The Project - Part 1

Hello!

I am writing this blog posting with two friends on my mind - one virtual friend -  Tracie from Tennessee and one friend I met in real live - Tiffany from Kentucky. I met them through their podcast, The Scrap Gals Podcast.

Tiffany and Tracie share my love for memory keeping and the big photo organisation is something they know all too well. Their show is fun to listen to and it was their show that made me hungry to finally tackle a task that has been sitting in a box for ages, 16 years to be precise. 

A box filled with photos, bags covering albums plus adhesives and a collection of scraps (leaflets, tickets and folders): Our trip to Cuba in 2001

This weekend the time has come to put Cuba 2001 into action: into the album.

400, maybe 500 photos have been sitting in a box for over a decade and this weekend I am finally going to tackle this task.

The weather forecast for this weekend is promising: rain and 19°C. Perfect weather conditions. 

A few months ago I've bought these two albums. Both are old school albums with "spacing sheets"

Which album to choose?

 100 pages seem to be the right choice. The smaller album has 80 pages.

Adhesives. Plenty. Yes, I made sure that nothing is going to stop me.

The weather outside still behaving very cooperative.

Not just photos: plenty of scraps are going to make it into the album.

These old guide books are extremly helpful since I can't remember the names of all the places we saw back in 2001. Where was this photo taken? What was the name of the tower? Many villages en route ... I am glad to have the guide books available. And as soon as I have finished the album, I am going to donate the guide books. They are old, but not outdated. 

The major task: Colour prints, sitting in the box. 

Various sizes. What was I thinking? 

Hours later the most important step is completed: the prints are in the right order. Back in 2001 we were shooting film with 2 cameras, which means different rolls of film at the same place. This confusion does not make the whole task any easier. 

Ha ha! Speaking of confusion and tricky tasks: Lets add some b/w prints in various sizes, too!
grrrr.

The task becomes tricky at this point, because I have to make sure I don't miss any place on any roll of film, because I want to fill the album chronologically, starting with our first day in Havanna and ending with the departure on our last day. 

I have to admit I am not too happy with the quality of the b/w prints. They were printed with a colour-machine. Hmm. I could create new prints on decent paper, by myself in the dark room. Not now. And not tomorrow. No roadblocks, please! Right now I've decided to use the prints I have, replacing any poor quality prints in the near future remains an option. 

Before I am going to stick any photo into the album, I will deliberately take my time, going through all the photos, all the album pages, creating layouts for every single page. By doing so, I make sure that I don't run out of pages by the end of the album. LOL

2nd Page "Maria la Gorda": check!

The amount of photos exceeds the number of pages and one album has to suffice. That's why I am eliminating photos during the process of layouting.

One hour later: The table looks like this. 

I spent a decent amount of the afternoon playing with photos and layouts: Which photos go nicely together? Which won't make it into the album? Where might I need more space to place some scraps and notes? ... 

Time for a short break, admiring raindrops. 

Do you have similar projects sitting in a box, waiting for you to finally tackle them?

Have a nice weekend!
Paula

Part 2 coming soon! (including hand writing, cutting photos and some scrapping)

Mid Week Medium Format

Hello!

a mid week "photo of the day".

It proves: nothing supports a double chin like a medium format camera.

Ms Paula in the wetlands / spring 2016 / © lukkalk

b/w Photography: Gear

Hello!

regular readers might be familiar with my vegetable cooler. It used to house mealworms in spring-time. New season, new purpose!

ready to go with a decent film stock at hand

About one and a half years ago, I sat at the legendary Café Jelinek in Vienna, chatting with a friend, after-work, talking about this and that, Rome and fashion and suddenly I came up with the idea of buying a pre-loved Nikon F4. The legend! Out of reach – moneywise – in my teenage years. See, I still know the name, having admired the famous camera only from the distance. Instead I teamed up with a Yashica FX-7, which turned out to be a reliable tool, it's still in use

The friend – a professional photographyer – disagreed: "Why buy a 35mm camera? F4? You should try medium format, that might be something for you"

It did not take long and I came home with this camera in my hands:

Yashica Mat 124-G

Binocular system

3 reasons why I favoured this camera over others:

1. no mirror

I look through an additional lens - the binocular system.  No mirror means, there is no flipping, no shaking, when the mirror moves. The binocular Yashica Mat allows slow speed, handheld - 1/30, 1/15 - no problem

2. light weight

The complete camera weighs less than a Hasselblad body. Trying various cameras, I noticed several reasons, why the Hasselblad is not for me. Mainly because my hands are too small. A friend, she is a photographer, gave me one advice: hold it and see how it feels. If it does not feel right in your hands, it's not right for you, no matter how phantastic the specs are.

