Diana Mini

The last time I put film inside a camera must have been in 2003, before I graduated from uni and right before we (the family) purchased an Olympus Mju 300 digital camera which we share.  I had learned photojournalism for one semester back when I was in the 9th grade in high school.  Now that was such a great experience on learning how to take photographs and process the films manually in the dark room.  Yes, we processed our own photos.  Visually in my mind, I can still recall some of the steps that we had to do, but frankly, I don't even remember the names of the chemicals and even that small machine that we use to put the negatives, paper and light - for it to then become a photograph.

From my visit to the Diana Lomo exhibition last week, I decided to give film and lomo a try.  Introducing... Diana Mini.

My younger sister has explored lomography long before I even knew what it was (we siblings even 'questioned' the Colour Splash lomo camera that she first bought five or six years back because we really didn't know what lomography was).  But thanks to her, right after I purchased Diana Mini, I got an express tutorial of Lomo101 from her, having her explained to me about what films to use and about cross-processing.  She says that those effect which I like to use from my iPhone apps are effects similar to films which have been cross-processed.  I was thrilled.  It's never to late to try something new, right? Now one thing about shooting with film that's different from using digital camera - is patience.  Not being able to see the results instantly on the screen feels like waiting to open up a present!

As for cross-processing films, I came to know that the effect happens when slide films are processed as regular films.  In another way, it's processing the film in the wrong chemical.  That's why the processed photos would have really wacky, vibrant and highly contrasting colours.  Interesting, right?  But as it turns out, slide films are expensive! Fortunately, I went to the camera shop and was recommended an expired Fuji Sensia 100 film for AUD5.50, which is still a slide film.  Cheap enough for my first ever lomo roll.  And luckily, cross-processed images from Fuji Sensia using lomo cameras do turn out amazing!  Now I just hope that my Diana Mini will give me nice surprises... but that we'll only be able to see that in another month or so when the 36 exposures are finished.

 If you want to know more about what lomography is about, click here.

Tiny Pink Luxuries

 

I wanted to try make Red Velvet Cupcakes last night, but didn’t have any of the main ingredients like buttermilk, vinegar and red food colouring.  For the record, I’ve never even tasted Red Velvet before - will do, though.  I did, however, have all the other things to make cupcakes, plus pink food colouring, some thick cream and chocolate chips.  So here’s my improvised version of what I call, “Tiny Pink Luxuries”.  They’re made like vanilla cupcakes, but with thick cream, and chocolate chips hidden inside, and topped with butter-cream and chocolate rice.  They turned out to be pretty rich, that one tiny cupcake is already luxurious.

Ingredients:
80g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 cup self-raising flour, sifted (or 1 cup plain flour + 2 teaspoons baking powder)
1/3 cup thick cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 tablespoon pink food colouring
A handful of chocolate chips

Topping:
80 g butter, softenend
1 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Some chocolate rice

Method:
1. Mix butter and sugar using electric mixer, until light and fluffy.
2. Add in egg and mix well.
3. Add in flour, thick cream, vanilla, cocoa powder and pink colouring.  Beat with mixer until well combined.
4. Add in chocolate chips and stir.
5. Fill a small spoonful of batter into mini cupcake papers.
6. Bake at 160 C for 10-15 minutes until cooked.  Then cool on rack before topping.
7. For topping: Beat butter and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in icing sugar until well combined for 1 minute.  Decorate topping on top of cupcakes as you wish and sprinkle with chocolate rice.

Oh, Macarons!

Mad about macarons? You can get the step-by-step recipe with photos from my tumblr here (courtesy of my husband). Happy trying :)