Analog Life, part 2

I have very cool parents and one of the major downsides of living in America is that I am very very far away from them most of the time.  Once in a while, however, I go back, or one of them flies across the Pond and stays with us for a month or so.  I just learned that my Dad is up for visiting this summer, and I can't wait - I will be 8 months pregnant going on 9, but we will still find a way and time to have the greatest family adventures possible.  Dad is a physicist and I plan on taking him to an observatory among other things.  Imagine all the photos I'll have the chance to take!

To a big extend, Dad is also responsible for my affinity for photography.  He was the one always taking pictures, and thanks to him my childhood is so well preserved.  He gave me his Zenit E when I moved to the States, and the point&shoot film Olympus.  

Here are a few images from when my Mom and Dad were students.  Mom was the Golden Girl of her generation, the captain of her handball team.  Dad was a bit of a nerd whose heart belonged to rock'n'roll.  Man, they were cool!

Taken by unknown back in the 70's, most likely with a Russian camera and a 35mm black and white film.  

More super awesome vintage analog images of me and my family.

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

Good news!  I'm finally getting a new DSLR camera.  It's a Nikon, of course, it's the best DX camera in the market, and I can't wait!  I might even order a Polaroid SUN in the meantime, as I have never yet worked with instant film and it's supposed to be a lot of fun.  Stay tuned and HAPPY SPRING!!!

Lazy Family Portraits

I've been so lazy lately.  I have a million things to do, and that makes procrastination even sweeter.  You can see this tendency in my photography, too...but somehow this doesn't seem to be a bad thing.  I love this art because you don't necessarily have to go far or look for a unique subjects in order to take good photos.

Here is our small but ever growing family enjoying the Spring weather and the three-day weekend after a couple of very tough (and sick) weeks.

The Six-Year Engagement

John proposed to me on a Valentine's Day six years ago, and god, he was so nervous!  I was nervous too as I suspected that he was up to something, but he was literally shaking.  It was very awkward and sweet and awesome and exciting, and above all - it felt right.  We started off at St. James Park where we met after my classes and we just walked around in the mist and fed squirrels and swans and posed with the horses of the Royal Guard.  

Then we went on top of the world i.e. The London Eye, overlooking a very grey and overcast and grumpy city, and there were another 20 tourists in the pod with us.  John told me to put the camera away and to be serious, went down on one knee, and asked me to marry him.  I asked him if he was serious...about 7 times, and then said yes.  I think we kissed and proceeded to laugh hysterically until we finally landed.  It was pretty much like being on drugs, only a thousand times nicer.

John proposed with a huge plastic ring he bought at Top Shop and I still keep that ring.  That same afternoon we walked down to Hatton Garden and ge got me the pretty little diamond band I wear today.  Man, I was so proud!  It was such a great big deal, the whole thing!

And still is.

John, you are the love of my life, baby.  And I will keep saying yes, forever.

Happy Valentine's Day to you all and remember - LOVE IS ALL WE NEED!

P.S. I am glad that we had this little Kodak camera with us that day.  More favorite images with it here.

Unexpected Development

Again, more images of my cat than of my son, but with manual focusing I have to use all the tricks I can, and this includes photographing static objects...as opposed to running after Johnny and getting a bunch of blurred, badly composed shots.  This is what I love about film - it's slow.

I am kind of in love with the Portra.  It performs so well in low-light setting and it has very little noise.

I got a new roll, this time an 800, and a Fujifilm too, so stay tuned!

Zenit E, Kodak Portra 400

It's Hip To Be Square

There - my second roll of medium format film, and my first successful one.  Sort of... I nailed the focus but I am not entirely happy with the exposure.  Also, there's an odd red tint to most of these, and I am sure it's not the film but my poor judgement of the settings.  I will figure it out one day, surely.  And I will find some spectacular bokeh to shoot by then, too!

Mamiya C220, Kodak Portra 400

P.S. Yes, I am aware that there are more photos of Shelby than of Johnny.  Get over it.

Priceless

Since I don't ever do anything fun lately due to having absolutely no free time and being pregnant, I resolved to try and see if I can get around that by taking a photowalk with my analog cameras around Palo Alto.  It all went very nicely...at first.  I enjoyed the sunshine, ate a piece of forbidden chocolate cake, visited an actual art gallery, and took some pictures.  Then I stopped at Keeble & Shuchat to drop off the film rolls and to pick up a couple of fresh ones.  Which cost me $70.  GOD ALMIGHTY, and I am not even religious!  Those photos BETTER BE GOOD.  

We will see tomorrow.  I will post the successful shots here by the end of the day, and I hope they are worth it.  It's just so depressing that art costs.  Or better yet, that's fine - the depressing part is that I can't always afford it.  

Anyway, my insufficient funds have never managed to stopped me, and I am excited to shoot the Fujifilm roll I got today (400) and the Kodak Portra (800).  Because if I can't get excited despite of the price, I better give up right now, buy one of those the Real Housewives of Palo Alto T-shirts, and never leave the house again.

35 mm of Happiness

I'm experimenting this weekend because I'm sick of waiting to win the lottery (for which I would need to play the lottery), or to find the free time to get me a lucrative enough photo gig that would cover my needs for new digital equipment. Two rolls of Kodak Ektachrome have been sitting in my camera drawer forever so I decided to give them a shot. Both are very expired - we're talking 1981 expired - which is incidentally the year I was born. I don't even care that this particular film is designed specially for controlled indoor/studio lighting. It's 64 ISO but I'm pushing it to 100. 

I have a ready roll of 120 mm film from my Mamiya, and another 35 mm (Portra 400) to finish shooting with the Zenit, so I thought it would also be nice to try out a 50 mm Nikkor lens of - get this - f/1.2 with my Nikon FM2 before I go down to Palo Alto to develop them all. EXCITING STUFF!!!

Of course, this might not work at all, which would suck. But I'm bored, and I want to challenge myself. So let's go.

And the Green Grass Grows All Around

It's been ages, I know.  I was kind of busy making another baby, and I haven't had the time to shoot much professional or personal work.  Plus, I am so at the point of having outgrown my equipment, and I am itching to get a new camera badly.  I guess I could shoot film until that happens...

For now, however, I must be contented with just using my iPhone.  I am also writing again after the hiatus I went on just before the winter holidays last year.  There's a new blog, too!

Here are a few images from the past two months, and again, thanks for visiting.  Enjoy!

P.S. What's with the Spring weather?! We didn't even have a proper Winter here in California, and now poof, Spring.  I wish it would rain....

Happy New Year!

"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be."

~ J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

I am so glad I am out with the old and in with the new!  There are so many fresh starts awaiting, and I am excited and hopeful and ready to go and be and do.  It's going to be great.  Stick around and share these pieces of life with me, and I promise that you'll have so much fun!

I think the theme in 2014 is still going to be "family & kids" but this time there will be more of it, and better - more kids, more time with family, better camera and more photos of the kids and the time spent with family; more trips and adventures and gigs and challenges, more living, better living, full of more love and then some.  

Johnny, John, my Mom and I went for a walk down at Twin Pines Park on the first day of the new year.  As I watched Johnny play I couldn't help but feel like Holden Caulfield a little bit... :)

P.S. I can't get over Johnny's hilarious new haircut (for which I and only I am guilty responsible), and the way his hat squished his ears and turned him into a real Hobbit.