Always in Action! - Part 2.

This is basically just a follow up on yesterday's post. Please go through that one first.
So this is the second roll with my Actionsampler

What can I say... I love that swing!

My mommy is cooler & funnier than your mommy.

Again, Andheri (E).

First of the Goa pictures.


At Mapusa Market.

People I like.

Beach race!

me, jumping!

Old Goa.


I like how this photo turned out. Two lenses blurry & two are really sharp!

Scooters for hire @ Colva beach.







The last photo from the roll turned out to be my favorite. Love the blue skies with white clouds (right now it's all black & depressing in Bombay). Everything about this picture is perfect in my eyes.

Lomography Actionsampler x Lomography CN 100 (pushed to 200)

Actionsampler tips:

1. The Actionsampler has a fixed shutter speed & aperture. So there is nothing you have to do except shoot! You just need to make sure that you have enough light for the photos to come out well.
2. This camera is so simple to use! It doesn't even have a viewfinder, just a pop-up frame. I love the simplicity & not knowing exactly how the shots will be framed. It's the kind of unpredictability that attracted me to Lomography in the first place.
3. It's somehow very easy to get your finger in front of one (or even two!) of the lenses. Happened in a few of my shots. Be careful!
4. The first film I used was 400ASA (somewhat fast film). It worked like a charm. Since I was going to be using the second film in Goa (with bright sunlight!) I got a little more adventurous & used 100ASA film (slow film) that I got pushed to 200ASA while processing. I am not at all unhappy with the results, I love how vibrant the skies look (if you like taking photos of the daytime sky, 400ASA has a tendency to get overexposed, then everything looks white!) But some moving objects did appear a little blurred. I think I would stick to 200 film in bright sunlight & 400 film during other day times.
5. I'm not sure if this is actually a photography tip, but this little camera attracts attention, in a fun way! People are very curious, many stare, some ask questions & one guy even asked to take a photo of the camera. I love telling people about my Actionsampler.
6. The Actionsampler is primarily for taking daytime, outdoor photos. If you like the Actionsampler but wish to use it indoors, you should look up the Actionsampler flash! Not just four lenses, four flashes too!

I'm sorry for not posting these earlier! I just can't seem to find the time nowadays.

Also, some more awesome news. I recently participated in a contest held by Lomography India & won a Fisheye 2! (plus two packs of film!) I've tried the Fisheye 2 in the past & it is fun! Can't wait to get my hands on it. :)

Have fun!

love,
Magali

Always in Action! - Part 1

I have been having a hectic few weeks so I though I'd just share some analog photos today.

You guys remember the Actionsampler, right? That cute little lomography cam I bought myself for my 19th birthday. Well as soon as I got it I got busy. I ran through two rolls through it because I was simulataneous using my other film cameras too (third one is in it right now) & I'm gonna share some of my favorites with you. (many photos! don't say I didn't warn you...)

I'm going to try to put them in chronological order, publish one roll today & the other tomorrow. Also, look out for some tips on using the Actionsampler at the end of tomorrow's post.

Andheri East. A crowded bus stop, & the metro rail construction. This is the chaos that I live near/in but I love this place! I couldn't dream of living anywhere else!

It's nice to still see bullock carts, sometimes.



Part of the Alma Mater.

BEST Bus depot.

Bridge over Marol Pipeline.

Marol Fire Station.

Those armored vehicles have become a part of Bombay. They're everywhere.

Byculla. I love this photo. Slums in the foreground, fancy high rises in the background.

A chowk on Pedder road named after Kalyanji Virji Shah (one half of the Kalyanji-Anadji musical duo that composed film scores for 70s Bollywood films).

The Jindal (house/office?) on Peddar Road. I love how proudly they display the tricolor, especially since it was a Jindal who overthrew the stupid law that said we can't hoist our own flag.

Vendor selling stuff trinkets outside Prince of Wales museum (I still prefer to call it that!)


Creative 'ticket art' at Kala Ghoda.

Miniature landscapes at Kala Ghoda.

Jehangir Art Gallery.

David Sassoon Library. There are just two mini exposures here because my finger was on the top two lenses. So I just cropped it off

Me getting fake (stamped) Mehendi.



Antiques at Colaba Causeway.

1950s pinups on the Leopold Cafe board.

Horse Carriage rides near the Gateway.


The Gateway of India.


The Taj.

Vendors near the gateway.

Lomography Actionsampler x Kodak 400

Those were my favorite shots from the first roll. Come back same time tomorrow for Part 2! :)

love,
Magali

Meet my Fuji Instax 50s Piano Black!

I have wanted a Polaroid ever since I could remember. I remember seeing the Barbie Polaroid in USA during our trip there in 2001 but of course I didn't get it then (I got a Barbie digital camera instead. For a long time it seemed like the right choice, but now I totally regret that!). Polaroid corporation stopped making cameras in 2007 & stopped making film for their cameras in 2009. (Such a-holes!)

