[savoche]

Lomo style

It's mostly about quirky lens aberrations, but I think a broader interpretation could be "bad technical image quality"

[cprobertson1]

It's mostly about quirky lens aberrations, but I think a broader interpretation could be "bad technical image quality"

I always interpreted it to mean "spur of the moment" and "off the cuff" in addition to that.

Wikipedia defines it as

a genre of photography, involving taking spontaneous photographs with minimal attention to technical details. Lomographic images often exploit unpredictable non-standard optical traits of cheap toy camera (such as light leaks and irregular lens alignment), and non-standard film processing techniques, for aesthetic effect.

Huh - apparently LOMO stands for "Leningradskoye Optiko-Mekhanicheskoye Obyedinenie" - that means I've been wrongly capitalising it all this time!

The references section of the "toy camera" article on Wikipedia (where the above quote is from) actually has a huge list of links to various things trying to describe Lomography. It's quite a social pursuit as well, apparently! Quite a fun lot to read

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This challenge, to me, is becoming more of a creative writing effort than a photographic one, what with the strange and difficult to interpret themes.

That's a pretty good description of it actually! I'll need to remember that when describing it to folks.

---------- Post added 2020-02-25 at 09:09 ----------

A bit late, but here is an entry that I did not shoot consciously for this theme as should be plainly obvious. This challenge, to me, is becoming more of a creative writing effort than a photographic one, what with the strange and difficult to interpret themes.
Progression
The STORY is one of forest travelers, seeking "the way" thru the forests of Newton County, Arkansas. The subject is the arrow, a vector, a guide, a symbol used in chemistry and MATHEMATICS. I'm not sure what Lomo style is, so I hope this is close.
K-1 mII, M28f3.5

Noice! That arrow is a very powerful focal point in that it instantly draws my head away from it! It's like a leading line that isn't a line!

[savoche]

I always interpreted it to mean "spur of the moment" and "off the cuff" in addition to that.

Aha! So I should have added "bad framing" as well, then

The Petapixel article discussed in this thread would define it as an "anarchist" style.

Huh - apparently LOMO stands for "Leningradskoye Optiko-Mekhanicheskoye Obyedinenie" - that means I've been wrongly capitalising it all this time!

I guess the correct way to write it is ЛОМО, then.

The references section of the "toy camera" article on Wikipedia (where the above quote is from) actually has a huge list of links to various things trying to describe Lomography. It's quite a social pursuit as well, apparently! Quite a fun lot to read

I guess it makes sense. If you use intentionally "bad" equipment you have to concentrate all the more on the content. Sort of the same thing as Digital Rev's silly "bad camera, good photographer" shows. Then again, if the idea is to shoot without much thought at all one might well end up with all effect and no content...

[MossyRocks]

I'm not sure what Lomo style is

What I think of are images taken with a Holga camera and film of questionable quality. Basically almost the exact opposite of what one would expect with modern high end digital cameras and lenses. Lack of saturation, color shifts, odd aberrations, light leaks, lens flare, etc are all acceptable and common place. I found it to be an interesting aspect of the challenge and likely something I will explore more. With the non standard behavior of things in the lomo world it makes one think how to compose an image and how to construct the shot when things aren't perfect or really fully controllable so that you can still get a good image.

[MossyRocks]

This is my current DIY-lens, minus the front structure that will carry the aperture plates. I have some blank ID-cards that I've drilled holes in to use as apertures - just now Im literally holding them in front.

You should go cross post that over in the Impossible Lens Club. They don't get much activity over there but CA and lens defects bingo is the name of the game there.

[cprobertson1]

You should go cross post that over in the Impossible Lens Club. They don't get much activity over there but CA and lens defects bingo is the name of the game there.

Ooooh! Didn't realise we had that!

If CA is what you're after... I happen to have a test-lens that used an achromatic doublet (originally part of a triplet)... it focuses red and blue at different distances (astigmatism)... usually the additional lenses would correct for astigmatism and bring the red and blue together into the same plane (for full colour rendition!)

My lens doesn't have those additional lenses... so it's just 100% colour aberration - "the fringing" covers the entire image! Everything is a beautiful cyan-to-green colour!

With a second lens element added, I can instead focus on the red/pink side - it's a very rosy-pink sort of colour.

Weirdly enough... that lens is actually really sharp even before you stop it down... I suspect that's because all the "other colours" are so defocused and so can't cause blurring (a bit like using a narrowband colour filter to remove CA in a black and white photo, giving an apparent increase in sharpness).

I actually really like the colours of that lens - it's a sort of cyanotype effect with the blue, and I love the rose colour - I may need to upgrade that lens from "toilet roll tubes and ductape" to "3D printed bits and bobs" at some point!

---------- Post added 2020-02-26 at 01:46 ----------

Aha! So I should have added "bad framing" as well, then

The Petapixel article discussed in this thread would define it as an "anarchist" style.



I guess the correct way to write it is ЛОМО, then.



I guess it makes sense. If you use intentionally "bad" equipment you have to concentrate all the more on the content. Sort of the same thing as Digital Rev's silly "bad camera, good photographer" shows. Then again, if the idea is to shoot without much thought at all one might well end up with all effect and no content...

