Lomographer @frontoparietal on Intentional Shooting with LomoChrome Turquoise

Leslie, also known as @frontoparietal, is a film photographer based in Ontario with a knack for being intentional in every step of shooting with our color-shifting films. Most recently, she's shared her truly magnificent LomoChrome Turquoise shots after long awaiting last year's preorder and shipment. Along with sharing her photos, she also explains her analogue journey and how she developed such a thought-out style of shooting.

Hi Leslie, welcome to Lomography Magazine! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your work?

I'm a genetic counselor who works in academia, based near Toronto, Ontario. After dabbling with digital cameras when I was younger, I took up film photography as a serious hobby in 2018. I taught myself mostly through tutorials I could find online and practicing via street photography, which remains my favourite style. But a move outside the city a couple of years ago has challenged me to work more with landscapes and animals. After about five years, I'd finally say I know what I'm doing, most of the time. I've started to enter some competitions and do a few shows, though mostly I share my work on my Instagram.

How did you discover the Lomography community on our website?

I found the Lomography community when I was experimenting with unusual film— expired film, surveillance film, pretty much anything that wasn't designed to be shot in a consumer camera. The Lomography community was a great way to see what other people were doing and get inspired, as well as share my own images, especially those that featured anything unexpected like light piping, flares, fogging, etc. I liked finding a community who saw those as enhancements rather than detractions from the finished image.

What made you pick up LomoChrome Turquoise film?

I was a big fan of LomoChrome Purple already, so I got in on the preorder for Turquoise early on. It was a long wait but worth it.

Can you tell us about your experience with our other experimental films?

As I mentioned, I really loved working with LomoChrome Purple. I spent a lot of time figuring out the stock and what I wanted to get out of it to maximize the otherworldly look. I like color-shifting films that surprise the viewer, even if it's subtle. We get used to seeing certain things in specific colours and it can be jarring to see them represented in an entirely different hue. That's what I love about these films.

Is your approach to shooting LomoChrome Turquoise any different than your approach to shooting regular color negative film?

Some films I'll throw in my camera and go, shooting a couple of rolls in an afternoon, but with this film I took my time to research the color shift and plan. I wanted to maximize the effect with the unexpected colors, so I looked up images showing the color shift— blue to orange, and yellow to turquoise meant I sought out subjects where you'd see that shift in a striking and hopefully unsettling way. I shot some graffiti with it and it looks cool, but it's not as visceral as seeing the blue sky come out a sickly orange, or fire turned bright blue. I'm also really careful with my exposures to make sure the colors are enhanced, rather than accidentally washed out (as with the sky). I shot my first roll of Turquoise over a full month, if that gives you a sense of how carefully I wanted to use it.

Do you have a favorite shot taken on the film? Is there a story behind it?

The fire is probably my favourite for the sheer impact of those blue flames, but I also love the one of the white horse looking towards the right of the frame. It's one of the few times I planned a "shoot" in that I took my horse, put her bridle on, and let her wander around a snowy pasture with a bright blue sky above us. With the sky shifted to orange, I wanted to evoke those images of animals that get loose and wander free after a fire or other disaster. What I didn't take into account was that the yellow stains on her coat would give her a blue cast, making her look almost otherworldly. Her naturally pale blue eyes also showed up as pale orange. That was an awesome surprise.

What kind of camera set up did you use to shoot the film?

I used my go-to setup, which is a Nikon FM3A with a Voigtlander Ultron 40 mm lens. A fun surprise was discovering that I have a light leak that shows up in some of the images and I love it. (But I'm still going to order some foam and redo the seals.)

Do you have any tips or tricks for shooting with LomoChrome Turquoise?

Try a few rolls at different ISOs to find what you really like. I shot these images at ISO 200 but I plan to experiment more. I ended up preferring LomoChrome Purple at ISO 100 but I had to figure that out. And if you want the maximum impact of the color shift, be mindful of your subject— greens don't shift that much, for example. You'll get a slightly different look shooting an evergreen forest, sure, but it won't hit you the same way as seeing school buses or lemons come out bright blue, or that apocalyptic orange sky. Even the sheep— maybe if you don't know sheep well, you won't know that they have yellow eyes, but if you've spent any time around them, seeing them with blue eyes is subtle but enough to be slightly disturbing.

Why shoot analogue over digital?

Digital has revolutionized photography, but I love the challenge of analogue. Every time I learn something new, whether it's shooting without a light meter, or using the zone system, it's really satisfying to become skilled at it (or at least competent). And when you spend time creating a great shot, thinking about composition and being knowledgeable about your camera, lens, and stock, and then after the wait to get it back from the developers, the payoff in seeing you nailed it is just so much bigger than if you see it immediately on a small screen. Pure dopamine.

Anything else that you'd like to share?

I'm looking forward to playing with this stock a lot more. These images are all from just one roll, and I can't wait to see what happens when I shoot at a different ISO, or see it on 120.

If you're interested in keeping up with Leslie and her work, don't forget to check out her LomoHome and Instagram!

written by eloffreno on 2023-06-22 #culture #people #experimental #lomohome #community #community-member