Push-up challenge = FAIL

So DaniGirl, how’s that push-up challenge going?

*sound of crickets*

Yeah. I totally fell off the wagon on this one. Aside from doing two sets of 15 push-ups at the gym on Saturday, I haven’t done a single set in the last week or two. Push-up fail. Mind you, I’m still pretty damn impressed with myself that I can do 30 push-ups in three minutes, which is 30 more than I could do at the beginning of last month!

I made it to Week 4 Day 2, I think, before I missed a day that stretched into two or three, and then I thought maybe I ought to backtrack a few days, just to get caught up, but didn’t, and then, well, life kinda happened and suddenly it was two weeks later.

Oops.

I’m waffling on whether to start up again. I figure I can start back on Week 4 Day 1 and just push (snicker) on for the final two weeks of the program and be done with it. One must finish what one starts, right? For the principle of it, if nothing else. But, did you look at the last two weeks of the program? Whimper. It looks (warning, whine ahead) haaaarrrrd.

Of course, the lazy part of me that is not overly keen on the whole physical exertion thing is pretty damn pleased with the progress to date and willing to call the push-up thing conquered once and for all. I mean, the original goal was to be able to do “some” push-ups at some unspecified future date. 30 in three minutes definitely qualifies as a reasonably impressive definition of “some” especially when compared to the previous standard of “none.”

Nobody seemed to notice that I didn’t even blog about the push-up challenge last week — does that mean that y’all have fallen off the wagon, too? I know Liisa mentioned on twitter that she has, um, stumbled recently, too. Solidarity, sista! 😉

Okay, bloggy peeps, whaddya think? Have I proven myself on this one, or do I have to face this down to the end?

Sorting, organizing, backing things up

I‘ve spent the best part of this afternoon getting my digital life in order. In fact, I’m dashing this off while the computer works hard in the background. Blog back-up, then reorganizing and backing up five years’ worth of photos. I just filled a 125 GB drive, and I’m not done yet — no room for most of the last four months’ worth of pictures on there. Yikes! I see Costco has 750 GB drives on sale for $120 — I think that’s my next stop.

Backing things up makes me feel better, though. My photography teacher suggests you keep at least two separate back-ups of your images, kept in two separate places, in addition to your working files on your computer. In fact, he suggests that every time you go out shooting, you immediately send the unsorted images to an external hard drive for archival purposes, then begin the process of sorting, choosing, editing and saving.

I’m an inveterate pack-rat, but I could never bring myself to do this. I save about 1/4 of the images I take, picking through them and keeping only the ones I really like. This only works if I stay on top of it, though. I’m trying to file everything and format my card every day, and that way I stay organized. If I wait, I end up with duplicates in files called things like “Sort through these later October – November 2009”. I just made more than 30 GB of space on my portable hard drive simply by erasing duplicate files I’d made because I was disorganized!!

I’m slowly becoming a convert to the multiple-back-ups mentality. Even though most of the best of my images are already on Flickr, I’d cry for days if I lost the originals. Besides, I had no idea how ridiculously cheap hard drives are now. Did you know you could get a terabyte drive for less than $200? Even I couldn’t fill that up in a year or two!!

I’m curious, how do you back up your digital life? Do you do the recommended daily back-up of your blog (Erm, I’m more on a weekly to monthly schedule on that.) Do you save your pix in more than one place? How often do you back up your computer — if at all? For the photographers (and wanna-bes) among you, do you save every single digital negative?

Thousand Picture Project: Spectacular sunsets and snapshots

You know how creativity ebbs and flows? Lately, I seem to be all gummed up. I’m really enjoying taking pictures, and I always enjoy writing. Well, almost always! But my head seems far more full of ideas and images than I am capable of turning into prose or pictures. I have creativity constipation! Anybody got any Muselax?

