Some older readers of my blog might remember when I purchased my first toy camera waaayyyy back in July 2010. I took the plunge into analogue photography with a lovely SuperHeadz Golden Half. It’s a Japanese camera that works with 35mm film & takes half frame photos so you can get double the images! (Therefore, on a 36 exposure film you can get 72 images).
The really fun part about it is that if you get it scanned like regular film, two photos are put together & unless you’re actively keeping count you can’t say which two pictures will turn up together.
I loaded the camera with film on the night I got it. Took a few photos, but then I had a slump of sorts where I didn’t take any for months. 🙁 I was worried about what would happen to the film in the camera. It was stored in a ziploc bag so it wouldn’t get fungus or anything. Anyway, in late April I decided that I was done procrastinating & I clicked photos with a vengeance.
I finished up the film & gave it for processing a few days ago. Got it back that same night! (mainly because I couldn’t wait till the next day).
I was very disappointed. Out of 36 double exposures, only 20 came through. On many, half was unusable. Many never got processed at all. A few were too light & two were too dark.
I asked the photo lab why the photos didn’t come out right. Were they over exposed? Under exposed?
Nobody at the lab spoke any English! (one of the perils of living in India!)
One guy thought he was very smart & told me, “Blur ho gaya” (They got blurred).
Of course I was really really pissed then because that idiot works in a lab & doesn’t no basic photo lingo. Blur? BLUR?? Does he even know what blur means?
I know the lab might not be the reason the photos were so messed up. There could be a ton of reasons (like leaving the film in for 9 months!) but the least they could do was explain to me in simple words why so few photos turned out okay.
I controlled my temper till I got home & decided to check how I could salvage the photos. I had to crop a few halves, a few auto adjusts in iPhoto & the (few) surviving photos were looking better.
Anyway I’ve talked too much. Now for the photos & what I learned from my first ever film.
(I don’t have exact dates, but all photos are in chronological order!)
Mom & me. These photos were taken on the day of the indiblogger mumbai meet (indimum)
left: Me! (I was totally living in that black tank top & silk purple pants combo at that time & I’m not ashamed to say it).
right: This exposure was terrible. But I didn’t crop it out because if you look closely you can actually see my parents in that picture.
Both photos were taken at the same spot at around the same time with the same settings. How the hell did one turn out so great & one so terrible? :/
Mom with my EOS 1000D 🙂 This photo & the previous one was taken at Holiday Inn.
My mom looks so cute in this one! ^_^
Mom & me again. I like the lens flare on mine.
Red jeans ftw!
Mom & me again!
One of my favorite photos!
The photo looks good, but the ziploc bag doesn’t! I was holding it in my left hand & was in a hurry to finish the film.
Ziploc in front of the red electricity box=fail!
But I love the photo mom took of me.
I am kind of obsessed with these red shoes, they have featured on my project 365 blog too!
This diptych shows the Home for the Aged that my mom has been regularly volunteering at for over 8 years. I have been volunteering that long too, albeit sporadically.
My favorite diptych from the roll!
The metro construction & the local church.
Those are some of the best photos from my first ever 35mm film roll. I have a page on the lomography website, you should come check me out I’m magali on lomography. You can check out this whole film here. Look out for my first ActionSampler roll soon!!
I’d love to hear what you think of my photos & film/analog photography in general.
love,
Magali
