I may or may not just have bought another 3 films as well.
Laters,
P x
30 June 2011
Hoard.
Do you guys think I have enough film for my Diana F+ yet?
I may or may not just have bought another 3 films as well.
Laters,
P x
I may or may not just have bought another 3 films as well.
Laters,
P x
Poladroid.
Considering I'm lusting after instant film at the moment I might as well do a quick post about the other alternative.
Everyone's pretty used to lomo style photos thanks largely to the popularity of iPhones and their various camera related apps. And I must admit I do envy iPhone owners for this. But long ago an online app was made to replicate polaroids and I've just reminded myself of it tonight.
Poladroid is a free downloadable app that lets you turn your regular jpegs into Polaroid style photos. I just did a few to show as examples.
They're more like the results you get with the iPhone apps than actual polaroids but still, it's a bit of easy fun for some quick edits.
Laters,
P x
Everyone's pretty used to lomo style photos thanks largely to the popularity of iPhones and their various camera related apps. And I must admit I do envy iPhone owners for this. But long ago an online app was made to replicate polaroids and I've just reminded myself of it tonight.
Poladroid is a free downloadable app that lets you turn your regular jpegs into Polaroid style photos. I just did a few to show as examples.
They're more like the results you get with the iPhone apps than actual polaroids but still, it's a bit of easy fun for some quick edits.
Laters,
P x
Instant lust.
I was texting one of my friends the other day, talking about how I'd keep in touch whilst I'm in Portugal and the discussion has led to what I consider a worthy blog post. You see I mentioned how our apartment doesn't have internet and I'm not sure if any local places will have free wi-fi. He casually dropped in the idea of letters which I was all for. And in reply I said it was a shame Polaroid film isn't as cheap as it used to be as I think it'd be a great idea to send a random snapshot with each letter. This led to a furious search online for the cheapest Polaroid film available with little luck. Thanks to The Impossible Project, Polaroid film is once again available to the masses. But only if those masses have money to burn. Even eBay is selling it for crazy prices. Being a very poor student type, I have zero pennies. So sadly a fresh pack of Polaroid film is out of the question for this holiday.
So I began to look into alternatives as I didn't wish to give up completely on the idea of instant snapshots to send to my friend.
The first alternative that came up is the Fujifilm Instax Mini. Although the camera itself is a little pricey, the film is considerably cheaper than Polaroid so it's an affordable option.
The prints are a dinky credit card size compared to the Polaroid classic square format. But that makes them perfectly wallet/purse sized. I think I'd probably end up filling my purse with my favourite snaps if I had this. You could also utilise them as on the spot business cards with the right pen to pop your contact details on. Much more fun and memorable than getting someone to jot down your email address on a scrap of paper. And how about it for giving your number to a person of romantic interest? I know with modern technology you can just put your number directly into someone's phone but what about a silly pic and your phone number scrawled along the edge? Far more interesting I'd say. How could anyone resist?
The only downside for me with the Instax is the idea of lugging around a third camera. I'm already gonna have my Canon and my Diana F+ (not to mention several accessories) in a bag at all times on this holiday so adding a third does not appeal.
So what's the alternative to a third camera? How about a different back for my Diana F+?
Yup awesomely enough the Lomography society have created the Diana Instant Back. This nifty bit of equipment simply turns my regular Diana F+ into an instant camera. And even better? It uses the same film at the Instax so once again the film is in my price range (well once I've got some money).
Now I know what you're thinking. How different can be it to carry the actual Instax camera around compared to the Diana Instant Back? Since I have neither I can't give you an exact answer but truthfully I suspect the difference isn't actually all that much. And surely it'd be easier to just snap pics with the Instax rather than fiddling with changing the back on the Diana F+? Yup probably. But do you get to change the lens with the Instax? Nope.
Now since I own the Diana F+ deluxe kit, I have all the various available lenses for it as well as two different flashes and the lens splitzer. This is why I was drawn to the deluxe kit in the first place, the full spectrum of accessories included. So whatever I put on the front of my Diana F+ would come out in the instant film. Fish eye? Yup. Wide Angle? Yup. Telephoto? Yup. It goes on. This obviously opens up the possibilities available when the Instant Back is applied. And you can see gallery proof of these on the Diana Instant Back microsite. Just look at those photos! I'm torn between fish eye and close up being my favourites.
So as you've probably worked out the Diana Instant Back is way more appealing to me than the Instax Mini. My mind boggles at all the crazy shots I could get and how much fun I'd have with it. Of course I'd be a bit worried about some shots not coming out right since I'm still figuring out the Diana F+ but that's always been a risk with instant film anyways. And is of course all part of the fun of analogue photography.