  

3. built-in light meter

The light meter is nice. In the long run I teamed up with a hand held light meter. The camera needs a exotic battery, mercury free, which has a shorter life span, compared to the original mercury batteries in the 1970's. Ever 3-4 months approx. 9 EUR. 

Ordinary sky, seen on a digital camera display

The ordinary sky suddenly becomes special

6 months later a friend de-cluttered his closets, mainly camera gear. He knew about of my renewed passion for analogue photography ... 

Canon AE-1: Love!

I had no idea what a difference the gear makes until I started shooting with the Canon AE-1

Canon AE-1 and Viviar 70mm-150mm lens

The 70-150mm and I did not team up very well at the beginning. The 150mm zoom did not suffice for my needs when I wanted to capture details on facades etc. It did not make any sense, until ... well, until I heard read about 80mm & portrait!!

Our youngest family member is a Labradoodle: Luna

Both cameras – the Yashica Mat and the Canon AE-1 fit in this backbag:

KATA backbag

KATA was a legend. Was – because unfortuantely, KATA is no longer. Manfrotto bought KATA a few years ago. From what I've heard, the original  KATA knowhow* and KATA design became part of the Manfrotto pro-line.

Ok. Now you have read a lot about my cameras. And what about black and white? 

To be continued!

The follow-up posting will lead us straight to the dark room

* two Isreali guys, both experienced with weapons founded KATA. Their bags provided maximum protection for (all kinds of) gear. 

News from a Darkroom aka I Believe in Film

Hello!

(very) long time no see.

There has been quite something going on since June.

First, I went to far away place, where safety nets, norms and codes are less established than in the EC. The place is Russia, Siberia to be precise. Don't get me wrong: I need this confrontation once in a while, makes us alert in a good way!

en route in Krasnojarsk, Siberia
[The next moment a mother with a baby on her arm came our way. You could tell by the different speeds where I come from and what she is used to experience.]

The day I returned I found myself entering a new kind of adventure, an adventure that speaks to my heart and soul: the darkroom. Not the other one. The real thing, the one that comes with chemicals and stacks of paper. At night, after work.

This was August. Now, on the last day of September I can look back and ... gasp. I think got really far within the past two months.

There is a lot happening in my life. Not that I am saying blogging mirrors the episodes of my life where nothing happens. It's just that all that is happening is sort of analogue: the ride on the Transsiberian train was offline. The black and white prints looks best when held in two hands.

I am glad that I do spend a lot of time off the computer at night. Developing and printing in the darkroom comes with the #1 rule: "No eating, no drinking in the darkroom", which is actuelly also quite nice, sizewise.

I will probably not invest in a super-pretty-scanner. So all that I can present here for the moment are rather poor scans  – from incredible beautiful photos.


I am almost sure I am going to dig deeper into the whole darkroom magic, show you around, let you take part at the experience. Meanwhile I hope you enjoy the light this autumn provides as much as I do. In the end it's all about light. Speaking if light and highlights: did you notice the bizarre comeback of glitter and tinsel in fashion? All the sneakers sparkling in pink, green, gold. I might actually go for one pair of those. Could be a nice counter balance for all the black & white aesthetics that dominate my senses these days.

Let me finish with the poor scans I referred to above:

Little Mia (3 months) and her proud mother

The weeping willow served as perfect setting for the shooting. The baby never got tired of looking at the tree. What I like about this photo: how they all look in different directions and still form an entity.

Yes, I did ask the family if it is OK to post the photos. Of course!) There is so much I love about the photos, the setting ...

 The afternoon light in Vienna never ceases to impress me.

 This room welcomes me when I leave the darkroom. Lucky me!

 Earlier this week, at night: HP5+ pushed to 3200

Yesterday I developed another film (last 2 photos above) entirely by myself. I printed the photos by myself and – exceptional for my standards - I did not follow the rules when taking the photos (expose 400ASA the way it's meant to be exposed) but pushed the film up to 3200ASA which allows me to take hand held photos, without a flash, at night. Ok, ok, I am drifting off into details.

What I am trying to say: I am enjoying this new, old* chapter in my life.


In case you visit Vienna until January, I can highly recommend the exhibition "Black & White" at the Albertina. The real stuff, made of gelatine and silver.

thank you for reading!
Paula
 
* been there in 1988 :-) 

Pigeon Photobombing and Tinsel

You can imagine my surprise in the darkroom, when one of the students in the darkroom class I just recently met in class asked "Is this in the 7th district, right? I know the girl who owns the scooter. She always parks it outside the kindergarten."

What a small world Vienna is.

Yesterday I came past the scooter. The gorgeous tinsel is gone by now.

Oh, not to forget the pigeon. #photobombing
;-)

6x6

Hello!

the last posting included some square hints.