I once heard it described as "punk photography" - but I always think of punk in a sort of "making-a-statement-while-rebelling" sort of thing... rather than whatever style it means today. I suppose I might consider LOMO to be... casually quirky? A little bit anachronistic? A sort of thoughtless yet thoughtful way of capturing a single moment in your life - rather than trying to create a moment.

"Don't think", I think, is the main point... which makes me a massive hypocrite given the amount of thought I've put into what it actually means!

[cprobertson1]

Aww, man - I had a cool idea for last week's challenge but couldn't manage it...

I wanted to take a self-portrait of me lying facedown in a stream as if I had drowned... except a) a storm came, making lying face down in streams an invitation to actual drowning, and b) my safety-axe-man, the guy who was going to drag me out the stream if anything went wrong, was away in Malaga!

I shall put that one on the backburner!

[cprobertson1]

Week: №06
Duration:2020/03/02--2020/03/08



Subject: CURIOSITY
Focus on: BEYOND
Style: ARTISTIC
Optional Challenge: Maximum of 10-shots - Take a MAXIMUM of 10-shots

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This week's challenge will use CURIOSITY as the subject matter, with a focus on the concept of BEYOND in an ARTISTIC style.

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The optional challenge is: Maximum of 10-shots - Take a MAXIMUM of 10-shots

You are only allowed to take TEN shots on your journey... you must plan ahead: choose your subject carefully; check your settings; and be on your toes! Use those shots wisely - you only have ten of them, after all!

(The purpose of this is to encourage photographers to plan and treasure every shot, only selecting the BEST of the best!)

[cprobertson1]

Sorry for the late post folks, had a technical problem and couldn't access the forum over the weekend! Only got back in today

Week: №07
Duration:2020/03/11--2020/03/17



Subject: THE BIGGEST THING YOU CAN SEE
Focus on: MORTALITY
Style: CRITICAL
Optional Challenge: Contrast - Focus on contrast in your composition

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This week's challenge will use THE BIGGEST THING YOU CAN SEE as the subject matter, with a focus on the concept of MORTALITY in a CRITICAL style.

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The optional challenge is: Contrast - Focus on contrast in your composition

All images you take must emphasise contrast. Either:
A) for each subject take multiple shots from different angles to both emphasise AND understate contrast.

--OR--

B) Alternate between high- and low-contrast shots for the duration of your journey.

(The purpose of this is to encourage photographers to appreciate and understand the role of contrast in their composition.)

[savoche]

Not a new picture, but I think it does fulfill the biggest thing and mortality, certainly. Not so sure about the critical style thing, though... Maybe a critically low viewpoint as it was taken from a canoe

[cprobertson1]

Fascinating shot! I bet there's quite a story about how you came by such a scene in a canoe!

[cprobertson1]

Week: №08
Duration:2020/03/16--2020/03/22



Subject: WOOD
Focus on: DISPARITY
Style: CLOSE-UP
Optional Challenge: Strangers - Ask strangers if you can take photos of them

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This week's challenge will use WOOD as the subject matter, with a focus on the concept of DISPARITY in a CLOSE-UP style.

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The optional challenge is: Strangers - Ask strangers if you can take photos of them

You may only take photos of strangers you have sought (and gained) permission to photograph. Approach strangers on the street and ask (politely!) if they might mind if you captured some photos of them. If they say 'yes' then you're good to go! For added challenge, you may find it rewarding to pose them.

(The purpose of this is to encourage confidence in your photography, and in overcoming shyness. It also reinforces portrait photography.)

---------- Post added 2020-03-17 at 03:39 ----------

--EDIT--
sorry, I thought I had posted that yesterday - apparently I never hit the "post" button so it saved as a draft :hides:

[savoche]

Fascinating shot! I bet there's quite a story about how you came by such a scene in a canoe!

Thanks - I don't know how much of a story it is. The canoeing trip was part of a three week stay in Zambia and Zimbabwe. We spent four days paddling down a stretch of the Zambezi river, along Mana Pools National Park on the Zimbabwe side and Lower Zambezi National Park on the Zambia side. The routine was getting up early (5-ish), paddle for a few hours before landing somewhere for a walk, then lunch and a siesta under a tree through the hottest hours, then another couple of hours in the canoe to the next camp site. This was just before the rains, and it was quite hot (exceeding 45°C/110°F some days). The day I took that picture we were hit by the stench well before we rounded a bend in the river and saw the dead elephant. We didn't linger very long, just snapping a few pictures before moving on away from the smell.

The whole trip was a series of highlights. The walking, the canoeing, the fly camping. Lots of big game encounters on foot. It really got me hooked on walking safaris

[Wasp]

OK I will have a go at this.



Wood - the leg of the chair is real wood.
Disparity - the floor is vinyl, not actual wood. Also, the piece of string that does not belong there.
Close-up - it was taken with a new (to me) Tokina RMC 400mm f/5.6 lens that I was trying out.

[MossyRocks]

Man I wish I actually had time to go and take photos. I had hoped to be more involved but these 12+ hour days are getting old fast.