Mocking Bird l Vancouver Film Photographer » Photography

A Cafe Weekend

Amanda — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:27:37 +0000

How’s your weekend going?

Banff Road Trip

Amanda — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:00:17 +0000

I always imagined that I would get to visit beautiful places on planned vacations. On planned vacations that take me 2o plus hours of plane travel to arrive at. This little trip came out of the blue on a dark, winter’s day when the possibility of a family reunion taking place in Edmonton was announced. Sean suggested we make it into a road trip so I could see the Rockies and experience the awesomeness that is Canada.

I never imagined that this little road trip would change my life the way it has. I have always been a traveller and a lover of seeing the world. It’s something we Australians do, we travel, we see the world, we leave our homeland to go exploring. I think it comes from being so isolated from the rest of the world. We have to go out there and make sure it really does exist.

So it changed my life, how? I had the most amazing experiences with nature that I never dreamed could happen. I literally had a close encounter with a deer as tall as the car as she peered into my window, our eyes locked and I was transfixed by her beautiful, honey coloured fur. I was gob-smacked at how calm she was, at how beautiful her eyes were…and then she was gone.

And I think the gob-smackedness comes from that thing about Australians being so isolated from the rest of the world. We hear about these creatures in fairy tales and books like Wind in the Willows and because of that they seem mystical and surreal. Stumbling across elk one morning gave me the same feelings I felt when I saw Bjork on stage. She was as much an enigma to me as these majestic creatures were with their velvety antlers and prancing through the forest. Yes, I did just compare Bjork to elk.

I still peer into the trees and bushes whilst driving along the highway into Vancouver hoping for the slimmest chance that I will spot some wildlife. My animal spotting obsession is now with me for life but that’s OK. While many road trippers were sleeping through their drive, I spotted over 30 animals in their natural habitat. I think that’s pretty damn awesome.

Photographs taken with a Nikon FM3A 35 mm SLR using Kodak Portra 400NC film.

Ways To Explore Writing With Kids

Amanda — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:23:56 +0000

Today I’m taking off the photographer hat and snuggling on my teacher hat. In my many years as a primary educator, my greatest love in the classroom came every morning when the kids and I would get out our writing books and create new worlds with our imaginations.

For me, writing is one of the greatest ways to get kids using their imaginations and creating. Every little kiddie is a natural born author waiting to have their ideas and stories explode onto the page.

It’s currently summer holidays in the Northern Hemisphere and the mid year holidays are wrapping up down under. Unfortunately, kids will lose some of their learning over a big holiday break, so it’s really great if parents can continue with activities to keep those little minds ticking over.

Here are some ideas to get kids writing:

This is just a tiny sampling of ideas to get kids writing. As a parent, I wouldn’t be too concerned about their spelling and grammar. Definitely help them out if they ask you, but at pre and infants ages (2-7) it’s far more important to just let them write. Their teachers will have set ways in which they teach them about spelling and grammar. The teacher’s job is to teach them strategies to figure out spelling and grammar when stuck on unfamiliar words.

You can of course remind them of these four rules:

Every sentence must have; a capital letter to begin, full stop at the end, spaces between the words and it must make sense. Obviously Pre schoolers and even some Kindergarten children are not going to be familiar with sentence structure, so helping them to simply write familiar words is more than enough.

As I mentioned in the Ways to Inspire Kids to Love Books post, the best way to get kids excited about learning is through being excited yourself. Use yourself as a model and show them that you love to write. Call them “writers” and “authors” to make them feel proud of their accomplishments. A little praise and encouragement is the best gift you can ever give a child.

Photograph taken with a Holga using black and white Ilford film- this was a love note given to me by one of my Kindergarten students. She and her dad left it on my car one afternoon. It made my day.

