Film Found: Belmont Park

I took these with my Diana during one of my Polaroid and Toy Camera Group's meet ups when we went to Belmont Park. It was a cloudy day and we got rained on at one point but I like how some of the pictures came out. Specifically the last one. I like how clear the one set of seats is on the roller coaster coming up on the right hand side. I also like the fake ice cream cone.

There's something about carnival/theme parks that I just can't get enough of. I just want to fill my cameras with pictures of them.

xoxo

Developed: An Adventure In Processing

For a while I stopped developing my film. Mostly because I thought the only way to do so was expensive. I had problems in the past with 1-hour offerings and so I shied away from them and when the itch struck would just give in and pay a large amount at a professional lab.

This week I remembered my love for film again, outside of the frustration of cost. I went back to the professional place and by chance/coincidence/fate I only managed to bring one of the three rolls I had wanted developed. I had grabbed two unused rolls in unmarked canisters, something I didn't notice until I was gathering my things outside of the lab.
It worked out well though. I decided I would try some different options. I would get the roll on hand developed at the professional place and then I would experiment with the other two.

The first roll developed was the one most recently completed, so I had a better idea of what I want going to see, the other two were a mystery. I figured if the other places screwed up the processing it wouldn't be that big of a loss.

I did my research, looked for places to send film into and then ran across a blog post by a person who gets hers done at walmart. She drops of her 120 film to them, writes on the package and it comes back developed well, and only for a few bucks! I'm not a fan of Walmart, but Costco has a similar system, and I had heard good things about them through a photographer I recently started following, so I decided to test my fate with the regular 35mm film.

Today I walked into Costco with my mystery rolls and asked that they be developed and keep the film uncut. I had thought about it on my journey and realized that getting them printed would be harder, because the machine might not recognize the black space, but if I just had them put onto a cd it wouldn't matter. The developing would be the same either way and if something messed up in the transfer to the computer I could always go back and get more specific about the area that I wanted as my picture.

It worked. I came home with my two cds and my pictures look just as good as the ones done by the professional photo lab. Because I don't get mine printed at the moment I didn't need the colors to be as vibrant, something I'm not sure Costco would be able to handle as I think their machines automatically color correct.

Now, here's the real doozy... cost:

Professional Photo Lab: $16 and change for one roll of film to CD
Costco: $9 and change for two rolls to CD

A couple closing thoughts.
- Going to costco will not work for when I want to develop through the sprocket holes, luckily I found a place that will do that, but it has to be sent out. They are the cheapest I've seen for send out thus far, but the charge for developing into the sprocket holes adds a good $10 to your order. Ouch. Good thing I don't do that often, nor do I really want to. That will be a special project.

- I didn't ask if Costco sends out for 120 film. They do all of their 35mm processing in the store still unlike the Walmart that the blog post talks about. Places like CVS, Target and Walgreens have been closing down their film processing and are relying on their digital kiosks now so that might be an issue. I may have to find myself in a Walmart...

For now I'm just excited that I can take and develop my 35mm film on the inexpensive side. I missed the excitement of seeing what came out.

xoxo

From the Other Cameras

My High School Years: Rollei (120 film)

A boat without a motor: Holga 120

The End: Holga 120

Melted shore: Polaroid 600

Railroad ties: Rollei (120 film)

School's Out: Holga 120

It's been a while (and then some) since I've shared some of my film photos. Not all of them turn out the way I want but sometimes I get really lucky and they turn out better than I had ever hoped for. 

My Holga 120 is so much better than the 35mm one. I love the square shape and the blur. 

The Rollei, that thing is a dream I am still trying to get the hang of. But the last time I took it out my pictures turned out 10 times better than the first roll. Progress!

I've been taking a break from film for a bit, I'm not sure why, maybe it was because I met my Rebel and just couldn't part with her. Or maybe it's because when I go out to take pictures I always want a digital AND a film camera which weighs down my bag. 

Either way, I am going to get back into film here soon, maybe even today. My goal is to have more pictures (new ones, not scans of old ones... I could be tricky and do that) by the 25 of this month. 

Hold me to it!

xoxo

My First Attempt at the Rolleiflex

What follows is my first attempt with the Rolleiflex (and 120 film) my grandparents so graciously let me borrow! I'm not going to lie, none of them came out like I wanted, but it's definitely a starting point! I did not post or even scan them all, I took the ones I tolerated the most and left them untouched for your viewing pleasure.

Of course I wish that these could have come out better or that there had been at least one that I was totally proud of. Alas the bunch was varied and I am definitely not an instant pro with this camera. I knew there were things I would have to learn but they seemed complicated when I was scanning over the manual online so I just loaded the film, focused the subject and pressed that little button. 

I've printed out a copy of the original manual so I can study it and figure out how to make the camera work with me better. I must remember that one does not start a new adventure perfect at the trail. I'm going to read the manual and try again. When I do I'll share the once again unadulterated pictures with you. :) 

Here's to learning!

xoxo

Adventures in Analog: Solidarity

I've been wanting to share some of my "failed" pictures with you for a while but always hesitate to press the publish button. I usually have a post already done that day or it just doesn't seem to fit right so I take the excuse and procrastinate more. A while ago one of my favorite bloggers Kyla Roma posted that she was starting a project.

more details here

In it she is sharing her successes and mishaps in analog photography. In an attempt at solidarity I too am going to post my successes and mishaps with analog photography.

I must admit this post was already composed, sitting and waiting for the day when I would share it with my dear readers. Finally that day has come, here it is, the Impossible Project mishaps:

I've been working with the first run color film and the color push from the Impossible Project and I've been having a really, really hard time of it. So far I have had maybe 3 or 4 pictures come out to the point of a stranger knowing what the subject was. I figured for fun I would share the pictures that didn't come out so well. They are pretty in and of themselves, but they are an expensive pretty.

baby brows

no idea

planter outside

self portrait

house

fence of bird houses

I've been having a tad more luck lately as I have been covering the print RIGHT when it comes out of the  camera. That has helped a bit but I'm still having trouble with inside pictures. Maybe the light in the house is not what the film needs. I'm really not sure but I've had a lot of duds and it's hard not to get frustrated sometimes.

Anybody else had this experience with the first run and the color push film from the Impossible Project?

I will be posting more from time to time now that I have all of my 35mm scanned in. 

xoxo