Guest Post: For the Easily Distracted

Hi Down and Out Chic readers! It's Rhianne here from For the easily distracted... I'm so excited Christina asked me to do a guest post, especially when she asked for it to be about toy cameras - if any of you read my blog then you know I love film photography so I jumped at the chance. I've had my diana mini for over a year now and it's still a camera that I'm learning more about everytime I use it and recently I've discovered an amazing combination which I just love and can't stop using. Diana mini with Ilford XP2 black and white film. I've used 4 films already since trying it and here are some of my favourites!
I was never 100% sold on taking black and white photos before, I loved looking at other peoples photos but I was always convinced that I loved colour too much to use a black and white film, until I tried this film. The soft tones of the film compliment the Diana’s use of light and the contrast looks amazing when you do double or triple exposures. It is definitely a film that you can build on. Perhaps my favourite part of this film is that it isn’t a true black and white film and if your lab accidentally scans it in colour then your photos actually have a slight purple tone to them which I’ve never seen before. Thanks for having me and I hope you like my photos. Rhianne

By the river

B and I were able to take the afternoon on Saturday and relax at the local park. I appreciated this break more than most because it's been a rough few days for both of us. We lost a very dear friend to cancer this weekend and then this morning B's great uncle passed away. In the midst of grief and loss, we had this moment of quiet and it was wonderful. We're currently preparing for a week of services and traveling, family, friends and mourning. I've prepared some posts for the week including an update on this project but if I'm unresponsive to emails or comments, you'll know why. xo

images: D&OC w/the diana mini and lomography color negative 100 film

Newest Diana Mini Shots

My gorgeous sister in law with her Holga taking the picture you see below...

And me taking a picture of her with the Diana Mini.

I wish I had bought this chair found outside of a vintage shop in Raleigh.

Downtown Raleigh.  We really like this city.

Our friends' sweet little girl in the cutest ruffled jacket.

Inside my shower.  Quite literally, mind you. 

Happy Monday friends. How was your weekend? Unfortunately, B has still not kicked the flu so things are still a little out of sorts for us. The good news he was well enough to see family and I got a roll of film developed. Some of these are from these weekend and a few are from our trip to Raleigh a few weeks ago. Cheers to a new, flu-less week.

images:  mine, see from this roll  here

Diana Mini Round II

If you recall, I've recently attempted to try my hand at lomography and I've started with the Diana Mini.   I recently shot two rolls and only a handful of photos came out.  The others, including photos of our honeymoon, were terribly overexposed or just plain white because I accidentally had the shutter mode set to "b" which allowed too much light in (so many things to think about before taking a shot!). Very, very disappointing and kind of a dumb idea on my part to depend on a finicky camera and my lack of skills to document our beach trip (what was I thinking?).   I'm not giving up though!  I will NOT be defeated by a piece of plastic. 
You can see the rest of my attempts on my flickr page if you feel so inclined. 

images: D&OC

First Photos with the Diana Mini!

I have wanted to experiment with lomography for some time but have always been a little shy about taking pictures.  After consulting with my  friend and fellow blogger, (the human) Diana I decided to start with the Diana Mini.  The affordability of this little camera + the 35mm format made picking out my first toy camera pretty easy.  These pictures are from my very first roll, taken this weekend, and I was like a kid on Christmas morning when I went to the lab to pick up the prints.  Many of my photos didn't come out at all (helpful tip- take OFF the camera lens cap before shooting) and the double exposures were a complete accident but that's all part of the experience I think.  I love my Nikon DSLR but I think the Diana Mini might just have become my new best friend.  Just like any friend, I plan on taking lots of time to get to know her, see what she likes and dislikes and maybe even gift her with some fun accessories (like a flash).  I'll report back on the status of the relationship regularly, I hope :)

images: me + the diana mini