Expensive Snapshots, pt. 2: an expensive mistake

This is actually the first 4×5 snapshot I snapped, the piece of film I burned that day, but it wasn’t the first time I’ve made this same mistake…

So a reminder to me first, again, again, again: when you are itching to shoot and the handiest thing around is a 4×5 holder that someone else loaded probably 10 years ago, and you go off to just shoot, do yourself a favor and check your settings first…

In fact, even if you’re shooting digital and only have battery life and shutter actuations to worry about, even if just pulling out your phone to take a quick shot: please, please, please check your settings first. It’ll only take a second or two, and it’ll save you much chagrin later. Continue reading “Expensive Snapshots, pt. 2: an expensive mistake”

Expensive Snapshots, pt. 1b: Capture One Pro 9 review

So I modified my process for processing images and thought I hit upon some great new secret, but it was just me mis-remembering what I had done. I realized my error and began to rewrite the previous post when I remembered an email announcement I received about the new Capture One Pro 9 update, so I dropped the bucks to upgrade and decided to give it another try. Continue reading “Expensive Snapshots, pt. 1b: Capture One Pro 9 review”

Expensive Snapshots, pt. 1a: New Workflow

Snapshots with a 4×5 view camera?

Snapshots that require a light meter? a cable release? bulb mode?

Probably doesn’t meet the usual definition, but the process I underwent with the two sheets of expired FP4 that my dad loaded into a film holder many years ago (probably before the film expired, which it did in 2007 according to the label on the box) and that I shot over the long Thanksgiving weekend. Continue reading “Expensive Snapshots, pt. 1a: New Workflow”

Lunch Break!

A couple of weeks ago, my newish boss realized that almost the entire office was not following the Lunch Break policy, and so mandated that we all take lunch breaks. I found it interesting that none of my previous 5 bosses chose to enforce the mandated lunch breaks, but decided to treat it as an opportunity rather than a punishment, so I started going for walks around the office park and its environs and posting pictures to my tumblog.

It now seems that lunch breaks might not be required after all…

A previous boss checked with the HR rep for his department, and that person said that the important part of “lunch breaks must be at least thirty minutes” (in Texas, anyway) is the ‘at least thirty minutes’ and not the ‘lunch break.’ The HR rep for the department my current boss falls under thinks it’s the lunch break part. Hopefully they’ll come to some sort of agreement.

Part of me hopes that they’ll decide it’s the 30 minutes, in which case, I’ll likely go back to not taking a lunch break and leaving 30+ minutes earlier. The rest of me hopes to continue this project.

I need a good project. Whether or not #lunchbreak makes a good project remains to be seen, and I’ll never know if I don’t keep it up.

The above, and this one here, are outtakes from the first lunch break. I didn’t share anything that day. So far, the published #lunchbreak shots have been shot (or processed) with Hipstamatic on the iPhone 5. I’ve shot some film with the LC-A and some ORFs with the C-5050, and if any turn out, I’ll probably share them here, or file them away for rainy days.

I hope you enjoy #lunchbreak! Continue reading “Lunch Break!”

Digital Week! – Two Abstract Pictures for Buy Nothing Day!

It’s Buy Nothing Day, so if you’ve bought something already before receiving the reminder, please accept my deepest apologies. Good news: tomorrow is International Buy Nothing Day, so you still have a chance!

I’ll spare you the anticapitalist screed and just leave you with this: Every Day is a good day to Buy Nothing. Continue reading “Digital Week! – Two Abstract Pictures for Buy Nothing Day!”