Summer Baseball On Film

Amanda — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:58:34 +0000

One thing about living abroad that I find totally inspirational is just getting out there and doing things that you wouldn’t ordinarily ever do at home. One thing that I can say I’ve never done in Australia, is go to a baseball game. Seeing as Vancouver doesn’t have a Major Baseball League team, we go to the minor league games at Nat Bailey Stadium. It’s a beautiful little field with all the right colours and sounds to create beautiful memories.

This is what I love about living in a foreign country. You get to experience little snippets of a very different life that you would never get to do while holidaying. I love embracing this part of a culture that I’m learning to fit in to.

Going on these little adventures are a great way to stretch the photography skills and I can totally recommend getting out there and doing these things in your own city. Things that you may not have necessarily ever thought about doing or experiencing. Imagine you’re that tourist for the day or the new kid in town. Take your camera and explore, shoot a photographic essay of the day. You never know the gems that may follow you home.

Wandering Neighbourhoods: Crescent Beach

Amanda — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:30:25 +0000

Crescent Beach is one of those hidden little places that upon entering feels like you’ve almost stepped into somewhere completely separate from Vancouver. The ‘Welcome to Crescent Beach’ sign looks like something out of a Jaws movie and sets the tone for the quiet haven that rests ahead. Beautiful, quaint ocean houses line the streets and some are lucky enough to have the ocean as their backyard. I’ve never seen the place as busy as it has been the past few weeks with all this gorgeous weather we are having here in Vancouver.

Photographs were taken with a Yashica FX3 camera using Kodak Portra 400NC film.

My Travel Camera Kit

Amanda — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:00:14 +0000

Always my biggest dilemma when travelling is figuring out which cameras to take…or more correctly, how many I can fit in my bag. Before the Canadian and I went on our Canadian Rockies road trip, I wrote about said dilemma.
In the comments, one of you lovely readers asked about what photographers take with them whilst travelling. I think that’s such a great idea for a series of interviews. In running with the theme, I thought I’d share what I took with me on this last trip.

I am clearly not one to take pointers from as I take FAR too many cameras with me. I would love to condense it down but I get sad when thinking about leaving them behind. I do use them all, if that helps any. Here we go:

Top row:
Yashica FX 3 with 50mm lens for 35mm film- every day photographs on film. I usually choose between this or the Nikon.
Holga- I don’t always take this with me but thought it would be great for mountain shots.
Nikon FM3A- my main travel camera. It has a 28mm lens which is great for travel photography. It’s trust worthy and I know I won’t miss any shots with this camera.
Second row:
Polaroid SX70 – I don’t really need to say why, do I?
Canon 40D – I really don’t use this camera personally anymore. The Canadian made me bring it.
Polaroid Spectra- I wouldn’t ordinarily bring this for travel but I needed to shoot for our Polaroid book.
Third row: 120 film for the Holga, 35mm film for the Yashica and Nikon, Polaroid film for the SX70.
Bottom row:
iPod touch- for checking my notes app which I store photo ideas.
External hard drive- I recommend bringing one on a long trip, you never know what might happen to your digital pics.
Photograph holder- I bought this at Urban Outfitters about 3 years ago and I use it anytime I leave the house with my Polaroid camera. It’s great for slipping Polaroids in to keep them safe and protected.
Canon IXUS Point and Shoot- crappy little P&S we use for all our family and friend snapshots.
Polaroid Spectra film- for my Polaroid Spectra camera.

To carry all these items, I use a Lowepro slingshot backpack and my handbag for the day to day touring. To transport them around, I use the Lowepro and a leather weekender bag I bought in Sydney. I also have some individual Crumpler camera bags which work well but I’m not a fan of ‘Look at my bag, it’s got expensive camera equipment in it’ type bags. I will get around to getting one of these beautiful babies eventually.

As I said, I don’t usually take all of these cameras with me. I would usually only take one Polaroid, instead of 3 ( I also took the SLR680) but I was shooting for the book on this trip. While travelling around on individual days, I wouldn’t obviously take them all with me either. I usually only have one film, one Pola and one digital at a time.