Sadly being the woefully poor student I am, I can't afford either of these at the moment but when the next lot of student loan comes rolling in, I may well consider in investing in the Diana Instant Back. Unless someone wants to lend me the money in the meantime? Anyone?
I'll leave that one with you ;)
Laters,
P x
So I began to look into alternatives as I didn't wish to give up completely on the idea of instant snapshots to send to my friend.
The first alternative that came up is the Fujifilm Instax Mini. Although the camera itself is a little pricey, the film is considerably cheaper than Polaroid so it's an affordable option.
The prints are a dinky credit card size compared to the Polaroid classic square format. But that makes them perfectly wallet/purse sized. I think I'd probably end up filling my purse with my favourite snaps if I had this. You could also utilise them as on the spot business cards with the right pen to pop your contact details on. Much more fun and memorable than getting someone to jot down your email address on a scrap of paper. And how about it for giving your number to a person of romantic interest? I know with modern technology you can just put your number directly into someone's phone but what about a silly pic and your phone number scrawled along the edge? Far more interesting I'd say. How could anyone resist?
The only downside for me with the Instax is the idea of lugging around a third camera. I'm already gonna have my Canon and my Diana F+ (not to mention several accessories) in a bag at all times on this holiday so adding a third does not appeal.
So what's the alternative to a third camera? How about a different back for my Diana F+?
Yup awesomely enough the Lomography society have created the Diana Instant Back. This nifty bit of equipment simply turns my regular Diana F+ into an instant camera. And even better? It uses the same film at the Instax so once again the film is in my price range (well once I've got some money).
Now I know what you're thinking. How different can be it to carry the actual Instax camera around compared to the Diana Instant Back? Since I have neither I can't give you an exact answer but truthfully I suspect the difference isn't actually all that much. And surely it'd be easier to just snap pics with the Instax rather than fiddling with changing the back on the Diana F+? Yup probably. But do you get to change the lens with the Instax? Nope.
Now since I own the Diana F+ deluxe kit, I have all the various available lenses for it as well as two different flashes and the lens splitzer. This is why I was drawn to the deluxe kit in the first place, the full spectrum of accessories included. So whatever I put on the front of my Diana F+ would come out in the instant film. Fish eye? Yup. Wide Angle? Yup. Telephoto? Yup. It goes on. This obviously opens up the possibilities available when the Instant Back is applied. And you can see gallery proof of these on the Diana Instant Back microsite. Just look at those photos! I'm torn between fish eye and close up being my favourites.
So as you've probably worked out the Diana Instant Back is way more appealing to me than the Instax Mini. My mind boggles at all the crazy shots I could get and how much fun I'd have with it. Of course I'd be a bit worried about some shots not coming out right since I'm still figuring out the Diana F+ but that's always been a risk with instant film anyways. And is of course all part of the fun of analogue photography.
Sadly being the woefully poor student I am, I can't afford either of these at the moment but when the next lot of student loan comes rolling in, I may well consider in investing in the Diana Instant Back. Unless someone wants to lend me the money in the meantime? Anyone?
I'll leave that one with you ;)
Laters,
P x
26 June 2011
Jollidays.
I've been having a mild shitter of a time recently. Nothing serious compared to what some of my friends and their families are going through. Just a bit of a weird beef with my dad over me moving in with him come September. It's all about an old bed essentially. Had a frustrating moment this morning where I'd called him, left a message asking him to call me back but he called my mum and didn't even ask to speak to me. He repeated this behaviour earlier when I answered the house phone, he just asked to be put on to my mum without even making any kind of small talk with me. Way to be a parent hey dad?
But in two weeks I can forget all about my dad and just enjoy my life again. You know why? Because I'll be jetting off to sunny Portugal! I cannot wait. I've been promised this summer in Portugal since the beginning of the year and we're finally going. Mum got fed up of waiting for my stepdad to let us know what was going on so she asked me to help her book the flights this afternoon. So at 4:45pm on the 11th we're off to Faro. My folks were given an apartment in the Algarve which is why we get to spend the whole of our summer there. I'm really hoping that a summer in the sun away from all my issues here in Manchester will cause a significant difference to my depression. I'm going to focus on my photography and remind myself why I love it so much. With my new 50mm lens and the array of film for my Diana F+ I reckon I'll come back a different photographer (and hopefully a better photographer).
I can't truly cover how excited I am for the 11th. I can't wait to explore a new country and photograph to my heart's content. Expect a few holiday related posts over these next two weeks.