Anyway, despite that, when I look back on the pictures I’ve taken this week, I’m pretty happy with them. On Friday night for my photography class, we were supposed to do an in-class theory session but the light was just so spectacular that we went on another walkabout around Nepean Point. I’m starting to get comfortable shooting in manual now, and even prefer some of the straight-out-of-the-camera shots better than the ones I play with in Photoshop.

The timing was perfect to capture this silhouette of Jacques Cartier, his astrolab, and a few of his friends.

469:1000 Nepean Point silhouette

We were rewarded with this view from the Point, just at the foot of the statue above:

467:1000 SPAO class 2 walkabout - Sunset from the point

Then I turned around, and the flaming sunset had set the windows of the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings ablaze. (How lucky are we to have this stuff in our city?)

SPAO class 2 walkabout - Parliament afire

We walked back down the Point and onto the road where the Alexandra Bridge meets St Patrick. Did you know there’s a little lookout down there? In all the time I’ve spend wandering around that part of Ottawa, I had no idea it was there. And look how the Alexandra Bridge points right into the setting sun! (This one messes with my sense of geography. In summer, the sun sets due west, but Gatineau is north of Ottawa. Hmmmm….)

SPAO class 2 walkabout - Sunset at the Alexandra Bridge

And this is what I mean about straight out of the camera versus post-processing. I tweaked this one because my exposure was a bit off (damn manual exposure is a lot of work!) and although I really like the composition, I think I overtweaked the contrast a bit.

SPAO class 2 walkabout - Sunset at the Alexandra Bridge

You know what else is fantastic about late-spring-into-early-summer in Ottawa? The return of flea market season!!! Yay! On Sunday we trekked out to the Antrim flea market to poke around. There was a guy selling a table full of absolutely gorgeous old Yashica twin-lens cameras, which must have been somebody’s collection. He was selling them for $25 each, and at first I thought I could use them for through-the-viewfinder work, but the viewfinders were pretty foggy. I hemmed and hawed for a bit, wanting one just for the sake of having one, Beloved ribbing me the whole time that we truly do not need to add to our vintage camera collection. I stepped away to chase the boys for a bit, and when I went back someone had snapped up the whole collection, probably a dozen or more cameras.

The stinger? I looked online when we got home, and they sell for $75 to $200. Oy! Foregone beauty AND foregone profit. Damn!!

But, at least I got this… it’s the brilliant midday sun shining through a set of sherry / wine glasses onto a white table cloth. I love the refractions!

465:1000 Wine glasses at the flea market

And the colours of this paintbox were irresistible, too.

466:1000 Paintbox

The boys were playing with bubbles at my folks’ place on the weekend, and I didn’t realize until after I’d posted this shot to Flickr that you can see a little me reflected in the bubbles. Fun!

464:1000 Wheeee, bubbles!

This last shot is not very strong from a compositional or technical standpoint. And yet, it’s my favourite picture of the week. Why? Because it makes me smile every time I look at it. I came down the stairs on my way to work and found all three boys scratching Katie’s belly. You can see by the expression on her face how she felt about that! And miraculously, they kept being cute long enough for me to grab my camera and take this snapshot. Not a perfect picture by any stretch of the imagination, but a perfect moment for sure.

468:1000 Doggy love

And! Happy birthday to my sweet Katie dog, who turned 11 years old this week.

An ocean of fear

So as I mentioned, we’re starting to count down to our Nova Scotia vacation this summer. We’ve got a beautiful seaside cottage booked that has all the amenities I could possibly want or need, save for one: the bed doesn’t have any seatbelts or restraining straps. Not for the toddler, which will be a separate challenge, but for me.

You see, I have this deep and primal fear of wide open spaces and deep water. And seriously, does it get any more wide open or deep than the ocean? Gulp. It actually makes me a little squeedgy just thinking about it, being right there next to all that wide open blue-ness, with only a thin wall and tiny strip of road between me and the abyss. My chest is a little bit constricted, and the back of my knees are twitchy as I type. Honestly, I can’t even use the satellite view on Google Maps to scope out our cottage rental without feeling a lurching sense of vertigo.

