Black and White

Just scanned in the negatives of my first black and white roll shot on the Agfa Optima-Parat. I've stuck a selection of the photos up on my Flickr site, generally I'm really pleased with the results. I think because of it being black and white I considered the composition a bit more than I would usually, or at least I did until the booze kicked in – well, it was a bank holiday!

Home Baking

My latest t-shirt design has just gone live on Teepay. It's different to my first two designs in that it's been fully drawn by hand. It's been donkey's years since I've tried to draw anything at all so it was nice to have a little go at it again (could still do with some more practice though!).

Teepay Three was not to be

This was due to be my third Teepay t-shirt design but it was rejected. The email you get back is a bit vague so I don't really know why. I don't think it breaches any copyright but I did a quick google search afterwards and there is a band on MySpace called Mild Horses so maybe that was it? Or maybe they just objected to the idea of straw boater wearing horses smoking pipes?


I have just submitted another design instead based on a strange mixture of old anti-piracy warning and muffins, fingers crossed I have better luck with this one...

Teepay Two

Fired up with enthusiasm after my first t-shirt design for teepay.com I've gone ahead with another couple. Here's my second attempt, on a similar theme to the first. The sales for both t-shirts are currently at zero so I've set myself a pretty easy target to beat!

Teepay

A couple of days ago I was sat on the toilet flicking through the new Howies catalogue – after all, where else is a man meant to do his reading? In amongst the clothes and some great photos of China which made me a bit jealous, I saw a simple spread for something called teepay.com. I could try and explain what it is in my normal laborious manner, but instead I'll copy the text of their ad:

How it works
You create your own design
You upload it
We tell everyone about teepay
You tell everyone about your design on teepay
It's our platform
It's your business
When you sell your design, we pay you a royaltee

So right now I'm on stage 4, telling everyone about my design on teepay. Once a design has received a minimum of 50 orders it goes into production and the designer (me!) gets 10% / £2.50 of each shirt sold, hurrah!

I've got another design waiting to be approved and go live and a few more ideas written down on a scrap of paper which may yet see the light of day. I have a feeling I may not be able to retire on the proceeds just yet, but if nothing else it gives me yet another excuse to be designing stuff which can't be bad?

Neon Neon

I've just had a couple of films come back that I shot with my Agfa Optima-Parat over the last few weeks. I've added a smallish selection to my Flickr page. Enjoy.

New Old Camera (Part 3)

Over the weekend I scanned in the negatives of the second and third films I shot using my Agfa Optima-Parat. As it's a half-frame camera, the negatives are half the size of a standard 35mm camera. This means that when the negatives are scanned you get two exposures in one go which can lead to some interesting juxtapositions:


Overall I'm really chuffed with the results, tonally the shots have a real warmth to them and I've been really impressed with how well the camera works in low light. There's a selection of shots on my Flickr site.

New Old Cameras (Part 2)

This camera thing may be turning into a slight addiction. It all started with my buying the Agfa Optima-Parat (from the post below). Then I saw a lovely old Kodak Retinette IB which I bought (ostensibly) for my girlfriend as a gift. Meanwhile I was pootling around on a few camera sites and I heard people raving about the Olympus Trip 35. I found one on eBay and made my first ever successful bid, for a grand total of £1.06. This is all starting to get a bit out of hand now, to date the total is as follows:

2 x Digital Compacts
2 x Automatic 35mm SLRs (about 10 years old)
1 x Agfa Optima-Parat 35mm (Half-Frame)
1 x Kodak Retinette IB 35mm
1 x Olympus Trip 35
1 x Fed 4 35mm ('borrowed' from my Mum many moons ago)
1 x tiny one-bed flat, rapidly filling up with the above
1 x angry girlfriend, weirdly ungrateful for her gift of the Kodak Retinette
About £40 in films, processing and CDs

I've just got my first test film back from the Olympus Trip and it's not too shabby. The shots haven't quite got the same charm as the Agfa, but it's good fun to use and feels great in your hand.






The aforementioned angry girlfriend, loving all the attention.

There's a few more shots up on my Flickr site. I'm still waiting to process two newer Agfa films after a bit of a mix-up at Boots (not sure their system is geared up for old half-frame cameras). It's still really good fun though, maybe just need to curb my spending a bit...

New/Old Camera

Last week I treated myself to a secondhand Agfa Optima-Parat camera from Oxfam and just got my first roll of film back.


In many respects the camera should have been a complete nightmare: I had no idea whether the automatic light meter still worked and focusing is based entirely on distance which is a novelty to me. As it turned out these were precisely the reason it was so much fun to use. Not knowing if it worked meant I wasn't precious about the photos at all, and not having a tape measure (or any clue!) meant I had no idea if a shot would be in focus or not.


I've never been a great photographer, and this camera hasn't changed that by any means, but it has given me more enjoyment than I've had from using a digital camera for a while. The shots have that 60s/70s feel to them, with a certain warmth that is sometimes lacking from more polished digital shots. The only real downside was that it cost me twice as much to have them all processed as it did to buy the camera in the first place!


There's a rough selection of other shots on my Flickr page as well. If you're getting a bit jaded with your sexy, slimline 12 megapixel camera you could do a lot worse than popping down your local charity shop and taking a chance on some old kit instead....

Bath Half Marathon (Part 2)

Just a quick note to thank everyone who sponsored me for my half-marathon attempt. I managed to raise the grand total of £340 (so far!).

Unlike the 140 runners who succumbed to dehydration I managed to complete the 13.1 mile course in 2 hours and 6 minutes without the aid of the St John's ambulance. I had hoped to be a bit faster but I guess when it's your first time any result is a new personal best?! After a day's rest yesterday I can just about walk again which is handy.

Thanks once again for everyone's support, it means a huge amount to me and to Macmillan Cancer Support.