One semester in college my entire photography class had to prepare individual slideshows with backing music, to be presented to the open public.

The process was actually pretty grueling, too. We had to first create a storyboard of our idea, shoot it, develop the negs and then print them onto litho film to create the positive, then cut out each slide and glue it into a slide case. It was a great learning experience but man, I never want to do that again!

My slideshow was called The Tourist and revolved around a darker Alice in Wonderland sort of tale. Basically, girl reads a book, falls asleep, finds herself awake in a weird new world and has to find her book to get transported home, only to be left wondering if it really happened or not.

The soundtrack to this is “Kefka’s Theme” from the Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections, one of my favorite albums ever. The music playing at the credits is “Kids Run Through The City Corner,” also from the VI Collection.

Anyway, I started making a digital version of my slideshow in Windows Movie Maker last summer and never quite finished it. Mostly I’m missing a couple frames (hence the repeat shots), and I went a little overboard with the camera shake effects, but overall I’m pleased with where I left off.

Despite all that, I thought I’d post it for s&g’s. Hope you enjoy it, too! And Happy Sunday. :)

So I’m well aware that a Wilford Brimley Cat already exists on the internet, but I’d like to nominate this cat as his eventual successor.

The eyes say it all.

I laughed and laughed when she was first spotted during my photo walk the other day. No offense to this cat or its owners, but I’m pretty sure it’s the ugliest pet I’ve ever seen– from the nub tail and big swingin’ gut to the Tortie coloring we all know I’m no fan of.

But I’m such a softy that I made sure to apologize to the innocent cat before we continued our little stroll. You are loved, my friend. <3

Spotted somewhere around NE 12th and Stanton.

On Wednesday my dreams came true and I finally acquired a new lens– the 85mm f/1.8.

I broke it in by taking advantage of the good weather and going on a little walk down NE 12th with friends, with our ultimate destination sandwich happy hour at Petisco.

It was like a zoo out there, too. So many cats and dogs out and about, including a cat with breasts and my personal favorite, Wilford Brimley Cat 2.0. Look forward to that post tomorrow. :)

Way back in 2003 my mom gave me a Holga 120s and a buttload of film for Christmas. Back then my serious love for photography had just been blooming– I shot 35mm film like a mother, but hadn’t yet taken an actual photography class and discovered the joys of black & white, or developing my own film, etc.

I also lived in a podunk city that didn’t have any business that could develop the film– my only option was to ship it off somewhere.

Thus the initial feeling of being overwhelmed with my new toy overshadowed my joy and I never properly learned how to use it.

This morning before work I sat down and watched a YouTube video on how to load/unload the film and then immediately used my newfound knowledge to extract a roll that had been in my Holga since 2003!

Which means that this is a very overdue letter to my mother:

Dear Mom,

I’m sorry it took me over six years (!) to put your amazing Christmas gift to any kind of use besides a nice piece of decor on my bookshelf.

But now that I’ve left college and am suffering from post-darkroom depression my love for film photography has resurfaced and I’m willing to take on the Holga challenge.

Also thank you for the crocheted hats. Chris wears his every day.

With Love,
Your Daughter

I found a nearby lab that will develop just the negs for pretty darn cheap and, while I realize that failure is inevitable– especially with a Holga– I’m really excited to just be trying something new again.

It’s the same high I got when I first walked out of the HSU darkroom with a test print in my hands as I smiled ear to ear in wonderment at the magic I’d just done.

I’ve been so excited all day that I pulled out all my analog gear out of the cupboards and loaded the Pentax up with some film I’d found lying around, too. That T-Max 100 roll is the stuff I bought in college and it’s already been used, which means I’ve got some exciting presents waiting for me inside that canister!

Thanks for being awesome, Mom.

I fell off the egg train for a bit there– having something every single day, no matter how tasty the noms may be, tends to have such a tragic result.

But now that I’ve paid my dues and had oatmeal and fruit in its place, I’m back on another cholesterol on a carbohydrate kick.

I’m seriously amazed that I could ever get sick of eating this!