Photo Heart Connection - March

Mukilteo Beach

This photo is taken with Ilford Super 400 film and my old Nikon 401.  I've been playing around with film this year.  I wanted to better my eye and be more cognizant of framing my photos and really paying attention to what I'm doing.  Film does that for me.  I have 24 frames and each one needs to be thoughtfully taken.  Out of habit, I take a photo and immediately look at the back of the camera to see my shot.  However, there is no feedback with film - no way to make adjustments.  Its all guesswork for me.  I have to wait until the entire roll is taken and then developed.    I always "go for it" - I get the entire roll printed 4x6.  I want to see them all - good or bad. 
I can't tell you how I feel when I open the photo envelope after picking up the prints.  The anticipation of seeing how I did.  The excitement of looking through them as I sit in the car.  Then I think about them on the way home.  I lay them out on the dining room table when I get home.  I pick my favorites, I put the worse ones in a pile to the side.  Each one is special - each one holds meaning for me.  Maybe its a little nostalgia, or maybe its the way that film in its grainy goodness just makes photos a little different for me.
This photo is my photo-heart connection pick this month.  It was a cool day, not windy and not really sunny either.  I was perfect in its own way.  This photo speaks to me like a whisper of days gone by.  When I was a kid and we would spend endless hours like this at the beach.  No agenda - just fun.  Our imaginations would run wild with mermaids, sandcastles and whatever else we could dream up.  I watched these kids for a while before taking this photo.  Any one of them, was just like I had been. 

And today is Pay It Forward Monday - where you give a shout out and a *clap*clap* to someone for the great things they are doing.  Last week I gave a shout out to Justine who came up with this great idea.  This week - a shout out to Kat of Kat Eye Studio.  She runs this photo-heart connection and inspires us all with her photo love blog, e-courses, post card exchanges and all the other amazing things that she brings to us from her studio.  Next Monday and all the rest, I urge you to climb on board with Pay It Forward Monday and spread some love out there in blog land.
  

Finding Inspiration

Creative inspiration can come in so many ways.  Sometimes it is the way the light shines on an object or how two colors seem to vibrate against one another.  It can be the sound of the rain or the the smell of Ponderosa pines in the dry summer.  It can be the pocket full of treasures found at the beach.

The first week in Februaray I was visiting friends in Suffolk, England.  For a day trip we journied off to Cambridge.  We planned our trip so that we would be able to visit Kettle's Yard, a museum that is only open but two hours in a day.

Kettle's Yard is the creation and gift of Jim Ede, a one time curator at the Tate Gallery.  He wanted to share with others the art and objects which he collected over 50 Years.  He felt that art was better approached in the intimate surroundings of a home.  In 1957 he converted four cottages in Cambridge and began to hold open houses for students and visitors. 

Ede's collection is not only art as we would define it with paintings and sculpture.  Kettle's Yard is an entire canvas of beatiful objects not only created by man, but also created by nature. 
The house has a beautiful simplicity that makes you want to linger.  Everywhere I looked, there was an interesting vignette created with simple objects and well thought out clusters of treasures: books, stones, shells... 

The light in February hangs low in the sky. When we entered the house, the light itself was just another facet of the beautiful collection that Ede had compiled. It shown in the windows highlighting across objects, creating incredible shadows and bringing another dimension to the space and its treasures.

 Every space, wall, table top was a delight. 

 We were welcome to linger, photograph, sit and enjoy the spaces. 

There seemed to be some kind of magic within these walls.  A feeling that was overwhelming, yet comforting and it embraced me like a welcome hug.  The feeling was creative energy. 

Inspiration is a beautiful thing.  Was there any one exact thing that I can say was the one single inspirational thing?  No, not one thing from here.  It was the entire package for me.  I really loved this place and want to return on another day to take it all in again. 

In the Picture

 52 Self portraits for the year.

I'm in

my score so far

+1

I'm actually ahead of the (my) game by one.

I figure there will be a point at which I'll get behind, so

why not think ahead.

Want to play along?

Lunch Date

I have a standing date with my Mom.  We go to out to lunch.  We try for once a week, but sometimes schedules don't mesh and it doesn't work out.  But, we try really hard to never miss.

Yesterday, we hit our favorite bakery in Olympia -

The Bread Peddler

Every morning they make beautiful artisan fresh breads and pastries, soups and sandwiches.

Mom and I ponder all the Delicious choices in the cases.

 

We were early enough that finding a seat wasn't hard. Its a great place to linger over lunch.

We ordered and chose our seat by the window.  The sun was streaming in and the atmosphere was warm.

 

We didn't have to wait too long before lunch arrived.

French onion soup for me and a delectable sandwich for Mom.  The bread was crusty goodness and the soup dripping with its cheesy topping. Soul food for the last day of November.

This is the final week for Photo Meditations with Susannah.  This week, we are focusing on telling a story with our photos. 



Me & Bess:: The First Roll

My first roll with the Bessamatic.  I could never have imagined I would have had as much fun with this as I did.  This was an amazing exercise in mindfulness. 

First - wow, no zoom.  I'm a zoom-a-holic so this was a really good exercise for me.

Second - Only 36 exposures.  I had to think about, frame and really look at each shot - every corner of the frame and pay attention to the composition.  There were several I would have taken with the digital but they did not make the cut for one of 36. 

 I never would have imagined that this camera would have been such a conversation piece.  I had several people stop and talk to me about my camera and shooting with film.

I chose B&W film for no good reason except that it was the film of choice for my Dad.  Being this is his camera, it seemed fitting to at least start in B&W - ISO400.  Not to get too technical because I'm not but I shot at 1/60 and an aperture of 2.8 or a shallow DoF.

The Bessamatic actually chooses aperture and shutter speed together.  I'm not sure I can choose separately.  

I took my time.  I had some people stopping and waiting for me and I would tell them it was OK to pass.  It would take me a while to get everything all good to go.  As I look through the viewer, inside is a light meter that needs to be adjusted for the proper exposure.  Got to twist a little dial, focus the lens - steady stance and yes, hold my breath as I pushed the button.  

All this made me realize how fast I am with a digital camera.  Too fast I realize.  Point, zoom, shoot and go.  Not near as much thought in each shot.  On a day like this with my Nikon I would click off maybe at least 150 shots.

 

 My husband and I concluded the shot above and the next one both have a face in them.  The above is on the table in the middle and the below is in that flag like looking thing at the top.  Gnome like I think - not sure really...

   I had some trouble with the film progressing and I had some, well many exposures in one frame. There was a point that the film just didn't move I guess.  I just kept taking photos thinking that maybe the counter was not working.  In all I think I took about 50 shots in my roll of 36. 

 These really aren't in any order other than maybe interestingness. 

 I found it took about three or so shots to get used to all the steps that I needed to complete before taking the photo.

 The next two are my favorites.  They each have about 10 shots or so on the one frame.  This is where old Bess got a little cranky and was showing her age. 

 When I got the photos back, I got 13 prints out of 36.  The rest of the film was blank.  So, my conclusion is to keep shooting until I feel the resistance that indicates the end of the roll.

I love the light leak too.  The guys at the camera store put a new foam pad at the hinge area to stop the leak.  But they said I could always take it out if I want.

I loved, loved, loved this experience.  The mindfulness and thoughtfulness that it brought.  It taught me so much about my photography that I can't wait to start on another roll. 

I've decided that this is going to be my project for next year.  I'm going to call it 26 - The Film Project.  More on this later.  Think about playing along with me starting in January.  The only rules so far is that you have to shoot with film.

So check back - More details to come.

Retro Love

Every old camera has a story.  Ever thought about that?

Think of the images it has taken.  The moments in time that it has captured.  How, in its lifetime it has seen so many things and preserved those moments.

 I had a home run day last week.  I went to our family beach house for the day with my Mom. 

There on the shelf in the garage in an old brown leather bag was the Voitlander.  I absolutely could not believe my eyes.  After my Dad had passed away, my Mom had donated all of the old cameras to the local Thrift store.  Heartbreaking to me at the time, but I had not spoken up for them.  Included in that lot was also a Polaroid (yes, double heartbreaking).

 I reached up for the bag thinking it was empty.  My Mom was standing beside me and was sure it was empty.  As I pulled it off the shelf - I could tell it was too heavy for empty - but what was inside?  There she was, the Bessamatic - I don't think at that moment there could have been anything better that could have happened to me.  I was grateful that day and I am still feeling grateful as I write this.  How cold it be true that this camera was there?  I know what I believe.

This camera took literally thousands of photos.  As a family, we took a lot of photographs. 

My Dad was an artist and he took hundreds of photos for reference as well as documented trips and all kinds of family moments.  This was the camera.  This was his love and there it was waiting for me on the shelf in the garage. 

It was in its original case, all pieces and even had the instruction book with it.  The zoomar lens is perfect. 

I'm not sure when this camera came into our lives.  My Mom remembers that it was given to my Dad by a family member during the early 1960's.

I grew up with this camera.  I never really got to use it, but it took lots of photos of me.

I've taken it to the local camera store - Kenmore Camera.  They all have been so kind.  I took it out for the first time, yesterday.  I had a very special photo walk through Pike Place Market with it.  I will share more about my experience tomorrow and I'll share the first set of photos that I took with it.

If you are interested in a little more information on the Bessamatic you can click HERE

and visit The Camera Collection.

A Day at the Beach

 It's light, color, texture week for Susannah's Photo Meditations class. 

I feel kind of light deprived sometimes living in the Pacific Northwest.  Seems like if I wait for a sunny day, I don't get out much this time of year.

 Yet, there is this delightful softness that only a cloudy day can bring.

 A day at the beach for me is total bliss.  This is where I grew up.  This beach is along the Pacific coast and as you can see is realitivly desolate. Its beautiful. It holds a special place in my heart.

I took a day - my camera, my dog and my Mom.  We left early so we could spend the whole day at the family beach house.  I wanted to practice some of the things we are learning in Photo Meditations

Pattern and the red rule

Texture and negative space

Texture and color, rule of thirds

Texture, color and light