Freelensing

Freelensing is a simple and costless technique (of sorts) for taking photos with a distorted focus. Basically it involves taking photos with the lens detached and held in front of the camera. It is a cheap way of getting an amazing macro-like effect, if you don't mind the risk of getting dust inside the camera. This tutorial goes into more detail.

Freelensing images by Adam Harris.

 

                                                                         ©Adam Harris

To Buy or Not To Buy... Second Hand...

The lens on my Pentax MZ-5 seems to have packed it in (my poor baby! 7 years we've spent together!). To tide me over until I can get something better, I've been considering buying a second hand lens for one of the old cameras I was given, a Nikon f801 which goes up to an incredible shutter speed of 1/8000. Here's a helpful article I found.

Venezia

Venice is one of those places that it's hard to take a bad photo. We went in January when it's freezing cold but free from tourists, which made it even easier to photograph. Anyway, here are a couple of my typical tourist-y photographs.

 

 ©Rosie Fay

Michel Gondry

While my main interest is in photography, there are certain filmmakers (see this post) whom I look to for inspiration. I've been looking at a lot of surreal imagery lately and wanted to share a quick post about one of my old favourites.

Michel Gondry is a French screen writer and director, who's work includes the movie Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind, and music videos for Bjork, the White Stripes, the Chemical Brothers, and even Kylie Minogue. His often surreal videos are created from a child-like imagination that seems to see no boundaries to filmmaking. He takes the approach that he can create pretty much anything he can envision.
A couple of his videos you may remember:

Aline Smithson

Aline Smithson is another photographer I came across during my research. She uses medium format or plastic cameras to create images that are at once familiar, yet intriguing and unexpected. The images have a timeless, dream-like quality which she uses to create the impression that we are seeing the world through her eyes, allowing the viewer to engage with what appear to be simple images. My favourite image is probably the first one, and is probably the best example of how she draws the viewer into the picture using familiar moments.

©Aline Smithson

Pinhole Egg Camera ... (Pinhegg!)

We've been making pinhole cameras in college. I haven't quite got the hang of mine yet, but I thought I'd share this tutorial I came across. The author made a pinhole camera from an egg using liquid emulsion, with interesting results!

                                                                    ©Francesco Capponi

Tyler Shields

Tyler Shields is one of the photographers I came across during my research. This contemporary photographer is best known for his controversial images of celebrities, particularly of Lindsay Lohan. With no formal training, he befriends celebrities and gets them to pose for impromptu photo shoots, often at night in public places. Whether or not you follow celeb culture, some of his images are amazing and he is definitely worth checking out!

                                                                   ©Tyler Shields

Slidey Slidey

These are a few of my images taken for my first college assignment. They were all taken on transparency film.

                                                                           ©Rosie Fay

Sofia Coppola

Sofia Coppola's movies have a very distinctive style - pastel colours, soft focus and slow camera movements - all of which add a romantic feel to her work. The influence of photography is very clear in each of her movies. What I love about her style is how aesthetically beautiful her films are. Each scene is thoughtfully designed and could easily be scenes from a photo shoot.

These are a few stills from her movies. The composition and use of colour seems really unusual for this medium.

                                                              (image from Marie Antoinette)

                                                                          (image from Lost In Translation) 

                                                        (image from The Virgin Suicides)

Somewhere was the most recent film she made. As a movie it had little direction or plot and was essentially one breath-taking scene after another.

Holga Holga Holga

A few years ago I stumbled across the lomography website and absolutely fell in love. Lomography is an experimental form of photography that embraces analogue and plastic cameras. Distorted colours, light leaks, and vignetting are all characteristic of this type of photography.
I love the carefree approach that they take - bring the camera everywhere and make it part of your life; what you shoot is unimportant, don't think, shoot from the hip. The images on the site are amazing. It's hard to believe you can get such interesting shots with just a plastic camera - no photoshop in sight!

                                                                      © lomography.com
   
Here's a few I took myself with my Holga. The Holga has a plastic lens and 4 different coloured flashes.

                                                                          ©Rosie Fay

An Introduction

Photography has long been an interest of mine. To me it is not just a way to capture the world around me, a way to preserve those little details others may have missed. I tend to use film rather than digital, because I'm fascinated by the mechanics of analogue cameras. I love old cameras as much as I love to take pictures.

California

These photos were taken on a trip I made to California a few years ago. I mainly use film when shooting and as such, many of my digital images from that trip were taken with a little pink point and shoot. I obviously wasn't expecting much from the images but was pleasantly surprised. 
While I'm sure that I could have done more with a better camera, I see it as an interesting reminder that with photography, as with any art form, we must learn to rely on our own skill and ability more than the equipment we use. Some of the best jazz musicians have played on the most battered instruments......

These images were taken in Death Valley, Joshua Tree Park and Yosemite National Park.

                                                                           ©Rosie Fay