But I'm signing off for now as I'm watching Jurassic Park on the tellybox as well as keeping my eye on a lens on Ebay.
Laters,
P x
But in two weeks I can forget all about my dad and just enjoy my life again. You know why? Because I'll be jetting off to sunny Portugal! I cannot wait. I've been promised this summer in Portugal since the beginning of the year and we're finally going. Mum got fed up of waiting for my stepdad to let us know what was going on so she asked me to help her book the flights this afternoon. So at 4:45pm on the 11th we're off to Faro. My folks were given an apartment in the Algarve which is why we get to spend the whole of our summer there. I'm really hoping that a summer in the sun away from all my issues here in Manchester will cause a significant difference to my depression. I'm going to focus on my photography and remind myself why I love it so much. With my new 50mm lens and the array of film for my Diana F+ I reckon I'll come back a different photographer (and hopefully a better photographer).
I can't truly cover how excited I am for the 11th. I can't wait to explore a new country and photograph to my heart's content. Expect a few holiday related posts over these next two weeks.
But I'm signing off for now as I'm watching Jurassic Park on the tellybox as well as keeping my eye on a lens on Ebay.
Laters,
P x
Vintage.
Last post for tonight. I promise. Just very quickly wanted to post a photo of the suitcases my mum got in Barnados t'other day. £4.99 each. Can't complain. Mine's the red 'un.
Only problem is I'm not sure how I'm going to fit all my holiday clothes in it.
Laters,
P x
Only problem is I'm not sure how I'm going to fit all my holiday clothes in it.
Laters,
P x
Digital.
Yeah from no posts to 3 posts. What can I say? I feel the need to blog. There may be more posts to come but I may save them until tomorrow.
So from film to digital. This is going to be my shortest post for today because I don't have a huge amount to say about this. I'm not a big fan of the camera I have, a Canon 450D, but I'm determined to get this camera to work for me. When I bought it the camera came with the standard 18-55mm kit lens which isn't all that. And sadly on my course the equipment is more Nikon than Canon. Which is a bit of a bum deal. There are two Canon lenses available to borrow from college but it can be difficult to get hold of them. I had a particularly annoying time once when I needed one of the lenses but the tutor was borrowing it for personal reasons. Now I don't know about you but I think it's pretty unfair for tutors to borrow equipment from a college course especially when that equipment is in extremely limited supply and high demand from the students. But no point going on about it.
Now when I did The Geek Inside I actually hired out a lens from Calumet. It was a 24-105mm zoom lens and it was so much fun to work with. It made me realise what a difference a lens makes to a camera and to shooting. With that lens I didn't detest my silly 450D and we got along swimmingly. I loved the shots it produced and in the end I really enjoyed the project for the first time on the course. Being a zoom lens the 24-105mm gave me the chance to be a bit further away from the action but still get the shot I wanted. I get a little funny around people these days due to my depression/anxiety so this lens was just perfect for me.
So considering I'll be in Portugal for most of the summer I'd been thinking about how much I wanted to go away with a different lens to my standard 18-55mm. Now of course I couldn't borrow from college, neither of the lenses are suitable (there's a macro or a wide angle, useless) and that'd be no chance I'd be allowed to borrow considering I'm going abroad. And as much as I'd love to hire a lens from Calumet, it's hardly a financially viable option considering the length of time I'd be away and the amount of pennies I have in my bank. But I was randomly browsing lenses on Amazon the other day and wondering if there were any affordable options. I've heard a lot of good things about 50mm lenses and they're a pretty essential lens to have as part of your kit really. Now Canon's top 50mm lens is their 50mm f/1.2 and it's a beautiful lens. Unfortunately it's also like £1.5k so way out of my budget.
What is affordable though is the 50mm f/1.8 which is between £80 to £100 depending on which site you're on. And luckily for me I have a very kind mother with an Argos card and Argos are offering a buy now pay in 7 months time payment plan. So with a promise to pay her back with money from my student loan when my 2nd year lot comes through, off we popped to Argos this morning to purchase it.
I haven't had much chance to use it yet but I cannot wait to begin experimenting with it and of course take it to Portugal. I could probably do with buying a lens hood for it and I'll get round to it at some point before I go. But for now say hello to the newest member of my kit.
I've now got my eye on a Tamron 55-200mm for some fun zoom times.
It's just under a £100 on Amazon but the problem is that I don't have a £100 and I don't know anyone willing to lend me it until September. Dang. Still a girl panda can dream.
Anyways I'll go shooting with my 50mm soon and post the results on here.
