-
Spotlight #4: 52 Week Photo Challenge
With the start of a new year comes new photography projects. I’ve always wanted to try a Project 365 or a 52 Week Challenge, so this year I’ve decided to go for it! The challenge I’ve chosen is Dogwood Photography’s 52 Week Photography Challenge.
I like this challenge because each week alternates between 3 categories: portrait, landscape and artistic impression. Many projects just give you a theme for each week’s photos, but the Dogwood challenge combines categories with themes. That’s right, there are themes for each of the categories. Now some might find this combination of themes and categories too restricting, but I think it’s rather freeing. There’s still lots of room for creativity and you have to focus on pushing your craft within each category. It is a challenge after all and not a to-do list.
I’ll post the photos here as I work my way through the challenge, but since I shoot film and I send it out to The Darkroom for processing, my photos won’t be posted right away. I promise to shoot the photos during the corresponding week, but it will take a while before you see them.
And if you’re interested in taking a photography challenge yourself, here are a few links to get you started:
- Project 365: How to Take a Photo a Day and See Your Life in a Whole New Way
- A Beginner’s Guide to Project 365
- 11 Tips to Succeed with a Photo365 Project
- 11 Tips For Completing A Project 365
- Pinterest: 52 Week Photo Lists
- Muppetography: Monthly Photographic Scavenger Hunts
Good luck with your photography project and Happy New Year!
~Dan -
Spotlight #3
Here’s another great resource for the beginning film photographer:
This is my ‘go to’ website when I’m considering a camera or lens and want a review I can trust. You’ll find lots of great advice there. It’s also a great place to learn about cameras and photography in general. I feel humbled by Ken’s immense knowledge of photography and grateful that he has shared it all on his website. It’s definitely worth a visit.
I used the reviews on Ken’s site to help me choose a Canon lens. The following photo was shot using a Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens that I purchased on eBay after consulting Ken’s site.
-
Spotlight #2
I come across so many great websites on the Internet that relate to film photography that I thought I would share them with you in a series I call Spotlight. Let’s start with a good resource for film photographers. I find this website invaluable:
This is a fantastic website to find camera manuals for nearly every camera in existence—for free!
When you acquire a vintage camera, it rarely comes with the original manual. I’ve downloaded all of the missing manuals for my cameras from this site and it’s been extremely helpful in understanding how my cameras work. Even if you do have the manual, it’s handy to download a pdf version from this site. I keep pdf copies of all my camera manuals on my phone for reference. I never know when I may need it for something.
I also use this site when I’m researching a camera I’m thinking of buying. Checking the manual often gives me a good idea of the camera’s features and ease of use. It also often lists accessories I may want to track down and purchase as well. Along with reading reviews, watching YouTube demos and looking at Flickr photos taken with a camera, I find the manual a necessary part of the research process before deciding to buy a camera.
Mike Butkus spends a lot of his personal time and money to acquire camera manuals and post them on his website so that we can download them for free. And it’s greatly appreciated! If you can, please donate to help him keep this site going. I did. And I’m sure sure you’ll find this site as indispensable as I do.
-
Spotlight: Around the ‘Net
You may have been wondering why this film photography blog is titled Going Lomo. Lomo, short for Lomography, is a style of photography using vintage and toy cameras. Lomo photos are often characterized by saturated colours and vignetting around the corners. The ‘Lomo look’ can be achieved by cross-processing E-6 slide film in chemicals meant to develop C-41 colour negatives. This look is often replicated digitally using apps such as Instagram, but film is where it started. Lomography is what inspired me to pick up a film camera again. It’s fun to see what can be created by using old cameras and vintage film!
This is the first post in a new series I’m calling Spotlight. The focus of this series is to share the many wonderful resources on film photography found around the Internet. Here’s a few to get you started. These three webpages are a good place to learn more about Lomography:- Did the Lomo camera save film photography? – This article by Stephen Dowling gives a short introduction to Lomography and its beginnings.
- Analogue Photography 101 – A good primer on Lomography
- The 10 Golden Rules – A manifesto of sorts for the Lomographer
