The Joy of Not Knowing What You Are Doing

I like the way this Stuff project is pushing me. Using diopters on the Diana means I am shooting blind. The Diana’s viewfinder–already suspect–is useless. And, focusing is pretty haphazard.  I think my focus range is about 7 inches. But the depth of field is small. The happy result of these constraints is that I am taking pictures I never would have without them.

For example, when I started, I thought I would be shooting something like this.

This is what I thought I was going to do

I took this picture with the Graflex 4X5. It’s not a bad picture. A simple full-image of an object with it fairly centered. It’s object as icon. And it’s pretty much what I shoot when I shoot street scenes or buildings.

Now, I am getting pictures like this.

What did I do?

It’s much more evocative, with just a bit of focus at the top of the image and the subject off-center and cropped.

Here are some shots from my latest round.

Imperial Debonair

Argus C3

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye

Marx and Coffee Cup