I would never go so far to say that these photos are master pieces of a recently unknown genius ;-)  But I do say, that I like what I see and that I think it's absolutely worth continuing in this direction:

medium format, preferably b/w, medium grain film (400ASA)

Speaking of worth: one photo costs 3 EUR. (includes film, developing, contact printing 6x6cm and scan)

Since film is still around, and the costs are no deal-breaker, I decided to give it a try and borrowed a medium format Rolleiflex from a generous friend for a weekend.

It is a privilege to be able to try a camera hands-on and I can only recommend it. Now I know: the camera I want to buy must not weight more than 3 pounds. :-)

Undecided focus - things you end up, being an unexperieced medium format photographer.

Over the past years, I have been trying to create the look of a 400ASA b/w with the SIGMA picture software, which comes with the DP2. The programme is said to produce excellent monochrome pictures, imitating the grain of analogue film. Truth is: the programme does add specks and spots, only those disturbances look nothing like the grain of a film. In the end you end up with a poor imitation of film.

And I am not even talking about the image quality, the size of the negative etc.

 Many manufacturers shut down their companies over the past years. The camera I am am going to buy is most likely to be a used, maybe even vintage camera. Lucky me, I have many shops at my hands in Vienna, specialised in vintage cameras.

Except for the one photo with the two chimneys all photos have been taken with the camera in my hands, me looking down onto a focusing screen. The focusing screen shows a mirrored image of the picture you want to take. Slowly moving the camera into the right position does something to your brains, left side/right side thinking ...   

Obviously not the best motive to focus on with a manual focus: the fidgety squirrel

Now that I have returned the camera, I find myself thinking about many possible motives, stories and projects I would like to cover with the 6x6cm format/80mm lens (80mm medium format approx. equates 50mm for small pictures)

Not long ago I did feel absolutely comfortable with my wide angle lens and the small film format. Wide angle always adds a certain drama to any motive. And of course you cover more of the surroundings using a wide angle. 

My angle has changed. 

All above photos have been taken with a 80mm lens (equals 50mm small film).

Locations in the 13th district in Vienna, including the Lainzer Tiergarten, maybe you remember this.

Hoefully the tiny b/w label in the right is going to grow in 2015.

Have a nice weekend!

Paula

White and Black

Snow finally made its way to Vienna. The white snow cover is an invitation for b/w-photography.* Lets warm up with two snapshots.

Yesterday I came by this terrace and had to smile. This is the terrace I avoid in those insufferable hot summer nights during July and August, because the old horsechestnut-treetops almost build a roof above the terrace, which leads to close to no air circulation at all. Stuffy, hot, damp. Not for me.


Looking at this place in late January, you need a lot of phantasy to imagine this place being too hot for a relaxing drink after work. So in case you DON'T want to meet me in one of those awfully hot summer nights, go to the Café-Restaurant Rüdigerhof in the 5th district. And while you are there, maybe you want to pity these fellows:

Is it just me, or can you see it, too: How appealing short guys are, compared to tall buddies?

Happy black and white greetings,
Paula

*This recent movement towards total desaturation, aka b/w has NOTHING to do with the overwhelming visit at all-so-saturated Stadtpalais Liechtenstein. It comes from the books I have been studying lately, interesting books on B/W-photography.

Heritage: Protestant

In Austria Protestants form a minority. The influence of the Catholic church shows in many ways. In architecture for example.

Today I entered a building from 1920 and noticed the calm atmosphere. It is different to many other buildings from that epoche in Vienna.  

I googled the architect. Mr Sommerlatte. A quite peculiar name. His parents were Protestants.

My grandfather was Protestant. I have to go back to his youth to find a family member who shared my passion for hiking and ski mountaineering. I grew up in a couch potatoe environment. He went up the Austrian hills  - and later on together with my grandmother - in the early 1930's! So I obviously inherited some of his genes.

Gregor Mendel once said found out, how characteristics skip one generation and pop up in the next generation. Grandparents pass on a lot to the grandchildren. A a grain of that Protestant character made it to my genes. How else could I explain my deep sympathy for all that 'Protestant' stands for? The people, the cities, the provinces ... I can say I feel at home where the Protestants live. Silly, I know.

Friends thought that it is the North that meets my character. My passion for Hamburg and so on.
The more I think about it, the more obvious it seems to me, that it's not about geography, but more about values and believes. The new Protestant Museum in Fresach, Carinthia is worthwhile a visit.

In case you want to visit Mr Sommerlatte's building in Vienna –  you will find it here:

Tomorrow I will visit a more Catholic environment, the recently renovated and reopened Palais Liechtenstein. Ha! Gold, decor, call me in. You can guess my sign of the zodiac ;-)