I bought myself a LOMO-camera - the limited edition Golden-Half - on my 30th birthday. I read about it in the internet and love the effects, especially the half-film feature. This means that a 36-roll film can turn out 72 photos, with 2 shots appearing in each picture. And well, it's a film camera, nothing digital about it. So it's really about how you carpe diem!
When I received the package by post, I was really excited. The package was exquisite (of course lah, it's invented by the Japanese!)! And the Golden-Half is really cute and pretty! There were 10 Golden Rules of Lomography on the package:
1) Take your LOMO with you whenever you go
2) Use it all the time, at any time - day & night
3) Lomography does not interfere with your life, it's a part of it
4) Get as close as possible to the objects of your lomographic desire
5) Don't think (William Firebrace)
6) Be fast
7) You don't have to know what's going to be captured on your film beforehand
8) You don't have to know what's on the film afterwards either
9) Shoot from the hip
10) Don't worry about the rules
In the next few weeks, I continued to be excited and started to preach by the golden rules. I carried the Golden-Half around and started to learn how to use it and capture things ( prefer to refer to it as moments) - on my way to the swimming pool, on my way to work, at the shopping centre, from the window of my room...
Sadly, the first 24-roll did not turn out as well as I expected! The photo-processing shops do not have half-film processing facilities and so all my photos turned out as a normal photo without the two shot in one picture effect! And I did not really know how to use the LOMO very well - only 14 picture were developed (meaning I wasted 17-roll!)! Tsk tsk tsk...
I have since started on my second roll in March for my trips to Malacca, Hong Kong, Macau and Muar Town (in Johore Bahru, Malaysia). There's really no rush to finish the roll and I just shhoot what I feel like. Not sure how many pictures have been taken - the counter says 30 (let's see what happens when it hits 36). And I'm going in search of a photo-processing that can develop the photos and make them turn out the way they should!
Well, I guess that's the beauty of a LOMO- to expect the unexpected and see how things turn out. And perhaps that's life - to treat each day as a vacation, enjoy each day to the fullest, follow your heart and let it unfold its surprises...
