11oz coffee cup for deadlines, projects and photoshoots. Available here.

-Danny

The second wave is approaching. Please be safe out there.

-Danny

A womans accessories are like entries in their diary. Each one holds a tremendous amount of sentimental value while telling stories of who they are, who they want to be, where they’ve been and where they’re going.

-Danny

The girl and I always have long discussions about our future. In particular, we talk about where we want to live, our dream home and what it might look and feel like. We had a general idea of the aesthetics such as a modern-contemporary vibe with a huge front door and a vast airy space that ties in an indoor-outdoor living atmosphere. An aspirational calming space that we can work and grow in but we’ve never had a truly definitive clear vision of what our dream home would actually look like. Then, as a the gal was on a walk last week, she found it. She came home excited and said “you have to come look at this house that’s being built, I think it resembles exactly what we’ve been talking about”. We went to the lot and to my astonishment it embodied everything that I’ve had in my head but couldn’t quite mentally draw out into a full blown visual blueprint of our dream home. 

What is sympathetic magic and how might one use it with photography? The definition is this - primitive or magical ritual using objects or actions resembling or symbolically associated with the event or person over which influence is sought.

To some, I’m sure this sounds like a bunch of “hoopla” and “woo woo” type of imaginary nonsense; sometimes I even ask myself if it will work. But then I remember just how powerful the universe is when I call upon it. The fact that I’m sober, I no longer suffer depression, I’m extremely happy and have financially stayed stable through a worldwide pandemic is proof enough. Add that with a powerful reinforcement that I’ve finally found the person that I was always meant to find (in the midst of a nationwide lockdown) is sheer proof that the universe does in fact listen if you believe. 

Think it, envision it, stand in it, experience the sensation of having it, capture it – then let the universe take over.

-Danny

I’ll be completely honest, in the pursuit of my dreams, there’s some mornings I don’t even know where to begin or how to start my day. Sometimes I have a hard time putting things into perspective and I question why I even bother working so hard if the rewards aren’t coming fast enough. Then I remind myself, this is all apart of my journey and the only thing that I have control of is if I’m going to show up and move one step closer to what I know is rightfully mine. We all have treasures that are waiting for us, but it’s up to us to go out find them.

SS©2021 Coffee Cups are now available here.

Create Daily

-Danny

I’ve seen many threads in regards to what camera(s) Ren Hang used in his work. When I find the 110 at thrift stores, I buy them, sort of as homage to Mr. Hang. It’s yet another reminder that you don’t need an expensive camera to create compelling images.  

-Danny

This is the second iteration of the Rollei™ Prego series cameras that I’ve tested so far and this one has way more features; and perhaps way more issues than the aforementioned. I was so impressed with the Prego AF that I had to find and acquire another member of the family just to make sure my initial impression wasn’t a fluke. Scrolling through eBay I came across this 100WA that features a super compact design with a generously proportioned LCD display on the back. I was instantly intrigued with everything about this camera aside from the asking price of $170 (which is justifiable now that I’ve used it). Not wanting to break my streak of getting nearly all of my compact point and shoots for under $100USD, I decided to initiate my haggling skills. After a few back and forths with the seller, I finally got him to budge as he accepted my offer of $85 (shipping included).

When I received the camera and looked at it for the first time, my initial thought was “oh, she looks even better in person” which is something that I didn’t find myself saying very often back when I was in the midst of my swiping endeavors. The body has a slick compact design that feels good in hand and the visual aesthetics that meet my eyes lust for design. Now let’s talk about the LCD on the back. This is the only point and shoot film camera that I own that features a big LCD display with a toggle-button that allows you to hop-scotch through settings. I was in-like with the big digital counter but I fell in-love when I realized that the display illuminates as you engage the settings. This is perfect for when you’re out at night or shooting candid party moments. I don’t know why more compact cameras from the 80’s and 90’s didn’t offer this feature since most were used for family orientated events. Aside from a small leakage spot on the screen and a couple of vanity based war-wounds, this camera is basically in mint condition. Okay, time to stop swimming in infatuation and load a roll of film to see what this baby can do.

The first two issues that I immediately noticed while shooting is that the viewfinder is quite small and it makes framing a bit tricky, especially if you have bad eyes like this old bloke. Secondly, the flash is automatically set to on. Even if you set the flash to off, the camera will automatically switch it back to auto once you hit the power button. Admittedly, I felt a bit annoyed by this but I had to remind myself to look for the good in all encounters so I realigned my chakras and got back to shooting. I can honestly say I had so much fun making photos with this camera over the week or so that it took for me to get through the roll. Even with its short comings, I still found it quite enjoyable to use. Not only does it feel and look good, there’s also this weird quality about it that compels you to want to use it. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was or why I liked it so much, and then I got the scans back and it all made sense.

I had high hopes for this camera because of my past experience with its predecessor and let me tell you, I wasn’t disappointed. As you can see from the images, this camera is pretty consistent and when the auto focus and exposure hits, it hits hard and captures all of the things that I adore about film snapshots. The mood, the vibe, the tones, the grain, it’s all there. Now, this also means that you have to take the good with the bad. When this little snapper is in a mood and doesn’t care to perform for you, it produces muddy, out of focus frames that made me question why I even bothered loading her up with Kodak Portra if she was just going to give me expired Fuji Superia results. With this being said, even with the misfires and squinty-eyed viewfinder experiences, I had a lot of fun capturing these images. So, how do you know if this one is good for you? Well, lets get into the pros and cons

PROS:

• Compact
• Metal front chasis
• Lightweight
• Easy to use
• Cool design

• Sharp Auto Focus (when it hits)
• Adjustable modes
• Strong flash
• Great contrast and tones 

• Rare

CONS:

• Plastic rear body
• Small viewfinder
• Somewhat slow lens

• Resets to auto when turned off
• Focus range is a hit or miss
• Hard to find and impossible to fix

In closing, even though this camera has its hang-ups and moments of unclarity, I can honestly say that some of my favorite recent snapshots were taken with this little shooter. It was fun to use and once you build up the muscle memory for hitting the settings before you frame your shot, you will discover that this compact will produce some truly beautiful images. If you can find one for under $200, I highly recommend you pull the trigger as these don’t pop up very often.

Film was process and scanned by @DarkRoomFilmLab

-Danny

Here’s the lineup for the next batch of the First Roll project. I don’t know when this blog transitioned from naked bodies to camera bodies but somewhere along the lines the content has transitioned into me collecting a ton of cameras; somewhere in the ball park of forty to be exact, and that number keeps growing each week. With this being said, I think it’s time for me to purge some of them on the SS Camera Club next week. Get ready.

-Danny

I bought the gal her very first camera for her birthday and she’s been taking photos since. I was actually quite surprised by how excited she gets pull out her little pink snapper and capture moments so I figured I would add to her collection. I’ll admit, the “his and hers” film storages next to each other in our fridge is pretty cute. 

Create Daily

-Danny

Here’s some images that I forgot I shot last month while testing out a couple of cameras. I believe I used the Espio 80 and the Minolta 110 Date (infamous Ren Hang shooter of choice) but wasn’t too impressed with the output so I left these frames on the back burner. I’m going to chalk it up as a miss-fire and will reload them soon. 

-Danny