I’ve always had this fear of wide open spaces. When I was a kid, I read every single book in the public library on astronomy, but almost never went outside and actually looked at the stars, because every time I did I had to dig my fingers into the grass to hold on for dear life, lest the earth fling me up into the endless vortex of space. When Beloved and I first got married, we had a little red Sunfire and I loved that car because I could sit in the driver’s seat with my seatbelt on and look at the stars through the moon roof, strapped in and perfectly secure. You might be laughing, but I’m serious!

It’s not just the night sky, though. You know those really big satellite dishes, not the consumer cable ones but the really big mothers? Yeah. They make me feel a little squeedgy, too. Something to do with them broadcasting out into space, I think, although there is absolutely nothing logical about this particular phobia — it’s as irrational as it is deep-seated.

The fear of deep water I may have come by through nurture instead of nature. When I was a kid, I jumped out of our little 16 foot boat to retrieve an anchor that had come loose from its line. Growing up in southern Ontario, it was my experience that any body of water in which you could see the bottom must be relatively shallow, so I jumped over the edge expecting to thump into the sandy bottom under about four feet of water. Unbeknownst to me, the perfectly clear water was closer to eight or ten feet deep, and I plunged in way over my head without touching the bottom, startling myself out of at least a year’s growth.

And it’s not just about swimming, either. When I flew to Europe in 1995 and again in 1999, I had to spend a lot of time telling myself, “We’re still flying over Labrador. Still flying over Labrador. Still flying over Labrador. Don’t look, don’t look. Still flying over Labrador, it’s all good.” *pause* “Okay, flying over Ireland now, flying over Ireland, I’m sure we’re flying over Ireland by now.” For the whole flight.

This spring, my folks went on a two week cruise from LA to Hawaii and back, and while I envied them the experience of visiting Hawaii, there’s no way I could do it. The cruise, I mean. The idea of being on a ship without *any* land in view? That’s so never going to happen. I can’t even stomach the idea of flying into Hawaii, because it’s this little tiny island in that vast sea of, well, sea. It wouldn’t take anything to slip off the edge of the island and sploosh, into the drink. *shudder*

So why the hell am I so hell bent on visiting the ocean that I’m willing to subject the entire family to 36 hours trapped in the car so I can spend a week not sleeping without tying myself into the bed for fear of the sea sucking me out into its murky spaciousness? For the same reason I always loved astronomy as a kid, I think. Like a moth drawn to a lightbulb. Because what terrifies you also fascinates you, and what repulses you is also compelling, at a fundamental level.

Plus, I don’t like to be afraid of things. I’m stubborn that way. While there’s no way in hell I’m ever going on a ship across that ocean, or even a big boat that carries me out of sight of land, I’ll choke down my fear and hold my breath to stand ankle deep in the surf. And try really hard not to shudder in front of the kids.

I have three kids, so not much scares me. Snakes, blood, heights, enclosed spaces — no problem. Bugs give me the creeping heebies, but what scares me on a truly visceral level are things that are deep, and vast. Like the ocean.

What freaks you out?

Planning for Nova Scotia

When we started planning our cross-country road trip to the east coast, we didn’t have much of an idea of what we wanted. East, because none of us have been further east in Canada than Quebec City, and ocean because we loved our family vacation to Bar Harbor, Maine in 2007, and because I love anything to do with water and beaches and boating.

After weeks of poking through links to vacation rentals, maps and family activities, and talking to anyone who would offer an opinion, we managed to narrow our focus from “east” to Nova Scotia, and then to the Lunenburg area. I figured if we were going to drive 18 hours to get near the ocean, we simply must stay somewhere actually adjacent to the ocean or at least with easy access or direct sight of it. I found this adorable seaside cottage that’s literally across the road from the ocean — the beach crawls right up to the road in front of the house, there’s a harbour a stone’s throw away, and you look out across the bay to the town of Lunenburg. I’m so excited I can barely stand it!!

