2012. Midnight was spent with family, the late afternoon was spent at my friend’s house for my goddaughter’s birthday party.

Before I move on, I just started developing my own films again. This time I ignored my dislike for math (ratios in this instance) and learned how to measure the ratio between the chemicals and the water. Kids, when your teachers say you need math in everyday life, they’re not shitting you. It’s true.

I did realize however that I need to get a decent set of hanging clothespin (if you’re Filipino you know what I mean) and a bottle of Photoflo. And a squeegee. I got some ugly dry water stains and scratches because of the lack of space to hang my negatives. Oh well.

If you’re a risk-taker (in this case, this is just a euphemism for stoops) like me, it is probably not a good idea to jump in to this year-long project without testing the camera. I did pop in a roll of Superia 400 the day before but I haven’t even brought it to the photolab so I wasn’t even sure if the exposure was spot-on. (It was recently serviced before I received it)

Oh well. I guess it worked.

Still having a bit of a hard time with the camera’s ergonomics and rather sticky shutter button (like the Trip 35′s) but I love the lens. Definitely loving it. I discovered that on full-auto mode the camera does not take a picture if it thinks there’s not enough light. This manifested when I used it because it was loaded with 100 ISO. Really similar to the Trip 35 except for the red flag. I by-passed it by going manual (f/2.8; 1/30). It worked! And the tone was the one that I was looking for (as opposed to the rather bland and flat auto exposure of the previous photographs).

On an unrelated note, I need a longer camera strap.

Sticking to one camera alone seems to be pushing it a bit (even though I fully empathize with the reasoning behind it) plus I shoot digital when I get hired once in a while. The thought of shooting a Diana F+ once a month crossed my mind too but other than that I wasn’t so sure what to do.

Enter the Olympus 35 SP.

K gave this to me as a (semi) surprise holiday gift. I wasn’t expecting it and honestly I know nothing about the camera so there wasn’t much of an excitement that went on. However as a diligent girlfriend I researched about it and also to circumvent the lack of enthusiasm about the camera I decided to use this as a tool for this year. Then I thought about incorporating the “one camera, one lens” project with this, but with modifications.

So to make this whole story short, I’m using the 35 SP as my main camera this year. With the exception of my test roll (a gifted Fuji Superia 400), everything will be shot in black and white. I might stick with one brand for this year but seeing my lack of black and white film stash I ended up using a Kodak T-Max 100 as my first black-and-white roll. K and I will decide which films to buy this weekend when we buy stuff at Freestyle.

I already bought my first batch of fresh chemicals which should last me for 3-5 months the most, depending on how often I’ll develop my films.

I named the project as “Takeshi” project after the Olympus’ founder. I might even name this camera Takeshi (just to follow the tradition of naming my cameras in Japanese, just for the heck of it).

As for my accompanying cameras for the rest of the year, I’ll be using the X10 for my regular digital snaps, the D7000 for any work-related and portfolio shoots and my Yashica A for my medium format work (using black and white film).

I might even push through with the Diana F+ related project I have in mind but we’ll see if I’ll get there. But the point of this project is to limit myself by intentionally accessing less tools and to go back to the basics. Frankly, I think I skipped the whole process when I started photography. This year I am going to take it slow and learn lots.

Here’s to more Fuji X10 shots taken at night. Still using the B&W + Red Filter film simulation and at 800 ISO. This time I did some post-processing mostly by sharpening the photos once and playing around with the curves. I am really hoping that I could get this result in-camera (or something close to this) but for now I have to resolve with the idea of post-processing photos.

In general I like the X10′s low-light performance. Shooting at 800 ISO was such a pleasure especially when capturing the streets at night (I rarely do this even with my other digital cameras).

I haven’t experienced my battery dying due to the cold, but maybe that’s because we’ve been experiencing a fairly warm weather for the past few days. That’s relatively warm compared to the temperature we had for the past couple of weeks.

So far I like the monochrome filters. I haven’t tested the Orange and Yellow ones yet but the Red performed decently. Anyway, this is a type of shots I usually do when I go out with friends. As for the colored film simulations I have yet to fully explore it but so far I like it (but not loving it).

November 1, 2011 – Pardon me if I’m going to be wordy today (instead of having a photo-intensive entry, just what this site is for) because I just had this “lightbulb moment.” Call it an epiphany if you like.

I’m in the middle of scanning my 3rd roll of film (out of the 9 rolls I used up when I went on my holidays) while typing this. I just have to say: I love photography.

I dare you to do this, even for a short period of time: Forget about the gadgets, the specs, the minute details that occupy some photohobbyists’ attention. Statements such as This brand is good. Get this unit because the viewfinder is awesome. This camera replaces my bulky dSLR. Mirrorless is the way to go. I want to step away from that, at least today (I already accepted the fact that there’s no way I can avoid those people or these kinds of conversation). Focus on the act of taking a photograph. The whole process of it.