Laters,
P x
So from film to digital. This is going to be my shortest post for today because I don't have a huge amount to say about this. I'm not a big fan of the camera I have, a Canon 450D, but I'm determined to get this camera to work for me. When I bought it the camera came with the standard 18-55mm kit lens which isn't all that. And sadly on my course the equipment is more Nikon than Canon. Which is a bit of a bum deal. There are two Canon lenses available to borrow from college but it can be difficult to get hold of them. I had a particularly annoying time once when I needed one of the lenses but the tutor was borrowing it for personal reasons. Now I don't know about you but I think it's pretty unfair for tutors to borrow equipment from a college course especially when that equipment is in extremely limited supply and high demand from the students. But no point going on about it.
Now when I did The Geek Inside I actually hired out a lens from Calumet. It was a 24-105mm zoom lens and it was so much fun to work with. It made me realise what a difference a lens makes to a camera and to shooting. With that lens I didn't detest my silly 450D and we got along swimmingly. I loved the shots it produced and in the end I really enjoyed the project for the first time on the course. Being a zoom lens the 24-105mm gave me the chance to be a bit further away from the action but still get the shot I wanted. I get a little funny around people these days due to my depression/anxiety so this lens was just perfect for me.
So considering I'll be in Portugal for most of the summer I'd been thinking about how much I wanted to go away with a different lens to my standard 18-55mm. Now of course I couldn't borrow from college, neither of the lenses are suitable (there's a macro or a wide angle, useless) and that'd be no chance I'd be allowed to borrow considering I'm going abroad. And as much as I'd love to hire a lens from Calumet, it's hardly a financially viable option considering the length of time I'd be away and the amount of pennies I have in my bank. But I was randomly browsing lenses on Amazon the other day and wondering if there were any affordable options. I've heard a lot of good things about 50mm lenses and they're a pretty essential lens to have as part of your kit really. Now Canon's top 50mm lens is their 50mm f/1.2 and it's a beautiful lens. Unfortunately it's also like £1.5k so way out of my budget.
What is affordable though is the 50mm f/1.8 which is between £80 to £100 depending on which site you're on. And luckily for me I have a very kind mother with an Argos card and Argos are offering a buy now pay in 7 months time payment plan. So with a promise to pay her back with money from my student loan when my 2nd year lot comes through, off we popped to Argos this morning to purchase it.
I haven't had much chance to use it yet but I cannot wait to begin experimenting with it and of course take it to Portugal. I could probably do with buying a lens hood for it and I'll get round to it at some point before I go. But for now say hello to the newest member of my kit.
I've now got my eye on a Tamron 55-200mm for some fun zoom times.
It's just under a £100 on Amazon but the problem is that I don't have a £100 and I don't know anyone willing to lend me it until September. Dang. Still a girl panda can dream.
Anyways I'll go shooting with my 50mm soon and post the results on here.
Laters,
P x
25 June 2011
Film.
I don't know how many of you have heard of Lomography and this whole analogue love culture that comes with it but I've been a fan of it for years now. A few months back Groupon offered a voucher for the Lomography shop and I absolutely couldn't resist. I was utterly torn in my decision of what to buy because Lomography has such a crazy range of cameras that you kinda want to collect them all. But I wanted a good all-rounder so I went for the Diana F+ deluxe kit.
Now what I actually did was purchase the deluxe kit off Ebay as it was considerably cheaper than the Lomo shop even with the voucher. And I used my voucher to buy the RingFlash.
I love the look of ring flash in photography and the best thing about the Lomo RingFlash is that it works on both my Diana F+ and my Canon. Amazeballs right?
Now when I went to Seville with college I used only my Diana F+ much to my tutor's annoyance but I loved it. Walking round in the blazing sun all day, I didn't want to be weighed down by my Canon so I stuck to my perfectly lightweight Diana F+ and we had a lot of fun together. I'd changed the back from 120mm to 35mm the minute it arrived and I had 5 films with me. All purchased from Poundland before I went but they worked out nicely. I really believe that Lomography in general works better in those sunny moments as it adds to the captured atmosphere. I think in the end I used about 3 films and admittedly not all the shots worked out. That's obviously down to my inexperience with film and still getting used to the camera settings. But I like the shots that did work out such as the following, taken with the telephoto lens attached.
More of my Seville shots can be found on my Flickr, in particular in this set.
