It finds you in the smallest details of life

"I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know it's not some place you can look for...

     it finds you in the smallest details of life." 

It finds you in the smallest details of life, originally uploaded by Janelka.

Thanks to this lovely young lady, of For the Easily Distracted (someone else with camera crushes!) I found out about a little friendly competition going on here. (The above image is my current entry, although I may add another one before the end of the day.)

The rules are posted here by our lovely competition hostess. Her blog, "See me everywhere" is pretty and a fun read.

While I would sure enjoy a Sprocket Rocket camera, I'm happy to just see everyone else's take on the theme. So many wonderfully lovely images to drool over. 

Back from a while away

I've been traveling and thinking and planning and house and garden fixing, and all of those things have kept me busy and away from my blogs. I want to consolidate things, but for now, I have to admit that I am having the hardest time whittling down my blogs. So, for now, this one continues. I want to keep a fun experimental blog going, and for now this one is my best answer to that desire.
So the good news is that I had a lovely holiday to my childhood homeland. The bad news is that my Polaroid 350 decided to rebel and I didn't get one shot out of it. The other goodness (because I hate to end on bad news) is that my other cameras cooperated, and I have a few scanned and ready to start sharing, and others that I have yet to get developed.
Lots and lots to share from beautiful Texas coming up.
For now, here's a Polaroid:

A rare day

A rare day, originally uploaded by Janelka.

Pine Valley, UT. First it snowed a bit, and then it was just this lovely, dreamy, quiet. This was only about 45 min away from my house (driving), but it felt like a different world. And so different from my last visit there.
Polaroid Spectra (first edition), Image Softtone film. 

Camera love

A few of my cameras, clockwise from the top left: Polaroid sx70, Diana mini, Polaroid 350 land camera, Canon Canonet QL17, Holga 120N, Holga 120 GN. The camera taking the photo? Its pretty new (to me): a Polaroid sx70 SONAR OneStep. I received it from an amazing woman/friend of mine as a gift out of the blue. How wonderful is that? The film is from The Impossible Project, the px70 PUSH! variety.

I'm loving how this photo turned out, how the center is the sharpest spot, and how the colors all turned out dreamy. (My Holga 120N is in real life black and pistachio.) And aren't the crackles so lovely? You can see it cropped and more up and personal by clicking here.

All of the cameras pictured above have been getting a lot of love lately, with the Diana mini being the exception. Not because of anything she's done. She's just brand new. As in, I got her in the post today and barely loaded her up with her inaugural roll of film. A fresh batch of Lucky brand film, 200 iso. I'm so looking forward to snapping away. If you don't yet know about the Diana mini, she's a special kind of camera that can take either square format photos or half frames. That means that if I wanted, I could get 72 photos out of one 36 exposure roll of film. I can also switch between square and half frame during one roll of film, and still do double exposures like I can with my regular-sized Diana (or Holga). Besides, she's ridiculously tiny and cute. And my only white camera. What's not to love about this camera? I'm taking her out of a test drive this weekend. I'll let you know how that all goes real soon. By the way, I bought this baby on clearance, which always feels nice.

The Gift of Spring

Thank you for bursting into life in my absence, for being so abundant, and for being so fragrant and happy in the face of the duration of winter.

When the whole sky wanted to be a cloud

When the whole sky wanted to be a cloud, originally uploaded by Janelka.

There are times when streams become rivers. At times rain is so fine that the whole sky becomes a single cloud that encompasses all that you can see. I was witness to just such occasions this past week. The rains came down for five days straight in my little part of the desert. Not normal. And somewhat destructive. However, there was beauty to be found in all the rain and storminess.
This little scene was in New Harmony, Utah.
This photo was taken with a Spectra camera using Paul Giambarba Edition Image Film.

St George, Utah

St George, Utah, originally uploaded by Janelka.

St George, Utah temple. If you look closely, you might notice that the foreground contains a fig tree. You can also make out a window and the top details of the temple.
Taken on a Polaroid One camera using Silver Shade film (from The Impossible Project).

November roses

November roses, originally uploaded by Janelka.

