday (27th September). Digital first...

And now film (Lomography CN 400)...

The Bluetones Farewell Tour #2

2011-10-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

So I made one post for my film photos from Cardiff, Leeds and Oxford and considering the tour has finished and I've had the rest of the photos developed for almost a week I thought I should hurry up and make this post.

The two I hadn't covered yet are Birmingham and London, both of which I have film photos for (two rolls for London, 1 used for The Bluetones and the other used for Married to the Sea) but my rubbish non SLR digital camera decided to be kind to me and do a good job of taking photos at London as well.

So here are my favourite film photos from Birmingham:

And the first film roll from London, of Married to the Sea:
(These were taken with Kodak Ultramax 400 like the rest of the film photos of The Bluetones but I'm going off it so decided to use a roll of Lomography Colour Negative 400 for the actual Bluetones, the difference is blindingly clear.)

And a few I like the look of in black and white:

And now I've decided to make another post for The Bluetones photos because there are so many.

The Bluetones Farewell Tour

2011-09-25T07:08:00.000-07:00

Over the past month we've been to as many gigs on The Bluetones' farewell tour as we could (4 so far; Cardiff, Leeds, Oxford and Birmingham). Since my non-slr digital camera is so rubbish, I've been taking my trusty Olympus Trip 35 with me, loaded with Kodak Ultramax 400 that U bulk-bought from poundland a while ago. I got the film that I used at Cardiff, Leeds and Oxford developed yesterday and I'm glad to say I seem to have been a bit better at guessing the focus than the last couple of times I used this camera and film. There's currently a roll in there with photos from Birmingham which I'll use up in London on tuesday.

Here are my favourites from this roll, you can see the rest here.

Zenit E First Roll

2011-09-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Today I finally got the first roll from my Zenit E developed. I'm generally really happy with them, my Zenit seems to be working which is the main thing. The film is expired by about 10 years and some of them are slightly purple so I'm assuming the two things are linked. The film's really grainy as well but considering I got loads of it for free from my grandad I can't complain! I also quite like the grain really. Some of the photos have come out a bit dark but I think I know what I was doing wrong now. I'll just have to see what happens next time!

^ (This is a photo of me that Naomi took)

Kathleen's Farm

2011-09-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in the Naomi post, Kathleen had another camp at her lovely farm and obviously I took lots of photos. It's impossible not to because it's so lovely, OK?! I have hundreds of photos from the other two times I went there. As I said in the other post as well, I took my Zenit E but haven't had the film developed from it so this post will just be photos taken with my Nikon D40. These were taken between 5:30 and 8:00 in the morning because we got up early again, to go for a walk round while the sun was rising. How romantic.

Yorkshire Holiday - Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival

2011-09-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

I thought it was time to carry on this Yorkshire Holiday series of posts now I've added a bit of variation to my blog, so now I'm on to Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival.

We passed through Kettlewell last year when the Scarecrow Festival was on, but decided just to carry on to Malharm Tarn. This year when we found out it was on again, and decided to go to Malham Cove, we decided to stop off on the way.

I could barely tell who was real and who wasn't...

A nice one but clearly not the most effective scarecrow...

Saving the best/most terrifying for last of course...

Naomi

2011-09-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

Today I went to see lovely Naomi and as usual I took a lot of photos. It's her fault for being so beautiful. I took my Zenit E along and finished off the film I started at Kathleen's farm (more on that in a later post) so I'm really looking forward to getting that developed. It's the first one I've used in my Zenit E so hopefully everything works as it should. For now though, I'll post some of my favourites taken with my Nikon D40.

(Also I'll post the rest of the Yorkshire Holiday photos at some point but I thought I'd put a bit of a break in the posts.)

The Bluetones at Mychoone Festival

2011-08-30T06:42:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd have a bit of a break in the Yorkshire posts with photos I took on Saturday (the 27th August) of The Bluetones at Mychoone Festival. They were completely brilliant as usual and I think these photos may be my best I've taken of them. The rest of the weekend was really good as well, with us seeing Married to the Sea, Chris Helme, Dodgy and some other bands we didn't know at Mychoone and then Muse at Reading on the Sunday.

As always they are on my Flickr and there are a few others in the set. I'd recommend looking at them there as they appear much better quality on Flickr.

