Off Duty Details

I came across this blog post and it inspired me to dust off my Diana, load her up with some Kodak film and take her out for a night out around town. I forget how easy she can be: light as a feather, simple to shoot and extremely low maintenance; I can quickly toss her over my shoulder and off I go. If you've been following along on instagram, you'll notice I did this all of last week. While off duty I brought her along to capture details of my evenings. Last week was also the perfect week to do so; we had temperatures in the high 80's which meant lots of time spent outdoors walking around the city, dining out and drinking delicious summer drinks such as bubble tea!

Notes on Double Exposure

I love shooting double exposure on the Diana after this beautiful mistake. You aren't quite sure what you'll get which builds much anticipation while waiting to get your scans back from the lab.

A double exposure is exactly what it sounds like: exposing the same frame with two different images. The first image I consider the base or foundation, is shot on a setting lower than I would normally shoot (under-expose) to capture the shadows. I will make a mental note of the shadows for the next image and this is important because the shadows or darker areas of the first photo will allow details on the second image to come through; I will usually over-expose the second image.

My favorite photo is the following double exposure of me and the Seattle Great Wheel. My beau took the first photo me against a red brick wall and when we reached Victor Steinbrueck Park, I took the second photo of the Seattle Great Wheel over his image. When I showed him this photo, he said, 'this is a great representation of a girl in the city', (among other inappropriate observations I will not mention on here). 

Notes on *Camera Setting 

The Shutter Speed Switch located on the top of the Lens has two settings: "N" and "B". Use N mode when you are shooting in sunny conditions or switch the B mode when you are shooting indoors or in low light.

On the bottom of the Lens is the Aperture Setting. This controls how wide the shutter opens. There are four settings available. Three of them match the outdoor weather conditions: sun, partial clouds and full clouds. The fourth one, "P," is for pinhole shots.

*source: http://microsites.lomography.com/diana/getting-started/ 

My hands are not steady enough to shoot on bulb mode. Most of the photos I shot on bulb turned out blurry - not in the cool retro sort of way either - more as in, did a two year old get a hold of my camera? way. I think I will keep my shutter speed on Normal from now on. 

The more I spend time shooting the more I realize how natural it is for me to observe my surroundings or moments through photography. It makes me so happy to be able to roam around the city with my camera in hand. There is always that little voice inside me nudging me to pick up my camera. The more I listen to it, the stronger it gets and the stronger my ability to do only those things I love become. 

Developed and Scanned at Panda Lab