Fabulous Film Fridays – November 25, 2011

Alberta recently passed a distracted driving law where you not supposed to text, put on make-up, or sketch while driving. I looked carefully at the regulations and there was nothing there about using a Holga while driving (but electronic cameras are banned – yeah for film!). So last time I went into Banff National Park I pulled out the Holga at nearly 100 KMPH (check the speedometre in the photo) and snapped this shot of Cascade Mountain from the Trans Canada Highway (as you can see the road was empty so who was I distracting anyway?). Safety first though; I was wearing my hard hat and steel-toed boots while doing this dangerous exercise (and I did put my coffee down before snapping the shot)! 😉

©Darwin Wiggett - Holga GN120, Fuji NPH400 film

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Fabulous Film Fridays – June 24

The three images below were all taken with Gail, my Fuji GA645 point-n-shoot medium format camera using Fujicolor NPS 160 negative film. All photos were handheld and were taken on a recent tour of the Brazeau Collieries in Nordegg.

Speaking of Nordegg, I am happy to announce a brand new tour based out of Aurum Lodge on August 19-22, 2011 where we will have special photographer’s access to the old mine at Nordegg and we’ll be going on a photographer’s ice walk on the Athabasca Glacier in Jasper National Park. As well you’ll be accompanied by some really great photographers, Royce Howland, Mark and Leslie Degner, Alan Ernst and Samantha and me. To learn more about the unique photo tour in the Canadian Rockies see the PDF – click on this link.

©Darwin Wiggett

©Darwin Wiggett

©Darwin Wiggett

The last image above was converted to a tones black-n-white using Nik Silver Efex 2 which I use for all of my B+W conversion. If you are interested in any NIK software be sure to save 15% with the coupon code DARWIN

Fabulous Film Fridays – June 10

Here is a strip of Ilford XP-2 black-n-white film shot in my Holga camera, Bop. This is the suspension bridge crossing the North Saskatchewan River at the Kootenay Plains along the Siffleur Falls trail. I coud not decide which image I like the best and so present the strip of three frames from the shoot. Click on the photo to see a larger version.

©Darwin Wiggett

Fabulous Film Fridays – May 13

This is one of my favorite images that I have taken with the Fuji GA645 medium format point-n-shoot camera. I was traveling near High River and captured this glowing sunrise. Literally f8 and be there. No filters, no fuss, just point-n-shoot with Fujichrome Velvia 50 slide film. Click to see a larger version.

©Darwin Wiggett

The Holga Hustle – May 7 at Lake Louise

Just a reminder that we only have a few spots left for our Holga Hustle on May 7 in Lake Louise. If you’ve been following our Fabulous Film Fridays project, you’ll know that Samantha and I have been having a lot of fun playing around with our Holga cameras, Beep and Bop.  So much so that we want to share the fun and invite YOU and your Holga (or other film camera) to come along with us on May 7^th to the free Holga Hustle and Print Show.

We’ll be in Lake Louise in Banff National Park with Beep and Bop, just walking around and taking pictures of whatever catches our fancy.  There are lots of paths along the river and of course visitors coming to enjoy the wonderful scenery of the Canadian Rockies, so there will be plenty to shoot. Anyone can come, just bring a film camera of any kind and you’re in! And if you do not have a film camera we’ll supply you with one and even some film! We have lots of film cameras to choose from. And don’t forget you have a chance to win the Holga below which has been donated by Jim Slobodian of the Holga Blog! The results of the Holga Hustle will also be posted here on the LLTL blog and there will be even more prizes offered once the results come in.

Win me!

We’ll be at the Holga Hustle from 2:00pm until 4:30pm on Saturday, May 7^th after which we are heading over to nearby Baker Creek Bistro to launch our Print Show!  The Bistro has generously provided space in their restaurant for us to show some of our prints, including some made with our Holgas (BTW, Jim from the Holga Blog made all of our Holga prints for us!).  From 5:00pm until 7:00pm, Sam and I will be at the print show with both Holga prints and a sampling of digital files printed on aluminum from Image Wizards to demonstrate in glowing colour the beauty of the area.  There will be free snacks on hand for munching (yum!), and if you need a glass of wine after the exertion of the afternoon walk, alcoholic drinks will be available for purchase.

While you’re at Baker Creek, why not make a reservation for dinner to enjoy the excellent, locally-sourced food at the Bistro or make a weekend of it by staying at the Baker Creek Chalets.  This is where we host our SNAP! Photography Seminars workshop October 27-30, 2011 so now is your chance to check out this world-class accommodation. The folks at Baker Creek are offering anyone coming for the Holga Hustle a 15% discount on a two-night stay. Just mention our names (Darwin and Samantha) and come hang out in the Rockies that weekend!

Convinced?  Then come to The Holga Hustle and Print Show at the Bistro to see what you can do with a Holga image.  Space is limited to only 20 people! If you would like to attend the Hustle and Print Show, please email us to reserve your spot.

