Mini Vacation at VITS

During the Diwali break from college earlier this month my mom & me went for a mini holiday to VITS, a lovely four star hotel nearby that my parents have a timeshare with.
So for all my friends who were intrigued about me staying in a hotel close to home, I have actually been doing it a few years. It's a great way to take a break & feel the holiday relaxation minus the travel time. It's fun!
Here are the photos I took that week with my iPhone (with instagram & hipstamatic) :

I didn't get much sleep the day before we checked in so this bed was truly a site for sore eyes. Also me playing around with the mirrors in the bathroom.

The cameras I carried on our little trip & a sleepy self portrait in bed.

Chocos planets & stars for breakfast! Also an instax photo I took of mom & me.

Some instax photos are so bad they have to be burnt. And the chocolate dynamite gelato available in a nearby parlor that became my favorite.

Pizzas! Tuna & Meat.

An Indian sweet made to look like an apple (too bad I forgot to click a photo of the watermelon sweet, those were just too cute!) & a scary self portrait with a really sickly color.

Those are all the iPhoneographs I took that week & posted on instagram. The nashville filter is definitely my favorite.
I actually carried my dslr too but didn't use it a single time, what a shame. But all four analog cameras did get used. :)
In other news... I got two lovely soviet cameras- Smena 8M & Smena Symbol in the mail yesterday, which you will know if you follow me on twitter. I am so excited about them but am holding off using them till I finish all the rolls that I have loaded in various cameras. I have rolls in about six cameras at the moment & it is not a good thing! I am trying to finish the rolls off one by one so I can get them processed.
The day before yesterday my college held InTune, a popular inter-collegiate festival & I clicked photos of the event. I uploaded all the photos to a public album on Facebook so you can have a look if you like. This album is pretty important & meaningful to me, & it's not just because a few of my friends performed on stage. It's the first event that I clicked photos of (in entirety) not because someone requested me to but because I wanted to.
In the past I always disliked 'full manual' mode on the dslr, I used all other modes like auto, no flash, shutter priority, aperture priority & whatnot because it always seemed too complicated & technical for me & I hate overtly technical stuff when it comes to photography. It's not like I don't know what the parameters mean I just don't like fiddling around with them unless I'm really experimenting at home or on vacation. But ever since I got my Fed 5C (which is fully manual) I have gotten used to whipping out the iPhone & using the pocket light meter app. So it seemed quite natural to use it for my dslr as well, & I'm proud to say all the photos of the event were taken on full manual mode (some of them were manual focus too, my auto focus was acting a little iffy).
So I know this is weird but my interest in analog photography is actually making me take more interest in my digital camera. No actually it's just that I seem to be getting more serious about photography. A part of me is happy & another part of me is all upset & saying, 'Magali you promised yourself you wouldn't get serious!' (Yes as my friend Jason once pointed out, I do occasionally have debates with myself).
That is all for now.

Aaaannndd Happy December! I cannot believe the holidays are so close. :)

xo

First Redscale film...

The home for the aged sale was the day before yesterday & it was a great success! I was at the toy department & we sold so many toys! It was so tiring that by the end of it most of the muscles in my body ached from the terrible amount of sitting/standing/squatting/crawling that happened (the toy stall was setup on a stage). My glutes still hurt so bad. I did take a few iPhone photos that I will be showing you later this week. It was a very satisfying day, except that I had to go for the funeral of a school and college classmate. I'd known her since we were four & though we were never really too close it was still heartbreaking. :(

This is my first try with Redscale film, I just got it back from the lab yesterday. These are the best ones from the roll-

A stray cat eating... I had to get in closer than usual to take this photo & you can see the cat angry that it's space is being invaded.

Some graves at out local cemetery. 

Bombay's famous yellow & black taxis, with kitschy art naming a few suburbs of Bombay.

I'm sad to see these Padmini cabs go in favor of newer car models.

A under-construction skywalk at Bombay airport. Love the look of this photo- the silhouetted trees & of course the dreamy clouds.

