Lomophobic

new york and new website

2010-08-02T14:12:00.002+02:00

here's another shot from new york, taken with the lubitel and cross processed from positive film.
since i'm also doing digital photography, i have finally gotten around to gather my works, both analogue and digital, on a new website: http://www.splatou.com so check it out! and don't forget to leave a comment. all tips/tricks/feedback is much appreciated :D

double exposures, nyc

2010-07-26T17:11:00.004+02:00

a couple more of my shots from new york in June. this time with flipped double exposures. they are both shot with the lomo diana, and were cross processed from velvia 100 film.

weird wall, amsterdam

2010-07-23T12:00:00.004+02:00

took this in amsterdam about a month ago. i'm not sure what message the wall is trying to give, but it's still very lomogenic. i'm also happy with the red lightleaks. the photo was taken with the lubitel 166 on an expired kodak GPH100 film.

i am these days home in norway, but i'll be moving to ho chi minh city in vietnam the 8th of august. have no idea how it is there with photolabs etc, but i really hope i'll be able to get a hold of a good negative scanner and find a good lab for development so i can keep this blog going. i'm sure there'll be tons of lomogenic things to shoot there!

flatiron building, nyc

2010-07-19T21:11:00.004+02:00

another one of my new york lomos, this time of the famous flatiron building. it was originally called fuller building, and is located at 175 5th avenue. the building was finished in 1902, and was then one of the tallest in manhattan.

the picture was taken with the lubitel 166 at f/22 and 1/60 sec exposure on velvia 100 film, cross processed.

holga d - the digital counterpart

2010-07-15T10:27:00.004+02:00

the indian designer saikat biswas has designed this conceptual digital camera called holga d. my first impression: it looks amazing! the design is extremely clean and fresh, and it is just as functional as it is beautiful. the whole idea behind the camera is to make a digital version of the holga while keeping the things we love about the analogue version: the vignetting, the light leaks, the square format, AND the agonizing wait to see your photos (the backside of the camera is completely clean, with no digital screen).

another extremely innovative feature with the holga d is that the top panel can be removed and turned around, making it possible to switch between "right-hand photography" and "left-hand photography". on the downside I have to mention the missing viewfinder, and even if it would make the camera a lot more "advanced", I would love to see a feature where you could choose different kinds of film (color positive, bw negative, expired films etc etc). even the iphone has an app that does this, so it should definitely be possible to get a similar software in this little beauty.

for more info on holga d, check out: (link)

grand central, nyc

2010-07-14T12:25:00.005+02:00

while in new york, of course I had to stop by grand central station (which actually is called grand central terminal) on 42nd street. even though it was in the middle of the day, the terminal wasn't too busy. this picture is scanned from a cross processed velvia 100 negative. it was shot with lomo lubitel on aperture f/16 and 1/15 sec exposure.

freaky figure

2010-07-10T09:44:00.004+02:00

i saw this doll (or whatever it is) in amsterdam, and had to take some shots of it. for some reason I think it looks really creepy. both are cross processed velvia 100 film, so it is strange how different the colors turned out. not really sure which one i prefer, i think they both turned out kinda interesting.

supersize me, guitar edition

2010-07-08T11:29:00.004+02:00

i have no idea why, but there's something about oversized stuff that makes people go mental. just think of the "funny" sunglasses that are made gigantically, or the massive lighters they sell on the beaches in thailand and spain and every other vacation place. and of course, the same "humor" is what drives this dude, who I spotted close to times square in new york. the songs he played were boring, and I don't think his technical skills very anything to write home about, but hey, his guitar is fucking massive!!

picture is taken with lomo diana on fuji provia 100, cross-processed, and scanned in greyscale (scanner didn't understand the cross processed film)

beautiful strangers, nyc

2010-07-04T17:03:00.005+02:00

new york is a city with heaps of great-looking people. i tried to do some lomo portraits of interesting people i met while i was there, but unfortunately all the portraits came out underexposed. i still think they are interesting shots, and the people look great.