Other than booking five nights at the cottage, though, our plans are pretty wide open. We figure we’ll make the hour and a half trek into Halifax one day, and maybe stop by Peggy’s Cove on the way home. Lunenburg is only 15 minutes away, so I’m sure we’ll spend a bit of time there. The cottage rental includes day passes to nearby Ovens Natural Park, which has some wicked-cool looking oceanside cliffs and caves — which I’m sure are completely appropriate for toddlers — but also a swimming pool and playground and a place where you can pan for gold! And since we’ve gone to the bother of making our way all the way to the ocean, there will be boating of some kind. And, um, I might take a picture or two. Ahem.

So talk to me, bloggy peeps. Do you have any recommendations for must-see family activities around Lunenburg, or Halifax? We’re planning on staying at a Days Inn or Comfort Inn or one of those non-descript, no more than a place to lie your head kind of hotels in Edmunston NB on the way down and back, simply because it’s cheap and half way, but I’d be open to your suggestions of other places to stay to break up the trip.

We’re facing about 18 hours of driving each way, which is a bit intimidating (especially given that two of the three kids have tendencies toward car sickness) but not the least of my worries. You know what really freaks me out?

The ocean. And I’ll blog about that tomorrow!

The Thousand Picture Project: Loving that summer light!

I don’t know what I love more about the month of May — the soft scent of flowers perfuming the air, or the return of the gorgeous, soft light of late afternoon and early evenings.

Like this:

449:1000 Yoshiback ride

It’s a sweet subject, but the way the light falls on them really makes this picture, in my humble opinion. It’s one of my new favourites. I’m learning that the quality of light becomes much more obvious in a B&W photo than in a colour one. Less distractions maybe?

This one uses light in a different way. (Is it me, or is there a crazy amount of dandelions this year?) After trying all summer last year, this is the first time I’ve actually managed to successfully take a dandelion portrait — they’re not as easy as they look!

452:1000 Dandelion

I took this one the day I was making up some new banners for the blog. I’d wanted a banner that worked in the old and new cameras and couldn’t quite make it work, but I thought this was a fun shot nonetheless. I call it “The old guard versus the young whippersnapper.” 🙂

454:1000 Old guard versus young whippersnapper

Tristan’s homework required him to go on a nature walk and record the animals he encountered, so I took the boys down to Black’s Rapids after dinner. It’s hard to look for animals when you’re concentrating on making sure the toddler doesn’t go for a swim! The geese enjoyed the stale bread we brought, including a cute little yellow gosling you can just barely see in the grouping to the back right.

(Also challenging? Deciding whether to go for the photo opportunity or save the kids from the hissing, hungry goose!)

457:1000 Feeding the geese

Have I mentioned how much I love lilacs?

463:1000 Lilac bokeh

Love them!

458:1000 Lucas and the lilacs 1 of 4

A lot!

Lucas and the lilacs 2 of 4

Know what else I love? Through-the-viewfinder shots of fun fairs!

Mardi Gras funfair TtV

Like this!

Go Gator TtV

This one is my fave of the series, I think.

460:1000 Carosel TtV

And here’s a few shots I took during and for my new photography class at the School of Photographic Arts, Ottawa. The first night, we did a little walkabout in the Market, and had to shoot in manual mode (eek!) and then not do any post-processing. (Double-eek!!) He told us to take a non-touristy shot of Maman, the 10m bronze spider sculpture outside the National Gallery. I like the dark, gothic look and the bird silhouette on this one, but if I could have I would have brightened it up just a smidgen.

SPAO class 1 - Maman

And this was our weekly assignment: shoot tulips in a new way. I gave it that sense of motion by setting my aperture to the smallest possible opening (f22) to make for a longer exposure, and then zoomed my lens out gently during the exposure.

SPAO assignment class 1

In the end, it was okay, but I like this “traditional” take on tulips more. Not bad for straight-out-of-the-camera (sooc), eh?