The only time I've used the aperture control on the LC-A. This photo was taken with the Diana flash. I definitely should use the flash more for indoor, night time photos. :)

Bombay is so lucky to have the sea. We have so many promenades. These two were taken at Marine drive. That's my friend Rydell with my Canon EOS Rebel xs.

Lomo LC-A x Lomography Redscale XR 50-200

When I finally got home with the scans & negatives yesterday I was so upset. The scan quality is just so bad in some places! And in the last photos, what is that pink disturbance? I cannot figure out whether it was on the negatives or the results of bad scans. And I cannot rescan either & the lab just happened to lose a strip of negative with four exposures. Terribly upsetting. One thing is for sure, I am never going back to that place ever.

Overall I think I like Redscale film. I am someone who generally likes color, but in the spirit of being more experimental I am pushing myself to try different kinds of film. The results are rewarding. Redscale film looks amazing with the trademark LC-A vignetting & it makes skies so dramatic. I still have a lot to learn about how this film works. And I love the first photo of the cat as well, I know that if I had gotten in any closer it might have attacked me!

So to solve the lab problem I am going to be giving all the film to Idea Creative lab at Prabhadevi from now on. It's a little out of the way & a tad more expensive, but the film there is hand processed (not done in a machine, so no nasty scratches like the 9th photo). And I am looking to buy a scanner so I can scan all my negative at home from now on.

As for other news I am thinking of doing something I have never done before & getting a kitten home. I'm not allowed to keep pets because of our lifestyle but I saw an abandoned kitten yesterday & I cannot stop thinking about it. :'(

I hope I can bring it home foster it for a couple of months till it's a lot healthier & then give it up for adoption to someone who can keep a kitty. I'm excited but also very scared, let's see how it goes. Wish me luck.

xo




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Analog Love

How are you, my loves? My mood has been all over the place these last few days & I'm not even sure why. But I have something to be really happy about.
I just may have acquired a new obsession-

Credit.

I am a little obsessed with Vinyl at the moment! I may or may not have spent a few month's allowance money on shipping a few rare vintage LPs from the UK. It will be worth it when it arrives. (:
And I am yet to buy a turntable if you're curious. I did want to buy a nice Crosley one, I was so attracted by the wonderful vintage looks of their turntables that I even placed an order for one but it didn't work out. At first I was a little upset about it & considered placing an order again, but after extensive research I realized that though Crosley ones might look good they are seriously lacking in the quality department. Apparently the sound quality is pretty bad & sometimes parts just stop working. My parents gifting me a wonderful Bose iPod dock may have spoiled me a little, but I decided to wait a few months & buy something better. So I'm just collecting records at the moment. If any of you know local shops in Mumbai that sell records, or if you have any records you would like to give or sell to me let me know!
Sunday is going to be a seriously busy day for me as it's the annual Home for the Aged sale! I have been helping out in some way or the other every sale, & this one will be my 9th one. :) If any one of you decide to drop in, I will be on the auditorium stage selling stuffed toys. Best job ever!
I will be too tired tomorrow but I hope to share some photos from the sale in the next few days.
Also what do you guys think of the latest Polaroid Instant Digital camera? As much as I love analog I have to admit that it is quite an ingenious idea, & at $20 for 30 prints it is very cheap. But I don't think I'll be buying this anytime soon, analog rules! ♡

xo

A Walk down Carter Road with the Fisheye.

I may have mentioned this before, but I'll say it again. The Fisheye 2 is a fun camera. It has a 180 degree field of vision, multiple exposure switch & an inbuilt flash. And you can get really close (upto 4 inches from a subject!) In fact, for a while it was the only Lomography camera I wanted & I was actually saving up for it till I got lucky & won it in a contest instead.
But these photos are again pretty old, this was borrowed from a friend before I got my own.
One day a few classmates & me bunked college to take a walk down the nearby Carter Road promenade...
Love how my friend & me had clothes that matched our umbrellas! Coincidence, I swear!
Black Crow, like in the Jamiroquai song! Spot the tiny kitten! It was mewing incessantly but it's mom was around so we didn't try touching it. 
Us, snacking!
This pug was adorable!

