studio studies, pt 2

As mentioned a few weeks ago, I recently gathered a few friends together for a studio shoot to help me experiment with nude photography. I finally got the photos back and I must say, I am very pleased with some of the results.

I hope to expand a bit on this series and try to get a show out of it, somewhere.

fisheye fotoes

And just for shits and giggles, here a few shots taken with a fisheye lens attached to my digital point-and-shoot.

Lomo Action Sampler

image via Flickr, member: udijw


This is another Lomo camera I bought years ago that I've somehow managed to neglect. For, while I do enjoy most of the results I get from it, it is certainly not a camera for everyday use. And since the version I have is like the one above -- one without a flash unit on top -- I am even more limited in the settings/surroundings I can snap with it.
Though, to it's credit, it is a great, inexpensive introduction to the world of plastic cameras.

Xiu Xiu Disposable Camera Project

"Bring a disposable camera and a self-addressed stamped envelope to any of the August/September Xiu Xiu shows, and (tour manager, David) Horvitz will fill that thing up with photos and mail it back to you. You'll have to deliver it to the photo lab yourself, of course, but for your efforts, you get a mess of original Horvitz photos."
These instructions were given during a 2008 Xiu Xiu tour (I think it was in support of The Air Force, but I'm not 100% on that). As stated above, anyone who brought a disposable/one-use camera to the show would (eventually) receive a roll (or rolls, depending on how many cameras you dropped off) of exclusive David Horvitz photos. I dropped off one camera, and here are some of the photos I received a few weeks later:

Ricoh FF-3 AF Super

image found on Flickr, member BobD2



I don't know anything about this camera. I found one in great shape at a local Goodwill, and had a few dollars to spend on it, so I picked it up. It's your standard simple, fixed focus, no-thought-needed 35mm camera. But the crisp lens, and the occasional light leak, sets this one apart from the majority.

Orbit 360F

Consensus is -- the Orbit 360F is a bit of an odd duck, even in the plastic/toy/whatever camera world where odd ducks are rather common. An ultra-cheap-looking Chinese design, a motor drive that automatically advances the film (and can also rewind it), a waist-level viewfinder, a built-in flash, a hotshoe connecter...so many seemingly random functions. It's also a camera that puzzles people at camera stores -- I took mine in when it stopped working, only to receive a confused puppy look from the guy behind the counter. It wasn't new, it wasn't digital, so he didn't really know what to do with it. Thankfully, it decided to start working again a few months later. Yet again...strange.
This camera was one of the first cameras I bought from the Lomo company. I don't know what attracted me to it; I guess it just seemed weird enough. It was a deadstock camera (hadn't been manufactured in some time, limited stock found in a warehouse, etc), so while stock was limited it was also cheap. Thankfully I picked it up when I did -- not quite scarce, they are kinda hard to come by these days.

Studio Studies, pt. 1

Recently, I've been trying my hand at shooting studio nudes. Being a (returning) college student, I get a great deal at a local studio, and I've had a few friends brave enough to step up and allow me to photograph them, sans clothing. A few weeks ago, I had two friends stand in for a test run so I could get my bearings with lighting, placement, time needed, etc. Then, this past weekend, I had a larger group of friends come in for a much longer shoot.
A few results from the first shoot are below, behind the cut.
I won't see the results from yesterday's project until later in the week, if not the coming weekend.

Diana+

stock photo


The Diana+ was a series of firsts for me -- my first plastic-lens camera, my first 120 camera, and the first film camera that I fell madly in love with. I had been shooting digital photos almost exclusively when I became intrigued by this camera. They had a (rare) good deal going on the Lomo website (camera + case of film for well under $100), so I gave it a chance. Shifting from digital to film, and then from 35mm to 120, there was a slight learning curve with this camera, but by the third or fourth roll I was pleased with the results I was getting -- saturated colors, soft edges, strange blurs, light leaks (*swoon*). In the few years since I bought mine, Lomo has reworked the camera a little bit, adding a flash and an array of additional lenses; as well as a mini version that uses 35mm. Since I started shooting with my Holga, I've neglected my Diana+ to the point of downright ignoring it. But that certainly has nothing to do with the quality of the images this camera can produce.

Agfa Clack

Agfa stock image


My Agfa Clack (or Weekender, depending on which side of the Atlantic your's came from)was a serenpiditous find on ebay some time ago. It was odd, "retro," and cheap: three things that I love in a camera. It was also the first camera I had encountered that shot 120 filmon the obscure "third setting" -- shooting a 6x9 negative, making for only 8 shots per roll of film, compared to the the standard 6x6 negative (12 shots per roll) or the usual alternate 6x4.5 (16 shots per roll). So, it's not the most economical of cameras, but it is certainly worth playing around with from time to time.