Archives From The Desk of CJD
Chinese dance troupe inside the Houston Galleria
Asia Town/International District/Houston/Texas
Red envelopes filled with small money bills are gifts to signify wealth & prosperity for the new year
Traditional Chinese dancers
street festival sights, sounds and smells
While writing this I was listening to:
If you know me at all, you know that I have always been a fan of public art, especially mural or wall art. From early on we’ve been painting in caves, on the ceilings of chapels and now on city streets. Big cities like Houston have art initiatives and institutions that support local artists to come out and create these murals to beautify city streets and create outdoor museums for everyone.
I won’t name the institution here but I do appreciate their work for the community and also discovery of these works with an interactive app that provides a map of installations and allows you to scan the art and it will provide backstory and artistic bios. Love to see it. I wish I could do more with my images of murals. Inspiring.
You can see these images and more on the photography website.
.I need a photo project and have always wanted to do a one photo of the day every day for a year. Well, with the new year coming up soon, it’ll be a great chance to launch this project.
The camera I will be using is the aforementioned Hipstamatic model 10 with a variety of lenses, film and flash gels to keep it interesting.
I hope to do this project mindfully but on the off day when that isn’t possible there is always “snappy hour”, a prompt from the camera to shoot one hour before sunset to capture the best light of the day. Every day an image is snapped, the camera will stamp the photographic passport to keep me going.
I’ll post some worthy images on the photography website and all of them will be on the Flickr gallery page.
One of the very first apps I installed as a new iPhone user back in 2014 was the Hipstamatic camera touting that “digital has never looked so analog” and I have been a fan ever since. Recently Hipstamatic has updated their camera to include several new features to enhance the experience such as:
I rarely use multiple exposure but plan on changing this in the upcoming new year. The new delay development mode will allow me to focus on shooting and enjoy the results later.
With an exhaustive supply of lenses, film stock and flash gels the developing of images is limitless in its creativity.
Throw in fun challenges like “Snappy Hour” to shoot one hour before sunset in the golden light and adding stamps to the daily passport and the experience just gets better and better.
Want to see some of the results? Check out my Hipstamatic section on the photography website.
I am on the fence about renewing the Flickr backup and photo community. I could go monthly at a higher rate or take advantage of their two year plan for a cheaper monthly option. Am I using it effectively? Not for the past 6 months but I do hope to make use of it again. Hmm…
Silverfox.photography is now live. Yes, it is time for another rebrand. I think I am done with “Photo Mojo” and “Mojochrome.” It makes sense to make both this website and the photo website compatible with each other.
Remember the small photo labs with drive-thru huts that promised 1 hour photo developing? Fox Photo was one of the largest and always printed their red fox logo on each print. I’ve always loved that little red fox logo and decided to make it my own since they are no longer in business.
I received that magic email that my prints and scans are available this morning. Because this was a new camera, there were a few images that were too dark (low light never helps either.) Over all though, I am pleased with how very analog the film scans and prints look. The grain, the dust spots and even the occasional light leak are what makes them real as opposed to digital corrections. Check out more in the “FILM” section of the website.
In previous post I’ve shown a Field Notes notebook in the photo which was the inspiration for this webpage. The analog notebook is used to document and organize my film notes such as dates, film used, ISO, and the event the film roll is used for.
Example:
“7/15-7/25 Kodak Ektar H35 camera. Ilford HP5+ B&W 35mm film. 36 exposures at 1/2 frame yielding 72 exposures. Black & White night shots and urban photography.”
Other practical applications for the field notes book will include lands well-scaped, a portable Dorian Gray, drawings drawn, erased and redrawn, camera obscura, sunsets witnessed, Polaroids shaken, urban canvassing strategies, concentric thoughts, personalized personalizations, portraits of personable persons, found objects, lost objects, broken things, beautiful things, ephemeral ephemera, scenic scenery, collected collections, eclectic electric expressions, memorable memories, and a whole lot of shitty captures meant to pass off as art.
I’ve just shot my last frame on the Kodak H35 camera using Ilford HP5+ BW film this morning. Now I am looking for a local developing lab. I want to have the roll developed, receive the negatives and a contact sheet and also to have them digitally scanned for the archives. Not an easy request in a smaller city and the demise of print labs everywhere. Up next, is the Lomochrome Metropolis 35mm film using the Pentax K1000 camera. Stay tuned…
I don’t like overpaying for film rolls. Film photography is not a niche market anymore. It is resurgent. Time for the prices to come down.
I don’t like the fact that I lose one roll due to loading issues inside the camera when the spool rejects the film.
I don’t like wasting frames due to over/under exposure, composition, blur or, or, or…
I don’t like waiting for images to come back from the lab.
I don’t like working out how to store all the prints and negatives.
I don’t like the fact that I do not have a darkroom to develop and make prints at home.
I don’t like film photography snobs and how they look down on digital photography.
I don’t like checking various websites for a good deal on film rolls and being disappointed.
I don’t like explaining to people that film photography is a thing and not a fad.
I don’t like film photography. I LOVE it.