This is it...
It's a ALL-PLASTIC camera. Even the lens is plastic.No batteries required.
No flash inside of it. (Meaning no indoor/dim light shots)
It runs on a manual winding mechanism. So everything feels so old-school.
A FILM camera. Uses 35mm film.
Those easily available in ALL photoshops.
Kodak, Fujifilm and wad not...
To me.. this is a lomo-graphy kinda cam...
There's 2 school of thots as to wad "LOMO-graphy" means...
One sch believes that lomography is only achievable when you use a LOMO-brand camera, which includes the Lomo action-sampler, Lomo fish-eye, Lomo super-sampler, Lomo Holgas.
The other sch of thot is that lomography is the way you photo stuff. It's not the equipment branding you have, but the style of photography.
And i happen to be in this school..
How to be a Lomographer
Follow the 10 Golden Rules
01. Take your camera everywhere
In bed, in Gorky Park, in a propellor-driven airplane or in the launderette: you grab your camera and everything around you starts to vibrate with life, be prepared, keep your camera close at hand and ready for action everywhere and all the time.
02. Use it anytime, day or night
Every single second has its own unique, light, grey, colourful, woolly, profound, flat mood. Your life is not going to wait for the camera, its rules and the fooling around involved. Either click - you have captured the situation as it is, or you haven't.
03. Lomography is not an interference in your life, but a part of it
Lomography doesnt interrupt the direction your life is going, and its just a significant and integral part of it. Just like talking, walking, sleeping, eating, thinking, drinking, laughing and loving. Lomography is a powerful sign that you are alive.
04. Try the shot from the hip
It is as simple as it is unusual: you don't have to look through the viewfinder to take a good picture, no, on the contrary! Give yourself more freedom in your choice of perspective. Hand up in the air, out in the front or behind your back. No limits; just your experience mixed with some luck.
05. Approach the objects of your Lomographic desire as close as possible.
Get close click - from the wrist looking deep into the eyes, full frontal, close up and precisely whatever it is that interests you. Laughing as you go, feeling good, so that everyone can see that Lomography is the most obvious and natural thing in the world.
06. Dont think (William Firebrace)
Put your head in the ice cold bathtub, hold your breath, count to 100 and let your troubles dissolve. Then jerk your head out again, and with it firmly on your shoulders, grab your camera and hit the streets. Start snapping away, live it and have fun.
07. Be fast
A mere tenth of a second makes the difference between Lomography or not Lomography. Just don't waste time with settings, adjustments, thinking about it, faffing around and procrastinating. First impressions have a quality of their own, trust yourself.
08. You dont have to know beforehand what you captured on film
Give the random in Lomography a chance. Enjoy your new way of living with random occurrence. You're not here for Lomography! Lomography is here for you! Lomography only works if the only thing you concentrate on is celebrating your life.
09. Afterwards either
Wow, that looks great, what's that, where was I there? Your brain is running on top speed, your memory is spinning, your history is tumbling. No you dont have to know exactly whats on the film even afterwards. Just read between the Lomographs.
10. Don't worry about any rules.
Forget the 10 Golden Rules discover your very own Lomography, immerse yourself in whats going on. Do it and do what you want but do it now.
The above rules.. taken off the www.lomography.com webbie.. ^^I love the anticipation of viewing the developed photos. It's just different from the currently-everywhere digi cam when you know exactly wad you are gonna get. I love to wait and see how the photos turn out.. If there is any vignettes or light leak or just the perfect shade of colours.. I love to capture the moment, it's like that moment is frozen in time.. I love photography...
First roll of film: Expired Centuria 200
All taken within A DAY!! Happily snapping at every little thing i see in my way...
Expired film is said to give a grainy effect. Mine turned out a tad grainy... but the colours are awesome and the images are CLEAR!! Woo~~
My second roll was a normal kodakgold 200 film. Pictures turned out beautiful~~ :D My fave shots are usually the ones with the sky and clouds in them...
My 3rd roll's still in my camera... Sitting on the 33rd shot... I still have a couple more to go before development time. ^^
Gonna experiment with slides on my next roll! Already bought sensia 200!! This is unlike negative films. Slide films, when developed, they wont give the reversed colour of the pictures. They will show the exact same colour as the photo.
But i'm gonna cross-processed them!!
Quick-write up on x-pro:
To develop the slides in the solution meant for developing negative photos. Using the "wrong" kind of developing solution.
This gives a FUNKY colour splash effect on the slides.
For the sensia 200, the expected photos will give a yellowish hue. COOL!!
Bought the slide film from triple-D photo lab shop at Bencoolen street.*HIGHLY RECOMMENDED* $7.50 dmg.. but i guess it's worth a try lah.. The Uncle there is quite nice. I told him i'm using the vivitar.. he's quick to tell me.. oh! outdoors shots.. you shld try the sensia.. *flip flip* photo album and showed me.. I enquired abt the other slide films, e.g. afga. but he mentioned that the others are more ex... at the 10+ range. so i should just 'play' with this film first.. hehe.. ok!
He sells expired film at a DOLLAR!!! *screams!* but they are all 12 exposure films.. Will kinda waste the developing fee as it is charged per roll. So i skipped on that. Darn.. was hoping to get a few films to stock up. :(
His store is not very accessible to me as i dun frequent that area... :( :( :( Will try to pop there as often as i can... as they are the few shops that does x-processing and i like the NICE UNCLE. :D I found another shop during x-pro in BUKIT BATOK!! gonna go there to wash my films.. and prob get more slide films..
so exciting!!!!!! ^^ More Vivitar shots can be seen HERE!! reallie awesome shots!!
p.s i got my vivitar from this spree. She seems to be rather trust-worthy as myself and my fren got them from her. Hers is also one of the cheapest source. Only 23 bucks.
Labels: vivitar
