yeah yeah… i’ve been all doom and gloom lately. health issues [effing stones!] and main street store closing. sometimes life just gets you a little down. well today, a little drop of sunshine landed on my doorstep!

i receive a monthly e-newletter from a great photo website called photojojo. a while back they had featured ttv photography
[ttv = through the viewfinder] and using a vintage 1950s duaflex camera [as seen on the right] as the viewfinder. i was hooked. i HAD to have one.

check out this link to a flickr group focussed on ttv and you’ll understand why i had to get a duaflex… the images are so cool and arty!!

so after weeks of trying to purchase one of these elusive cameras, and being outbid on ebay by $0.23 on more than one occasion, i finally snagged one and my little drop of sunshine arrived today!

here is my first effort… my magic 8 ball and monster finger puppet. yeah… i’m physically 38, but my spirit acts more like a 16 year old. alot. LOL!

fun huh? there are a few more versions i tweaked in photoshop in my flickr sets.

i love the gritty, nasty and grimy texture in the digital photo that happens when shooting through the duaflex iv viewfinder. it is really quite cool, ’cause let’s face it… this thing is 50 years old! and it’s never been properly cleaned. it comes by its grimy demeanor quite naturally.

it’s so funny how as photographers and designers we often work really, really hard to ‘grimy up’ our perfect digital pics. with this vintage $10 camera, it’s naturally occuring. kinda like a mushroom… its a fungus and grows in manure, but add it to a plain pizza and something magic happens.

so. my favorite new photo recipe. add a ttv camera to your shot, point and shoot with your digital camera, and something truly magical will happen. i don’t think you’ll ever be able to predict the final image 100% of the time, but you KNOW it’s going to be tasty.