awakenings festival 2010, amsterdam

2010-07-01T10:34:00.006+02:00

it's been a little while since i uploaded anything, because a lot has been happening the past week. one of those things was the awakenings festival in the outskirts of amsterdam. awakenings is a massive techno and electronic music festival arranged every year in the end of june. this year the festival celebrated its 10 year anniversary with names like gui boratto, james holden, dave clarke, loco dice, richie hawtin, raresh, luciano, adam beyer and many may more. it was an amazing day with perfect weather, 40 000 beautiful people, and a bangin atmosphere.

here are some of the shots I took with my lomo diana during the day. they are all shot on fuji provia 100 film, and cross-processed. enjoy.

central park, nyc

2010-06-25T19:21:00.006+02:00

here are some shots from central park in new york, all done with lubitel 166b. they were all shot on fuji velvia 100 slide film, and cross processed. because of the cross-processing, my scanner didn't "understand" the colors in two of them, so that's why they're in monochrome. the exposure on all three is f/16 aperture and 1/125 shutter.

multiple exposures, NYC

2010-06-21T17:31:00.004+02:00

i picked up another two rolls from development yesterday, with pictures from new york. this time they were shot with lomo diana on ILFORD HP5 b&w film (iso 400), and the result was quite good! one of my favorites is this double (tripple??) exposure which I can't remember taking at all. i really have no idea how I did it, but really love the results. which is one of the best things about lomo shots ;)

manhattan in flipped, double exposures

2010-06-18T14:31:00.004+02:00

when arriving back to manhattan on the short ride with the manhattan ferry, I took this picture with the lomo diana. i first covered the bottom half of the lens with my credit card, and took one exposure. then i covered the top part, turned the camera upside-down, and did another exposure. I am really happy with how it turned out.

luckily I gave it two tries, because when developing the film, I realized I had messed up one of them. under you gan see how the "unsuccessful" one turned out (the picture itself is not that bad i think. it works well as a panorama-shot).

i actually came up with the idea for this technique when i was shooting in vigeland sculpture park. however, when i tried to do it there, i messed it up in the way that i was covering the bottom half of the lens in both exposures. here it's how it turned out:

brooklyn bridge, NYC

2010-06-16T14:07:00.004+02:00

after 10 amazing days in new york city, i'm back in amsterdam. i came back with a total of 9,5 rolls of 120 film, with 7,5 of them on positive 100 film and 2 on b&w 400 film. since i've never done it before, i decided to get the positive films cross-processed. cross processing is when positive/slide-film is developed in chemicals meant for negative films. this is a popular process with lomo photos, as the result is often vivid and crazy colors. another advantage, at least at the photolab I use, is that when using C-41 (negative) chemicals, the development only takes one hour, as opposed to 4-5 days with normal positive. however, the results are a bit mixed. one of the reasons is that my scanner doesn't understand what is going on. some of the photos turned out really cool, while others were just monochrome read, and I had to turn them into b&w.

anyways, here are two shots from brooklyn bridge, new york. both are shot with the Lubitel 166B, with f/22 and 1/60 sec.

train station, oslo

2010-06-12T01:30:00.003+02:00

i'm still in new york, so i'm just uploading this old picture i took when i was home in norway. it's from nationaltheateret train station, and it's taken on an expired roll of Fuji RDP positive film. so far, i've shot 6-7 rolls of 120 in new york, so in a week's time, i'll have a lot to upload :D

vigeland sculpture park, oslo

2010-06-07T00:56:00.007+02:00

when I was home in oslo last time, I took the trip down to vigeland sculpture park, or frognerparken, as we norwegians call it. the park, which is situated in the middle of oslo, covers over 320 000 m2 (80 acres), and features 212 different sculptures, all created by gustav vigeland. one of the most famous sculptures, the monolith (first picture), is over 14 metres high, and is comprised by 121 human figures. it took 14 years to carve the sculpture out of granite, and when it was first shown to the public in 1944, 180 000 people showed up to see the figure.

