Roll In A Day

Some Corny Roll In A Day Fun

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Lomography Sprocket Rocket, Kodak Porta 400

No, I have not been lost in a corn maze the last month or two…

I have simply been super busy, both at home and elsewhere.  Some of it has been good fun, but frankly a lot of it has simply been staying on top of parenting and life responsibilities.

Thank goodness the recent Roll In A Day was scheduled for a weekend.  The few before it were on a week day and I wasn't able to participate.

The theme was "toy camera" so I naturally reached for my Lomography Sprocket Rocket.  This camera shoots extra-wide frames on standard 35mm film and even exposes over the sprocket holes.

We visited our favorite pumpkin patch Uesugi Farms in San Martin, California.  I took a whole roll there full of corn, pumpkins, a train, and even artillery.

(Yes, it turns out that pumpkins can actually be shot a long distance with respectable accuracy!)

This camera is a blast, and while I don't take it out very often I always adore the results.  Good color negative film like Kodak Portra 400 is forgiving enough to get great shots in anything close to daylight even with the Sprocket Rocket's mere two exposure settings.

I hope next month's RIAD is also on the weekend and sticks to a simple theme or is even open ended like the first few were.

Maker Flames

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Nikon FA, Nikkor C 35/2 O.C, Kodak Porta 400

Last Saturday we attended two different events, the Conference of Northern California Handweavers in Oakland as well as Maker Faire in San Mateo.  Both were full of creative people, but I have to say that the pyromania was much more prevalent at Maker Faire.

(I don't think fiber-based hobbies and fire mix all that well…)

There were several different installations (what else would you call them?) on display at Maker Faire that prominently featured flames.  I guess if you are already making a giant metal dinosaur or towering umbrella–tree then you might as well make fire come out of it, eh?

And in a darkened exhibit hall we even watched rock band ArcAttack! perform using tesla coils to amplify their music.  The arcs of lightning visibly changed along with the musical pitches: you didn't just hear the music but felt it in the air.

We had a total blast at Maker Faire, and propane-fueled jokes aside Maker Faire was full of creative inventions, do-it-yourself tools and projects, robotics, 3D printing, and tons of activities for all ages.

I highly recommend visiting one in your area next time it is around, especially if you have kids.  Our boys still can't stop talking about it and the amazing things you can make yourself using a little creativity.

It happened to be another Roll In a Day event so I took a lot of photographs, all of which are already up on Flickr.

Nikkor C 35/2 O.C

Roll In A Day April

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Nikon F6, Nikkor F 105/2.5 P, Kodak Porta 400

April 21st was the second Roll in a day / A day in a roll event.  This is where you shoot a roll of film over the course of one day and upload it in its entirety to your Flickr photostream.

I loved this event when I participated the first time one a month ago.  I especially enjoyed it now as my Dear Sweet Wife went along for the ride this time.

She was encouraged by a recent gift that I gave her, a little something to reignite her love for film photography.  I think it worked!

This time around for my roll I again shot my Nikon F6 with Kodak Portra 400 film.  However, I decided to try using only my old manual focus Nikkor F 105/2.5 P lens.

We had a blast, encountering a teen rock band that really rocked, rodents of unusual size (or ROUS) at Happy Hollow, enjoyed cold treats with our friends, and wrapped up with some yarn winding at home.

See my whole roll here, and her whole roll here.  You can find plenty of examples of our two perspectives on the same subjects.

I am looking forward to the next RIAD event Saturday May 19th, although I am going to have to cook up something different for this time…

Roll In A Day Results

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Nikon F6, Nikkor 24mm f/2.8, Kodak Portra 400

The Darkroom finished developing and scanning my Roll In A Day film roll two days ago.  I just barely pulled the files from their site and uploaded them to my Flickr photostream last night before the designated deadline.

It was a fun project and I tried two kind of new things out for the day:

  1. I only took one shot per subject.  (Normally I "work" the subject with multiple compositions and I often bracket exposures.)
  2. I used color conversion filters to try to correct for the color temperature of the predominant light source.

Check my whole roll out in my Roll in a day March 24th 2012 Flickr set.

I think I may have overdone it on the one-shot-per-subject goal as I didn't even complete the roll of 36 exposures.  I barely managed over 20 shots that day.

However, it was thrilling to be very selective in what I shot, when I shot it, and then move on once done.  I think I need to practice restraint like this some more, it certainly saves some film!

And using the filters was fun.  I rarely try to shoot color in incandescent or mixed lighting (or bother with the filtration) but I was very happy with the results here.

Looks like the next Roll In A Day event is scheduled for April 21st 2012.  I am looking forward to it, and will have to try some other camera/film/technique this time around.

Roll In A Day

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Lomography Sprocket Rocket, Fujicolor Pro 400H

Yikes, the last few weeks have been busy, and I don't mean photographically.

The daily grind has been keeping me busy, and favorite time of the year (ahem…) has come and gone.  Thankfully I wrapped up our tax return the other night and I can put that behind me until next year.

I need some kind of project to pull me back into my photography and I think Roll In A Day / A Day In A Roll is just the thing I need.

The premise is simple:  Load a roll of film into your camera and shoot it all in one designated day.  Process, scan, and upload the film to your Flickr stream, warts and all.

That's right, upload the whole roll, from shots worthy of being World Press Photo of the Year to bungled exposures.  Join the Flickr group and try to upload your images within one week of the scheduled day.

The next scheduled day is this Saturday March 24th.  I look forward to seeing what all the participants come up with.

I don't think I am going to do anything special this day (like say go on a day trip to Yosemite or even just visit San Francisco).  But it will be fun to capture my day's events in 36 exposures, being as creative as I can be in the process.

P.S. I excitedly told my Dear Sweet Wife about Roll in A Day only to find out she knew about it already.  At least I joined the Flickr group before she did!