Taking the Lo-Fi Road

It took me a few months, but I finally shot a whole roll of 35mm film with my vintage Keystone "instamatic" camera. I bought this camera because it had a battery powered flash instead of needing a (unavailable) flashcube. I was curious if the flash would let me take better indoor pictures.

I really like how the old camera exposes all of the new 35mm film. I think the sprocket holes look neat. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

After a hard day of ballet, Char's hanging out in a pillow tent with Maggie.

Remember what a big deal it was when your folks would take you to a hotel, and they had a pool there? I had to stand in the water to take this picture. I still remember how freezing that water was. Why don't little kids ever get cold in the pool?

OJ, cinnamon toast waffles, and watching Charlie and Lola on the computer is a great way to start a summer day...

... especially if it's raining outside.

When I blogged about this process before I called it lomography, but I think lo-fi photography is a better title. From the looks of the bottom left corner of each picture, my new/old camera has a light leak. I'm cool with that.

links: Lomo, Lomo 2

The View From a Three-Year-Old

I recently found this digital camera at the Hope Ministries Thrift Store (or "The H Store" as Char likes to call it.)

The Sony Cyber-shot only cost three dollars, but I suspect that's because it didn't have a battery charger or a cord to connect the camera to a computer. Amazon and four more dollars solved that problem.

Since the camera works well, but there's hardly any money invested, I gave the Cyber-shot to Charlotte. She's always trying to take her mom's digital camera, but we're rightly afraid that she'd break it. This is a fun solution, and honestly, I'm curious what kind of pictures a three-year-old will take.

Last weekend we traveled to Garden City to place flowers on my dad's grave, and then we had a picnic at my cousin's acreage. Here are some pictures taken by Char. (We use my t-shirt blanket for picnics.)

Like most little kids, Char likes picking dandelions and giving them to her mom. I like how the dandelions ended up next to the flowers on Char's sandals.

Here's a picture of our dog. Char is practicing with the "flower button" (the close-up, or macro function).

Here are two pictures taken last night right before bath time.

When Char pushes the camera's button, she smiles at the electronic "click" and quickly looks down at the screen to see the picture she has taken. Usually she giggles at the results. It's a good time.

We've got a few mini-adventures planned for this summer, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Char's camera records the events.

In A Flash

Because I wanted to take pictures with an old Kodak Instamatic camera, I recently learned how to load 35mm film into a defunct 126 film cartridge. I have nothing against digital pictures. I think the digital camera is one of the most convenient inventions of the past 20 years. But I have to say that I really like the look of these "lomo" pictures.

Here's a lomo-maggie shot taken in our back yard.

But instead of just being satisfied with my Instamatic, I went looking for other 126 film cameras to play with. 

That always happens to me. Sure, that original Xbox console looks to be a steal at $4.99, but by the time I buy controllers, a power cord, a cable to connect the Xbox to a TV, and a few decent games I'm down about fifty bucks. But would I buy a complete Xbox system at Goodwill for $50? Nope, I'd walk right by thinking only a fool would pay that much. But who's the fool?

Maybe I should rethink my thrift store shopping strategy? I'm not really saving money am I? Oh, who cares. I shop there because it's fun, and I don't know where the journey will take me.

Anyway, I decided I needed a 126 film camera that had a built-in flash because I didn't want to mess around with flash bulbs, and I don't want to be restricted to taking pictures only on sunny days. I hunted around and found these cameras for sale on etsy.com. 

The total cost with shipping was $30, and I didn't think was too bad, considering the Kodak camera on the right is rated as one of the finest Instamatic cameras ever produced. That's not the camera I was after, but it's a cool bonus. 

But boy was I disappointed when the cameras arrived. The Instamatic 500 was in okay shape, but the Keystone camera with the flash didn't work at all. Here's the message I sent the seller.

I wasn't all that nice, but I felt like I had the right to complain. Within an hour the seller responded by sending me a partial refund. That was fast, and I had to admit she seemed more honest that I had thought. I felt better, but I had spent $18 on cameras I didn't need, and I still didn't have one with a flash.

The next Saturday Daphne, Phaedra (Daphne's sister), and Charlotte went shopping, so I mowed the yard and then hit a flea market. That's where I found a Keystone camera just like mine. And this one was broken, too! The shutter button was stuck. I don't know why, but I opened the back cover to look inside, and that's where I spotted this little, metal lever.

When I pushed it to the right, the shutter button popped up, and when I pressed that button down, the camera took a picture. Crap. This camera wasn't broken, and I bet the one at home isn't either. 

When I got back, I checked my camera, and of course the little lever made my button pop right up. Man, I felt like an ass. Because I didn't know enough about these cameras, I had rooked an honest woman out of her money.

The only thing that kept me from immediately owning up to my mistake was that flash. I cleaned the battery contacts with steel wool and rotated four different batteries through without any success. It still wouldn't work. So, the camera was still technically broken. Wasn't it? I checked the Etsy ad, but I couldn't find any mention of the flash at all. I did see that she had listed the cameras "as is". She could have easily played the "as is" card and refunded me nothing. 

I had to suck it up, and admit I was a dork. My integrity is worth a lot more than a little embarrassment and a few bucks. After getting Charlotte to bed, I placed the camera next to the computer, and I sent the seller an explanation and her money back. She deserved both.

After hitting the "send" button, I closed the laptop, and picked up my camera. I was about to carry it to the basement where I'd hide it in my closet, but then I noticed something.

The "ready light" for the camera's flash had come on. That didn't seem possible, but I pressed the shutter button, and the room was momentarily bathed in an explosion of white light. 

I couldn't quite believe it. I waited a few seconds and watched the red light slowly grow bright again. And again the flash fired when I pressed the button. Since then, I have tried the flash several times on different days, and it has always worked. So I wouldn't be lying when I typed this, I just tried it a moment ago. There are probably a lot of explanations of why the flash now works, but I know which one I'm going with. 

I told my friend Tim this story, and when I finished he broadly smiled and said, "Congratulations. You passed the test."