Yorkshire Holiday - Whitby

2011-08-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

Yorkshire Holiday - Hawes Walk

2011-08-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

Yorkshire Holiday post #2 is for the photos I took of lovely Hawes when we went on a walk for pretty much the only really rainy day we had there...

Yorkshire Holiday

2011-08-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Yorkshire for our holiday like we usually do so I have lots and lots of photos to post. I'll do separate posts for days like Whitby because I have so many photos to post from them. This first one can just be for some miscellaneous ones...

Alejandro Chaskielberg - The High Tide

2011-08-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

I just came across another helpful website featuring the work of lots of different photographers and artists (www.yossimilo.com), and as I was looking through them all I saw Alejandro Chaskielberg's series The High Tide, and liked it so much I thought I'd post it here straight away.

Here is a quote from the press release, explaining the series:

Interested in the relationship between people and their environment, Alejandro Chaskielberg has lived in the Paraná River Delta region in Argentina periodically since 2007. While there, he observes the daily routines of the local islanders: fishing, boating, and farming. Drawing from his background in film, the artist carefully recreates scenes from his observations and photographs them at night. The light sources used to illuminate the images are moonlight, flashlights, strobes and lanterns, casting them in eerie and surreal light of unnatural colors.
Chaskielberg’s project, The High Tide, depicts life in the remote community of the Delta, where the river tides determine the activities and movements of its inhabitants. Chaskielberg breaks with the tradition of documentary photography by casting real people in imagined situations based on their own lives. In his photographs, everyday reality is transformed into a dreamlike world where perceptions of color, light and space are challenged.

Smacky Races - Birmingham Blitz Dames vs Hot Wheel Roller Derby

2011-07-31T06:14:00.000-07:00

Here are the photos from the BBD vs HWRD bout. The Blitz Dames won and it was an awesome bout.

Smacky Races - B-Team Bout

2011-07-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

The next load of photos I've had for a while but haven't posted is from another double roller derby bout. The first one was a mixed b-team bout in which my sister skated and the other one was between Birmingham Blitz Dames and Hot Wheel Roller Derby. I'll do a separate post for each bout.

The Bluetones at Napton Festival

2011-07-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

So it seems that I haven't done a post in over a month which is crazy because I actually have lots to post, for a change. First I'll post photos I took when we went to Napton Festival to see The Bluetones on 9th July.

These are my favourites, but there are plenty more on my Flickr: click here

The Power of the Crop

2011-06-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

Much earlier this year, before me and my BFF (my mom) went to the Chinese New Year festivities, I took this photo of The Electric cinema because I was using up the rest of a 400 ISO film and I liked the look of the street.

Now I do quite like this photo but after all this time I just decided to edit it and I figured I'd make the most of those people walking along the bottom:

(click to view large)

And I like this version much more. I also decided to do the same with the top of the photo, like so:

(click to view large again)

So not a particularly interesting post but I just wanted to put these photos on my blog because I rather like them.

More TTV (Through the Viewfinder)

2011-06-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

A while ago I posted this blog about my first attempt at TTV photography. At the time, I just did it to have a quick mess around with TTV, (like the post says, I'd wanted to try it for 4 years) and get some more stuff to put in my photography sketch book, so it was pretty much as basic as it could've been, simply with the Kodak Duaflex resting on a stool next to the glass and fake flowers I was photographing. That obviously meant that if I wanted to photograph anything else that wasn't set up perfectly, it'd be pretty tricky.

Today though, I finally got to try it out properly (after 4 whole years!). Here are some nice examples from Flickr, by Pete Ashton who did the workshop:

So here are my favourite TTV photos I took today:

I used one of these kaleidoscope prism eyeglass whatevers to take this

And a mirror photo of me with the contraption that makes me look like an elephant:

More Experiments - Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 2.8/50

2011-06-20T10:17:00.000-07:00

Today I was browsing through all the filters and lenses my grandad has given me - looking through them, playing with settings, putting them up to my Nikon D40 etc.

One of the lenses I did this with was the Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 2.8/50, and when I looked through it, I found what I saw to be pretty amazing. When I looked through it just with my eye and held my finger up in front, I could see every tiny piece of dust or dirt and every little line or groove on my skin, so obviously I then set my Nikon D40 up on my tripod to take photos of various awesome-looking things through the lens.