all these shots were taken with diana f+ on a Kodak Portra 400 BW roll.

also, after buying a holga 120 on ebay for a friend of mine, he has started to post his pictures in a blog. check it out here

studying in the library

2010-06-03T11:42:00.005+02:00

i got really bored while studying for my last exam in the Openbare Bibliotheek in Amsterdam, so i started playing with my lubitel. took this picture of my friend hugo, who was studying for the same exam. i really love how the picture turned out, with the exposure and the focus. the lighting is semi-bright in the library, so i used f/5.6 and 1/30 shutter, and it was shot on ISO 100 film. thus, five stops up from "Sunny 16". i think the soft focus and light really represents the atmosphere when studying in that library.

oslo city hall

2010-05-31T20:52:00.003+02:00

just a picture of the oslo city hall that i took when i was home last time. it's taken with lomo diana f+ on an expired Kodak AK160NC film.

17th of May - celebrating Norway's national day

2010-05-27T11:55:00.008+02:00

may 17 is the celebration of norway's constitution. it turnes oslo, and the rest of the cities in norway, into a huge streetparty, in some ways similar to the dutch queensday. however, instead of wearing orange, everyone is dressed up in dresses, suits, or our national costume. as opposed to many other countries' national day celebrations, there is no focus on military or parades, but more on the celebration of the people themselves.

we started the day out with a campari-sponsored breakfast at 9am, before we headed into the centre of oslo around 12. the party on the streets in the centre kept going till 6-7ish, before we moved on to a houseparty. it was a great day with loads of old friends, and as i heard someone sum the day up; the 17th of may is a day where you go to places you don't usually go to, you drink and eat things you don't usually drink and eat, talk to people you don't usually talk to, and wear clothes you never usually wear.

the sunny 16 rule explained

2010-05-23T18:38:00.004+02:00

when dealing with old cameras like the lomo lubitel 166b there are no fancy functions like light-metering. therefore, the photographer has to manually estimate the light, and choose a combination of aperture and shutter-speed, given the ISO value of the film to get the correct exposure. as this can be quite hard, some genius came up with the so-called "sunny 16 rule".

in short, the sunny 16 rule say that in sunny conditions (broad daylight), when the aperture is set to f/16, the shutter speed should be set to 1/ISO-value seconds. So if you are shooting with ISO 400, the right shutter speed for aperture f/16 is 1/400 seconds. if you take that as a starting point, you can begin adjusting to your preferred aperture or shutter by adjusting in "stop". in the table below are the normal available apertures. each step up or down in the table is one "stop" up or down. the lower the aperture number, the more the light

f/4.5

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

f/22

when it comes to shutter-times, every double or half (approximately) of the shutter speed, is one "stop" down or up. the slower the shutter speed, the more the light

250/1

125/1

60/1

30/1

15/1

and here comes the method of applying the sunny 16 rule, using an example.
let's say it is sunny, and you are using ISO 100. but instead of shooting f/16, which would have given shutter speed of 1/100, you wish to shoot f/8. this means you are adding two more stops of light compared to f/16 (see table above). this means you need to balance with two stops LESS light using your shutter speed, in this case 1/400. this can be summarized in the following table, combining shutter speeds and aperture (using ISO 100):

f/16	1/100
f/11	1/200
f/8	1/400
f/5.6	1/800

so, in sum, if it is sunny, start at f/16 and 1/ISO, and work your way through stops on aperture and shutter speeds. keep the balance, so if one stop brighter aperture, use one stop darker shutter-speed.

there has also been developed several expansions of the sunny 16 rule, so that it can be used in more conditions than just sunlight. here is a table summarizing this:

Aperture	Light Condition
f/22	Snow/Sand
f/16	Sunny
f/11	Slight Overcast
f/8	Overcast
f/5.6	Heavy Overcast
f/4.5	Open Shade/Sunset

the way this table work is: you start with the light condition, and choose aperture thereafter. then set the shutter speed to 1/ISO, and start working your way from there upwards/downwards using stops and keeping the balance between light from aperture and light from shutter speeds.

