Last weekend I took a Lomography fisheye camera into town to experiment, Lomography is all about photographing whats around you and incorporating it into your daily life. Here are some digital scans of the images.
Contact Sheet from shoot
Image © Sophie Whale
This image of Bournemouth beach is one of my favourites from the whole shoot. I love the high contrast between the bright blue sky and the pale golden sand. As this image was shot on a plastic lomography camera and not digitally it does allow for small creative quirks such as the lens flare in the top right of the image. Because the fish eye photographs using a wide angle you capture things you may not see in a standard composition such as the bouncy castle to the right, however although this may not have been intentional It adds an sort of holiday snap feel to the image, almost like the work of Martin Parr.
Image © Sophie Whale
I took this image while shopping in bournemouth town centre. I like the way it is slightly grainy but also has a soft focus feel due to the film and build quality of the lens. I like how the hot air balloon contrasts with the urban style of the buildings, this adds an almost dream like, surreal element to the photograph.
Image © Sophie Whale
The reason I picked this image is because I think it really shows what a small plastic lens can do, although it may not like it, the building and railings in the image are in fact straight. The fisheye lens has distorted the image, giving it a curved appearance, almost like you are looking through a fish bowl. I love the lens flare across the top, I think it really shows how bright it was on the day, adding a warmth that allows the viewer to feel like they are there, in the photograph.
The freedom and creativity that lomography gives you is incredible, it's like no other photography, you throw the rule book out the window and just let your creativity run wild, you have to let the camera do the work. All you have to do is take notice of the world around you.
As I enjoyed using a lomography camer so much I plan to branch out and use a different one called a Diana F at some point during this project. Unlike this camera (Lomography Fisheye) which uses 35mm film. The Diana F takes 120mm film which although I have never photographed with before I am very excited to try something new.