Granny and Grumpa's, Revisit 2013: dltphoto

Its been over a year now since Wallace and I visited Granny and Grumpa's Antique collection in Abbotsford. Last time was very overwhelming and I was not well prepared for so much stuff. This time I went with an idea not to try to see it all, just to pick out certain shots and concentrate on nailing them. This time also I only frequented one of the barns. With another 3 barns available I'll have plenty more to shoot on 3 future occasions.
I shot with a few different camera's... As to be expected! I finally had chance to muck around with some wireless flash with my trusty Nikon 1 V1. This first image of the Ice Cream toting Statue of Liberty was done using one remote flash off camera. I really enjoy this shot. Possibly my favourite from the day. It shows wonderfully the clutter and craziness of this corner of the barn. It's actually where I picked up an interesting Lenticular Print which I bargained with Grumpa for. I'll attempt of shot of this in the future.

Here are a few images, still have some film out and some other gems to go though. I'll save them for a rainy day!

"But my phone takes better pictures...":dltphoto

Sadly, I hear this all to often. What can you say to this? YES, certainly a Phone is a handy device. More than likely you have it on at all times and as Chase Jarvis says, "the best camera is the one you have with you", at least I think Chase thought that up. However, NO your phone is not better than a camera. The final output is so much better with an actual camera. Now I have been promoting the use of a phone as a cool imaging device, and that's what it is, Cool, Handy, Quick, Convenient. Sometimes, if the scene is right, it can be hard to tell a phone shot from a camera shot, but it doesn't  replace a real camera.

Below are two images of the same scene, but dramatically different in look. One from my Nikon DSLR, and the other from my Samsung Galaxy S Phone.

In my eyes the more intriguing image is the first one. Its far more interesting with the wonderfully shallow depth of field that can be only created by the superior talents of a real camera, I could probably add some fancy action to the phone image, like a tilt-shift effect to make it more appealing but I still don't have the in-camera control to get the shot the way I want.

So, Yes a phone creates fun images but a REAL camera creates much BETTER images as long as you are willing to learn it!

Further to that... here are two images below. One with my phone and one with another camera, cropped to almost the same shot and both straight out of ummmm, well Camera!!!! Can you tell?

Cross Processing..was it a happy accident?: dltphoto

  Slide film development is a colour reversal  process allowing a positive image instead of the classic negative, there is also a technique of doing it incorrectly, purposefully, to reach an entirely different end result. This has become commonly known as Cross Processing.
I imagine someone sometime ago accidentally, not on purpose, developed there Slide film in the colour negative process and was probably jolly ticked off, however, after calming down found the results to be somewhat interesting!

Instead of the Slide film (E6 process) going into the correct chemical procedure, putting it into the regular (C41 process) film negative process can render some very interesting results.

 Firstly, its no longer a Positive, please remember back to holding up slides to the light and seeing a positive image (Fig A) you may have to go back a few years!!

Fig A

Anyways, since we are scrapping this correct process the film now becomes a negative! ( Fig B)

Fig B

 Now we have run it through the in-correct chemicals we have also "tainted" the colours in the process. We should now expect a higher contrast and bolder colours in the cross processed negative. This can lead to blown out highlights and sometimes loss of detail.... but we are monkeying with the correct process. Its our own fault. ummmm Blah blah blah..... here's the good stuff!

Granny & Grumpa's Antiques, Abbotsford: dltphoto

I was introduced to an unbelievable new shooting location by one of my photo accomplices, right under our noses here in Abbotsford on the Circle Farm Tour. I didn't have much of an idea of what I was really going to see there. Next time I visit I should have a goal or a topic to shoot, since there is SO much to see there, It was quite overwhelming. Barns and barns full of, well... junk. At least junk to someone, collectable works of art to others. Expected to only spend an hour or so there, we ended up calling it a day 3 hours later, and really still didn't do the place justice from a photographic point of view. (check Wallace's Post)
Mainly I could see more "instagr.am" style shots than really good photo content. Many signs and random objects that you wouldn't normally see. Overall after being kind of wow'ed by the place for the first hour or so I settled in to some shooting. Since it was all so packed in and dark the use of flash became apparent. For some reason though I couldn't get my  flash mojo going. Maybe it was my accidental foot dunk into a murky green bog thing, the concrete surrounding it  had a small channel built into it with  rotten plywood covering it... note to self, don't walk on plywood on concrete. Fortunately nothing got damaged, a few scrapes on the equipment and the leg, but it all still works. Could have been a lot worse!

The Pea Soup-Green Bog

The "Hole"

Plenty of textures to be had. That part I really enjoyed. Anything old and rusty is going to photograph well. I found a couple of old ornate radiators basking in the sun....texture heaven