461:1000 SPAO class assignment 1 take 2

Speaking of lessons, one day I will learn that when shooting with my lens wide open (in this case, f1.8) one of the eyes will be out of focus (not to mention the tip of his nose!) unless they’re both on the same plane. Oh well. He’s still pretty cute!

462:1000 My big boy

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know yet!!

Coffee overload?

The people I work with like to tease me about the amount of coffee I drink, I think because finding a way to adapt my at-work coffee habit was one of my first priorities when I got here. “Yes, thanks for the desk and computer, nice to meet you all, but where is the nearest Tim Hortons please?”

And, in the manner of so many addicts the world over, I am a little defensive about my drug of choice. I find myself bracing for people’s reaction when the topic of how much coffee I consume comes up, and ready with a quick justification. “Well, it’s better than heroin, right?”

So by now you’re wondering, how much coffee does she drink anyway? *twists toe in the carpet* Um, not much. Really, just two a day. Two, um, extra-larges each day. It doesn’t seem like a lot to me, but at 500 ml each, when you do the math that’s a litre of coffee a day. And a couple of days a week, I’ll find room for another large cup in the afternoon, or a big mug of green tea, which has less but still a significant amount of caffeine. If I’m at home, I brew a pot in the morning and have two mugs worth, and then likely have another cup, maybe two, somewhere later in the day.

The thing is, I know I’m addicted to it. Physically, mentally, psychologically addicted. If I happen to be feeling sick, even if I can’t stand the taste of the coffee I have to choke down a cup in the morning or I’ll feel really wretched. And if I’m off my routine, it’s important that I find a way to accommodate those precious cups of morning coffee, at least the bare minimum of one extra-large worth.

But really? I’m okay with that. Mostly. Like I said, it’s not heroin. It’s not crack. It’s not porn. There are worse things to be addicted to than coffee. It’s socially acceptable, easily accessible, there are health benefits in moderation, and the amount I drink is not doing a horrendous amount of damage to me physiologically. I think.

Health Canada recommends a maximum caffeine intake of 400 mg daily, which is about three 8 oz/250 ml cups of coffee. I figure my daily intake is around 500 – 600 mg, so there is some room there for improvement. I’m trying so hard to treat my body with respect, to be the healthiest me I can be. So on one hand, the coffee-lover in me says, “If you are living a life of moderation, this one isn’t going to break the bank.” On the other hand, I am intellectually concerned about any addiction.

I’m not sure I’m in a place right now where I am willing, let alone able, to give up coffee or caffeine entirely. Tiredness is my Achilles heel — I can deal with a lot of crap, but if I’m tired or hungry, I am irrational and incompetent. I know this about myself. Coffee is like a balm on my soul, a respite and a comfort, and I truly enjoy the experience of consuming it. But I don’t like being beholden to it. I spend a lot of time lately noticing how much coffee I’m drinking, and thinking. Just, you know, thinking.

So tell me, how much coffee do you drink? Are you a java junkie too? Or do you have another benign addiction that haunts you in guilty moments?

The one where she rides her bike to work

The very first day I started working at this office back in November, as I drove the short jaunt to work I thought to myself, “And hey, maybe I can even ride my bike to work in the summer.” Even as I thought it, though, it was in that “ha ha, not likely” kind of way. Once you get to a certain age, you begin to intimately understand your own peccadilloes, and begin to get a little cynical about your own optimism. (How’s that for a complex personality?)

But as winter gave way to spring, I’d drive along the route to work imagining what it would be like to be coasting along on my bike. It’s not a long ride, just a little bit shy of ten kilometers. It’s flat, which is nice. Despite the fact that the road is busy and crowded with fast-moving and frankly terrifying traffic the whole way, you can traverse just about the entire distance on either a bike path well removed from the road or through an idyllic little suburb of tree-lined, sidewalkless streets where cars are not welcome during the morning rush.