I used the self timer to take the photos, so I had chance to get the lens in the right place in front of my Nikon and hold it there with both hands. Even then, I still found it quite tricky to get the focus just right and the settings right on my Nikon for a good exposure.

These are some of the photos I took this way of one of the cacti in the kitchen:

And just for comparison, this is the most close up it’s possible to get with my Nikon D40 and normal lens:

Pretty darn cool I reckon. I also took one successful one of my finger which was what amazed me so much in the first place. I found that sometimes it was really easy to get the focus of everything right and sometimes really difficult. I thought a photo like these of an eye would be pretty awesome but I just couldn't seem to get it right, even when I got my mom to stand in front of it so I could see what I was doing.

I've also always liked taking photos of reflections in other lenses so I did some of that as well and got some photos I like:

Praktica MTL 5 Test Roll

2011-06-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

A little while ago I wrote this blog about the old Praktica MTL 5 that my grandad gave me. I finished the roll the other week and got it developed yesterday. To my delight, all the photos came out nicely so everything must be working properly, and I rather like the shots!

This one of my sister in her roller derby stuff is one of my favourites...

There are also a few light leaks which I was expecting and sort of hoping for (I haven't had any for ages and I actually really like them) so that made me quite happy as well.

And some of my other favourites...

And as always, the rest are on my lomography.

The Bluetones at Wychwood Festival

2011-06-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the start of the long string of Bluetones gigs me and my sister have plans to go to. They were on at Wychwood Festival in Cheltenham right by where my sister lives when she goes to uni so that was nice and convenient.

It took me ages to decide which cameras to take, but in the end I decided on my trusty Nikon D40 because I couldn't find anything that said they wouldn't be allowed at the festival. I also took my Olympus Trip 35 loaded with 400 ISO film in case it was darker than I'd expected. I was also considering taking my Praktica MTL-5 that I just started using despite the light meter not working, but decided it'd be too fiddly and heavy to take.

All of those turned out to be good decisions in the end because first we saw Oly Ralfe from Ralfe Band (which was magical as expected) in the cinema tent so my Trip was hand then because of it being quite dark. I should have those developed some time soon because I also used the film for when we saw Magnum in April.

The Bluetones were then on in the main stage at around 8pm so it was still nice and light and the sun was setting, as shown by this photo I took a little while before the Bluetones were on:

and also shown by this photo Scott Morriss of The Bluetones took while on stage: (we're in it at the front)

Obviously this meant lovely conditions for photographing, so I waited until the actual photographers with photo passes had gone to take my own. I'm unbelievably happy with the photos I got, since the light was so good and I had a good view of them from the front, (as usual) and because I've really wanted to get some good ones before the sad, sad end in September. So here are my favourites, and the rest of the best ones are viewable on my Flickr.

Skates, lovely skates.

2011-06-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

Blood and Thunder Double Roller Derby Bout

2011-05-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to a double bout which was the finale of a Blood and Thunder boot camp (Blood and Thunder is an American roller derby magazine) in Birmingham.
Both bouts were awesome obviously, and sitting in suicide seats, I had more of a chance of getting better photos than at the Shove and Marriage bout between Severn Roller Torrent and Bedfordshire RollerGirls last month.
Because of it being at the end of a boot camp, it was players from various leagues playing together as teams so I don't know exactly who belongs to which league etc.

Praktica MTL 5

2011-05-20T07:54:00.000-07:00

I got this lovely camera from my grandad, along with some other photography stuff such as film, it must've been about a year ago at least. It needs a new battery for the light meter but it's impossible to open it up to get it out, so I'd never really tried to actually use it properly.

Anyway I finally decided I would so I printed off an exposure chart for guidelines on what settings would be best for the weather and went out to start the test roll this morning. Although I found it difficult to load (someone really needs to make a video of how to do it properly and put it on youtube - even the instructions people have written confuse me too easily because it's different to any camera I've loaded before), it all seems to be working well so I should hopefully get some nice photos back once I've finished the roll.

