new addition to the fam. (how do you like two entries per day, eh?)

my really nice friend blaire's really nice boyfriend gave this camera to me. he just came over and gave it to me.
i freaked out and said thank you a million times
and of course,
photographed it.

thank you KC----------
can't wait to develop the film!
which might not happen for months.
we'll see.

the Minolta Autocord TLR amazingness

these are some photos of my new medium format film camera that i talked about in an earlier post------------ my Minolta Autocord! My parents got it for my birthday... my dad searched craigslist high and low and found the most amazing one that exists, in my opinion.

my reasoning for that is because it came with this RAD BOX! great packaging make me happy!! especially when its vintage, and especially when it is a box for an even more amazing camera/////

and here's the real beauty:

you look through the top screen as your viewfinder--- rad huh?

here are a few more photos that i took with it----
black and white tmax400 film

woo hoo!
i hope you have a great day!
i'm going shopping.
to get a new cell phone because apparently mine's ghetto, and to return a pair of pants. and then, i'm going to do a photoshoot of my grandparents! and i feel great from my massage yesterday.... Tanya at Burke Williams in Mission Viejo.... thank you for changing my life.


:)
love
shan

SOMETHING NEW & EXCITING!

one of my new most prized possessions is my twin-lens reflex camera. the kind that has two lenses... the kind that you look down into... the kind that changes your life. my dad is officially the best ebay/craigslister EVER.... and found me the most amazing one for my birthday. dad! thank you!! it even came with the original red box. :) i almost cried when i saw it in person. it's a Minolta Autocord, it has officially changed my life, and i went on a few walks with it recently and took these with Kodak TMax400.

my favorite, which i'd love to have become
a big big print in my house one day.

i love working in film!
kind of.
>>>>> annoying to develop, i hate dealing with dust marks, i hate dealing with scratches, but i love the detail, i love the authenticity it adds, i love the film grain, and i love the way it makes me slow down just a bit.
love,
shannon, who is absolutely exhausted right now and is going to bed :)

some more Tropicana 4x5 photos-----

Here's my next exploration of Tropicana with the 4x5 camera, complete with my digital proofs. If I could encourage you with one bit of insight, it's to be open with your expectations.

All of these photos came out differently than I envisioned, but they all ended up with qualities that I absolutely love. I am learning to not get caught up in fear, but to just go for it. In this case... I had total fear of a new piece of equipment that I wasn't very familiar with, but since this was a project for my photography class, there was no option! I had to do it!

Here's the first example of a completely different outcome that I had intended. These got exposed to a bit of extra light, and therefore: yellow! ha--- i totally love it.

here's the digital. i think the yellow actually makes the photo better by highlighting the shadows. and to me, its unbelievable that they are done on FILM--- with no photoshop. Natural weirdness. love it.

i hate this one, it's boring to me,

here's our nice pool-centerpiece.

clearly quite underexposed
or--- i could call it NIGHT.

also underexposed, but love it love it

and ha--- here's the digital version. the light meter was broken i think... either that, or I'm deficient... but like I said up there--- the weird mess-ups are intriguing to me.---sunrise---

here's my setup for those two shots,

MY FAVORITE ONE OF THE DAY!
(well, battling the 2nd yellow one)

and--- the setup.
now. see that window on the top right? a guy was in a shower singing opera while i was taking the shot, so i tiptoed around and tried not to make noise so i didn't creep him out.

film

digital

setup

film!

digital!

love!

now--- what i DON'T want to communicate... is that a lack of technical skill is okay. I think that I should get better at exposure... and get better at not exposing my film to light.

but,

since I sincerely tried my best, I can have two attitudes to the yellow, underexposed outcome.

one, hate the photos, reshoot, feel bad about myself,

or two, embrace the photos, love them, learn how to improve next time, and have rockin naturally yellow photos that would never be seen unless i saw potential in them.


this is where my optimism comes into play very well,
because i choose option two.




can you comment and tell me an option two situation you've encountered this week?
please?

love to you,
shannon

4x5 explorations around La Mirada

I love putting away my digital camera and working with film.

My normal film outlet is my polaroid, as we all probably are aware of by now, but I also enjoy working with the 4x5 camera.  I did a project a few years ago that you can look at by clicking here if you'd like.  It was a project about the girls who lived on my dorm floor while I was an RA.

This time, I took a walk around La Mirada.  I set out to photograph the quirky trees and early 1960's homes... but found myself more intrigued by light and shadow than buildings and trees.  This is more of a sketch than a finished project... I'm shooting more photographs today, actually!  These ones were an exercise to get me familiar with the camera again, since I haven't used it in so long.

oh, and here's an image of what the camera looks like---

and here are my seven 4x5 shots:

i have no idea where that ghost-image in the top left corner came from! it creeps me out. HOW CAN FILM DO THAT!

I also have absolutely no recollection of being in front of the camera for this one.  my oh my.  ATTRACTIVE.

creepy cool

this is the direction i want to take the rest of the project:

TROP! i love tropicana.

enjoy today.

for real,

shannon

glimmering beside our window...

a few days ago i was mesmerized when i saw my vase of weeds.

--------------------------------------------

enjoy enjoy enjoy your day,
shannon leith!

sos
piri
sos
piri
sos
piri
sos
piri

i found out that disposable cameras can make pretty images

i'm doing a different photography challenge each
week for my independent study photography class.

photography challenge one,
disposable camera.

now, these are the only three images
that i like on the roll of 24.

but. here they are:
1/shadow 2/an LA rainbow out my car window 3/millions of birds on lines
i'm smitten by the fact that they all have practically the same triangle on the left side and they were taken on 3 different days.
i wonder why i tend to do that.

i'm about to leave in 20 minutes to get on a plane for San Francisco to shoot Katie and Ryan's wedding with Blythe!
Anddd I have a beautiful, wonderful, amazing new camera.
a canon 30d.
from the amazing riley kimball.
thank you riley, thank you canon, goodbye nikon.
alright.