splityarn

jumpity theme and variations

Sometimes in the 365 Days project inspiration can be lacking (did I forget to mention I'm doing year 2?) Occasionally on one of those days, a throw-away shot can inspire an entire week. So you just never know when or where that inspiration will come. You just keep plugging away and kabam! There it is.

Sometimes your Mum gets in on things:

Sometimes Stitchy McYarnpants drops in to play too:

And then at the end of the week, you can sum up all the different footwear

(Click on that photo for all the details)

I lean heavily towards Fluevogs with a touch of Sugar thrown in. (And always a pair of Vans. Always.)

through the looking glass (or viewfinder, as the case may be)

As most folks know, I spend a lot of time trolling around on flickr. I love photography and all the quirky and odd things you can do to manipulate an image. A few years ago I stumbled across the Through the Viewfinder group. I was completely captivated by all the images. Seriously. All of them. It was like there wasn't a bad photographer in the group. I quietly bookmarked a few of the links found therein and filed it all under 'someday.'

A few weeks ago, the ever clever and talented Ms Soto started posting her own TtV (as the cool kids call it) photos. Ever the bandwagon jumper, I quickly followed her lead and snagged myself a old camera to use.

It's a really cheap and easy set up if you're looking to try it out. Kodak used to make the Duaflex series of film cameras where the viewfinder is a bubble-ish dome on the top of the camera. The basic TtV set up is to take a photo of the viewfinder of the Duaflex. The beauty of the whole process is that the Duaflex doesn't even have to be a functioning camera. The dust that comes on the mirror only adds to the mood of the resulting photos. You can pick up and old one on Ebay for anywhere from $2 to $20.

Once you get the Duaflex, you build what's called The Contraption. Basically it's a light blocking tube that you put between your digital camera (the top camera) and the Duaflex (the bottom camera.) You can find a ton of tutorials online on how to build one. The best place to start is the links in the main TtV flickr group page. I used the cardboard from a Ginger Ale fridge pack. After that, head outside (you'll need plenty of light) and snap away. A square crop and pinch of post-processing later and you have some funky photos!

Totally fun to try and inexpensive to boot!