To make things easy for myself I made a note of what settings I'd used on each shot so I can see how they come out when I get the roll developed. I wanted to write them somewhere where I'd remember them and not throw them away, and then I remembered I have these really nice Cath Kidston notebooks that I got as a Christmas present from my nan...

New film developed

2011-05-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

I've had a roll of normal 200 ISO film sitting, all used up, in the most basic of my 35mm cameras (there are literally no setttings to choose) for almost a year, not being developed.

I finally took it to be developed today since I went to town and didn't have any to get developed for college or anything (yay) and I like the results.

My favourite from the roll was this photo of me and my two best friends on our last day of school in June/July last year. I thought it might be on there because I asked my other friend to take one on this camera, and my Holga, but the Holga one came back as an accidental double exposure, so I'm really happy this one has come out so nicely.

The rest on the roll are from December last year I think, of the snow. These are the other ones I like the most but the rest are on my lomography in case anyone wanted to look.

Matthew Brandt

2011-05-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

I came across this photographer when I was looking through one of those excellent websites I sometimes find, that are kind of like agents for photographers, this time it was from M + B Art.

His series 'Lakes and Reservoirs' caught my eye in particular because of photos like these:

Then I read the artist statement and biography which explained them a bit more. The best quote from this that sums it up, in my opinion, is

“…Whether silkscreening his own photograph of Half Dome in Yosemite—an iconic image of the American West—with Cheez Whiz, Mint Jelly and other pedestrian condiments, or leaving photographs of lakes soaking in the water of their source, his subject matter visually and physically informs the work…”

These are examples from the series 'Taste Tests', the one on the left Mint Jelly and the right Peanut Butter and Jelly.

Skate Practice Part II

2011-04-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

We went out again to the park last night for her to do some more practice, and without thinking about it happened to go at a really good time for sun flare-age and generally nice light.

So here are some of my favourites...

Double Exposures

2011-04-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

As part of the prep for my finals I needed to take some photos of pretty flowers and stuff, and being as one of my favourite photos I've taken with my Holga 135BC is a double exposure, I thought I may aswell do some more considering it fits in with my photog work.

Sooo, I got the film developed today and I'm really happy with how they turned out.

I also got a few others from this film (single exposures) that I really like...

Here's a link to the rest of them on my lomography.

Shove and Marriage Roller Derby Bout

2011-04-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to watch a roller derby bout between Severn Roller Torrent and Bedfordshire RollerGirls because my sister is in SRT and it was her first time skating in a bout. It was amaaaaaazing. I took lots of photos (of course) but mostly just from the seats, being as it was my first time seeing a roller derby bout so I wanted to watch it properly. I've been through all the photos today (it only took me 7 hours) and overall they're not to bad, considering. Next time I think I might go down and stand/sit nearer to the track to hopefully get some really good shots. Anyway, here are some of my favourites out of the hundreds I took...

Skate Practice

2011-04-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

When my sister went to uni in September she joined Severn Roller Torrent Roller Derby League which is really awesome. She finally got her own skates and the rest of her gear and brought them back with her when she came home for a couple of days this week.

Being as she's in the bout in a couple of weeks she needed to practise and so I finally got to take some photos and practise panning on her, which I've been wanting to do for ages. The first attempts were pretty much complete failures but I persevered (like I always have to with photography) and I got some ones that I'm really happy with in the end. I also took some non-panning ones which I think look awesome too.

Now I've practised a bit and know I'm capable, hopefully I'll take some photos at their bout and be able to get some good ones. :D

Filters

2011-04-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

I've looked at the set of Holga filters on lomography.com about a billion times but I always sort of think, couldn't I just make my own instead of spending £30 (+£12 UK delivery) similar to what I've seen other people do? I always had it in mind so I looked out for things like sweet wrappers I could substitute for the proper things.

One English lesson almost a year ago, it was one of the last lessons before study leave so our teacher brought in a box of Celebrations or something like that which everyone had one of, and then my friend Izzy helped me make sure they didn't rip or throw away their wrappers and she helped me collect them (isn't that nice?). I tried them out briefly when I first got them but other than that they've just been in the zip pocket of my bag, until about an hour ago.

