Category Archives: Uncategorized

{Go Ask Alice} Memphis Botanic Garden

I was really excited when I got these film scans back!

These photos were taken in May of 2022. We were supposed to be going to the Memphis Botanic Garden’s “Alice’s Adventures at the Garden” exhibit as a birthday outing for our friend Mallory, but she got sick and couldn’t attend. She was really adamant that the four of us still go, so we honored her wishes and went to the exhibit without her (We did go see her afterwards though!)

Stained glass leaves suspended from the ceiling of the Botanic Gardens’ lobby

The exhibit consisted sculptures made from real, living plants! There was a part of me thought that they would be faux flowers/plants, so I was AMAZED by what I saw when we got to the gardens.

My sister and niece walking to the gardens

Mom <3 She loved looking at the exhibit so miuch!

I thought this stained glass bench was amazing!

I liked getting to see people trimming and maintaining the exhibit. Because that’s showing that the exhibit was a living, breathing thing.

All in all, it was a very cool experience, and I was glad I had the opportunity to visit and photograph the Alice’s Adventures in the Garden exhibit!

Nikon N80 • Agfa Vista 200
(Sigma Super Wide II 28mm f/2.8 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D lenses used)

 

 

{Paper Shoot} Some Assembly Required

Meet my latest toy:

Some assembly required. The camera arrives flat, and you just insert the batteries and SD card into the included camera board, lay the camera board into the case, fold it closed, and place two screws to keep the case closed. Sounds more complicated than it is. 

The Paper Shoot Camera. They’re all over social media, and I have wanted one for awhile. It’s billed as a replacement for disposable film cameras. There isn’t a screen on the back of camera, so you don’t see the results of your efforts until you transfer the photos to a computer or phone.

What prompted me to finally buy myself one was the passing of my mother. As strange as it might sound, I knew that having a fun little photography tool would help me through my days. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about taking photos after the loss of my mother, and this little camera has been something I could play around with and not take too seriously.

I normally go into a camera’s specs when I post about it for the first time, but the Paper Shoot doesn’t have a lot of specs!

  • My version is 18MP, though there are some 16MP Paper Shoot cameras available.
  • There are four color filters that you can set via a switch on the back: normal color, black and white, sepia, and cool tone.
  • The case is interchangeable, and they have many designs you can purchase on the Paper Shoot site.
  • You can also get accessory lens sets, such as macro and prism lenses.
  • It runs on two rechargeable AAA batteries.
  • It comes with a USB-C cable that you can use for transferring your photos to a computer or charge the batteries. For what it’s worth, I use an SD card reader to be able to transfer the photos directly to my phone without needing a camera.
  • These cameras can actually take short videos – ten seconds. There is a time lapse setting where you let the camera take photos for thirty minutes and get a ten second video of them. I have not used this function very much because, unless you get a particular accessory function card for the camera, it needs to be hooked up to a power source while shooting video.
  • The Paper Shoot has a VERY wide angle lens. I am not 100% sure, but I read somewhere that it’s the equivalent of 22mm in 35mm terms. It actually reminds me of my Lomography La Sardina.

 

I did my best to demonstrate the differences between each filter

And now for an assortment of photos I have taken with the Paper Shoot since I received it in February. As you will be able to tell from the photos below, I found the camera to be a master of mirror selfies.

d

Conclusion?

If I could change one thing, it would be to make the“viewfinder” more accurate regarding what you see through it vs. the actual image captured. Because the lens on the camera is so wide and the viewfinder doesn’t reflect that, you need to keep that in mind when taking photos. If I use the viewfinder to frame my photo, I always take several steps forward toward my subject to try to make up for the “what you see vs. what the camera sees” factor.

What I saw through the viewfinder

What the camera captured

All in all, the Paper Shoot camera is pretty much the fun little thing that I had hoped it to be. It’s not supposed to be the most fully-featured camera, so I don’t expect it to work like an SLR. But the camera is advertised as an eco friendly alternative to a film disposable camera, so I just think of it in those terms. And the Paper Shoot absolutely beats what you can do with its film counterpart!

Since I mentioned that I got this camera to help me some with the loss of my mother, I want to say that I’m bummed she’s not here to see photos I’ve taken with the Paper Shoot. She would have thought it was SO cool.

Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself My Blog

It’s occurred to me that it’s been so long since I’ve had film developed ($$$) and blogged about it that there may be people who know me now but don’t know that I’ve had this blog since 2009! So I wanted to come back and say hi.

In making this post, I have to say something more personal than usual:

My mom passed away in January of this year.

She was my biggest supporter. Mom was the hype man for her kids. I can go back and look at the comments she’s made about my blog posts, and those feel bittersweet now. It’s been hard to go forward, but I know she wouldn’t be pleased if I didn’t keeping doing things I (and she) enjoyed, like making photos and baking.

Looking through the posts I’ve shared in the past, I feel like Mom is everywhere here.

All that to say: I’m getting film developed. I have a new little digital camera that I’ve been playing around with. I am going to try to start blogging again. And it’s all for you, Mom.

 

 

 

{No Time Like the Present} Minolta Hi-Matic AF2, 2019

This post does fall into the “no time like the present” blog category, but it’s also sort of “hey, I got to try out ANOTHER Minolta Hi-matic AF2!”

I say that these cameras keep coming to me. I had my original Hi-matic AF2 from 2017 when I found so many cameras at thrift shops (I paid $2.50 for it.) Then, early in 2019, I happened upon another one for $1.00 at a local discount store that sells mostly used goods. It was pretty dirty, but I couldn’t leave it there. That one works, but I never got around to using it. Then, a few months later, I found the pièce de résistance: a Minolta Hi-Matic AF2 that came with the lens cover! It isn’t a big deal, but since this was the first time I’d found one with the cover, I had to have it! (Cost: $8.00)

I happened to go to a baseball game a couple of days after finding this camera, so that’s where this roll of film began. Also: I bought this camera because I wanted the lens cap, then nearly lost it forever at this baseball game. It fell off somewhere, and I really didn’t think that I’d be able to find it. It was next to a trash can 🙁

Taken at Redbirds Stadium in downtown Memphis, Tennessee

 

Minolta Hi-matic AF2 • Fuji Superia 400

Bonus photo of the lens cover that came with this camera. It covers the shutter button as well so it doesn’t get tripped by accident.

 

Post Navigation