Do you have any camera travelling/packing tips?

Summer Finally!

Amanda — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 01:16:32 +0000

I adore my flickr contacts. They inspire me every. single. day.

The sunshine and summer is finally here in Vancouver, so I figured I’d share some of my favourite summery shots from the past couple of weeks. I never thought I’s see myself in a tank top sitting by a fan in Vancouver, but it’s happening and it makes me so happy!
Most of these pictures are Polaroids and those that aren’t are film.

Have a great weekend all. I plan on being back full time next week with some film photography from our Canadian road trip and some travel tips. I have a roll from the Yashica, one from the Nikon, a little black and white and a Holga roll waiting for me at the lab.

I’ve already attended a baseball game this “weekend” (OK so I started the weekend on Thursday night), plan on sitting by the fan, reading more of this and making these. What are your plans?

Please go visit the streams of these fabulous photographers and tell them how lovely their work is. I know they’d appreciate it.

1. Untitled, 2. rwb, 3. Untitled, 4. Cherries!, 5. wide open, 6. **, 7. summer so far, 8. hotels with swimming pools, 9. Untitled, 10. lantern, 11. Untitled, 12. Our Weekend

Happy Birthday To My Muse

Amanda — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:50:39 +0000

Happy 19th Birthday to my beautiful sister Kelly Bell.

Kel is the sweetest, kind hearted girl I know and my heart aches without her giggles, dimples and smile in my everyday. I would never have imagined that receiving a sister at the age of 15 could have been such a miracle in my life. I don’t know what it’s like to have a sister close to my age but I couldn’t imagine it any other way.

Until I moved to Vancouver, Kelly has always been my photography model and muse. I miss spending weekends with her and our cameras. I’ve really noticed how portraits have almost disappeared from my personal photography because of the oceans between us!

Kel, have a fantastic day with your friends. I love and miss you dearly. There’ll be a bed waiting for you in Vancouver come September!

Love your big sis xxx

What’s In Your Kit? With Jill Thomas

Amanda — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:30:48 +0000

I‘m so delighted to bring you so more What’s In Your Kit interviews in the coming weeks. I have some fabulous photographers lined up and today’s amazingly talented interviewee is wedding photographer, Jill Thomas.

You may know Jill’s work from her beautiful blog where she shares her mostly wedding portraits that are always so natural and full of gorgeous light. I really love the beautiful compositions Jill creates with her camera. Of course, Jill loves film as much as I do, so it was natural that I would fall in love with her photographs.

MB: What is/are your camera/s of choice and why?

Jill: Contax 645 – because it is a medium format camera that allows me to work at my fast pace during weddings. Also the images that come from this camera are just artistically beautiful.

Canon IV: A 35mm camera that is amazing. It allows me to use my favourite Canon lenses when I want to shoot wide angle. When talking Canon or Nikon 35mm – it is the best out there.

MB:Which are your favourite lenses to work with and why?

Jill: Zeiss 80mm – Zeiss glass is amazing. If you have not pick up a Carl Zeiss lens, do so! This lens is tack sharp, but because of the use of film, is still soft. I want my images to be simple and speak for themselves. The 80mm is perfect for this. It allows me to have an artistic but timeless style.

On my canon IV, my favourite lens is my 35mm 1.4. I love this lens because it is slightly wide angle. I am capturing images that are wider than the eye sees but this lens does not distort. It grabs a person’s eye because it is different just slightly. It is perfect to add a little artistic edge to your images. I just love it.

MB:What equipment do you prefer to use to shoot portraits?

Jill: Contax 645 with my 80mm – this is my first go to camera.

MB: Tell us about a camera that you just love to have fun with.

Jill: So I am crazy about cameras! I have way too many. I do not collect cameras because to me that says they just sit there and that makes my heart ache. I find cameras at thrift stores, antique stores, and on ebay. I shoot with them all and they all are in working order.