So now as I get closer to leaving for Portugal for the summer I'm looking again at my Diana F+ and thinking about all the shots we'll be able to get whilst there. However I didn't want to take a suitcase full of Poundland film. Don't get me wrong, it's a good film. Kodak ColourPlus ISO200 24exp and I've picked up 3 for those first few days, just to get me back into working on film. But I wanted to experiment with other films and see what results I'd get. Of course film isn't as cheap as it used to be but I made use of a Lomo 15% discount offer on their films as well as some cheap shopping on Ebay. So I've got myself a selection of the following films.
I'm really excited to begin shooting with these in Portugal and I really hope they work out. I'll have to pay a bit more attention to the camera settings as I don't want there to be too many messed up shots. But then again I've now got something like 30 films to take with me so there's plenty to work with. Just hope there'll be room in the refrigerator for them all. Of course processing when I get back will be a killer but I may just go for getting them developed then investing in a negative scanner as it's a fair bit more sensible than getting prints and CDs made for them all.
Of course a selection of my best shots will be posted on here when the time comes so y'all can see how I got on.
Laters,
P x
Now what I actually did was purchase the deluxe kit off Ebay as it was considerably cheaper than the Lomo shop even with the voucher. And I used my voucher to buy the RingFlash.
I love the look of ring flash in photography and the best thing about the Lomo RingFlash is that it works on both my Diana F+ and my Canon. Amazeballs right?
Now when I went to Seville with college I used only my Diana F+ much to my tutor's annoyance but I loved it. Walking round in the blazing sun all day, I didn't want to be weighed down by my Canon so I stuck to my perfectly lightweight Diana F+ and we had a lot of fun together. I'd changed the back from 120mm to 35mm the minute it arrived and I had 5 films with me. All purchased from Poundland before I went but they worked out nicely. I really believe that Lomography in general works better in those sunny moments as it adds to the captured atmosphere. I think in the end I used about 3 films and admittedly not all the shots worked out. That's obviously down to my inexperience with film and still getting used to the camera settings. But I like the shots that did work out such as the following, taken with the telephoto lens attached.
More of my Seville shots can be found on my Flickr, in particular in this set.
So now as I get closer to leaving for Portugal for the summer I'm looking again at my Diana F+ and thinking about all the shots we'll be able to get whilst there. However I didn't want to take a suitcase full of Poundland film. Don't get me wrong, it's a good film. Kodak ColourPlus ISO200 24exp and I've picked up 3 for those first few days, just to get me back into working on film. But I wanted to experiment with other films and see what results I'd get. Of course film isn't as cheap as it used to be but I made use of a Lomo 15% discount offer on their films as well as some cheap shopping on Ebay. So I've got myself a selection of the following films.
I'm really excited to begin shooting with these in Portugal and I really hope they work out. I'll have to pay a bit more attention to the camera settings as I don't want there to be too many messed up shots. But then again I've now got something like 30 films to take with me so there's plenty to work with. Just hope there'll be room in the refrigerator for them all. Of course processing when I get back will be a killer but I may just go for getting them developed then investing in a negative scanner as it's a fair bit more sensible than getting prints and CDs made for them all.
Of course a selection of my best shots will be posted on here when the time comes so y'all can see how I got on.
Laters,
P x
Irregular.
I haven't quite settled into coming up for ideas for blog posts or really what I want the content to be yet hence the irregularity. I do suspect it'll be a real mixed bag of stuff because I'm that kind of person. If I expect to gain readership then I've got to be more disciplined with posting. I know I can't commit to every day but perhaps I should set some sort of schedule?
So what have I been up to since I last posted? Well truthfully not a great deal. I submitted my book cover design and had my final tutorial of the year at college. My tutor finally acknowledged my depression but still managed to patronise me. It's a talent she has. Still, at least college is done with for the summer and for that I'm grateful. As part of the final tutorial I had to come up with 3 SMART objectives. I'll briefly cover what SMART stands for.
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Action orientated
R = Realistic/relevant
T = Time bound
I've always felt stuff like this is bullshit but I came up with 3 objectives anyways.
1. To produce a documentary series of at least 30 images of my time of Portugal by the end of July, this is to be a combination of street photography and portraiture of the local people.
2. To re-shoot my Time and Place final idea by September and have A3 prints made of the 5 image series.
3. To produce 3 separate zines, each featuring a different photographic subject matter. The images are to be shot by the end of August and the zines are to be produced in September ready for the return to college.
They all seem rather uncomplicated and for me perfectly accomplishable but I am notoriously shite at finishing what I start. I am in some aspects determined to complete them just to prove my tutor wrong but I struggle to work to what other people expect of me. I just make things harder for myself I guess.
