a week with the LC-Anstax

Back at the end of October 2016, Dan K (@ZDP189) decided to sponsor a competition around the newish Instax Monochrome film, and I decided to throw my hat in, and pulled out the LC-A and Instant Back for a week of testing and playing around to prepare myself to shoot for the competition.

It was fun, and I maybe retract my earlier claims about the Instax and “doing it right” or whatever.

I’ll apologize straight away for the size of the pictures here. “Scanning” with the D7000 and 55mm Micro Nikkor was just too frustrating and I scanned the images with my Canon MG7720, and the resulting files are a paltry ~540×340. Also, I shot 5 packs of Instax, one per day, quite a bit more than I planned, and so I’ve got quite a bit to share. Continue reading “a week with the LC-Anstax”

…a test. This is only a test.

Remember:

Do the people think that they will be left to say, “We believe” and they will not be tried?

أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ

But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.

وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ ۖ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ

Al Ankabut, 2-3

And

Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such [trial] has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said,”When is the help of Allah ?” Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near.

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُم مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِن قَبْلِكُم ۖ مَّسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ مَتَىٰ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ

Al Baqarah, 214

Unboxing Jörg Colberg’s ‘Understanding Photobooks’

Jörg Colberg’s Understanding Photobooks: The Form and Content of the Photographic Book deserves more study and attention than I’ve given it before tapping out this titular review. In short, if you’re expecting a photobook, go somewhere else. But if you’re into photobooks or thinking of making a photobook, pick up a copy: Colberg teaches photobooks in Hartford Art School’s International Limited-Residency Photography MFA Program, and with Understanding Photobooks he distilled his years of experience into a small, rather dense textbook that aims “to help photobook makers to understand the different aspects of photobook making, so they know what to focus on, what to spend time on, and—equally crucial—which pitfalls to avoid.”*

Continue reading “Unboxing Jörg Colberg’s ‘Understanding Photobooks’”

On Cross Processing, and other play time

In September 2010, I bought an iPhone 4. I discovered the camera (and Hipstamatic) within days and was soon shooting away like crazy. It’s now mid-November 2016 and I’ve moved into film photography with gusto. All this time, I’ve seen it as play, as learning, as testing out, and it’s been loads of fun, but I’m wanting something more.

A month or so ago, I picked one of the FPP’s Lo-Fi / Hi-Drag film packs—four randomly-selected rolls of expired color film stocks, stored under who knows what circumstances—all spur of the moment like. I almost immediately regretted it: I have some (nebulous, unfocused) goals, and while I like the playing and experimenting, and plan to continue some of that, I want to devote more of my shooting and writing time to these goals.

Anyway, in the repurposed Porta 400 box, I found 1 roll each of Kodak Gold 100, Fuji Superia Xtra 400, RiteAid 400 (Fuji 400N), and Fuji Super HG 1600. (As of this last weekend, only the 1600 remains.) The roll of Rite Aid went first. I exposed at 250 and planned to cross process it in E6 chemicals, along with the roll of FPP RetroChrome 320 I finished just to see what would happen. I cross processed some slide film in C41 chemicals last year, with interesting results (see below), but only recently started with E6 at home.

If you’re curious, but don’t want to read on, here’s the gist: while I might buy another Lo-Fi / Hi-Drag box, I won’t be XPro-ing anything again. It’s just too much of a pain to process and the results are too uneven. Continue reading “On Cross Processing, and other play time”

Allah is sufficient for us!

With all the wondrous things taking place in the world just now, Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan’s reminder during the khutbah last Friday was a perfect reminder. From Surah Ali’Imran (the Family of Imran):

Those to whom hypocrites said, “Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.” But it [merely] increased them in faith, and they said, “Sufficient for us is Allah , and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.”

الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ

So they returned with favor from Allah and bounty, no harm having touched them. And they pursued the pleasure of Allah , and Allah is the possessor of great bounty.

فَانقَلَبُوا بِنِعْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَفَضْلٍ لَّمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ وَاتَّبَعُوا رِضْوَانَ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَظِيمٍ

That is only Satan who frightens [you] of his supporters. So fear them not, but fear Me, if you are [indeed] believers.

إِنَّمَا ذَٰلِكُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ يُخَوِّفُ أَوْلِيَاءَهُ فَلَا تَخَافُوهُمْ وَخَافُونِ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ

Continue reading “Allah is sufficient for us!”

MacroChrome

It’s in some way fitting to share some nice, peaceful pictures for Armistice Day, even if I had no idea that this particular weekly roll would appear on this particular day. If you’re free at 11:11 on 11/11, take a minute of silence to remember all those who die in war and take another minute to ponder the beauty of peace, and then come back and check out these pictures. Continue reading “MacroChrome”

Eating my words, and some good food too

A couple of weeks ago, regarding Muslims in the West, I wrote:

If I can stress one thing, let me be clear: there is no plot. There are 1.5 million Muslims, or so, in the world; there are several hundred thousand in DFW. If we all got together, we could do some great things, but the same could be said for amateur and hack photographers, people with blogs, people who like grilled cheese sandwiches. If all the VW Golf drivers got together, we could ___________. But ain’t none of us going to get together on anything. My neighbors, the 50 or so houses, can’t even throw a block party, and we walk to the mosque for prayer together 5 times a day.

I wonder if some of the neighbors read that, maybe, and decided to prove me wrong, because last Sunday morning, we threw exactly that (a block party), with barely a week of planning. It was fun. And yum. And it the generosity my neighbors displayed with one another illustrates nicely my last reminder. Alhamdulillah, and may Allah reward them in this life and the next, ameen.
Continue reading “Eating my words, and some good food too”