My fun street photography camera is my Hasslebad 500C/M – I slow down, wind the camera and compose each shot. Strangers just look amazing to me in the camera.
If I am bringing a camera with me on an outing with my kids, I bring my Brownie or Holga. I think my kids look so dang cute in these cameras. They are soft and just capture their moments perfect.

My favourite Polaroid is my Polaroid 600SE. I love Fuji film. This is how I love to capture my family. I love those Fuji images in my album. The lens is a Mamiya lens and it is so sharp. This camera gives you amazing instant photos.

My favourite artistic Polaroid is my Polaroid SX-70. I love details with this camera. Settings, scenery, and objects. I have these photos framed all over my home.
What I love about film is that every type of film and every camera capture moments differently. So I have found what cameras I love for what situations. Of course I love to mix it up and try new things … what photographer doesn’t? It is grabbing new cameras, trying new films, and shooting new things, that keep me inspired.

MB: What do you carry your equipment in?

Jill: All my equipment is in an old vintage hutch I purchased at an old beach shop. I love it. When I am shooting for fun, I just bring one camera with me at a time. It is like I picked my baby for the day. I have 2 kids and am pregnant, so I cannot carry a bunch on me.
If I am shooting a wedding, I have a roller Tenba suitcase and a Tamrac bag. I also love my Shootsac. My shootsac is not necessarily a lens sac, it is a film sac. Its compartments are perfect for keeping your film organized and ready.

MB: Is there one piece of equipment/set up that you would recommend to a newbie shooter?

Jill: For a newbie FILM photographer, I would recommend grabbing a Canon 35mm and just shooting your heart away. The Canon IN is on ebay for like $150 and is a great camera. If you have that and a good lens like the 50mm 1.2 or the 85mm 1.2 – you would be ready … just shoot away. Try new film types, to find what film best represents you. Find what films work best when and where. Also pick up an instant and stay inspired. you can get the Polaroid 340 land camera very inexpensive as well. It is so fun to work with Fuji film and this is a great camera to start experimenting on.
Just to add: one camera I don’t own and is next on my list is the Leica M6. It is an amazing 35mm that will soon become my best friend!

Thank you SO much Jill for those wonderfully informative answers. What a treat this was! You literally named all my most coveted cameras and you own them all! I think I’ll have to come over and raid your camera closet some day.

To see more of Jill’s work, please visit her site and blog and you can follow her here on twitter.

Please join me in thanking Jill for this great interview in the comments below. :)

Packing For The Summer Road Trip

Amanda — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:58:36 +0000

Oh, the dilemmas of packing…

My Sean and I are off on our Canadian Rockies road trip to Banff and Edmonton tomorrow. I’m making the effort to pack light but that’s never how it happens, right? I think packing for a female is tough to begin with, but being female and a film loving photographer turns me into mental person with too many cameras and not enough bags.

Yes, I am that grumpy, crazy lady lumbering around airports like a pack mule, holding up security lines and grimacing at toilet cubicle doors that aren’t big enough for my weighty saddlebags. After a lifetime of sub-par camera bags I will have shoulders so deformed that my own mother won’t even want to look at me.

The Canadian has already walked by the bed and commented on the seven cameras sitting upon it waiting to be stored securely into appropriate luggage. My only saving grace is that there are no airports involved on this trip. No lines, no security check points, no unpacking and repacking and no overhead compartments. Just one lovely big boot (yes, we Australians say boot, not trunk) for me to store my belongings.

So, while I am gone, I’ll be sharing a wonderful new What’s In Your Kit with another of my favourite photographers and hopefully will be able to check in from the road. With seven cameras, surely I will return with something pretty on film. If not, I know I will at least return with something pretty from here.

I hope I am not the only one that suffers from pack horse mentality. I am taking more cameras than shoes. Madness.

p.s. That cutie with the Canadian is the Canadian’s sister.