Walking in Los Angeles (part 1 of ~ a million!)

walking in Los Angeles.....

Los Angeles River

...this one makes me want to do a whole series of
similar pictures of different truck sides!

d002

Diana Downtown and around

Although the previous owner of my Diana+ said they had only shot 1 roll of film with it, I was eager to get shooting as soon as I had my hands on it's little plastic body. The very first roll I shot was a color roll given to me by the previous owner (I haven't figured out where to get those developed yet), but the very next one was black and white. After getting out of work early one day,  I stopped in downtown Los Angeles to wander around and shoot. At this point I had already realized what an awesome, every day travel companion this camera would become, perfect for photography during the random bits of free time that sometimes appear.

Los Angeles Grand Central Market

Angels Flight rail

Pueblo de Los Angeles

downtown randomness including a palm, puddle and some of the police station

Los Angeles Union Station

Los Angeles Union Station

Pinhole of not downtown Los Angeles

d001

Carlsbad Caverns - the second roll, first; yashica mat style

 

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico (click to see larger versions!)

This is one of the black and white rolls I shot with the Yashica Mat 124G, an older Japanese Medium format camera. While scanning these, I was so excited about the results and to revisit the caverns! Over time I've become more fascinated, wondering when someone actually took a medium format camera into the caverns to shoot the beautiful, other worldly structures. I used 400 speed film and managed to do a decent job of stabilizing the camera by using handlebars, seating and breathing to get some pretty clear shots (i.e. no tripod.) Although I really think I should have been ok using this camera (I didn't use the lightmeter in the camera since I haven't been able to get the battery compartment open) while the bats came out at night, the rangers no longer allow cameras or electronics while the bats are flying, which was disappointing (I got some awesome shots of the bats last time I visited ~9 years ago!) I suppose film cameras are so rare now, especially without electronics, that the staff don't really consider it. Next time, I suppose....

ym003

3 little birds

3 little birds, cut from the same bird shape and collaged with different ideas; nearly all collage paper from a single magazine. bright, all human hair, black and white, with brads for wings, so the wings are positionable

Diana Visions 1

Oh joy! Although I've been shooting pretty regularly with my Diana+ camera for the last 4 months, none of the pictures have appeared here. Not because I didn't love the images (well...sometimes my experiments don't work, but that's expected), but because I still haven't managed to pull together the last couple of pieces of an enlarger/darkroom setup and I didn't have an scanner. So trapped on film, the images were only viewed in reverse on improvised lightboxes in my apartment. Then I received an awesome birthday gift of a scanner that will scan film, including medium format, so I've been a scanning worker bee for the last few days and likely will be for a couple more weeks. I'm only through about 3 rolls of film, but I still have at least 10 left (plus some film that hasn't been developed yet!) including some pictures from our trip to New Mexico last year, so there is plenty more of this to come. This first set were shot with the Diana+, an awesome little medium format film plastic toy camera that's extremely light, extremely simple (expose multiple times until your heart's content!), completely manually wound and has the ability to remove the lens and use it as a pinhole camera, which is awesome. I love having this little camera with me all of the time as an alternative opposite to my cell phone!

 

d008

10 on 10, March 2013

Although I intended on using a different camera for each 10 on 10 , I decided to go with my Olympus E-520 again this month.

my sweet, always moving, impossible to take perfect pictures of, rat : watering some of my air plants (hopefully more to come on these guys at some point) : visiting the farmers market : clear spring morning in Los Angeles : walking around doing errands :  crow captures while walking around  : doing stuff at home : trying to get my sewing machine to work again : preparing for black and white film developing :  film development complete!

3 Salved years

Yesterday made 3 full years of this little rattie nose in my home, bringing much love and amusement.

doodle faces 3 & 4

 expansion recommended:

"I AM LA NER"

reclaimed photos and pen, March 2013

doodle face 1
doodle face 2

Spinach Yogurt Dip

I've had the Spinach Kale Yogurt dip from Trader Joe's a few times. While tasty, it was a little pricey and I had a feeling it could be made at home with more variation and more veggies. After a trip to Follow Your Heart for a delicious meal and some of their vegan mayo (the first time I've ever bought any sort of mayo!!) and some googleing, I came across this recipe where most of the work was already done for me. I took some liberties to adjust the recipe a bit. I think next time I make it, I might not add any sort of sweetner or only add a tiny bit. It was way overpowering when eating it when it was first mixed, but it mellowed out a bit after being in the fridge for a little while. You can use yogurt and mayo with whatever fat content you feel comfortable with.


Spinach Yogurt Dip (4-8 servings, depending on whether it's your meal or a snack)

~1lb of plain Greek yogurt (I used a couple of single serving cups, so I had a little less)
-3 tablespoons mayo (I used vegan Follow Your Heart mayo)
-1 tablespoon agave syrup (or less)
-1 1/2 cups chopped spinach (frozen works, just thaw it first and squeeze out the excess water)
-3 to 5 thinly cut green onions
-1/2-3/4 cup bell pepper (fresh or jarred roasted)
-3-4 carrots
-3 celery stalks
-1/2 can water chestnuts
-garlic powder or fresh crushed garlic
-1 tablespoon fresh or dried parsley
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh or dried dill
-sea salt to taste
-pepper to taste
-paprika to taste

Chop all veggies into small semi-equally sized pieces and toss to combine. Mix in yogurt and spices to taste. Taste after refrigeration and adjust spices as necessary. Serve with veggies, crackers, crusty bread or anything else that sounds good. Yum!

10 on 10 - February 2013

This 10 on 10 was excitingly on a weekend day! Joy! Since it's easier to drag my DSLR along with me on the weekend, my Olympus E-520 was my camera of choice for this month. I managed to take about 100 pictures throughout the day (many duplicates as well as having fun with the lights at night while riding in the car), so I included a few extras. I skipped a couple hours (but made up for them) due to being busy with things where the camera felt too inappropriate.