I've got 3ish weeks until my unit 2 AS photography exam and one aspect of what I'm doing for it is the idea of paradise and that sort of thing, so I'm going to be testing out a lot of cool stuff (like getting some disposable cameras and doing various things to the lens) to make really pretty, colourful photos. I've been messing with gradients in Photoshop but I remembered about these makeshift filters I had earlier, so decided to give them a try, and I got some really nice results (in my opinion) and pretty much exactly what I was hoping for.

I took some with my Nikon D40 and some with my Holga, so here are some of the digital ones:

TTV (Through the Viewfinder)

2011-04-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

For anyone that doesn't know, TTV/Through the Viewfinder photography is when you take a photo with one camera through the viewfinder of another, normally twin-lens reflex cameras. (Through the Viewfinder wikipedia page)

I'd wanted to try it since my sister told me about it almost four years ago but didn't ever think I'd really get the chance because I didn't think I'd have access to the twin lens reflex camera, even though I do know now that they're relatively cheap on eBay (I don't use eBay though, and I think that if I started I would buy wayyyy too much, especially when it comes to photography related stuff). I did look at some fake TTV photoshop tutorials though, and made some TTV-looking photos like this one of Vicar's Close in Wells:

However, my photography teacher clearly does use eBay because she bought a lovely Kodak Duaflex for around £15 some time ago and I finally got chance to play with it today.

Kodak Duaflex, © Colin J Clarke (photo links to source)

So here are a few of my first attempts at TTV photography, I'd like to bring the camera home so I can take photos of more interesting things, other than what's in the photography studio/what I can take in there.

Heinrich Heidersberger

2011-04-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

Legendary German photographer Heinrich Heidersberger worked on a cruise ship, the MS Atlantic, in 1954. He took thousands of pictures of Americans sailing from New York to Havana -- something Americans haven't been allowed to do for almost 50 years. The pictures are now on display in Hamburg.

- Source

Photojojo posted this link on tumblr and I really liked these photos in particular.

Self Developed B&W

2011-03-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

Like I said in my previous post, I used a roll of black and white film and developed it myself for the first time at college. Since then the scanner decided to co-operate so I have all but three scanned (the three won't scan properly, hopefully I'll be able to figure it out as they're photos I really like).

Here's one of my favourites, and seemingly everyone else's favourite on my tumblr...

And some others I really like...

The rest are all here on my lomography.

Exciting things I've done recently

2011-03-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

Photography related, of course.

A few weeks ago I was given a good Phenix camera to borrow from college for a while, and a roll of Ilford 125 B&W film to use with it. (Here's a photo of the same type of camera I borrowed from someone on gumtree, it links to where I got it from.)

Last week we developed the negatives at college and they came out looking pretty good. A really nice friend of my sister's gave me everything I need to develop B&W film, for free, minus a changing bag which I can buy myself pretty easily so I'm really pleased that I've been shown how to use everything now. I can almost start turning this room into my own darkroom. After my photography and French exams in early may, the only one I'll have left is General Studies so it's pretty safe to say I can sort it then and spend most of my study leave developing film in my own house, how exciting. :D

After about a week of pestering my photography teacher she also figured out how to use the scanner to properly scan negatives so I made a start on that today. Perhaps I should look into getting my own scanner, since I might be doing quite a bit more of this at home. I've scanned about 12 of them, but need to do them again to make them bigger next time, and some are wonky/just totally wrong. But I'll post a couple of the ones I've got so far on here now...

I've also had a bit of a breakthrough with my actual photography coursework and have decided to get a few disposable cameras as part of it. Things like glue or clear nail varnish on the lenses give the photos a nice blur (like this one by primatepatio on flickr) and there are other things I'd like to try out.

We also went to Format Festival in Derby, but I was planning to write another post for that, if I get chance/can be bothered.

More Inspiration

2011-03-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

Every now and then I also come across a website with quite a few different photographers/artists that I really like, like Luhring Augustine where I saw Guido van der Werve and Joel Sternfeld's photos and they're always so useful.

Today I found M + B which has loads and loads of photographers, all of whom I really like, and who have given me heaps of inspiration for this photography unit which is greatly needed at the moment. I'm starting to feel more excited about it again, yay, since my enthusiasm was crushed by my stupid teacher making us do completely irrelevant stuff.

