of course, my husband tells me I've just exhausted it. the first thing that happened wasn't the camera at all, but the memory card going bad. (apparently I caused it undue stress.) that was why my camera was gone for a week or two or however long it was, with the bad card in it wouldn't even turn on. and I was sure I had tried taking the bad card out and turning it on, but perhaps not. I had spoken about that in a previous post. so once that was sorted out I was taking pictures again, with only a 512mb card, the 2gb card having given up the ghost.
and then my holga came, and after I oohed over its clunky plastic cheapness (as fine to me as the most expensive camera would be, just in a different way) I managed to get the film in (imagine. me with my clumsy hands that can't hold anything properly, fussing with the little spool and sprocket or whatever. it took me fifteen minutes or more to get the film loaded. if it hadn't been so irritating and painful it might have been funny. I expect to anyone watching it might have looked quite entertaining, like a circus performer under the influence. though I swear I was as sober as a judge at the time.)
anyway, I shot that roll of film, my first since 2000? maybe 2001. I took pictures of the strangest things, and the most mundane, until no more could be taken. I don't expect a single one to be worth the cost of having them developed, but I'll have them developed anyway. of course that might take some time. I've decided to start my own slow-living movement. I miss so much and get so addled when I hurry.
and then my digital camera (jealous?) began to do the oddest things. a moire pattern appeared. and suddenly everything was incredibly overexposed, as if the camera had seen the light and decided to keep it all inside, and obliterate all the things I was pointing it at.
so it's been an interesting couple of days, experimenting. the holga set aside for now until I'm ready to begin again the task of loading film. imagine a lobster trying to load film, in the dark, cursing, and that will give you some idea. the digital camera (which still takes fine video) has had some settings adjusted, and I took some pictures this morning that are interesting, to say the least.
in the process, I found menu options I didn't know were there! this thrilled me, more things to painstakingly teach myself when I could just as easily go buy a new one - my husband's ready to - or ask someone what to do. but no, that's not near as satisfactory as puzzling over it myself.
and so this morning before a friend came by to pick me up so she could run and I could amble around the lake in the morning sunshine, I was rummaging through boxes, looking for things to take pictures through, in an attempt to control the light coming in.
an old slide, wax paper, a piece of black lace from a discarded unmentionable, all created more interesting effects.
but I think what I need are pieces of coloured cellophane.
(ah! a dollar/thrift store visit in the near future. life is good.)
Friday, May 16, 2008
there's something wrong with my camera.
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6 comments:
Hi Shara. If you would care to email me your address, I'll send you a colour filter swatch which is a selection of small pieces of the stuff I use to colour up lamps for TV. Not sure what you'll do with them but I'm sure you'll find something!
This is what I love about you - so many people would just pitch that camera! But you're using its quirkiness to explore and play and find new ways of taking photos with it. And of course you'll come up with beautiful results.
Thanks for reminding me that our things have many lives if we let them.
well thank you Dave, I've just emailed you. just think, now I can have a few different coloured series of photographs! I can find something that fascinates me and take many pictures of it, through different colours, possibly for years. oh the hard drives I could fill up...
quirkiness, Billie, exactly! it's not ruined at all, it's just expressing some personality, I think. and now I'm all full of smiles from your very sweet comment, and the sun is out and the birds are singing and I'm going to go paint and take some pictures to post later on today. first I'm going to go find things to hold up in front of the camera. so it's like a scavenger hunt, too. sometimes I wonder how I ever get so low, when such simple things can be so incredibly diverting.
expanded horizons and other possibilities...theres nothing wrong with it, it's just different. and the effects are quite lovely. now you have colored dealies coming, and your ever open eye and and expanded mind and a tool that will take you new and wonderful directions. i can't wait to see! and the Holga pictures too. (i have pieces of tape on mine, reminders, cause i'm forgetful: lens cap, advance film, etc...i'll get my money's worth, i have some frames at least triple exposed, those make up for the ones i forgot to take the lens cap on...i can sense the shudder dave must be having at this very instance...)
Hi Shara. They're in the post. Managed to find some that are square instead of the usual thin rectangle so should be good for putting in front of a lens.
Not sure what your camera is up to but it's an interesting effect. Too much technology.
Can't see me going back to film though; I'm an instant gratification sort-of-a-person.
thank you mark, I think my problem will be remembering where I put the lens cap when I take it off and put it somewhere, it's comical, the way I pat my pockets looking for things. and with so much junk in each pocket sometimes it's twice or even the third time through that I find what I'm looking for, in between the strings and clothespins and oh good lord, the poor girls, they're going to have to live down my eccentric habits more and more, I'm afraid. I may very well end up with army boots, I'm sure they'd be more sensible than flip-flops for some of the projects I've got planned. I started chipping away at that concrete lady, the one I brought home from the recycled arts festival. spent $30 of my own money on her, first time in forever I bought a piece of art. decided the edges were too unfinished and picked up this rock I use for various things - I use stone tools. I admit it. I'm a cavewoman.
anyway. I think I lost myself there a minute. I was remembering how right it felt, to paint the concrete, to wax it, and to chip the edges away, to sweep away the dust and the pieces crumbling off. but I should wear a mask, I suppose. and eventually, army boots. or something with good protection for my feet.
dave, thank you! I've been taking pictures though a blue bottle (that was interesting) and in very dark rooms, and I'm very much enjoying trying to figure out how to understand the way the camera is behaving and see what I can do with it. who knows what the next quirk will be?
I don't know if (unless forced to) I'd want to only have a film camera. but then again, I was spoiled by having a digital camera be the third one I ever owned. I had a kodak camera when I was a teenager, and then another one when I was in my thirties, both completely automatic, I think. and I took many out of blurry pictures of headless people and familiar landmarks at odd slants, as I recall. then I'd borrow my dad's canon, with its lovely manual focus, and I'd snap picture after picture until all the number were gone, and put the exposed films in their canisters with the ones he'd taken of family outings and he'd have his films developed and say shara why are there twenty pictures of the very same thing?
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