However I do really like the idea of doing the zines and I'm looking forward to completing those. I've held an interest in zines for a long time now and when we had some MA students come in to assist us with the book cover design, they set us a mini brief of producing a zine. Of course me being me and being unable to focus on more than one work project at a time I didn't give it much attention. I came up with several ideas for it and I've still got those listed in my little notebook. So some of those ideas will come up to life and no doubt I'll think up others as I go along. Hopefully they'll be a mix of my film images and my digital images. Of course the ideal outcome of these is to get my work out there in a different way and hopefully generate a bit more interest in what I photograph. I'm planning on leaving some copies around Manchester and seeing what becomes of them.
And now I can't publish this post without mentioning the 4th objective that was set for me. My darling friend Jack kindly made up an objective for me when I asked for some inspiration. My tutor actually read it back to me during the tutorial as well.
4. Take a Portuguese husband come September. I shall make him my muse. He shall be my parlour servant and my lover - depending on performance in all areas. Results pending.
Truthfully I wouldn't say no to finding some Portuguese hunk whilst I'm over there but I don't think I should be so hasty to marry him. So thanks Jack, I'll make sure I work on it.
Laters,
P x
So what have I been up to since I last posted? Well truthfully not a great deal. I submitted my book cover design and had my final tutorial of the year at college. My tutor finally acknowledged my depression but still managed to patronise me. It's a talent she has. Still, at least college is done with for the summer and for that I'm grateful. As part of the final tutorial I had to come up with 3 SMART objectives. I'll briefly cover what SMART stands for.
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Action orientated
R = Realistic/relevant
T = Time bound
I've always felt stuff like this is bullshit but I came up with 3 objectives anyways.
1. To produce a documentary series of at least 30 images of my time of Portugal by the end of July, this is to be a combination of street photography and portraiture of the local people.
2. To re-shoot my Time and Place final idea by September and have A3 prints made of the 5 image series.
3. To produce 3 separate zines, each featuring a different photographic subject matter. The images are to be shot by the end of August and the zines are to be produced in September ready for the return to college.
They all seem rather uncomplicated and for me perfectly accomplishable but I am notoriously shite at finishing what I start. I am in some aspects determined to complete them just to prove my tutor wrong but I struggle to work to what other people expect of me. I just make things harder for myself I guess.
However I do really like the idea of doing the zines and I'm looking forward to completing those. I've held an interest in zines for a long time now and when we had some MA students come in to assist us with the book cover design, they set us a mini brief of producing a zine. Of course me being me and being unable to focus on more than one work project at a time I didn't give it much attention. I came up with several ideas for it and I've still got those listed in my little notebook. So some of those ideas will come up to life and no doubt I'll think up others as I go along. Hopefully they'll be a mix of my film images and my digital images. Of course the ideal outcome of these is to get my work out there in a different way and hopefully generate a bit more interest in what I photograph. I'm planning on leaving some copies around Manchester and seeing what becomes of them.
And now I can't publish this post without mentioning the 4th objective that was set for me. My darling friend Jack kindly made up an objective for me when I asked for some inspiration. My tutor actually read it back to me during the tutorial as well.
4. Take a Portuguese husband come September. I shall make him my muse. He shall be my parlour servant and my lover - depending on performance in all areas. Results pending.
Truthfully I wouldn't say no to finding some Portuguese hunk whilst I'm over there but I don't think I should be so hasty to marry him. So thanks Jack, I'll make sure I work on it.
Laters,
P x
13 June 2011
I told you...
I did say I wouldn't be one of those post a day blogs. However I didn't mean to leave it a week. And I've not even come back with anything substantial to say. Just wanted to post some work I've hastily just completed following a serious phone call from my serious tutor. I could rant on about college as I'm so angry at the way the course is run but I'll just post and go.
We were giving a mini brief to tie in the Penguin Design Awards. The brief was to plan, shoot and design a book cover in the hope of submitting for the competition. We were given this brief at a ridiculously late stage in order to submit for the competition and we were actually in Seville at the time of the deadline. Unsurprisingly I didn't submit for the competition and despite having planned the work never got round to shooting and designing. Until last week, when it's the final deadlines for our work and I have to hastily put together this friggin' book cover and I can't find the template anywhere. Needless to say I just didn't submit. Hence the serious phone call this morning, "you have to submit it or you won't get into 2nd year". Cool story bro.
So I've hastily put together this.
Definitely unworthy of any award except maybe "Shoddiest Piece of Work Done by a Student Following a Serious Phone Call from Serious Tutor". Catchy title no?
I'd go into explaining my design but there's little to say. If you've read the book then the photo relates to a plot point. The font was chosen because I like it. I left the spine white because I like that on books. It's as simple as that.