Now that everything is truly dying outside, I like looking at this photo to remind me how lucky I am that I have such a long growing season where I live.
This was taken using a SX 70 model 2 camera, using PX 70 First Flush film.

a winter evening in the desert

a winter evening in the desert, originally uploaded by Janelka.

This shot on the outskirts of St George, Utah. Sometimes I just have to go out in search of new places to photograph. Its nice when those places aren't too far from home.
I used Paul Giambarba Edition Image film purchased from The Impossible Project in a thrifted Spectra camera.
The sky has this lovely ribbon of glowing color along the horizon; I'm so glad that I captured that along with the desert flora in the forefront.

Desert Moon

desert moon, originally uploaded by Janelka.

The last little bit of sunset was ducking behind some distant hills when I turned around and noticed the lovely scene playing out behind me. The moon was out, snuggling with the clouds, and there was this vast, beautiful desert before me.

This photo was take on my Polaroid 430 Land Camera using expired Polaroid 690 film.

Cami and Andrew, part 3

Kolob Couple, originally uploaded by Janelka.

I can't help from sharing another photo of the series. The big day is just under a couple of weeks away. So exciting! 

This photo was taken on a Keystone 60 second Everflash camera (Polaroid clone)-- and the film is Polaroid 690 pack film. 

The 690 and the ID-UV are tied as my favorite films. I think the 690 has a little more yellow to it, which is great fun in fields of golden grass, but the ID-UV has that amazing tendency to have the sky go all aqua. I can't decide what I like better.

Cami and Andrew, part 2

Another of Cami and Andrew from our photo shoot. They did the hard work, scouting out the location ahead of time. Apparently Andrew stops in to photograph this area whenever he's around. He picked a lovely spot. And the day was just fantastic for photos. The lighting changed a few times. Believe it or not, I prefer the challenge of adjusting for the lighting. You get so many more options and moods out of one shoot that way.

This photograph was shot on my sx70 using The Impossible Project's px70 film. I love how this shot turned out. It is my personal favorite. And yes, now I'm hoping to have someone take a few more Polaroid photos of Jon and I dressed up in our wedding attire. And maybe a few Holga shots as well... yea, that'd be nice.

101010

Cedar City

The above photograph was taken on my trusty Berkey Keystone Everflash camera. Man I love that thing. I have had some shutter issues with some of my Polaroid cameras, especially when shooting on really bright days, but my Keystone has yet to fail me. I always get some kind of image. Sure, this one is a little over exposed, but that's my doing. 

I may have picked up yet another Polaroid camera at a thrift store. I had the intention of finding and bringing home shelves to better organize my art space, but there weren't any to be found. Well, I didn't count rickety plastic ones as an option. But as I was passing by the small "Collectibles" area, I couldn't help but spy a small group of lonely cameras. After looking at them all, I decided to take the Polaroid Big Swinger 3000 home with me. You can check out a commercial for it HERE. They're funny plastic beasties, and this particular model can only take ISO 3000 film. So, it isn't all that versatile, but you can still get film for it easily, and that's what matters, right? Also, this guy used spreader bars rather than rollers to push the goop that develops the photos. So far all my other Polaroids have rollers. There is probably a reason for this-- the rollers probably work better, but well, I couldn't help myself. I just had to try it out. So, I'm sure there will be photos with that little guy that'll show up here soon.

santa clara valley

santa clara valley, originally uploaded by Janelka.

On a whim, Jon and I took a lovely long walk to check out the petroglyphs in Santa Clara. There was some really fun/stunning/amusing rock art. The scenery was rather lovely, too. Jon and I tried to imagine how the ancient natives lived out there, when the climate was a little different. Jon pointed out that where the petroglyphs are, there are alcoves where you could hide from the sun or prepare meals as well as large flat rocks to lay out and sun yourself on. It painted a pretty picture in my head.

This photo was taken just after the sun ducked behind a desert mountain peak.
I used my Berkey Keystone camera, on expired Polaroid ID-UV film.