Today I sit here in front of my computer, waiting for my negatives to scan, and I have this amazing feeling, this indescribable joy I feel upon seeing my photos showing up on the screen. This is also the equal amount of happiness I feel when I process my own films or when I print my own photos. I felt the same feeling of contentment and excitement when I had my first exhibit. Maybe on a smaller scale, I feel this way when I use my instant cameras. Then I remember the joy I felt when I saw things with my eyes and took the photo. How exciting, how fulfilling was that? I maybe not be making any sense right now and words are just coming out of my head as I am typing this–hastily recording them because I want to keep a log of things I think and feel.

I know that photography serves a different purpose to everyone, hence I believe that this is a very flexible medium. Amidst the number of gadgets one can choose from and actually use, one should not forget what purpose photography serves to them.

For me, I have photography because I refuse to forget what I see, what I feel, what I think, what I experience.

I think this is what matters.

4 out of the 5 ambassadors have been chosen. 5 people (including myself) are hoping to get the final slot. What do you need to do? I kindly ask for your vote (under the name Angela, with the entry “Keep the faith”)!

Voting happens at Believe in Film until October 22, midnight. All the chosen ambassadors will get a bunch of film, a film camera, and free processing/scanning. The end result? Spreading the world why film is definitely not dead, and more wonderful photos taken by people who remain committed to this medium.

(As you can see, the baby me would love to win this, look how I enjoyed munching film! Om nom nom.)

Photo taken by Pat

Thank you so much for your support!

This is a question that I often get asked by friends who realize that I don’t just lug around my digital SLR or my trusty (but badly beaten up) point and shoot. What is the point then, when there’s digital? Why do I even waste time and money going to my local photo processing store (which gladly we still have in the city), scan the negatives and go through all the inconvenience of it?

I think the answer is because I never really left it. Sure, I was caught up with the digital craze in 2004 when I received my small digital point and shoot. It did help me update my blog then, and the ease of sharing photos assisted me as I update my friends back home. It was easy to operate and digital satisfied my desire to take photos easily.

But in 2008 I proved myself wrong as I decided to pick up film again and realized that it never ceased to become amazing and interesting to use. It was fun, experimental yet challenging. Up to now film helps me to play around with my photos–do I compose or let things “roll” (pun intended)? Am I going to experiment and wait or do I use each frame seriously, as if my life depended on it? With digital I was able to shoot and share quickly, and noticed that while people (friends, families and co-workers) liked the photos I took, they quickly lost their interest on them. The magic fades as fast as I pressed the shutter and looked at the LCD screen.

With film, things are different. I worked hard to make each frame look the way I envisioned it, and each photo created was born purely from hard work. What could be sweeter than that? I appreciated this medium more when I worked on my exhibit early this year. I had to be careful and be calculated and make sure I’m doing things the right way. When the exhibit was launched, everyone was not just supportive of the event, but they also commented how the stories of my subjects and the result of the actual photos blended together and create this unique atmosphere and delivered the show’s message. As my exhibit’s curator commented there was just something about the film photography that you cannot capture in digital. One can certainly imitate its physical characteristics but never its aura.

Because of these factors, I decided to continue use film as my tool when creating photos. Whenever possible I encourage friends to try it too, and would be more than happy to use my blog to help others try this medium in the near future. I would like to show that film photography is not just for taking unplanned photographs like what most younger people perceive it now. It’s a well-respected art medium that should be restored and not to be dismissed.

My name is Angela, and I still use and believe in film.

##########
Please visit Old School Photolab and Believe in Film to satisfy your love for film photography.

Looking for the rest of my film-related entries? CLICK HERE!

This is D.

He broke the news by saying he’s going to MNL to get married. Of course we have to wish him well so we threw out a party for him.

He already tied the knot (I know! My uploading skills is dwindling), so I say this: CONGRATULATIONS.

Just trying to get some rest before I head off for my holidays with my family. I finished scanning almost a dozen films for the past three days while juggling some work stuff. Finally get to rest for a week.

Obviously I have more photo backlog when I get back, on top of what I just scanned. See you guys in a while.

When I hear people say that they like the “Lomo Effect” more often than not they are referring to bright and saturated photographs. No matter how some will say that they can get this by digital manipulation, nothing beats color-tripping by making chemicals react like they’re high and wild. I mean, you’re targeting the effect and see it right away with digital, and that just kills the excitement, really.

Welcome to cross-processing!

Cross-processing (also known as ‘x-pro’) is the procedure of deliberately processing one type of film in a chemical solution intended for another type of film. If you do this, the results are going to be unexpected and unpredictable. If you like to experiment with film and colors, you may want to try this one out.

This is not a new practice I believe as filmmakers and photographers have been doing this for a while now.

I love cross-processing if not for the price. When I was in Manila the cost is almost the same as processing a colored negative film whereas in Canada this as treated as a “special order”, so I usually end up paying more. Because of that I reserve my cross-processing desire when I need to do some special projects, or if I’m traveling elsewhere.

Here are some of the cross-processed shots I’ve made since going back to film (I’ve been a film child since I was born in the 80s!) that I loved. I’m going on holidays this summer so I’m hoping to stock again on slides (I don’t have a lot) and immerse myself to this process’ element of surprise.

Links you may want to check out:
http://www.crossprocessing.info/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/crossprocessing/

I quickly took it for a spin after I received it, used it to do some streets on the recently held Winnipeg Pride Festival last June 5th. Photos will be posted soon.