Anyways I'll do a proper post at some point.
But for now, laters.
P x
We were giving a mini brief to tie in the Penguin Design Awards. The brief was to plan, shoot and design a book cover in the hope of submitting for the competition. We were given this brief at a ridiculously late stage in order to submit for the competition and we were actually in Seville at the time of the deadline. Unsurprisingly I didn't submit for the competition and despite having planned the work never got round to shooting and designing. Until last week, when it's the final deadlines for our work and I have to hastily put together this friggin' book cover and I can't find the template anywhere. Needless to say I just didn't submit. Hence the serious phone call this morning, "you have to submit it or you won't get into 2nd year". Cool story bro.
So I've hastily put together this.
Definitely unworthy of any award except maybe "Shoddiest Piece of Work Done by a Student Following a Serious Phone Call from Serious Tutor". Catchy title no?
I'd go into explaining my design but there's little to say. If you've read the book then the photo relates to a plot point. The font was chosen because I like it. I left the spine white because I like that on books. It's as simple as that.
Anyways I'll do a proper post at some point.
But for now, laters.
P x
6 June 2011
Uh oh...
Sometimes you go to college and your best friend shows up wearing the exact same outfit as you down to the long, silver necklace and lip piercing. We're too cool.
2 June 2011
A sense of accomplishment.
Hey again,
Another post so soon could lead anyone to believe that I'll be one of those daily posting bloggers but I'll tell you now that won't be the case. I just happen to have the time right now.
I've just stopped working on my sketchbook for the day and boy do I feel good about it. I won't lie and claim to have had control over this brief all along. I didn't do any work for 6 weeks. Barely even thought about it. But then in this last month I've turned it all around. I started my sketchbook and have now almost filled it. It's as up to date as it can be right now. The only things I have left to do is shoot some photos of my dog at his home and write up my final idea. I had many different ideas for this brief but in the end decided to focus it on sci-fi conventions.
Why sci-fi conventions? Truth is, I used to volunteer at them from being 17 to 21. It started with my love of Lord of the Rings and went from there really. But I gave up the conventions when some of the other volunteers began taking their job too seriously. After all I was there to have fun with my friends. Not be bossed around by people who'd been working the conventions for less time than me.
So as I went from idea to idea for this brief I considered the thought of returning to the conventions and doing my documentary project on the fanatics who attend them. It was such a last minute decision but despite the expensive train everything else seemed to work in my favour towards this idea. I wanted to hire a lens for the shoot so asked on Facebook if anyone knew of any local companies. I was recommended Calumet and when I gave them a call was told that pretty much every lens had already been rented out. The guy I spoke to kindly checked to see if any were due back and it just so happened that the perfect lens for me was due back the day before I set off for the convention. And as the rental period was over the weekend I would only have to pay for one day's rent. Just perfect. Then I needed somewhere to stay and my best friend came to my rescue. Although in the end we stayed with another one of our best friends. With my new lens I felt more confident about shooting and had a really good time at the show getting over 600 shots.
When I got home on Sunday I went through a quick selection process and whittled my choice down to 40 shots. Monday morning was spent putting together the necessary book and purchasing it. Got a call from my dad to say it'd arrived today.
So today I spent some quality time catching up on my sketchbook work and filling it with as much writing as possible. Now all it needs is the mini brief on my dog including prints and the write up from the convention.
Considering I've got all this done in a month I feel amazing. I've stayed off college to complete this work and no doubt my tutor will be pissed when I show up with something she hasn't had any involvement in. But what I've realised about my studies and my photography is that I have no desire to take photographs to please anyone else. I'm happiest when my photos are for me. And this project has been for me. I'll have this book and it'll be a reminder of the time I spent working at these sci-fi conventions. Even if I get the most basic of pass marks I won't care. I'm happy with my photos and happy with the work I've done in my sketchbook. I believe in this project and I'll defend it if my tutor criticises it.
I just feel so good right now and after a period of suffering from severe depression it's especially good to feel like I do right now. I feel more myself again. So for the rest of the night I'm just going to relax.
Back to work tomorrow, I'll be spending the day annoying my dog by following him round to take photos of his home from his perspective. Sounds arty right?
Laters, P x
Another post so soon could lead anyone to believe that I'll be one of those daily posting bloggers but I'll tell you now that won't be the case. I just happen to have the time right now.