Lomography Fisheye 2 x Kodak 400

The Fisheye 2 is a very nice camera. It's soo easy to use even a monkey could use it. I am not a big fan of the inbuilt flash but it does come in handy.
I have gone through two rolls with this camera & sadly one thing I haven't used yet is the multiple exposure capabilities, & I must fix that soon.

xoxo,

Countdown

Countdown is a single by Beyoncé from her latest album 4.

The song samples a song by Boys II Men. It cannot be classified into one specific genre. It's an upbeat song that displays funk, hip hop, Latin pop, world, reggae as well as dancehall influences.
But what is truly awesome about this song is the music video.It was directed by Adria Petty & pays homage to Michael Jackson, Audrey Hepburn, Twiggy, Bridget Bardot & Diana Ross.
The music video is heavily influenced by 1960s pop art; it is drenched in vintage-hued colors and retro clothes. Every frame is a treat for the eyes. But one of the most amazing things is that Beyoncé was pregnant when this video was made, you can see her in various different stages of pregnancy throughout the video, she even shows off her pregnant profile in one shot. Other than being critically acclaimed, this video is just a joy to watch!

xo

Journal- Q&A a Day: A 5 Year Journal

I was just blog hopping a few days ago when I came upon this:
Q&A a Day: A 5 Year Journal (on Anthropologie).

One journal for 5 years? The concept intrigued me & so I read on. The book has one question every day, which you are expected to answer in in about four lines. The prompts are at turns provocative (How happy are you?), quirky (What can you smell right now?), and always interesting.

Each page has a spot for 5 years. So you finish one year, then come back to the beginning & start the second (and so on).

I was sold. I quickly added it to my cart, only to find out that shipping this little journal to India would me a whooping $60.

I was disappointed but in one last ditch effort I decided to search for it on flipkart. And guess what, not only did I find it but it was way cheaper than the price on Anthropologie, & it included no hassel shipping to India. Here is the link to the journal.

I am so thankful for flipkart. I just started shopping there in December 2010 but I have already bought so much from them. They provide discounts as well as free shipping & it's wonderful that I can get so many foreign edition books without resorting to Amazon. Just one of few great things about living in India, I guess.

I am so excited! Flipkart says it will be with me in 14-21 days. I intent to start writing in it from January 1st 2012. When it does arrive you will probably see on my instagram, I am more than a little addicted to it now-a-days.

xo

Cross Processed Fishy Ideas

A week ago I showed you some photos from my fish project with the LC-Wide. Today I'm showing you some more, except these are cross processed. Cross processing (sometimes abbreviated to Xpro) is the procedure of deliberately processing photographic film in a chemical solution intended for a different type of film. So you can process slide film in color negative chemicals or color negative film is slide chemicals (though the former is much more popular & gives better results). If you're interested in knowing more, Lomography has a simple & excellent guide on cross processing.

Lomography LC-Wide x Lomography X-Pro 200

This was my first time with cross processing & I was somewhat unhappy with the results. Cross processing with this film does usually give a very green look, that coupled with the overexposure caused a serious loss of detail on most of the photos, in some of them you can't even clearly tell what's in the picture.

This actually put me off cross processing for quite a while. But then again cross processing is a core part of Lomography, in all it's shocking, over saturated high contrast goodness. So I'm gonna give it another try, this time.

The lady in the first & third pictures is my mom! And the last picture is of Matilda, one of the residents at the local Home for the Aged. She was so shy she refused to stand for this photo till my mom coaxed her to. It happens to be my most liked picture on my lomohome!

After almost a month of blissful holidays my college starts today. I am happy to be meeting the friends I missed (though we kept in touch over long phone conversations) but not happy about missing my beauty sleep. *sigh* It's back to sleep deprived days for me!

xoxo,

Paradise ☼☁

This is something I've been wanting to share for a week. It's the video for Coldplay's Single Paradise from their latest album Mylo Xyloto.

