Of Pentax and 35mm’s

I’m so excited to share this here, mainly because these are my first shots using the Pentax! What’s even more exciting was that I got the exposures right! Hahahaha

Naturally, I started with portraits (of my sister and cousin huhu thank you for always being there for my first times—even though I know you’re just after the fact that you get to have a new photo of urselves lols) and of course, plant life and my beloved dog. ❤️

All the plant life  subjects were just captured from our garden, along our street, and by the gate of our village. I guess what I’m trying to say is— let’s all try to stop and smell the roses (in this case, even just weeds/wildflowers! hahaha).

PLANTLIFE

This one actually took me an entire half a day to research on. It’s so big along our village’s gate, that I thought it’s actually a huge bush or a tree. But they’re not– they’re vines!  Although still considered as weed type of vine, look how pretty it is thooo 😦 I took this photo after a good run…..to McDonalds LOL (I was craving their Hamdesal).

I personally think Coat Buttons are very underrated. Or maybe it’s my own personal taste–I like tiny wildflowers more than the big cultivated ones. I think wildflowers are like these little surprises by mother nature. They’re small, quiet, and maybe hidden, but in the right places.

This one is from our garden 🙂 I like it for its sunny disposition, don’t you think so?

We have this chilli pepper plant in our garden that was planted by a bird. I’m not kidding. Our househelp loves birds and would observe them from time to time when they perch and make a home among the small trees we have in our garden. We all thought she was the one who planted this in our garden because she’s got that green thumb and everything, but turns out a couple of birds dropped seeds here and there along our garden (or so she says!).

PORTRAITS

I mean naturally, I’d practice on my portrait photography with this baby, sooo. I used it as well in the same photoshoot sesh I’ve posted previously. Honestly, I’m just surprised I got the exposures correct, as with the plant life photographs. I was not able to use any light meter, so I’m just really glad I got it right the first try! (No wasted films! hahahaha) What I need to practice though is my focusing.

(pls excuse my arm’s shadow 😓🙄 huhuhuhu)

See? Like I said, my focus is a little rusty there. I had a tricky time with the viewfinder because it’s a little hazy or something (I got a secondhand camera, btw). I just need to get used to it, if anything.

These two were my very first shots! A little overexposed and a little underexposed  (and a little out of focus over there) lol, but I’m glad that I still got the shot somehow.

Lastly, I want to end this post with a picture of my dog ❤️

(I believe I got the light leaks over there from when I unwinded the film wrong for a minute)

Diana

YES. YES, people I’ve finally got these babies processed and ready for the world to see (and scrutinized lol). I wanna share my first experience with Diana here and basically, with film. Although I would always look at Lomography as more experimental than the legit analog ones. Anyway, I’m sharing this because a) I just really want to share how I started with all this. How I experimented, and how I learned from many, many mistakes. And b) I don’t know, maybe somewhere out there, there’s a person who’s also starting out with this whole thing, and maybe this post will hopefully help encourage them to not be afraid with experimenting, making mistakes, and ultimately sharing their works to the world. Because they’re not alone with this level one thing–everyone started from the bottom, one way or another. It’s on how we grow that we need to focus on.

So anyway, here goes nothing.

I’m not gonna lie, I already made the stupidest mistake in the first step, which is puting on yo film. Never forget that films (especially those with higher ISO’s) are like….sponges. And light is the water. Films are able to capture images by the light it absorbs. SO make sure when you load that baby, you better be in a dark room, or at least a relatively dark room.

I think these were the ones that were captured while I was loading it because I’m a stupid ass bitch lol. It took me a minute before I even remembered the rule of thumb. I was excited, guys. TOO excited. 😒

Here are the first two photos I’ve ever taken with it! :

It’s my sister, actually! We went to Town that day and her outfit was on point too so it was a perfect timing of things. Here are some other "first shots" I was able to take! :

Other thoughts I can put in here is that, try not to keep a film in for too long unless you’re aiming for that expired film look. I read that if you want to keep your stack of films real fresh for a long time, keep it in the fridge. Another tricky thing that you’ll find yourself practicing with is the focus. Diana Mini has 4 ranges/options you can choose from: 0.6m, 1-2m, 2-4m, and 4m-infinity. Most people just opt for the 4m-infinity because its just the most convenient setting. Although, if you’re a perfectionist, I bet you’d be playing around with the focal lengths here and there. I’ve struggled with this too as you can see:

But you’ll get used to it once you get the hang of it! Tips for these is I think, to keep the body metric system thing in your head (like how 1-2m can be approximately one arm length away).

Double exposure = fun, interesting photos you’d never actually think you’d take. Probably one of the main things people look forward to/are drawn to about lomography and analog.

Funny thing about is that sometimes you commit it unintentionally. How? Oh, well, not making sure you winded your film completely (so make sure you do! There are guides regarding the winding that sometimes it get stuck/hard to wind, but there are ways to handle this to successfully wind your film) :

Over all, all these mistakes became a big role in this experience as a teacher to me on how this analog world works. Personally, I know this is kind of cliche, but just don’t be afraid to make mistakes. I know films are actually hard to come by these days and are actually pretty pricey (especially here in the Philippines, I think), but I think the beauty of this is learning to trust your gut (but with the right guide of the right logic of course) and just take the risk. Most especially if you’re just starting out. It’s all about experimenting–“I wonder what that does”, “I wonder what will happen if…”, “Did I actually get my shot?”

Personally, I loved how it kept me on my toes and how it was just a continuously curious, fun ride.

PS. I don’t know how yet, but make sure you keep track of how many shots you’ve taken. I think there were shots from my film that weren’t able to make it thru and get processed. I don’t know how that works yet, but I swear I have some missing shots here and there….hmmmm… Do any of you guys know anything about this or maybe have an advice for me regarding all this lomo stuff? Feel free to comment! 🙂