So as April gave way to May, I began to collect what I’d need to actually ride my bike to work instead of just spend inordinate amounts of time thinking about it. I acquired an extra-large thermos, because the need for hot coffee is fundamental. I got a shiny new red bike with commuter tires to replace the 15-year-old mountain bike with knobby tires that slow you down. I got a rack and some panniers for the back, so I could transport my coffee, and my camera, because I won’t leave home without either. I got a new lock, and I upgraded the seat on my bike. I planned the route, and took a couple of test rides through the neighbourhood to see if my 40-year-old ass was going to survive a 10 km bike ride after almost a decade of non-riding. And then the weather turned crappy and cold and rainy and I had a good excuse not to ride.

This morning, though, the skies were brilliant, the forecast was fair, and I had no excuses left. I made arrangements for Beloved to pick up the kids from daycare in the afternoon. I packed my gear and a set of dress clothes in my panniers, brewed a pot of coffee while I showered, and filled my thermos. And, with a giddy sense of broken routine, I took off into the early morning sunshine on my shiny new red bike.

I was just getting into a nice rhythm when I hit a moderate bump and something went SPROING and nearly yanked me off my bike. The hook that is supposed to hold the pannier in place somehow came loose and got wrapped around the axle of the rear tire. I managed to pull it out, but I think I’ll be taking that one back to the store. I’m just glad I didn’t go ass-over-teakettle, or I would have never convinced myself to get back on the bike again.

The rest of the ride was idyllic, I have to admit. I love early mornings, and riding through the perfectly still but brilliantly sunny morning was heavenly. I cruised past the horses in their paddock that I admire from my car each morning, and could smell the earthy, grassy smell of the pasture. I kept a moderate but steady pace, and the hard core cyclists flew past me.

I was about half way when I realized that I’d forgotten my dress shoes at home and would have to wear my gym shoes with my dress pants for the rest of the day. Oops. That’s always a classy look.

I made it the rest of the way in without incident. It took me a little more than 30 minutes, including the time it took to pry the pannier hook out of the axle and wash the axle grease off my fingers in the dew-soaked clover. I had another issue trying to lock my bike in the warehouse of our office when I could not force my key into the new U lock I’d bought, and it was a good half-hour later that I realized the reason the key wasn’t fitting into the lock was because I was trying to fit my filing cabinet key into my bike lock. Small details. And I realized that if I’m going to be riding through shady, tree-lined streets in the early morning, I should learn to breathe with my mouth closed. I ate my first bug this morning, too.

So, in the end, the actual experience of riding my bike to work was extremely pleasant, while the details of getting myself to work in presentable condition for work were a little more challenging. Did I mention I also forgot to put on deodorant this morning? Bad day to forget that one. But my butt only aches a little bit. That’s a good start, right?

And let me tell you, even with the breakfast bug and the sore butt and having to wear my gym shoes with black pants all day? Still a million times better than riding the bus to work.

Back to school!

I am very excited and a little bit nervous, just about the same way I’ve felt every single time I’ve headed back to school throughout my life. Tonight is the first class of my “Beyond the Basics” digital photography class at the School of Photographic Arts, Ottawa (SPAO). Eek!

Although I’ve always loved taking pictures, I’ve only taken one other formal photography class before, and that was very much a course for beginners — learning about aperture and shutter speed and ASA (the precursor to ISO for film cameras) and some very basic compositional stuff.

I was cleaning out some boxes the other day and I found the slides I took for that old photography course with my dad’s Canon AE1 SLR. Slides! They seem almost as antiquated as my manual typewriter! I used to have to go out and shoot my assignment for the week, then go down to Ginn on Bank Street and get the roll of slide film developed, and hope like hell I got at least a couple of shots on each roll of 36 worth handing in. It was just on the cusp of the digital era, and nobody had digital SLRs back then. I didn’t even have a digital point-and-shoot until 2003, and my precious D40 came into our lives in 2007.

