Prague Without The Trains or the Cameraphone

This may be the crappiest photo I have ever uploaded to Flickr. What do you think? Do you think it's awful, or a masterpiece? I can't decide myself, and I like to use my Flickr account to feel these sorts of things out, so any tips would be welcome. I think with this shot it's as relevant as the other two cross processed, expired film shots of mine to know what produced that amazing magenta cast on it.

This was made in a similar fashion to my Karlovo Namesti shot, only with the extremes of contrast and brightness moderated to crank up detail, and the photo converted to black and white in Photoshop. It now could be either a photo, painting, or drawing, which I think is pretty cool. This is actually more or less what I had in mind when I shot it, which is not the case with any of the other photos in this batch.

This shot involves, of course, far more than cross processing. I started with expired Fujichrome Astia 100, shot it with my Lomo 135BC, and then had it cross processed before having it scanned cheaply, and inverting it in Photoshop. I also cranked up the contrast a bit. Normally, of course, cross processing doesn't have effects quite this extreme, though, so I'm assuming that this is a result of the film being expired. The camera also has some minor light leaks, but not as far as I know on this frame. Expired color film does, after all, usually produce pink or red images, regardless of the developer used. Any tips on how I can reproduce, or prevent, this effect in the future would of course be welcome.

This is one of a series of shots I took from the clock tower on the Stare Radnice, or Old Town Hall, in Staromestske Namesti, or Old Town Square, in Prague. As this was one of a series that I shot, expect more soon! :-)

I also took this with my sky filter, and was hoping for more shadow detail, but you can't have everything.

I took this using my old sky filter which I used to hate. This is one of the few situations when it was actually very handy.

This was one of a series of shots I took from Zofin, an island in the Vltava accessible from the Most Legii, visible to the left. I had my Ikoflex with me, loaded with black and white film, and my Lomo 135BC, loaded with color. This is probably my most successful shot with the Lomo so far.

This photo looks a bit bleak, I know, but I shot it for the composition. It was from my first successful roll shot with my second Lomo 135BC.

This shot isn't perfect (mostly a dirty scan), but I still like it well enough to upload it. This is Vaclavske Namesti, one of the centers of both new and historic entertainment in Prague, and the site of many important events in Czech history, including many political protests, and at least one battle (at the end of World War II). In the foreground you can see the statue of St. Vaclav, as in my other photos, and in the distance you can see the Mustek neighborhood and the New Yorker, a major clothing store.

I took this during my experimentation with using Kodak Portra 160VC at night, and I think I can count it as a success. The church in the background is Tynsky Chram, and in the foreground are buildings which include the Alfons Mucha Museum, among other things. All of these things are in Staromestske Namesti, or Old Town Square, in Prague.

Here's another lucky mistake from my Lomo 135BC!! It must sound like an awful camera by now, but I did indeed shoot this when it was still giving me a lot of trouble. I'm glad I have the shot, though.

When I originally took this, it was a disaster, horribly overexposed, which surprised me for a night shot. Therefore, I tried fixing it in Photoshop, and instead got this interesting painted effect, so I decided to keep it for that reason, rather than because it was a good night shot of Prague.

I took this with my Lomo 135BC, and it actually worked!!! This building is on Dukelskych Hrdinu in Prague, but I don't know much else about it. The main business on the ground floor is a pizza place, which isn't what you would expect given the glamourousness of everything above.

This rather interesting photo (in my opinion, anyway) is an accident due to a jammed film transport in a Lomo 135BC. It's probably my favorite for the month, in fact.

This is a sunrise, and not a sunset, as the sunlight is coming from the west, rather than the east, of Vaclavske Namesti. I was walking out of Mustek, saw the way the light was illuminating the buildings, and got this shot. I accidentally deleted this photo on the 28th of November, 2006, and I have no idea how many views it had at the time. For that, I'm obviously sorry. If you marked it a favorite, please mark it again!! :-)

This is the shot which inspired Picture 1, but as you can see, getting a picture is much more difficult when the trees and the wall are in the way.

Continuing in reverse chronological order from my night shots of Petrin, here's a day shot. :-)

The Strahovsky Klaster was built in 1120, but didn't become a officially a Monastery until 1143. It has survived ever since, in spite of many adverse conditions such as the Hussite Wars and Communism, and is now also a must-see for tourists. If nothing else, the view of Prague from Strahov, especially from the Petrin Watchtower, is worth a look.