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"What is it but a map of busy life,
Its fluctuations, and its vast concerns?"
– William Cowper, "The Task" (1785), Book IV, line 55.
"If you need something to worship, then worship life — all life, every last crawling bit of it! We're all in this beauty together!"
– Frank Herbert, Dune Messiah (1969).
"There are four classes of Idols which beset men's minds. To these for distinction's sake I have assigned names — calling the first class, Idols of the Tribe; the second, Idols of the Cave; the third, Idols of the Market-Place; the fourth, Idols of the Theater."
– Sir Francis Bacon
Over the past couple of years pickings for color 120 film have become kind of slim. Fuji offers their 400H and that is about it. If you search high and low in Europe and Asia you can still find Reala and 160S, but here in the states it's 400H or go home. Kodak gives you the choice of Ektar 100, Portra 160, Portra 400 or Portra 800. So basically there are two slow speed films, two 400 speed films and one high speed 800 film to choose from. Not much of a selection but thank goodness the films available are good ones.
Enter Lomo into the mix. Lomography has recently become synonymous with crappy, plastic toy cameras. Yes, even more their "fancy" cameras are really just more expensive crappy cameras. But give them credit, their analog revolution has gained traction and recently they have introduced film to back it up. A wide variety of film at that. In 120 they have a 100, 400 and 800 color neg. They offer a 200 slide film for cross-processing. They put out a 100 and 400 b&w neg. They even have (at least) four different types of 110 film.
Where this film comes from is anyone's guess. I have read a lot of speculation on the internet, some of it seemingly well supported. Lomo is certainly not making their own film, that is a pretty involved and complicated process... just ask Kodak which recently announced they were going to stop producing their own film base because of the time and expense and start buying it from a third party.
Frankly, I don't really care where it comes from other than a mild academic curiosity. I figured I would give you a review of the film though as I have been using it here and there.
First thing's first. The film is dirt cheap (unless you buy it from Urban Outfitters, then it is really expensive). It is about half the price of Kodak and Fuji film. So that is a compelling reason.
The film is also quite grainy. Each speed (100,400, and 800) is grainier than any other respective film of the same speed by Kodak or Fuji. The Lomography 100 is surprisingly grainy for a 100 speed film. The 400 is too, but not as overly grainy above expectations as the 100 and the 800 is about what I expected.
They have pretty decent colors. Punchy and fairly saturated. These are not Portra, that's for sure. In fact, I am not quite sure what film this is (some have said Superia) but this does not look like any film I am familiar with. In terms of its color, it makes for a very good all around film be it landscapes or still life or portraiture... though I would probably leave it at home come the wedding. But the colors get a pass from me. Good, fun colors to work with.
But... the film scratches easy. Much more easily than other color neg films. 35mm seems to scratch a bit less than 120, weirdly enough. But the film is definitely softer all around and more prone to damage. Be wary of taking it to the beach.
Lastly, don't use the 120 film for long exposures, day or night. By long, I mean anything over 60 seconds or so. I did some long daytime exposures using stacked ND filters (of about 15 minutes in length) as well as some long night exposures without filters (also about 15 minutes in length). For some reason I have not quite puzzled out yet, I picked up mottling and texture from the paper backing in my skies and other detailess areas of color. What's more, I could even faintly see the imprint from the numbering on the paper backing, which I how I know the mottling comes from the same place. My best guess is that the film does not have as good an anti-halation layer and so light penetrates it and reflects off of whatever is behind it (the paper backing) picking up detail from it and exposing it back onto the film. I haven't tried super long exposures with 35mm, but then again I probably won't. I'll stick to Ektar when I know I want to go long. Oh, I should mention that all those long exposures have been done via my Hasselblad, so no questions about the effect being caused by camera light leak either.
In summary it is always a good thing to see new film options pop up. Lomo bringing out film is a gift for film photographers everywhere. But as with their cameras, one should take the quality of their product with a dose of caution. The film is grainy, scratchy and prone to weird effects under long exposures. At the same time it is inexpensive and has decent color capabilities. It is perfect for a Holga and not even all that bad for a Hasselblad. It's worth a try, and perhaps with enough support they'll even keep it around and improve it. Probably not, but it's always worth hoping.
When I arrived at the Butterfly Garden tonight while on a bike ride, I immediately smelled the Trumpet Lilies which are in full bloom. Quite a heavenly scent. At the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS.
The theme for the Chalkfox SP Challenge was "Flashlight/Mirror" so I'm fortunate that my friend Howard often uses a flashlight in his home to examine cranial interiors.
I noticed in the text at the very, very bottom of the group's main page that it is possible to submit 2 pics a month, so I am going to take advantage of that and use both photos I've done. I couldn't make up my mind.
Flashlight by Claus Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen is a highlight of the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus.
My Maglite Flashlight macro shot viewed from the top with light switched on. Red on/off button on top!
Pocket dump picture with Spyderco Pingo with custom titanium scales, Burch Snakebite bottle opener, Foursevens Preon P1 copper flashlight, lanyard beads: Starlingear Monkey Nation, Steel Flame Snody, Afrankart hourglass, Serge relic bronze
LED taillight of a up-to-date Volkswagen
thank you all - explore 09/01/26
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let me tell you why the light looks this way
taillights both as brakelights are LEDs, both normally shining the same bright. normally the taillight LEDs are triggered as you can see above, creating a less bright light for human eyes. The car checks the function of all the lights as they are used.
in case of a malfunction of the brighter shining brakelights, the taillights can be used as a auxiliary-brakelight by shining untriggered ( => brighter) when pedal is hit, but still shine untriggered when brake is not hit.
quite a good idea - and quite a nice effect for photography.
by the way. thanks for liking this lucky shot. i also didn't knew that it would be like this before shooting it by chance. the intention of this shot was to get a picture like this one
Took a picture of a flashlight lens and for the lighting, I used a UV lamp. The camera didn't seem to like it much :) .
David's flashlight collection
*note for some reason, this is the second man's flashlight collection i have been privy to recently, it's a trend
I get a lot of questions on my lighting. This is a sample of one of my favorite tools. That's right a flashlight.
See the video: