Good Intentions vs. Good Inventions

It's Sunday morning again and I've got 3rd-cup-of-coffee jitters. I'm convinced Sunday was invented for day-dreaming, blogging and surfing iTunes. Well...that and watching the husband nap his way through televised sporting events, our 2 black labs piled around him in a sleepy mess of limbs.

But lets get started. First I'd like to thank all the people who make photography look easy. My experience has been humbling, a needed reminder that luck, while it's been a good friend in the past, can only do so much for me. (Hopefully she'll be available later tonight for a poker game...)

Photography is not only about having a hard copy for practical or aesthetic purposes. It's unique proof that life is moving forward and that these moments can never be undone and never be re-created. And maybe of less importance but more fun, it represents an opportunity to create art. I'll take any chance I get.

Without further ado or any concern that these should not be conisdered art, here are a few prints from Diana roll numero uno. The first three were an experiment* with multiple exposure, which means several pictures were taken over the same section of film.

*Also referred to as "forgetting to advance the film cuz you're a dumb ass..."

Double-exposure of one subject, a stone stairwell. Un-intentional and ghostly.

Triple-exposure of the stairwell, a runner on the greenbelt, and the view looking straight up into a tree. Completely un-intentional, but I love how the lines on the greenbelt just happen to divide the stairwell.

Quadruple-exposure of the Library! and the Boise Art Museum. Half-intentional. Meant to have a double-exposure of Library! and a double-exposure of BAM on separate photographs.

I recently decided that the word "intention" was invented for moments when the exact opposite of what I wanted to have happen, happens... Grrr..... However, this is the nature of the Diana camera, and is not "intended" to be discouraging. These photos are at least and best, interesting.... but my skills must surely get better from here.

Here are the remaining 2 photos of only 5 that came out. The other 7 exposures on the roll ended up blank, as well as my entire 3rd roll, for reasons the fine people at Idaho Camera are still trying to pinpoint.

Roll number two up next..

Aww geez...I feel a quote coming on...

It's late Sunday morning. I have coffee and sunshine and puppies and Otis Redding. Normally this would make me a content and rather happy girl. Instead, I crave the instant gratification that is digital photography as I countdown to Monday 1700 hour, when the first set of prints taken on my new Diana F+ camera will be ready for pick-up.

A former novelty given away at gas stations & boardwalks in the '60s (and very unexpected 29th birthday present from my husband), the toy-like Diana is made almost entirely of plastic and is stupid-simple to use. The camera's noted unpredictability, though, has taken a recent and compelling hold over me. Her fruits are often those of mishap, failure and unfortunate accident, but their dreamy blurriness and cult-worthy artistic quality leave me intrigued.

Sadly, I lack the patience to wait for the actual results of my virgin attempt. So I hosted a little self-challenge to see if I could mimic the trademark Diana elements, sans-camera, using digital pics and somewhat modest editing software.

I give you " The Diana Initiative".... (yes, I watch Lost)

Ok.....

I'm not sure I actually enjoyed that exercise. Kind of took the fun out of it. Once again I find that the short cut ended up being the long way to the wrong place.

What it boils down to: The adventure of the shoot + the suspense of production = way cooler shitty photos.

"The gratification comes in the doing, not the results." - James Dean.

Shall we start by sending you away?

Seems silly. In my very first post I'm going to ask you to head right over to someone else's website. The logical blogger would be sharing the many reasons you should hang out right here where you are. My left brain is kinda shouting "Tell them to stay. Tell them we have a big comfy couch!"

But me and my right brain are just too impressed by this super bad A website we just found! And since I've decided to start taking more risks lately, I'm gonna have to ask you to go ahead and visit an online gallery called Charmingwall.


When I think about shopping for art, I imagine a kind of sensory experience; one that engages you and that is, well usually, three-dimensional.

But I bet you'll forget you're in 2-D once you start clicking all over this amazingness! Unless your monitor is really small. That sucks.

Ya know what makes up for it though? Each and every print is only $20.

http://www.charmingwall.com/