I’ve been tryng to shoot more film for personal work, as the best way to know what I’m doing is to actually DO it!  I’d love to get to a point where I’m offering film shoots for clients, but I’ve got to get to where I know my film stocks and figure out a good workflow first   Hence, personal work!

The following are 35mm shots where I tried out some local developing, and scanning the negatives myself here at home.  I’m fairly satisfied with my first attempts on my own (previous attempts always had them scanned for me as well in case I royally messed up!).

(Yup, my kids will pose, but they’ll make sure it looks forced!)

The following are just a few playing around shots.  The first is from my Holga, and the 2nd set are from a vintage Baldixette (1950s) that I managed to semi-break after one roll of film, and I haven’t been quite brave enough to try again yet.

I’m slacking on getting the summer photos up, I know!  *Scroll to the bottom for a limited offer!*

A few from our 4th   We were up in MO for the 4th, and the kiddos and I headed to some local fireworks.  It was hot… and sort of miserable, but worth it!  The shot of the kids was taken at a spot we passed on the way to the restrooms, but it’s such a beautiful little spot!

Also, some obligatory fireworks photos!  The first shot was from a neighborhood show going off back behind the park as we were getting settled in for the main show, but I love the shot!  Also, I wish I had taken my wide angle this evening, but I was going for simplicity, so the portrait lens it was!

We just got back from a really great three week long visit with family, and I indulged myself with personal photos.  And, I want to share some shots from our trip, but so not to overwhelm, I’m going to break it up  into a few blog posts 

Part 1:

We got an invite to a Cardinal’s game during the 2nd week of our visit. Hubby and I hadn’t been to one in years (I’d only been to one back in high school), and our oldest hadn’t been to one ever.

It was a blast! The kiddo enjoyed it, hubby and I enjoyed it, and I am soooo glad I took my camera to capture the memories!

Technical note:  I shot the game on Kodak Portra 800 (35mm) -  loved that one film covered the daylight and night scenes both amazingly well!

*I’ve since scanned in a few of these negatives on my own, and realize how green these are!  Boo for quickie drug store scans!  I’m going to toss a bit of geekery in here now.  The left image was the same negative, scanned by me on the Epson V500 using the standard software.  Right image was from a local Walgreen’s.  I’ve still got to practice with my scanner, but I mostly prefer my results!

This post has nothing to do with the business aspect of Tara Stallings Photography

I took the kids to the zoo yesterday!  We arranged to meet a friend of mine, and her kids there since it’s in the middle of where we both live.  Matt and I had been here before, about 3 1/2 years ago, and he had a blast all over again.  Addy hadn’t been, and as you can see below, she didn’t even make it through the whole thing awake- ahhh, to be a toddler and just sleep and get pushed around

Note:  the snake pic… At least my kiddo was smart and took the smallest part!

And yes- LIGERS!!!

For anyone interested in visiting (and I HIGHLY recommend it- very cool!), the following links will get you all sorts of info on the zoo   There are animals to feed, roaming miniature goats, and the owner takes you through on tours of all the animals, teaching and letting you interact!

McClelland’s Critters (Banks, AL)   Website / Facebook 

Just a little personal share   If you’ve read back any, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve started dabbling in film a little bit.  This is some more of my experimentation with various film stocks, and getting to know how best to use it!

I absolutely love these next images- not because of their technical awesomeness, but because of what I shot them on!  These were from a test roll through my 1948 Ansco Shur Shot, basic box camera that I bought for $4.99 on an eBay whim…  There’s not much that seems cooler than shooting film through something that has seen so much- I mean, there’s no telling what images have been taken on this camera over the years!

The following are just snaps from the backyard, playing with my youngest.  These are all from a film SLR, which is much more like what I’m used to with my digital camera.

So, while my business photography focuses on family portraiture, I like to have fun capturing other images too!  And sometimes, I just don’t feel like grabbing the big camera to do so.

Enter the iPhone… I use a combination of several apps for caputuring and processing images on my phone, and even pull some onto my computer for further editing.  This particular image was captured on a quick detour off of an exit on our way back from Imaging USA in New Orleans a few weeks ago.  This little building looked intriguing from the interstate, and was even more gorgeous up close!

So, I snapped the shot from the side of the road, hopped in the car and went on.  When I got home, I processed it further in Photoshop, and ended up with this:

{Fisherman’s Castle, New Orleans}

Then I realized that I had to DO something with this!  Unsure of how well an iPhone photo would print, I did it anyways and am in love with the results!  I had it printed up as a 20×20″ mounted to a 3/8″ Gatorboard backing.

And yes, this is another iPhone snap of it hanging

Just a quick share – it’s been busy around here!

We managed a quickie photo shoot this weekend to update our personal family photo!  I rarely take the time to get us all in the shot at once, so I’m pretty thrilled when I manage to do it successfully!  Those of you who are parents can understand how badly your own kids hate your camera

This also gave me a chance to try out a new location, and I officially love it!  I’m shooting another fantastic family out there this weekend- yay!