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Ratioed R - Medium Format Panoramas

I am not sure that these count as panorama photographs. Well they are in the 2:1 ratio. The neg is 6x3 cm. (I describe how I modded the camera here .) The negatives were developed in caffenol. Film Fomapan 400Action. The camera is a Seagull TLR which I bought in 1994. I exposed something like 10 rolls in the first 20 years. This year I exposed 10 rolls. The above photograph is here primarily because you see the swirly bokeh in the out-of-focus areas. The lens isn't top class but I am very pleased with it. Thanks for reading this post! Don't hesitate to comment or check out my Instagram at #ourbooksmalmo . Visit my Etsy shop getOurBooks where there are cameras and photography equipment aplenty to choose from.

Halinar Halos - Crap Lens Lends Charm

I modded the Halinar Anastigmat lens for use on M39 mount (read here ). The lens is super bad in several ways. 1. It focuses from 0,5 meters to 1,7 meters. 2. There is only an open aperture at f/2,8 3. There is only focus within a circle in the middle. More bad things: 4. The out of focus bits are wild. It's as if the lens glass is full of bubbles (which it is not). 5. There is very swirly bokeh. See below. All these bad things are good things! They add character to the photographs. One of my favourite photos was made with a lens mounted on a cheap speed booster. There was circling/swirly bokeh in the out of focus background though I used a first class (standard) Nikon lens. That was due to the cheap 'booster' lens. But the photo has great character due in part to the 'circling' shapes. More Halinar photos: The first snow on the windscreen. A child who loves Halloween but not the scary bits. A craftsman making sheep skin slippers. The new winter coat. Thanks ...

In the Shadow of the Season - on Photography in Winter

I live in a cold dark place. No, not really. But the summer season (spring, summer, autumn) is markedly different to the winter. Once the temperature drops below 8-10°C being outdoors is a pain. The time of the year between mid-october and late april means getting outdoors is a project - dressing for it if you're going to spend some time outside is a hassle. And you will suffer if you mess up. Being a photographer who makes photographs in the winter time takes some dedication. You can see what kind of photographer I am by leafing through my negatives: One or two rolls exposed between October and March. Add another twenty for the summer months. A few years ago we went the farthest north I've ever been in the world: Jokkmokk. In the middle of Sami territory. It was late January and the temperature dropped to -20°C at times. I figured that the cold would suck out the power from my digital camera in notime. What to use, then? The most analog and cogs-and-levers-camera I had was t...

Four, Five, Crap - or Using Underperformer Cameras Pt. Two (Adox, Meisupii, Halina)

No. 4: Adox Golf IIA. That release. It's a plain stupid design! This camera has all that I need. A good set of apertures, some exposure times, with B mode. Scale focusing. Okay, the shutter is stupid. I've added a big pin so I don't cause camera shake. Because with that big release you'll get it. When you press the shutter you can hear three little clicks in close succession. I love it. All the secrets of producing a photograph in one press. Below are photographs I made with Lomography's redscale film. I exposed it at 50 ASA. Look at those greens! I think that they are the strongest selling point of the redscale film for me. The Adox lens is really good unless you poke it directly into the sun or bright reflective surfaces. No. 5: Meisupii Half It reminds me of a tin of sardines. This one's all aluminium. There's no focusing, just depth of field-control when choosing the aperture at f/8-16. It is a half-frame camera, riding on the wave of the Olympus...

Very Bad Lens - Great Character Flaws

These are the first photographs that I made with a lens from a Halina Crown(?) camera. I modded it to M39 mount so I can use it on my Fujifilm cameras.  The colours are great - I use Velvia mode on my XE-1 but I experience that the Halina lens adds even more. Also the out-of-focus areas are wild!  In the midst of modding the aperture froze at f/2,8 so that's all I get, but I don't mind.  Also focusing can't go further than 2 meters. I was too hasty in modding it to check for infinity focus. But I don't mind.  Character. That's what this lens adds to the photographs. There is sharp areas somewhere in the middle. With a fully open aperture a focus point is a bit difficult to find at times. Thanks for reading this post! Don't hesitate to comment or check out my Instagram at  #ourbooksmalmo . Visit my Etsy shop  getOurBooks  where there are cameras and photography equipment aplenty to choose from.