How quickly things change! Granted, it’s been about a decade since that course, but it’s absolutely dizzying to think about the innovations in photography since then. For tonight’s class, I have to bring my camera and lenses and memory cards (plural!) and cables, but also my laptop. No more slides!

I was poking through the old slides and laughing. I could tell just by looking through them what the lesson of the week was: depth of field here, freezing action there, rule of thirds on this one. Most of them were not even worth keeping, except for the retro charm of having some slides in my collection.

I’ve come a long way, photographically speaking, from those days. I’m really loving taking pictures right now, and I’m looking forward to some critical class work to sharpen my skills. Of course, the opportunity to get out of the house and head down into the Market on a Friday night for three months through the spring and summer isn’t too bad of a deal, either!

If you could, what kind of course would you like to take? Cooking, interior design, photography, pottery? Something a little more unusual? And, more importantly, why don’t you?

TtV Contraption v2.0

When I got my first Duaflex back in October 2009, I was so excited to get out and start shooting through the viewfinder (TtV) pictures that I made the most slap-dash, instant-gratification, quick-fix sort of contraption: I rolled up some bright yellow posterboard, cut out around the lens,scotch-taped the seams, and away I went. It looked like this:

old-contraption

After more than six months of hauling it around, I have to say the posterboard contraption is looking a little worse for wear. Plus, now that I’m really starting to stretch my abilities with TtV photography, I want to try things like this, so I could play along with Happy Bench Monday, a group on Flickr where people take pictures of themselves standing on benches. (No, really!)

455:1000 Happy Bench Monday TtV

Which entails me using the self timer and propping my heavy (and valuable!) dSLR on some flimsy and now dog-eared posterboard contraption that’s worn bare in several spots. (If nothing else, you can tell my camera equipment is well-used if not in pristine condition.) But thing like this kept happening.

HBM outtake

So I decided to make a new contraption. I am spotted with delight to unveil my TtV contraption 2.0, the polka-dotted menace. (That’s so not a good name. Thoughts?)

new-contraption

Isn’t it groovy? You’re dying to know what it’s made out of, right? A liquor-store gift canister! Isn’t that excellent? I had one in the house left over from Christmas (see, being a packrat DOES pay off) but it was too narrow. So when I was in the liquor store today (for no reason whatsoever, I swear) I took a peek and sure enough, they had these extra large ones that are not only awesome in their polka-dotted splendor, but they fit the Duaflex like a glove. And the cardboard is heavy-duty, but not so impenetrable that I couldn’t make the necessary cut-outs with an x-acto knife.

I could have just left the lid off and used the contraption like that, but I really really wanted something that I could set on a flat surface for timer shots or longer exposures. The problem was the pop-up flash on the D40 kept getting in the way of the camera sitting flat.

So I built this lip out the inner spool thingee of a masking tape roll.

top

I can’t tell you how pleased I am with myself. This is how it looks all together.

ready-to-shoot!

Look closely, you can see itty-bitty upside down me in the Duaflex’s mirror! The only thing it’s missing is a handle. That’s coming for version 2.1, hoping to have it in beta release some time next week.

For those of you just tuning in and wondering what the heck I’m doing, here’s a quick primer. This is a Kodak Duaflex camera, made about 60 years ago.

Duaflex

Back in the day, you had to hold the camera down around your waist and look down through the viewfinder on the top of the camera when you were composing your picture. A second lens underneath the viewfinder would open and actually expose the film. It’s called a twin-lens reflex camera.

Looking down from the top, this is what the viewfinder looks like.

through-the-viewfinder

So TtV photography is simply shooting a picture of what you see in looking through the viewfinder. It gives your pictures a square black frame, which some people choose to crop out but I choose to leave in, and a funky, retro sort of look because of the distortions in the glass.

You need the contraption to cut down on the glare on the viewfinder. You shoot down through the contraption like this.

Inside

And now, I can balance my fancy new contraption v2.0 on my kids’ picnic table in the back yard, set the self-timer, and take TtV selfies like this.

TTV-me

How cool is that?