Film Fridays - Los Angeles Artsy Toy Camera Photography

I dropped the ball on last week's Film Fridays post, but I'm back with a new shot this week.

I love signs and signage, and I love art and art supplies. So the very cool sign of this art store in my neighborhood has always gotten my attention but I never remembered to take a picture of it until last week. It was a really pretty, warm but crisp Los Angeles "winter" day, and you can almost feel that in the color of the sky and the brittleness of the tree branches. But mostly I just like this photograph because it reminds me that I've always loved art and I just have to get out there and make it!

Taken on my Diana F+ toy camera, 38mm super wide lens, Fuji Pro 400H 120 film.

Film Fridays - Los Angeles 35mm Photography

Traveling to Florida for the holidays means I got behind on doing a year-end wrap up post that I had planned. However, I still got back in time to do another Film Fridays post for New Year's Eve. This shot was from the first wedding I ever photographed back in 2008. I'd had my DSLR camera for about three months and was  loving it, but I also brought along my 35mm SLR to take some film photos as well. This champagne shot is from the reception and seemed perfectly fitting for celebrating the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011.

And speaking of New Year's, I was going to pass on resolutions this year. I did a lot of things I wanted to do last year without having explicit resolutions and I kind of liked not having the pressure. However, I suddenly and tragically lost a friend last week and I've been reflecting a lot on memories of him and missed opportunities to spend more time together. He was a photographer as well and one of his quotes that recently came to my attention was "I shoot film. Occasionally I have the rolls developed." We always talked about going out to take photos together with our toy cameras, but I'm sad to say we never got around to it. So in his honor, my resolution for 2011 is to take more photos on film, of and with people I care about, and develop and share them frequently. Thanks for all the inspiration, Scott. You are loved, missed, and celebrated.

Film Fridays - Los Angeles Toy Camera Wedding Photography

So along with the toy camera photography I've been doing for fun, I'm also hoping to incorporate it more with the digital photography I do for portraits and weddings. I recently photographed a stylized wedding shoot with my friend Emily of Grandes Fetes and our awesome already-married friends modeled for us. For the most part, the digital photos show off Emily's amazing design better than the toy camera shots did, so we're both excited to debut those soon. In the meantime, I really love this backlit shot of Brett and Trina in front of a window. It's a little dark and grainy, a little out of focus, and still has a lot of character, which is exactly what I love about toy cameras.

Taken with the Holga 120 TLR, Lomo brand 100 ISO color film.

Film Fridays - Los Angeles Toy Camera Photography

Second addition to the Film Fridays project. This shot was taken in West Hollywood somewhere around the Lomography Store when I did an afternoon workshop on the Diana F+ camera this summer. I have a thing for taking pictures of power lines - I like the way they criss cross through the sky and instantly add an industrial mark to natural landscapes. I have more film shots of power lines that will probably make their way to more Film Fridays, but in the midst of all the rain and cold weather in LA right now, here's a cheery summer shot to brighten your day!

Film Fridays - Pet Photography

In thinking about some changes I want to implement for my website (big overhaul coming soon!) one of the things I decided to add is a new feature called Film Fridays. So each week I'll be posting a shot or series taken on film, from one of my toy cameras or my 35mm slr. The shots may not have been taken that week, especially at the rate I'm currently getting film developed and scanned, but it's a great excuse to dig through my archives and find shots I haven't shown before or that didn't really fit into any other category or post.

And what better way to kick off Film Fridays than with one of my all-time favorite subjects, Emma. The coolest cat in the world in her favorite sunning spot, the dining room window.

Taken with the Diana F+, 110mm telephoto lens, Lomo brand 100 ISO film.

Killer Nostalgia - Toy Camera Film Photography

I am so lucky to be friends with the incredibly talented minds behind Killer Nostalgia, filmmakers who document weddings on super 8mm, 16mm and 35mm film. Since Killer Nostalgia shoots film exclusively, I wanted to to do the same for their portraits. I temporarily ditched the digital cameras in favor of my 35mm SLR, the Diana F+ and Holga TLR, some expired film several years old and some slide film for cross-processing. Eight rolls of film and eight hours of scanning later, I think we ended up with some really cool shots. 

I can't say enough good things about Dennis, Ivette, and Bill. They are all creative, cool, fun people making creative, cool, fun movies. Check them out and have them make an amazing movie for you!

Diana F+ Toy Camera Photography - West Hollywood

Last weekend I took a short workshop on the Diana F+ camera at the Lomography shop in West Hollywood. It was great because I got to learn about the camera first, then shoot a roll of film during a photo walk on Santa Monica Blvd - like test-driving it before I bought one. The Diana is a lot like my Holga camera - plastic and unpredictable. Unlike the Holga, though, it has interchangeable lenses, which is pretty cool. Because I had just started my new job and the workshop entitled me to a 10% discount, I ended up buying a camera at the end of the class. For cameras that are relatively cheaply made, buying the film and getting it developed could turn into an expensive hobby. But it's a risk I'm willing to take. Here's a few shots from my first roll of film, and I'm sure more will be coming soon.

Holga!

As mentioned in some of my earlier posts, I got a Holga camera from my amazing friends Azin and Lyle for my birthday this year. I had two rolls of film, with 12 exposures each, so I could've blown through them very quickly, but I wanted to take my time. I ended up spanning almost a month of carrying the Holga around, taking a few photos here, a few more there, and finally getting them developed last week. And I ended up with a collage of different parts of Los Angeles, and love that there are color and black and whites pictures in the mix. I really like the vintage look of the camera, the experimental nature of not knowing exactly how your film will turn out, and having a fun new toy to play with. I'll be getting more film soon and updating here, but in the meantime check out the awesome Holga flickr pool.

Looking westward and the Hollywood sign from the Griffith Park Observatory.

My friend Aimee's croquet birthday party, where I unfortunately forgot to take pictures of the birthday girl. Hopefully she will forgive me.

Emma in our living room, longer exposure gave a ghosting effect.

Outside our apartment, very early morning. I love the red car tail lights trailing through the frame.

A double exposure and some other shots around Valley Photo Service, using up the last of the film before dropping it off for developing.

"Career Day" at the Tallahassee Film Festival

I'm so happy to announce that a short film I had the pleasure of editing recently will be premiering in two weeks at the Tallahassee Film Festival. The film is called "Career Day" and will be shown as part of the Comedy Shorts program of the festival.

I'm so proud of how this film turned out, and feel so lucky to have worked with so many talented friends on this project. Several members of the crew are people I met as a grad student at FSU's Film School, and it's a testament to the strength of the program and the alumni network that we keep working with each other all these years later, on the other side of the country. And since we started off together in Tallahassee, it's incredibly fitting to be having our festival debut there as well.

The film tells of the story of tenacious 8-year-old Marco Casanova, who secretly follows his mother to work to complete his Career Day essay, and is shocked to discover that she is not actually a nurse, but a stripper.

I will be back in my hometown for the festival, along with the film's writer/director Ivette Garcia Davilla and executive producer Dennis Hauck. We'll be at the screenings of "Career Day" Friday night and Saturday morning, and I hope to be speaking on a documentary panel as well. Check out more details about the film and showtimes and please come out to support "Career Day"!