Union Pacific North

Here's another shot from the roll I took on my Diana F+ earlier this month. I took this as I was crossing the tracks at the Metra station in Lake Forest on my morning commute. 

I'm rather busy right now on top of being sick.  My throat is raw from coughing, and my head hurts from the sheer pressure exerted during my coughing bouts.  Hopefully all this will go away by the weekend because I have a tea party to throw for Cadence.  I've been going through her photos to make a Birthday Book for her to take to school.  That is a another project in and of itself...

In other news, I updated the look of my "other" more formal website.  Go take a look!  I've also opened up a Zenfolio account to let people order prints directly.  There are a few choices in there right now, and I'll be adding some more when I get the time.  You can always email me directly to request that a specific photo be added to that gallery.

And yes!  I'm still sending out prints for those of you who scored free ones for my blogiversary!  Think of it as Christmas in October!

Shooting With My Diana

Well, here's my latest attempt at shooting w/ my Diana.  I think a vintage Schwinn is the perfect subject for a Diana shot.  I'm still figuring out a process for this.  I found a lab close by that processes 120 negative film and scans onto CD-rom.  I'm not thrilled with the scanning, but it'll do, and it's cheap, $5 for both developing and scanning per roll.  I may have to get my own scanner, but I don't know where to start...

Next, I'll have to try the 35mm back on the Diana.

Shutter Sisters Cross Post: Into the Unknown

When I first saw this photo of Jen Lee and her Diana camera, it was love at first sight. A couple months later, I got my own for my birthday. I quickly shot two rolls on 120 film, but had a hard time finding a place that would develop and scan slide film who was also open during hours when I wasn't tied to my desk at work. The two rolls sat in a drawer, and the camera became just another pretty decoration.

Lucky for me, I met THE Jen Lee in the Shutter Suite last weekend at BlogHer, and when I told her how I had a Diana too and that I've been neglecting my already exposed film, she told me that I just HAD to get it developed. And for some reason, hearing that from Jen gave me the impetus I needed to do just that. Or maybe it was being transported in time perusing her Flickr stream and her beautiful new book. Whatever it was, I'm excited about the possibilities now that I've actually seen what you can get from a little toy camera.

I still don't know quite what I'm doing, but that's half the thrill, knowing that I'm stepping into the unknown, that when I click the shutter, there is no instant gratification lighting up on a LCD screen. No, I have to wait and hope for and imagine what images will appear after the whole roll has been shot and developed. Seeing those photos for the first time, though, is like opening up an old scrapbook and being transported back to when the memories were created.

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A version of this post appears today on Shutter Sisters.

I've Jumped Without Looking...

...into the world of toy cameras.  This is my new Diana F+.  And that's 120 film.  As in medium format.

I've been wanting one of these for months, and I finally taken the plunge. It's an early birthday present to myself. I have to admit that I'm overwhelmed...120 film? What? And when they say it's a toy camera, they mean TOY.  I've already had a part snap off.  I haven't yet figured out yet if it was a part that's SUPPOSED to snap on and off.

I've been "toying" wth the idea of doing a one-roll-a-month kind of a project to keep film and processing costs at bay. I may end up eventually getting the 35mm back because 35mm is so much easier (and cheaper) to get developed and scanned than 120 film.

This may be the one time that I actually read my manual because I seriously have no idea what I'm doing.