Fuji has been making Instax cameras since the late 1990s in two forms, the wide format & the mini (which takes credit card sized photos).

I had been considering a Fuji Instax for the past three years or so but I wasn't sure how I could just the cost as one credit card sized print costs above 1 USD (a little less than 50).

About a month ago I started researching the Instax again. Saw that they have a new model out since late 2010, (The Fuji Instax 50s) which is a bit more expensive than the earlier ones but it has some nifty features. I finally decided to take the plunge.

So sometime late June I order the camera & two packs of film (1 pack=10 exposures). And then I waited. And waited. And started to get antsy (isn't expedited shipping supposed to be quick?)

I got home from college today hoping to find a chit from the postman saying I had a parcel. Nothing. And then my mom got back too. And a little past 3 PM the doorbell rang. Could it be? No, it was too late.

Oh but it was the postman. With two parcels, the camera & the film (I ordered them separately).

And of course I was completely ecstatic so I just tore open the pack.

image: fujifilm.com

image: photojojo.com

The description of this camera on the Fujifilm website reads:

Compact & stylish piano-black body matches to the elegant party.
You can enjoy your instant photos stylishly and elegantly.
The instax mini 50S adjusts shutter speed incrementally, so you get good pictures even in low light. The ingenious self-timer let you take two shots with a single touch of the shutter button. The close-up lens allows you shoot as right up to 30 cm,for a 2:1 magnification ratio.

So the camera matches 'elegant parties' which are supposedly black. I don't get it. :S
But jokes aside this is one powerful little camera. It is so glossy (& hence incredibly prone to fingerprints) & overall very sexy looking. Much slimmer & smarter than the earlier Chekis (the cheki is the Japanese name for the Instax). My mom loves how it looks. And after a few months of mucking around with Lomography cameras, (which are a lot of fun in their own right) I am enjoying using a camera with a precise viewfinder once again.
After I had ripped apart all the packaging, I loaded up the film (which is just so easy a three year old could do it, seriously) & started to roam around the house looking for something fun to photograph. I somehow landed up at the showcase & decided to photograph one of my favorite Barbie dolls.
So I pulled my mom from her seat, (I convinced her that the first shot was a momentous, magical occasion & she would not want to miss it.) positioned the doll on the table & clicked the shutter button.
The camera makes such absolutely delightful whirring sounds. It reminds me of a robot.
I was kinda confused to see a black piece of plastic come out first. Turns out it's the cartridge cover & it always comes out the first time you've pressed the shutter button. The digital counter then showed the number 10 (for the number of films remaining). I clicked the photo. When the film comes out the top you have to handle it very carefully, no fiddling, bending & certainly no shaking.
I plucked it out very carefully & placed it on the sofa. And then both mom & me peered into the print, which if fully white when it just emerges. It brought to mind the nine year old me staring into glasses after I had dropped in some potassium permanganate, just to see the beautiful purple streaks. And in a way these incidents are related. They both feel like magic. Soon the photo emerged fully.

Look at the camera. Just ten minutes with me & there are fingerprints all over. *sigh*
This is not a very good view, I know. I hope to con my parents into buying me a new photo scanner soon, as I'm not to comfortable with the one we own. Anyway, about the shot. It's beautiful & completely in focus. The Barbie might appear slightly washed out, & that maybe because I held the camera a little too close. But you know what? I don't care. I am so extremely happy with what I saw today. Due to the high cost I am going to try to go slow on the usage. I am waiting to try the instax on picturesque landscapes, I love shots I have seen of valleys & beaches. I wish I was in Goa right now. I must mention that i have read that instax print are quite prone to scratches, so I quickly stashed it away in a cute album.
Also, I wish to talk about this Barbie too. This is no ordinary Barbie. This is the 1999 Birthday Wishes Barbie Doll. It was never available in India. It sold for $39.98 in USA way back in 1999, & my dad picked it up for my 8th birthday in the year 2000 from Singapore. I guess he didn't realize that this is a Barbie Collectable doll, they are made by Mattel, always limited edition, not meant for kids (they are age is 21+), &; are also ideally never removed from their boxes. As a kid I was a huge Barbie fan, I had 18-20 & I always ended up making a huge mess of them. This is the one that of few that 'survived' because I really treasured it. (the only damage to the doll is a small paint chip on the lips). I have four or five more in better condition than this but they are all newer, they were gifted to me in my early teens. It still blows my mind to think that this doll was made 11 years ago. My Dad has got me many lovely, thoughtful gifts over the years & this is just one of them. Thanks Dad!
I can't wait to see how much this lovely little camera surprises me.

love,