and to finish it off, here are two shots where the sunny-16 rule is used to determine the exposure. i know they are not great picture-wise, but at least they are well exposed. (the pictures in the previous post are also according to the sunny 16 rule, btw).

first pictures from lomo lubitel 166b

2010-05-21T22:23:00.004+02:00

a couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about the awesome lomo lubitel 166b I bought on ebay for only $1 + $27 in shipping (link). super excited I hurried up and shot a full roll of Kodak 100TNX B&W film with the lubitel and handed it in for development. today I picked up the negatives in Hema Fotoservice, and I was thrilled to see that the camera works perfect! it is a lot more manual than the lomo diana, and shutter and aperture must be controlled 100% manually. I am therefore extra happy and surprised that so many of the pictures turned out good! however, i'm a bit surprised there were only 9 shots on a 120mm film (which usually has 12 shots). all the pictures are shot at various places in amsterdam, mostly outdoors in sunny conditions.

let me know what you think!

lomo paris wheels

2010-05-18T22:15:00.004+02:00

there's something about the quadratic format of 120mm shots that makes round shapes look great in lomographic pictures. paris-wheels are therefore almost always lomogenic. here's two quite different shots of two quite different paris-wheels. one is a double-exposure picture of the massive one that used to be on dam square, while the second is of the joke of a paris-wheel, barely 4 metres high, at nieuwmarkt in amsterdam. the first is shot on an expired roll of Kodak E200 Positive film, while the second is on an expired Fuji RVP (don't know the ISO). colors and contrast came out quite different, and the vignette is a lot stronger in the second one. both are with lomo diana f+

powerlines

2010-05-15T12:36:00.003+02:00

just two quite random shots. the second picture is a pair of rollerskates thrown over some powerlines in amsterdam. saw them in kalverstraat (the main shopping street in amsterdam) and wondering about the story behind them hanging there.

sensemaking? not with this photo

2010-05-13T10:42:00.003+02:00

french florent is getting ready to celebrate the dutch queen for the first time. without knowing this photo is from queensday, it does not make much sense. took this the morning of queensday, after a pretty hard queensnight.

modern architecture, amsterdam

2010-05-11T18:03:00.003+02:00

shot this picture close to central station in amsterdam on queensday (one of the few sunny moments that day). haven't seen the sun since then, so really hope the spring returns soon!

b/w architecture amsterdam

2010-05-10T18:10:00.003+02:00

the dramatic feel of black/white shots can add a lot to photos of buildings and architecture in general. here are three photos, from different locations of amsterdam, where I think bw works great. the two first are from the area close to central station, from the bridge between the OB library and the NEMO museum, and of the nemo museum itself. the third is from a random canal in amsterdam (can't remember where). all photos are from an expired 120mm roll of ILFORD HP5 bw film (I think ISO 200, but not sure)

btw, the nemo museum is nothing to recommend if you're over 6 years old!

queensday/koninginnedag, amsterdam

2010-05-08T13:30:00.007+02:00

koninginnedag, the 30th of april every year, is the crazy celebration of the dutch queen's birthday. actually, it's the celebration of the previous queen, but for some reason the present queen officially celebrates her birthday on april 30. koninginnedag in amsterdam is the biggest streetparty in holland, and 700 000 come to the city every year. everyone is happy, hammered, and dressed in orange.

the weather wasn't great this year, with rain and clouds most of the day, so pretty poor light for photos. I was also disappointed when I realized one of the three rolls of film I shot that day was actually b/w. kinda ruins the whole orange-thing. anyways, I think these shots turned out great, and capture some of the amazing atmosphere in amsterdam!

lomo lubitel 166b review

2010-05-06T11:41:00.004+02:00

I just received this beautiful russian camera and I am super excited about it. this exact model, the 166b came into production in the 1980s, and I doubt it has changed much since then. it took a while to figure out the functions on the camera, but after some testing and experimenting, I think I've figured it all out.

the camera has shutter speeds ranging from bulb mode to 1/250 sec, and the aperture range from f/4.5 to f/22. the most characteristic feature with the lubitel is its twin lens system. the two lenses have the same focal length, and are intertwined, so when you look through one and control the focus, the same happens on the other lens. the camera has a waist-level viewfinder, which works mirrored, so it's kinda confusing in the beginning. lomo lubitel is 100% manual, and have quite a lot more setting possibilities than the diana.

I was lucky enough to find this beauty on ebay, and I didn't pay more than US$1 for the camera, and US$27 for the shipping. the low price made me pretty sceptic, but the camera seams to be in great shape (considering the age).

today i'll test my first roll of 120mm in the camera, and I will get back to how it went. hopefully I'll be able to upload some photos taken with the lubitel soon. there was actually a really old exposed film inside the lubitel when I got it. really not sure whether I should have it developed. would be awesome if it was some great old pictures, but would suck bigtime if it was full of child pornography or something!

lomo vintage car in b/w

2010-05-05T11:39:00.004+02:00

there are very few things I can think of that are more lomogenic in black and white than old vintage cars. as I posted a little while back, my lomo diana was ripping my film, and it took a couple of tries to fix it. the result was only 7 shots on the 120mm roll, and the light-leaks showing on the top of this picture. anyways, I think it gives a nice effect!

lomo diana flipped double exposures

2010-05-03T10:19:00.004+02:00

one of the most characteristic features with lomographic cameras is the possibility to make several exposures on top of each other. after experimenting with taking pictures of different motives on top of each other, I figured it gives a great effect to shoot the same object twice, either flipped, like here, or from different angels. both these are from de bolelaan in amsterdam, by vrije universiteit.

2-in-1 portrait II

2010-05-02T09:57:00.004+02:00

same models as the last one, just now with expired 120mm KODAK color film. the spring has come and left, and it's now only 11 degrees in amsterdam. hopefully it'll be back soon. two days ago was the huge queensday celebration in amsterdam, I manage to shoot three full rolls, so expect a lomophobic queensday special soon.

lomophobic puke special

2010-04-28T20:26:00.003+02:00

I took these shots in a temporary fun fare that is set up every year at Dam square in amsterdam. i must say the fact that the fare is mobile freaks the crap out of me. u know that if shit goes down, and a ride seriously injures someone, those dudes will just wrap up and move to the next city! some of the rides look so old and dodgy it seams all odds are against you. but what's the big deal, it's just your kids your gambling with anyways...

all these shots are taken with an expired 120mm KODAK E200 color positive film. I really love the results, and after this, it will be a looong time till I shoot 35mm again!

fixies

2010-04-28T18:10:00.003+02:00

in Amsterdam, a city with over 700 000 bicycles, and where over 50% of all traffic is by bike, the new fad is fixies, or fixed-gear bikes. the bikes are urban versions of those used in the velodrome, with minimalistic design and superthin wheels. another, and more characteristic, feature with these badboys is that they have no breaks! they are so-called fixed-gear bikes, which means that whenever the bike is in motion, the pedals will go around. so the only way to slow the bike down is to try to slow down the pedals.

because of the kinda obvious dangers with breakless biking in the traffic, Dutch police has suggested to forbid the bikes. the riders themselves, on the other side, are opposing the ban, and as I read on some websites “brakes are not needed for safety, if you know how to control your bike, slow and stop” and “your legs are your breaks”. good luck with that.

introducing: darkjar

2010-04-27T09:27:00.005+02:00

he is the unofficial, uncredited, unknown, and uncrowned king of blog electro, and he is now the new dedicated dj of lomophobic. instead of putting up a song in every post, darkjar's 5 last loved tracks on hypemachine will be displayed in the right menu. the list wil be continuously updated as mr. jar is crawling the music blogs for new songs to share! to listen to the tunes, just click the links, and you'll be taken to hypemachine. to download, click "Read full post" in hypemachine, and then find the link in the original blog. enjoy!

as a last in-post track, this RAC Mix of Penguin Prison's Worse it Gets is darkjar's prediction as one of the big tunes this spring/summer.

