the forest © Lilly Schwartz 2012

Every once in a while I realise that I’m doing way too many things. Yesterday was one of these days. Around 1.30am I realised that I hadn’t taken a pictures yet and that I had to make something up before going to bed. I went into my archives and found this picture. I took it in autumn, when I was going for a walk in the Tiergarten with my mum. I ran it through my usual way of processing, a bit of layer blending, some textures and fading the colours. Somewhere in there is also a lens blur effect from Alien Skin Exposure. All in all it took me about half an hour. It would have been much easier to just take a picture of my toes or something, but these days I prefer to post pictures I’m convinced of and not just ones that happen to be fitting into the self-imposed rules of this project. Another 20 days to go until I finish my 365 project.

Last night I also ordered a film scanner. My quick and dirty digitalisation of analog pictures takes up too much time for too low quality. So, if it takes up time anyway, I might as well do it properly. Once the 365 project is over I will also be using my Zorki more. So far I’ve shot 3 films and the third one is still being developed, because it’s a black and white film. The second roll turned out way better than the 1st. Half of the pictures are keepers, if I disregard the terrible colours — I really shouldn’t be using those cheap colour films. What’s really cool about shooting with my Zorki is that the negatives are never really clean. The camera is old, sometimes you get flare or the light goes out of the typically exposed part. Additionally the lens has the typical characteristics of old lenses. The bokeh just looks like 1950s. I also typically digitalise the pictures with the frame and the sprocket holes, because the film never gets forwarded evenly. What I try to achieve in Photoshop editing I get without any additional effort with my Zorki. I love it.