The first time I heard a Coldplay was many years ago, I've never really fallen in love with any of their songs (until now).
I love this video so much I'm not even sure how to describe it. The premise is simple. I love how well they were able to convey emotions even with a man in a plush suit. It is so melancholy yet uplifting. There is something so beautifully childlike about this video. The song too is absolutely wonderful, & coupled with this video it never fails to make me tear up a little.
Just thought I'd share.

xo

The Adventures of Tintin

I love Tintin. I have always loved Tintin.
In fact, one of my first posts on this blog was about my immense sadness that Hergé left the last book Tintin & Alph Art incomplete.
I had been following the news of the Tintin film since a couple of years. I even did a silly rant about Jamie Bell being cast as Tintin. I was convinced that he had been miscast, & that Steven Spielberg was going to effectively screw up one of my favorite comic book characters of all time. Also I thought the film was going to be a live action one.

I also talked about how Captain Haddock might be my favorite Comic Book Character ever!

 Sometime early last week I sweet talked my mother into a local multiplex & booked tickets for the first-day-first-show of the film.

About the film itself, it is a performance capture 3D film (it can be seen as a mashup of live action & 3D animation) & is based on three of the original Tintin comic books: The Crab with the Golden Claws (1941), The Secret of the Unicorn (1943), and Red Rackham's Treasure (1944).

So throughout the film one of the main things I ended up doing was figuring out which part came from what comic & differences between the comics & movies. I loved the references to the comic in the beginning of the film, especially when the caricature artists paints a portrait of Tintin in the original ligne claire style of the comics.

A part of me hated every change from the original but even I have to admit it was mostly to good effect, even though the condensation did result is the loss of some great characters & less character development for the ones that remained.

But I have to realize that comic books & movies are two completely different mediums, & that there is a gap of more than half a century between the original comics & the movie.

Another grouse I have with the film is [MILD SPOILER ALERT] the oh-so-predictable hanging ending. But the hanging ending has more often than not proved to be a powerful plot device, & since Steven Spielberg & Peter Jackson are planning a sequel, it was fitting, I guess.

But these are just little things, & the film itself was pretty wonderful. 

I can say that it did justice to the comics by Hergé. It was beautiful, cinematic & a visual treat. Mom & me greatly enjoyed it & I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel. In fact, I just might go see this film again. Have you seen the film? If you have, what are your thoughts & if you haven't seen it yet do you plan on doing so? Do share in the comments!

xo

Fishy Ideas <*)))>{

These photos are from a little project I did months ago (May, actually). The theme? Fish.

I didn't really have any fish stuffed toys so I just borrowed some toys from the Home for the Aged for this shoot. 
My lovely living room.
I love it when color co-incidences occur!
Living room again. This is lovely a hand painted bag from Art Meets Fashion.

LC-Wide x Kodak 400

This was soon after Lomography launched the LC-Wide.

The camera is sort of a hybrid of the classic LC-A & LC-A+. The main thing about this (as the name suggests) camera is that it's wide! The wide angle lens ensures you capture a lot more than most cameras. But what I loved about this camera is that in addition to full frame, you could choose to shoot square frame or half frame. I obviously have different cameras that do all three of these but to have all three in one is pretty amazing. It has a light meter so you can shoot in almost any light, two distance settings only so you don't have to worry too much about setting the focus right & of course it is compatible with the famous Krab (underwater housing) to take pool shots!

Also, the viewfinder is pretty inaccurate! A lot more than what you see in it ends up in the photo, I learnt that the hard way in photo #7. I was not planning to get any of the wall & I was planning to cut the girl off at the chest, & look how it ended up!

Also, this has a glass lens just like the LC-A (unlike most other cameras I use) so it's sharp. It's very clear, plus it has great contrast & vignetting. Also it's compact. A great all-round film camera for those who don't want to have too many.

But I think know that the light meter of the LC-Wide I was using was a little off, all of the shots came out a little over exposed (too much white in all these photos!) That was a bit of a bummer.

Check in here next week to see another roll with the LC-Wide, this time cross processed.

xoxo,