Penguin Prison - Worse it Gets (RAC Mix) (mp3)

it has nothing to do with lomography, but since we're already talking music, I want to share this video from M.I.A's new tune Born Free. it is pretty shocking, to put it mildly. however, it is amazingly filmed and produced, and the whole thing comes out at pretty provoking. my bet is that this one will never be aired on MTV (like they ever show music videos anymore anyways).

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

going to new york!

2010-04-26T11:18:00.003+02:00

I just booked my tickets to new york. I'm going to visit my sister there, and i'll spend 10 days there in june. of course i'll bring my lomo, and hopefully i'll get the chance to get some great shots of the city that never sleeps. anyways, i'm sure it'll be different than the urban shots i get to take here in amsterdam, like the supercool lego-looking building on this picture!

Crystal Castles - Lovers Who Uncover (mp3)

2-in-1 portrait

2010-04-25T21:59:00.005+02:00

took this double-exposure portrait of my best friend and his girlfriend. it is shot with iso 400 35mm film, and the diana f+ flash, using two different color-gel-thingies for the flash.

after finishing 4 rolls of 35mm, i think i've come to the conclusion that it doesn't make the pictures "lomographic enough", so i have switched back to 120mm. i'm waiting for three 120 rolls to come back from development, so hopefully the results will be good!

Mew - Beach (Trentemøller Remix) (mp3)

amsterdam streetlife

2010-04-24T19:30:00.005+02:00

here are two shots from a 35mm fujifilm 400 film. one was an attempt on a panoramic shot of Dam square, but because I didn't turn the knob enough, it became several layers on top of each other. the other picture is from the baarsjes area in amsterdam, where it is not allowed to smoke joints in the street ;)

today I received 5 rolls of expired 120mm film that I ordered from ebay. it was a variety of types, ranging from color 100 and 400 film to bw 200. looking forward to shooting with them and seeing the results.

Crystal Castles - Celestica (mp3)

now that's dedication!

2010-04-21T19:08:00.005+02:00

this tattoo belongs to Cameron, who goes under the flickr-username Lomo-Cam. he is (obviously) a lomography-enthusiast, and his flickr album consists of way over 1000 amazing lomographs! as Lomo-Cam wrote to me in a message
"I've only been using the Lomo cameras for about a year and a half. I have fallen in love with them. I have a favorite, obviously."

he owns almost every lomo-camera there is, but as he says, his obvious favourite is the LC-A+RL. as he writes on his own blog, which is also called Lomo-Cam (link):
"I am a lomographer. I might shoot on some non-lomo cameras but I follow a lot of the 10 Rules of Lomography. the only rule I break is #7. Instead of "don't think just shoot", I never think twice about a shot. I am an amateur. I don't use photoshop. I love multiple exposures."

this is just a small bunch of Lomo-Cam's amazing lomographs. the rest of his photostream can be found HERE

Adam Kesher - Hour Of The Wolf (mp3)

street art lomo style

2010-04-20T12:30:00.004+02:00

here's a collection of shots I've done of street art in Amsterdam with the Lomo Diana F+. these lomographs are taken with 35mm FujiFilm 400 color negative film, and scanned with epson perfection 3170.

Cypress Hill ft. Young De - It Ain't Nothin' (mp3)

finally got a scanner!

2010-04-19T17:48:00.007+02:00

after much searching I finally got a hold on an Epson Perfection 3170 scanner today, bought secondhand for the very reasonable sum of 40 Euro. the scanner can handle negatives up to 120mm, therefore seams perfect for lomography.
after MUCH clumsing around with the installment of the scanner, I finally got it working, and started scanning my 35mm negatives. the best thing about using a medium-format sized scanner is that it also scans the exposed sprocket holes in the film, so it is great with the 35mm Diana F+ camera back.
when I had finally figured out how to scan, the results blew me away! the imagine quality is amazing, and considering the low development costs (only 2.95 per roll compared to around 10 with prints), I am very satisfied with this scanner.

when I received the prints from my first two 120mm b/w rolls a couple of weeks ago, I was pretty disappointed with the contrast and levels in the photos. however, after scanning the negatives now, I realize it was the prints, and not the Diana that ruined the quality. therefore, I have decided to post a couple of shots from the first b/w rolls, even though some may be re-submissions. it is totally justified by the increased quality!

Flight of the Conchords - The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room) (mp3)

HELP! Diana is ripping my film!!

2010-04-18T15:30:00.005+02:00

after shooting 3 full rolls of 35mm film, I decided to do another 120mm b/w film. but after loading the film, I had problems winding it. I gave it a little force, but suddenly all the resistance in the turning-wheel was gone. I carefully opened the back of the camera, and saw that the film was ripped. I then took was left of the roll and loaded it again. but again, the same thing happened. what have I done wrong?? if anyone has any clue, please leave a comment. I'll add two pictures of the diana to show where the film is getting ripped.

oriontrail's lomo wall

2010-04-16T11:10:00.006+02:00

got this great collection of lomographs from deviantart. they're done by a user named oriontrail, who is a 25 year old from Croatia. the collection is a great set of b/w shots of mostly architecture and nature, and it makes for a great inspiration source for urban shoots.

the rest of oriontrail's gallery can be viewed here.

Pony Pony Run Run - Walking On A Line (Lifelike Radio Mix) (mp3)

chops and crops

2010-04-14T15:57:00.004+02:00

Here's a couple more photos that are weirdly cropped and chopped up. They are part of the same roll as the previous two photos, so the reason they have the overlapping frames is that they are shot without a mask in the Diana, and the camera set on 16 shots. So, either use a mask, or shoot 12!

I have found a well-priced secondhand Epson 3170 scanner that I hopefully will receive next week. Then I will be able to scan negatives up to medium format (120mm), and I can import all the color shots I've done with 35mm film.

Ellie Goulding - Under The Sheets (Baby Monster Remix) (mp3)

saturday morning

2010-04-10T13:12:00.006+02:00

By the central station in amsterdam, they actually have a parkinghouse for bikes. pretty sick. as you can see, both pictures have an overlap with the next frame on the roll. I figured out I have been shooting with the Lomo set on 16 photos, without having the 16-pics mask in the camera, so when I've been rolling the film, the numbers showed on the back has not been the correct ones. And from the vespa-picture, what I should have known by now, the viewfinder does not work!!

One eskimO - Givin up (Don Diablo Remix) (mp3)

lomo diana f+ exposure card

2010-04-08T18:45:00.005+02:00

After looking everywhere for it, I finally found an exposure chart for diana lomo f+. The chart has exposure times for all aperture sizes for any conditions, from "Night, Star Light, No Other Light", to "10 Minutes After Sunset", and for ISO speeds from 50 to 800.

The full chart can be downloaded for free in pdf mode from INDIAN HILL imageworks.

Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work (mp3)

amsterdam: waiting for the boat to pass

2010-04-07T16:16:00.005+02:00

Here are two shots from my second 120mm B/W roll. When boats go down the biggest canals of Amsterdam, the bridges raise to let them through, and bikes, cars, trams, and buses have to wait. For some reason, almost all the shots turned out like these ones, with overlapping parts from other pictures on the sides. I'm not sure if it's me, my camera, or the shop that does it.

Booka Shade - Regenerate (mp3)

amazing pinhole shots

2010-04-04T16:58:00.019+02:00

came over a collection of some mindblowing photos taken with pinhole aperture on lomo cameras. see the full collection here

Shy Child - Disconnected (mp3)

great holga gallery

2010-04-04T14:45:00.005+02:00

Stumbled onto this great Holga gallery. Check the full gallery here

more from roll 1

2010-04-01T15:04:00.010+02:00

After first just posting my favorites from my first Lomo roll, I decided to post the rest. Did the mistake of choosing the "best" ones at first, but I realized that with lomography, they all have their own charm. So here they are.