I would do more detailed posts about them separately but there are too many I like and I wouldn't be able to choose which ones, so I'll just post some of the different photos.

'Despair film still #3' by Alex Prager

'Vanessa // San Francisco, California' by Mike Brodie

'Sunset Tree Fern' by Lisa Eisner

And there are so many other awesome ones. All 2 of my followers should have a look.

Olympus Trip 35 at Christmas

2011-02-19T12:24:00.000-08:00

When I got my Holga 135BC in December 2009, I'd only really used a random, very basic 35mm camera before so when I tried to use it to photograph the German Christmas Market in town that year, it wasn't that successful (seeing as on a Holga 135BC you hold the shutter open for as long as you press the shutter release button down for). As a result I got quite blurry photos with too long a shutter speed. I was also only aware of being able to get ISO 200 film so that wasn't great in the dark either. And I hadn't had much practice loading film. Here are some of them, from Christmas 2009...

(more of those here)

I was quite disappointed with them at the time but actually really like them a lot now, these two especially. Anyway, this Christmas just gone, I used my beloved Olympus Trip 35 and trusty ISO 400 film (from Poundland - get in) which I reckon 'delivered much better results' (I said it like that because that's what all photographer people seem to say). The focus is a little off in some of them, but that's something that many a Trip 35 user seem to struggle with, especially in the dark.

(more of those here)

Thinking about it now, it's cool to compare my knowledge then, and my knowledge now. It's cool what you can learn in under a year about something if you're really interested in it (especially if, like me, you're busy with a job or school/college/uni work and you have to fit it in around that).

Redscale Film

2011-02-19T11:48:00.000-08:00

Recently I won 'Lomo home of the Week UK' or something on Lomography.com which earnt me 50 piggy points (£50 free pound basically, to spend in the Lomo shop, awesome) and with them I bought a white Fisheye 1 which I've wanted for ages, and some funky film; 3 rolls of Lomography film ISO 400 and 3 rolls of Lomography redscale ISO 100.

I was looking on Lomography.com earlier because some lovely people liked and commented on my photos and I came across some really nice photos taken with an Olympus Trip 35 (my favourite film camera at the moment) and Lomography Redscale film, awesome. I'm clearly going to have to go to some sort of forest/woods when I test my film out.

All linked to their Lomo pages, taken by panchoballard.

Guido van der Werve

2011-02-10T11:09:00.000-08:00

I found out about this photographer/film maker on this website which also has information about, and the work of, loads of other artists that I really like.

He takes photos, makes short films and also music compositions I think. But basically I went on his website (http://www.roofvogel.org/) to look at more of his work than was on the other site and I really liked it, so I wanted to put him on my blog like I have done with others.

Digbeth

2011-01-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

From time to time, something happens that makes me extremely glad I live in Birmingham, and not somewhere like London, or nearer London at least. Last weekend I went to town with my BFF (my mom) to take photos in the style of Margaret Bourke White's building photos to fill a page in my sketchbook I've had empty for months, and I thought that the falling down buildings in Digbeth would be good for these. Plus, I've been meaning to photograph Digbeth for ages and ages. Welllll, we came across the Custard Factory (that I've actually never been to before, despite living here for my whole life) which was brilliant to photograph. I think it was, anyway. Here are some of the photos:

Giacomo Brunelli

2011-01-20T10:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.giacomobrunelli.com/index.html

Again, if anyone would like to buy me an earlyish birthday present, I'd love to have his book.

#3

2011-01-10T13:06:00.000-08:00

sarahnb photostream

#2

2011-01-09T13:26:00.000-08:00

sarahnb photostream

#1 - Looking through my Flickr photostream...

2011-01-08T14:14:00.000-08:00

Occasionally I look back through my full up Flickr photostream, sometimes because I need to delete things to add something new, sometimes just because. I've had this account since July 2008 and I used to upload lots but don't really any more, due to lack of space and I sort of just gave up with it. I tried really hard to get it seen a bit more but to no avail. Sort of. I think I should get a pro account. But I don't know. I've been thinking about this since I got the account.