The Weekly Photo – May 2, 2011

On April 26 I went out to photograph the newly blooming prairie crocuses that were popping up all over the wild spaces here in Cochrane, Alberta. I was busy with my Canon Rebel T2i and my Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 lens on extension tubes photographing the crocus below:

©Darwin Wiggett

Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement and looked behind me to see what I first thought was a dog coming over to visit me. A quick second glance told me this was not dog! A coyote was only 3 feet away from me! I grabbed the camera off the tipod and made this snapshot! You can see the Cochrane water treatment plant in the backround.

©Darwin Wiggett - A surprise guest! (shot at 21mm!)

The coyote was extremely brazen and then walked over to my f-stop photo bag and sniffed it.

©Darwin Wiggett - coming in for the snatch!

Right after I snapped the shot above the coyote made a dash for my camera bag and started hauling it away! Needless to say, I grabbed the bag and tugged it away from the coyote (hey, no one is taking my f-stop bag from me!).

The coyote then ran above me on the hill and looked off into the distance with enough time for me to take another photo using the pop-up fill flash on the Rebel.

©Darwin Wiggett - Coyote in Cochrane, Alberta

The coyote lost interest in my camera bag and slowly wandered down the hill and into the river valley. I was left dumbfounded by the encounter (someone must be feeding this coyote for it to be this forward with humans!).

Minutes later I saw an osprey take a large trout from the Bow River! It was a crazy day for wildlife encounters! I went back to making macro photographs but just could not believe what happened to me. BTW, the f-stop bag  (a Tilopa) withstood the attack by the coyote with no harm done to it!

©Darwin Wiggett

Fabulous Film Fridays – April 15

Below is a small selection of recent photos from Bop (the Holga). All the images were shot on colour negative film (Fuji Reala 100). I scanned the film into digital form using my Imacon film scanner. The gas pump was a straight scan of the colour negative. The other images I scanned as gray scale images and applied a slight toning effect in the scanner. I felt the quality of the Holga captures (soft dreamy edges, vignetting, old fashioned feel) was enhanced by removing the colour information — the results match better the way the world looked to me when viewed through Bop’s crappy plastic viewfinder.

©Darwin Wiggett - Gas pump, Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park

©Darwin Wiggett - Photographers at the Columbia Icefields

©Darwin Wiggett - The Icefields Parkway, Jasper National Park

©Darwin Wiggett - Aspen trees, Banff National Park

©Darwin Wiggett - Frosted Trees, Cochrane, Alberta

Fun with Sam and Darwin

As you know Samantha and I have been having fun with our Holgas, Beep and Bop for our Fabulous Film Fridays project and we have just been interviewed by the very popular Holga Blog website. To read more about what we are doing with our Holgas just head on over and read the interview. And while you’re there check out how much fun you can have a Holga and some film by looking around the site which has news, reviews, tips and tutorials, a buyer’s guide and competitions. Holga Blog is a great resource for Holga-oligans! The Holga Blog is generously donating a special Holga prize for those of you coming to the Holga Hustle on May 7 (there is still lots of room if you are interested!). And come check out our cool Holga prints (on a funky print substrate) while you’re at the Holga Hustle. These prints have been made especially for us by our friends at the Holga Blog!

©Darwin Wiggett - shot with a Holga and Ilford XP-2 film

The World’s Most Popular Camera – the iPhone?

I am so behind the times. I have a cell phone but I never use it (no it isn’t an iPhone;  it’s old, and heavy and still has a rotary dial  and a cord that plugs into a phone jack 😉

I have never sent a text message in my life — I don’t know how. Besides when I leave the office I do not want to be connected to the net or to anyone really; I just want to immerse myself in nature. Plus everywhere I like to go there is no cell coverage, so what is the point of a phone?

But everybody I know has an iPhone, an iPad, and an iDog and an app that walks the iDog. I feel left out.

I was surprised to learn that the iPhone is the most popular camera on earth. What the heck, I thought it was a phone not a camera! For those who love the iPhone check out the geekaphone blog links below — interesting stuff!

Six Articles on the iPhone Photography Series:

• The iPhone vs. DSLR
• Top 3 iPhone photo editing apps reviewed
• Photo sharing and organizing apps reviewed
• Jelly Lenses reviewed
• Collection of amazing iPhone Photos
• iPhone Infographic detailing Apple’s meteoric rise as the next big camera company

Fabulous Film Fridays – March 25

This week Samantha is hosting Fabulous Film Fridays over at her blog. Check out her comparisons of cityscapes she took with Beep her Holga versus images she made with the Canon G11. She makes the point that as artists we should know our tools and select the appropriate one to create the mood we want in our images. The Holga and the G11 are very different paintbrushes and the images painted with these brushes are as varied as the artists William Turner and Robert Bateman.

Speaking of brushes, I made the image below with Gail, a Fuji GA645 medium format ‘point-n-shoot’ film camera using Fujicolor Reala  100 ISO print film. The cool thing about this camera is that when shot in tight on a subject and when using an aperture of f4, you get a nice thin slice of focus (f4 on medium format gives a way smaller slice of focus than f4 on a dSLR). The larger the film or sensor on a camera, the smaller the slice of focus at a given aperture.

©Darwin Wiggett - Old car, Kootenay Plains, Alberta