I've just stopped working on my sketchbook for the day and boy do I feel good about it. I won't lie and claim to have had control over this brief all along. I didn't do any work for 6 weeks. Barely even thought about it. But then in this last month I've turned it all around. I started my sketchbook and have now almost filled it. It's as up to date as it can be right now. The only things I have left to do is shoot some photos of my dog at his home and write up my final idea. I had many different ideas for this brief but in the end decided to focus it on sci-fi conventions.
Why sci-fi conventions? Truth is, I used to volunteer at them from being 17 to 21. It started with my love of Lord of the Rings and went from there really. But I gave up the conventions when some of the other volunteers began taking their job too seriously. After all I was there to have fun with my friends. Not be bossed around by people who'd been working the conventions for less time than me.
So as I went from idea to idea for this brief I considered the thought of returning to the conventions and doing my documentary project on the fanatics who attend them. It was such a last minute decision but despite the expensive train everything else seemed to work in my favour towards this idea. I wanted to hire a lens for the shoot so asked on Facebook if anyone knew of any local companies. I was recommended Calumet and when I gave them a call was told that pretty much every lens had already been rented out. The guy I spoke to kindly checked to see if any were due back and it just so happened that the perfect lens for me was due back the day before I set off for the convention. And as the rental period was over the weekend I would only have to pay for one day's rent. Just perfect. Then I needed somewhere to stay and my best friend came to my rescue. Although in the end we stayed with another one of our best friends. With my new lens I felt more confident about shooting and had a really good time at the show getting over 600 shots.
When I got home on Sunday I went through a quick selection process and whittled my choice down to 40 shots. Monday morning was spent putting together the necessary book and purchasing it. Got a call from my dad to say it'd arrived today.
So today I spent some quality time catching up on my sketchbook work and filling it with as much writing as possible. Now all it needs is the mini brief on my dog including prints and the write up from the convention.
Considering I've got all this done in a month I feel amazing. I've stayed off college to complete this work and no doubt my tutor will be pissed when I show up with something she hasn't had any involvement in. But what I've realised about my studies and my photography is that I have no desire to take photographs to please anyone else. I'm happiest when my photos are for me. And this project has been for me. I'll have this book and it'll be a reminder of the time I spent working at these sci-fi conventions. Even if I get the most basic of pass marks I won't care. I'm happy with my photos and happy with the work I've done in my sketchbook. I believe in this project and I'll defend it if my tutor criticises it.
I just feel so good right now and after a period of suffering from severe depression it's especially good to feel like I do right now. I feel more myself again. So for the rest of the night I'm just going to relax.
Back to work tomorrow, I'll be spending the day annoying my dog by following him round to take photos of his home from his perspective. Sounds arty right?
Laters, P x
Let's start at the beginning...
Well hello!
I suppose this is the first post of my blog. I'm not really sure how one goes about starting a blog so I figure I'll just type some stuff and it'll be seen by very few people, in fact probably none, so I don't have to worry about being witty or coming across as interesting.
I'll just go through a quick introduction I guess, a wee bit of info about me.
Well I'm Panda. I'll be 25 in October. I'm currently studying photography and digital imaging in Manchester for which I'm just about coming to the end of my first year. I'm a fan of quite a lot of things so this blog won't be solely focused on my studies. There will obviously be photography related stuff but I'll branch out to discuss other things as well.
And I suppose that's really all I have to say for now. I'm hoping to update this on a somewhat regular basis now I'll have a lot more free time over summer. It'd be nice to get some readers along the way.
But for now this'll do as a first post.
Cheers, P x
P.S. I guess it's only right to add a photo to the blog of a photography student. So I'll include one here.
Just so you know, I mostly look like this. I'm the one on the left. My friend Suzi is on the right.
I suppose this is the first post of my blog. I'm not really sure how one goes about starting a blog so I figure I'll just type some stuff and it'll be seen by very few people, in fact probably none, so I don't have to worry about being witty or coming across as interesting.
I'll just go through a quick introduction I guess, a wee bit of info about me.
Well I'm Panda. I'll be 25 in October. I'm currently studying photography and digital imaging in Manchester for which I'm just about coming to the end of my first year. I'm a fan of quite a lot of things so this blog won't be solely focused on my studies. There will obviously be photography related stuff but I'll branch out to discuss other things as well.
And I suppose that's really all I have to say for now. I'm hoping to update this on a somewhat regular basis now I'll have a lot more free time over summer. It'd be nice to get some readers along the way.
But for now this'll do as a first post.
Cheers, P x
P.S. I guess it's only right to add a photo to the blog of a photography student. So I'll include one here.
Just so you know, I mostly look like this. I'm the one on the left. My friend Suzi is on the right.
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