But that really wasn't the point of the post. I was going to post some of my older photos from my Flickr that I particularly like, or just that I feel like posting.

sarahnb photostream

2011-01-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

The serviette, blu tac and photography book thing sort of worked again. Better with smaller cakes for a shallow depth of field and less focus I reckon. This cake is delicious. I made it with mah sistah for our momma's birthday yesterday.

William Eggleston

2011-01-08T06:57:00.000-08:00

Since this is a blog I made specifically for photography related posts, I figured I should do some posts about my favourite photographers. I do it on my tumblr as well so there's even more reason for me to do it here.

Obviously this particular post is about William Eggleston, and I always think of him as my complete favourite because there is not one photo of his that I've seen and don't like, or that doesn't interest me, or so on. I don't really look back at my old photography teacher that fondly, since I don't think he taught us that much, apart from when it came to the dark room, but he was the one that brought William Eggleston to my attention so that makes me really glad I had him. I know I would have found out about him eventually, but the sooner I did, the better.

Looking at Eggleston's photos as much as I do also makes me see things as though they were from one of his photos, for instance when we're going out somewhere and driving somewhere I haven't really seen before I always look for the kind of thing that would be in his photos and look amazing, and imagine trying to take photos like his. The fact that he took photos of what he saw would look good in places he visited and didn't particularly set things up makes me glad because I don't consider myself good at setting up a photograph at all, and prefer to just keep an eye out for interesting/ aesthetically pleasing places or things that are already there. His photos make me notice things more. (But they also make me sad that I wasn't alive in the 70s and want to go to Memphis.) It's also his photos that made me interested in and excited by film the most, I think, despite being interested in it a bit before I knew of him. I use him for practically every photography unit I do and whenever I take a photograph I always think of his.

Here are some of his photos, there are too many I love to have favourites.

I'm so glad he has a good website, too, www.egglestontrust.com. It has loaaaads of his photos on it.

(If anyone would like to buy me a late Christmas present/early birthday present, I would love William Eggleston's Guide. ;) Well, I'd love all of his books but that is definitely the most affordable. If not, I'll just have to buy myself a present...)

A new addition to my (small) camera collection.

2011-01-04T10:23:00.000-08:00

My sister's very generous friend has given me even more photography goodies, including one of these Baldixette cameras. It's medium format, German, was made in 1956 and I like it a lot. It's got two apertures; f9 and f16, two shutter speeds; 1/60 and bulb and three focus lengths. Also it's very purdy. And the photos are 6x6.

I've been wanting to try out a medium format camera for a while so I'm really happy I've got this now. The other goodies I was given are a big bag of film (colour, b&w, 120, 35mm, various ISOs, expired and new) which is great because black and white film was also on my lengthy shopping list, and some books on developing and lith printing which will definitely come in handy since she also gave me almost everything I need to set up my own dark room. Happy happy.

Here are some photos I found on Flickr that were taken with this camera.

openspace02s by Jacob Schere

Found photo and amazing coincidence by RaúlM.

Beach houses @ IJmuiden by Jelle Knüppe

2010-12-20T11:56:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas tree(s). Multiple Christmas trees. All floating in the air being luminous. Like any other traditional Christmas tree.

Serviettes, blu tack and an A3 sketch book

2010-12-16T12:25:00.000-08:00

is all I need to make nice photos of cakes and other things of a similar size, I have discovered. I can never seem to get a good background when I want to take photos of cake/cakes, or if I do, the light's usually terrible. But I seem to have solved that problem now and these three things helped me take these...

2010-12-16T11:03:00.000-08:00

2010-12-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

2010-12-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

2010-12-16T10:10:00.000-08:00

2010-12-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

2010-12-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

2010-12-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago my beautiful friend Naomi and I decided to make use of the snow and take some photos. This is my favourite one from then.

2010-10-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome to my typical first post.
The main reason this blog exists is because I signed up to make it easier to follow a few blogs I read, and I thought I may as well create a blog while I was at it. I also like to have somewhere that I can post my own photos. And when I think I have something worthy of being shared I'd like a specific place for those to go, so I can link to them. I do have a tumblr (sarahnb.tumblr.com) but that has unfortunately started to piss me off a bit too much and none of its free themes are particularly suited to showing off photos. I'm not expecting to get a single follower (which is fine), so I suppose I'm talking to myself now. Better stop it.