35mm it is!

2010-04-01T14:28:00.003+02:00

Ok, so I did it. Went to a fotostudio in Kinkerstraat in Amsterdam called Foto Solleveld. After a nice chat about prices for developing 120mm and 35mm, I decided to go get the 35mm back for my Diana. I biked over to a place on Singel, and bought the backpiece + a 3pack of FujiFilm 36 exposure ISO 400 color films. It all set me back 57 Euro in total, but from now, I will only have to pay about 3.5 for developing film into negatives, and from there I can either scan them myself (if I had a scanner), or I can pay 5 Euro and get them all on CD.

Here's what's in the box:

If you want to save som $ and rather do it yourself, here's how:

35mm or 120mm??

2010-04-01T11:30:00.002+02:00

35mm or not 35mm, that’s the question. After experiencing the pretty stiff prices of 120mm film and its development, I am considering the 35mm back. I know it is possible to mod the Diana yourself to make it shoot 35mm, but the problem is rewinding the film (which has to be done in a changing bag or a darkroom, neither of which I have).

The 35mm back costs about 45 Euro (60 USD), and allows you to use 35mm in the Diana with different available image formats. I must say my favourite format is the square with exposed sprocket holes, it looks amazing (check the pictures below). With the 35mm back, I am thinking to just get the film developed into negatives, then use a scanner that can scan negatives. I’ll go to a lab today to check the prices for just developing into negatives.

first roll

2010-03-31T14:17:00.007+02:00

I just got back from the photo developer (HEMA Fotoservice Amsterdam), and I'm sitting here with my first Lomos in hand! I've posted some of them here, but with the lack of a scanner, I've actually imported them with my digital camera. Not very professional, but it'll have to do for now!

Price: 7.99 Euro (10 USD).

Result: First of all, thinking it would be 16 shots, I was a bit disappointed finding it was only 12. Most probably, it was due to my clumsiness with the film. 7.99 + the cost of the 120mm films was quite expensive, but I’ll look around for a cheaper alternative.

Second, the pictures are crazy! They are definitely different from what I had expected. They are spacey, trippy, blurry, chaotic, messy, bright, dark, high and low, all at the same time. I definitely need some time to get use to this camera, and hopefully the results will improve. From this roll, I’m happy with 5 pictures, so we’ll see if the % increases next time. I give myself a grade of 3.2 on this one (5 out of 16).

Lessons learned:
• Diana is unpredictable!
• The viewfinder does not work! Next roll will be shot just by point-and-shoot.
• The lens is more tele than I thought, which means I’ll have to go further away from my subjects.
• Consider a 35mm backpiece for lower film and development prices??

I also bought a new roll of 120mm film. Colour this time. To the jawdropping and ballcrunching price of 8.50 euro (11.5 USD).

lock and load!

2010-03-27T16:15:00.002+01:00

Thanks to youtube and google, I have now been able to load the 120mm film in my Diana. I almost dropped the film, though, so I might have ruined the first pictures on the roll. Anyway, I went out in the sun and took some snaps. Can’t wait to see the results.

Here's good instructional on loading the film:

Lomo Diana F+ in hand

2010-03-26T21:11:00.002+01:00

First day with Diana in my hand. I got it from my friends at my bday-dinner in a restaurant in Amsterdam. Diana is light, very light, and feels even more plastic than she looks like. It takes us ages to figure out the flash, since the instruction manual has no illustrations in it. After a while, we have to give up trying to get the film in, being scared of ruining the camera with all the dessert left on our table. I’ll do it tomorrow morning.

tips and lessons learned

2010-03-15T19:58:00.003+01:00

here's a complete selection of the lessons I've learned from my first lomography film rolls. more tips will be added as I learn more:

Never trust the viewfinder!

If you wish to shoot 16 photos on a 120mm roll, insert the mask in the Diana (without the mask, photos wille be overlapping).