Jake Rohde | Valo Photography

As a thank you gift for shooting his wedding (coming up real soon) my friend, and partner in crime, Simon McConico and his fiance, got me a Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S Instant Film Camera. I took a week off with my wife and headed down to Mexico, and they thought I might be able to use it down there, so they gave it to me a little early. It was also my birthday on the 26th of Feb, so this was a very pleasant surprise. I took a lot of instant images while in Mexico, and learned a lot about the camera, as this was my first time using one. The main thing I learned was similar to the lessons learned while shooting with a Holga: Let go, loosen up, and don’t take things to seriously.

So here are some of my favorite images from the trip:

And since I am feeling good from the vacation I am going to give away 10 prints of these scanned images. So these won’t be the original instant film, but they are the next best thing. They will be printed on a 5×5 archival photo paper, signed by me. All you have to do is leave a comment below with the image you would like, and I will get it printed and mailed out to you. I will take the first 10 comments here on the blog. Make sure to leave your email when commenting (you dont have to leave it in the comment area, but there should be a spot to enter it so only I can see it). I will then email you to follow up, and get your shipping address. So here we go… first 10 people.

Jake Rohde
Valo Photography

11 Comments | In: Fine Art, Lomo, Travel | tags: 7S, Camera, film, Fuji, Fuji Instax Mini 7S, Fujifilm, Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S Instant Film Camera, Instant, Instax, Jake, Jake Rohde, Mexico, Mini, Playa Del Carmen, Vacation. | #

Sarah and Kevin were married at the Orpheum Theatre in Madison Wisconsin. Here are some of my favorites from the day:

Sarah and Kevin
Madison, WI
Orpheum Theatre
Saturday October 17, 2009

Jake Rohde
Valo Photography

No Comments | In: Photography, Wedding Photography | tags: 5D, Canon, Canon 5D, digital, film, in love, Jake, Jake Rohde, Madison, Madison Wedding Photographers, Madison Wedding Photography, Madison Wisconsin, McConico, Milwaukee Wedding Photography, Milwaukee Wedding Photos, Photography, Portrait, Rohde, Simon, Simon McConico, Urban, Valo, Valo Photography, Wedding, Wedding Photography, WI, Wisconsin. | #

I had a bunch of Holga films that I have been trying to get to scanning… I finally did…

Jake Rohde
Valo Photography
Milwaukee WI

No Comments | In: Fine Art, Photography | tags: film, Fine Art, Holga, Jake, Jake Rohde, Lomo, Photography, Travel, Urban, Valo, Valo Photography. | #

I am having a selection of some of my “void” work on display at the BYOstudio this gallery night and day. The show runs for 2 weeks: July 24 – Aug 2. Stop by, I will be hanging out Friday night, and most likely Saturday as well.

Part of a group show including photography, painting and sculpture called “Reflection on Recession”

Join BYOstudio for the Exhibit Opening Event
Milwaukee Gallery Night:  Friday, July 24, 2009 – 6pm to 9pm
Milwaukee Gallery Day:   Saturday, July 25, 2009 – 1pm to 5pm

BYOstudio
2246 South Kinnickinnic Avenue in Bay View
414-699-7033
info@byostudio.com

http://www.byostudio.com/Home

2 Comments | In: Fine Art | tags: art, City, Cream, Cream City, film, fine, Fine Art, Jake, Jake Rohde, Photography, Valo, Valo Photography, WI, Wisconsin. | #

This weeks photo of the week, “Drops with Night Lights”. This photo was taken late at night as I was sitting in my car. It was raining outside, it was peaceful and there were city lights in the background. It was one of those moments when everything seemed peaceful, just for a couple of seconds… So in that moment I took out my camera, quietly as to not disturb the moment, and snapped a few photographs of raindrops collecting on the windshield of my car.

“Drops with Night Lights”
Milwaukee, WI
Canon EOS 3
Arista Premium 400 @ 400

Jake Rohde
Valo Photography

No Comments | In: Fine Art, Photo of the Week, Photography | tags: Abstract, Arista, Arista Premium 400, Canon, Canon EOS 3, City, Cream, Cream City, EOS 3, film, Jake, Jake Rohde, Milwaukee, Photography, Valo, Valo Photography, WI, Wisconsin. | #

This weeks photo of the week comes from a disposable camera. I have been having a lot of fun using low-fi camera such as disposables, Holgas, Dianas, Pinholes, and others. It is a lot of fun. What I think it does for me is lets me focus more on content and really push myself to try and make a good image with not much to work with. Sometimes it is very frustrating, because there is that lack of control, since there really is not a lot you can control… Pop some film in, you are stuck to that speed, there is no exposure control, so you kind of have to look for light that will fit with what you have… etc… It is a challenge and it is a lot of fun. I think it also shows that you can make nice and unique images with not a lot of equipment. Nice equipment is nice, and I love all the gear that I have, but sometimes it is so nice to reject it all, grab a lo-fi camera and go for a walk and just have fun…

This photo is from Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin. My wife took me there last weekend for a little birthday getaway. I brought a couple disposable cameras with me, and shot through two of them. This was one of my favorite images from the walk. The camera I used I received free from a friend, who had a bunch of leftovers from her company, so really it cost me next to nothing, since I didn’t even have to pay for the camera…

More images from disposable cameras can be found in my Flickr set Disposable.

“Bob 35″
Stugeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin
Jake Rohde
Valo Photography

No Comments | In: Fine Art, Lomo, Photo of the Week, Photography | tags: City, disposable, disposable camera, film, Jake, Jake Rohde, lo-fi, Lomo, Photography, Urban, Valo, Valo Photography, WI, Wisconsin. | #

This is my favorite tree. I have taken many photographs of this tree and they are all very different. My most popular is probably “Tree with Yellow Line” which was lucky enough to grace the cover of the “Cue” section of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. This photo is another version of my favorite tree. Enjoy.

“Northpoint Tree”
Milwaukee Wisconsin

No Comments | In: Fine Art, Photo of the Week, Photography | tags: film, Jake, Jake Rohde, Mamiya, Mamiya 645, Milwaukee, Northpoint, Photography, Rohde, Valo, Valo Photography, WI, Wisconsin. | #

So I am a film and digital shooter, and I am always conflicted. When I go out to shoot, I need to decide, am I going to shoot film today, or maybe digital, or do I bring both? I love so many things about both mediums. I love the color, organic feel, the size from medium format, the focal length of lenses on a Medium format, the physical act of developing black and white, the grain in a high speed piece of film, and the overall process of film. But I also love the instant gratification of digital, the speed at which I can get a photo from camera into the clients hands or on the wall if it is a fine art print, the low cost of shooting a ton, the ease of editing, as well as many more. So I am eternally conflicted. I don’t think I really need to pick one or the other, it just seems like I go through cycles… There are some days when I want to ditch film all together and other days when I hate that damn LCD on the back of my digital camera. So I guess I will just keep shooting both, until they stop making film all together (which I hope won’t be for a long time). Right now I am in a film loving mode, black and white and color. I am hooked on Kodak Portra 400NC and Arista Premium 400.

So what are your thoughts on film vs digital?

“DriftScape”
Bradford Beach, Milwaukee, WI.
Mamiya m645 – 80mm f/2.8 Sekor C
Kodak Portra 400NC

5 Comments | In: Photography | tags: Beachscape, Bradford Beach, digital, Driftscape, film, Jake, Jake Rohde, Landscape, Milwaukee, Photography, Rohde, Valo, Valo Photography, WI, Wisconsin. | #