Instant Utah

View From The Depths

I snapped the one above while hiking around Bryce Canyon on Sept 6th. We met a guy there who used to use a Polaroid 180, and was very intrigued by my use of instant film in this day and age. We had a good little chat and then ran into him (and his wife?) a few more times along the Navajo Trail. This picture was taken with my Berkey Keystone Everflash on ID-UV Polaroid film that expired 03/2008. Hence the color shift and corner that didn't quite work out. I love it all the more for its imperfections.

In comparison, the next two photographs below were taken on the same Everflash camera, but on Fuji 100-C film.

Grafton here, send more tractors.

The ghost town of Grafton was a fun little site to walk around. Besides using my Everflash, I took photos on my Diana camera (and possibly my Holga as well). There are a handful of structures that remain standing as memory of what could have been. This was a failed pioneer project not too far from modern-day Springdale, Utah.

Rock Hounds

Jon's friends Mike and Phil came in from the Cincinnati area for the wedding. When they came through the St. George area we took them to Grafton and this rock pit. Aren't we great hosts? I'm not sure what they thought of Grafton, but to be honest, they all got a kick out of our local pit. Mike LOVES rocks. He ran around with this excitement and enthusiasm that was infectious, flipping through rocks and finding a few to ship back to Ohio. I didn't quite focus on the guys too well, as the pile of dust in front of their feet is what came out crisp, but you get the general idea of what's going on, right?

The Tiniest Island

I obviously didn't take this last photograph. Jon did. On my Everflash, again. And the ID-UV film. As you can see, there was a lot of fun color-shifting going on, plus it came out a little over-exposed. I love the blue shadow and how my hair looks auburn. Hmm... auburn hair. There's an idea.

Hawaiian Polaroids

In trying to decide which of my Polaroid cameras to take with me to Kauai, I kept coming back to The Reporter, and my Polaroid knock-off, a Berkey Keystone Everyflash. Both big black cameras-- the Keystone had already made some lovely images, but it is a huge brick of a thing. While The Reporter was up til then untested, it is much more compact and manageable. Ultimately, size and weight mattered when hiking. I have posted below the shots I took with my Polaroid camera, titled The Reporter. These photos remind me of the feel of each of these places more than the crisp images that Jon and I got on our digital cameras.

Waimea Canyon. The Grand Canyon of Kauai. It is indeed a grand place, home to mountain goats and soaring birds and trees and a wild wind.

We were in a place where the clouds rubbed up against the mountain's edge, where they bumped, jostled, and rough-housed until they finally fell over one another and rolled over the tree tops and over the edge of the mountains themselves. . .

Lawai International Center

How I loved this magical, quiet, spiritual place. Whispers of hopes, wishes, and prayers nestle among the ferns and shrines that line the hillside. I couldn't help but feel peace settling down into my bones as I walked the trails of the grounds. It felt as though this sleepy, quiet, powerful place woke something in me.

This is how I'll remember these sites-- in the magical, nostalgic, slightly blown-out sepia tones of my expired Polaroid film.

The Start of Something Lovely

So, I have recently obtained two old Polaroid cameras. One is a Super Shooter, and it looks like THIS. The other is a land camera, model 215, and it looks like SO. Or, if you want to look at it from the side, look HERE.

Snow Canyon, at dusk-- A Super Shooter photograph.


Cedar Breaks. Super Shooter shot.

I love how it got all melty along the right edge. Some might call that a mistake, but I'm rather happy with it.

Desert Blossoms.

The photo above, I took just outside of Jon's house with my 215.
The one below is the same subject matter a little bit later in the day taken with my Super Shooter. I decided that out of focus helped me focus on the color better. Plus, as a bonus, you still get the impression of flowers and clouds and deep blue desert sky.





And, a shot Jon took of me when we were hiking around a couple of weekends ago...

This shot was taken on my 215 up American Fork Canyon on a little side trail that we stumbled upon.

Trying to do some closer focus using my 215, I should have known better than to trust Leo to hold still. It was getting dusky, so there wasn't much light, and Leo loves to roll, so here's what I got:

Polaroids

Heads up: Polaroid shots will start popping up here soon... Just as soon as I get them scanned and get to the internet again. I have a couple of old school Polaroids that I have been putting to work lately, and I'm excited about what they have been putting out.