One of my stated intentions for doing this project was to try out some of the cameras I owned and had never used. While I have done that to some degree (Pentax 67, Nikonos, and the Voigtlander I left in Iceland ) I have also added cameras to the stash that weren’t on the list at the start of the year, thus not reducing the task at all. For Week 26 I decided to try the Olympus Pen EE that I got for next to nothing on Etsy. I bought it in part because I like diptychs and spent a lot of time trying to make good ones in the darkroom back when I had use of a darkroom. This seemed like a cheap shortcut to the same concept. The EE is the lowliest of the Pen models, with no user controls except to set the film speed, thus being the Holga of its family. I realized after looking at images made with some of the other Pen series, that this was not really what I had in mind but – you bought it, you name it is one of my many mottoes. So I loaded a roll of TMax 400 and started shooting. Unfortunately, I forgot that because of the twin frames, you get twice as many exposures as with a regular SLR. As a result this 36 (72) exposure roll took me quite a few weeks to complete.
I shot in a variety of locations and sunlight conditions, from overcast, to bright sunlight, to shade and/or interior. The best results seem to have been in darker conditions (probably due at least in part to the film) and at closer range. I was pretty pleased with some of the pairings that happened (more or less by accident). The first bunch were taken at a beach near my house on an overcast day.
The next bunch were shot on a sunny day at the cemetery – the same day I took the infrared shots in the Week 27 post. The ones taken in the shade are best.
These next shots, if you blow them up, are really kind of nice. This statue is one of my favorites. It is meant to represent the angel of death and sits over the resting places of Ulysses S Grant Jr and his family. The creator was a famous sculptor whose many beautiful works are mainly in New York. She sits under a very large pepper tree which quite possibly wasn’t there when the monument was erected but which now keeps her in the shade most of the time.
This last pair was taken in my dining room.
I have been working to improve my photography skills as part of this project, so the lack of controls on this camera was frustrating. i was pleased with some of the shots but I don’t think I’ll be taking it out again soon.
As always, all images are straight from the camera, scanned with no editing.
Half-Frame is my own personal demon! Mostly because I even have trouble working through a 36-Exposure roll. However you did a fantastic job with these going with a diptych idea!
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Thanks Alex. I actually liked the change of composing in portrait mode. Maybe eventually my GAS will lead me to acquire a more sophisticated model of this camera.
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Wow … I love these … I am going to practice more with my Pen D … excellent work 🙂
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Nice to find these half frame photos. If you look around you might find a version of the Pen that is manual, or has a manual setting. Mine is the first version and has no light meter and manual controls. I usually shoot it with Sunny 16 estimates. Works fine, and the optics are excellent.
One thing I like to do is make what I call fliptychs which are a diptych or triptych of the same subject with the camera flipped upside down between images. https://burntembers.com/tag/fliptych/ There is so much fun to be had with these cameras!
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That’s a very cool idea! When I have time to run another roll through this I may try a few like that. My problem is too many cameras, not enough time so I almost always end up with my one or two favorites. Maybe I should lock them up somewhere to force myself to experiment more with the others.
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