Biolam and Lomography

Biolam and lomography are some of the concepts we rarely understand and we hardly grasp. These terms are somewhat popular to those who have lived many years ago and for the scientists. The history of Lomo and its connections with Carl Zeiss Jena is an interesting and rather complex one. LOMO manufactured its first microscope in 1934 but its history goes further far back to 1914 when the factory first started producing optical equipment for the Russian army. However, during the 1930's, the Carl Zeiss Jena factories located in Germany were employing a vast work force of highly skilled laborers. Over its long history, mathematical theories and optical skills of Professor Abbe and Kohler and the manufacturing of new glass types by Dr. Otto Schott radically changed the nature of microscopy.
Some of the earliest post-war lomo microscopes are copies from the pre-war Jena catalogue as you would expect since much of the manufacturing plant was obtained by them but diversification over the years have produced a number of new designs. However you only have to look at many of the pre DIN objectives and accessories of older designs like the Biolam to see a very strong resemblance even today to those manufactured by Zeiss many years ago in their Jena workshops, indeed the objectives such as the apochromatic range are outwardly nearly identical to those of Jena in the 1930's, the glass however is different the raw material being sourced in Russia.

Lomo remained a rather secretive enterprise for many years after the war not only manufacturing microscopes but also optical equipment for the military. The lomo name remains and a large range of optics is still offered for sale, indeed you can still buy the Biolam in the U.S. now called the Multiscope. The Multiscope is offered along with more sophisticated and expensive stands with DIN objectives together with microscopes for polarizing and fluorescence work.

Sometimes, they have an argument if what is the best to use, lomo? Or Zeiss?

Zeiss made phase rings for their older condensers that had a tendency to flake or fall off. While, lomo is not alone in the grease problem, they have found Zeiss condenser and field diaphragms seized, phase condenser mechanics seized and correction collars on objectives very stiff and difficult to operate. So now we come full circle back to the LOMO Biolam

Lomographic Sporting Stuffs!

Yes, lomography is taking mainstream. Well, I have just to accept that passion is passion and there are a lot of people out there who are also passionate enough (and can afford enough, I mean) to engage in lomography. Anyway, I'm not cynical. When the concept of lomography hit you, there will be an aftershock of its accessories and different promotional materials that you will meet. There are more Lomo Cameras in the market, but there are far more accessories to enhance their functions. Isn't that amazing? Well, the Holga family has the most accessories available in the market today, perhaps, has the cheap construction and simple meniscus. Let's start with the woctron 235 flash, complete with a fearsome name and authentic 80’s throwback graphics is an easy and powerful light-tosser to fit onto any standard hotshoe camera including the LC-A, Fisheye, Fed 5, and a whole a lot other cameras. There are 2 settings available, full power manual and a semi-automatic setting which controls the flash output according to your film ISO and aperture setting. Effective to a maximum of 36 feet (11m) and it uses 4 “AA” batteries. Fisheye lens on the other hand explodes your view yielding an approximately 170-degree image. The days of choosing between the amazing Fisheye or the dazzling Lomo have come to an end. Fisheye lens can now be attached to LC-A and Holga cameras. Forget that endless pile of paperwork that you cannot manage anymore, and fill any possible surface in your living environment. We have just the solution to this situation the new Lomography Notebook that will help you keep up-to-date, practically guarantees you are always on time and never again will you forget a single thing. Every page of the Lomography Notebook contains plenty of space for making daily notes, practicing your best friends signature or simply scribbling your enemy's name. Now, tidy up that mess on your desk and start anew from a clean slate. There is nothing short of the most amazing electronic flash that you have ever experienced. When mounted onto your camera, the Ringflash completely surrounds you lens and throws a burst of perfectly even light onto your subject making for fantastic close-up portraits with a signature look. These plastic adapters ringlash can be used with the following Lomography cameras: Fisheye, Fisheye 2, LC-A, LC-A+, Holga. Fotoclips have been very needed nowadays since it is use to attach two photos side-to- side and thus if you want to make a photo wall of your photos, it is now easy to assemble with the help of fotoclips. Using fotoclips you will be able to build everything you never have dared to dream of, just using your imagination and a wad of fresh Lomographs. This product is availble in the market. It is usually 100 pieces in a box and it may cost at about PhP600.00. These little clips are designed to change your life, if not, you are certainly will. There are also emerging small business that sells lomo pins, shirts, stickers, lomo plastic cups, and other lomo sporting goodies. During bazaar, these accessories are up for grabs. Likewise, lomo accessories can also be bought online without using credit cards. Enjoy Shooting! But don't forget the glass lens cover while shooting!

Intimate Itch of Lomography

Two months ago, I was on my home trying to figure out nutty things peeking in my averagely-rated life. Half of my life are spent here in Iloilo City with friends and not with the comfort of my own family, I have no job, restless of my socio-civic scenes and only graduate school creates a mirth out of me. I have to be impassioned the way I used to be way back my early years, perhaps, to keep me sane, I thought to myself.

As the jeep I was riding stopped nearly the gates of Nelly Garden, the popular Mansion of the Lopezes which stands in the middle of commercialized niche, in the old district of Jaro. I always get mesmerized by the beauty of it solemnity, it was like an epitome that can outlive ages. The Nelly Garden is a quintessence of what the life of the rich and affluent sugar barons then. At that point, I was frustrated for not having it photographed, for I don't have any decent camera except for my mobile phone, and at that time said “memory full.”

I finally went home after I underestimated my capacity to take a good picture with my lousy gear. I slept for two hours before my boyfriend fetched me for dinner. We went to his friend's house and while I was sitting uncomfortably, I took a glance in a single page of the magazine. The glossy paper featured Lomo Cameras. I was initially excited because of their prices, they were really up for grabs. Then I learned that these kind of cameras are still using traditional films, that it is also known as a camera toy but gives great images with stunning effects. Likewise, most of the camera are an inexpensive, medium format 120 film, made in China, appreciated for its low-fidelity aesthetic. Hence, I was introduced to Lomography. The term entails about being in the moment, capturing it with one's favorite Lomographic tool producing effects like light leaks, vignette framing and deep saturated color. It also include the concept of “Don't think, just shoot” and after more pages, my heart was starting to fall for it... not anymore because of the price, but because it was something I really need .

We went home. We passed by the Nelly Garden once again, without the urge of taking photograph, but the impulse to sleep.

There I was, appreciating a thing and dearly devastated to wait for my own camera to arrive. I know, I am not alone in this. I know, that there are several people in my shoes, whose passionate engagement with photography is driven by a desire to explore or to redefine themselves. Lomography might be my way of escaping stifling familial or social environments, or subverting oppressive expectations, allowing me to visualize alternative scenarios for my life not only in the images but in the personality I adopt to create them. Or it might just be a reflection in which mirrors my current reality, frustrating me with the illusive possibility of exerting some control over it. Whatever the reasons, whatever form it takes, I like the idea of Lomography as a meditative or reflective act. Well, just what I said, it keeps me sane.

I have now my Holga 120 GCFN, I recently taking photographs with my boyfriend. It is a good start and I have to buy more accessories for it. I'm planning to buy Lomo Fisheye 2 camera as a gift for him. He deserves to have one. Lome fisheye 2 camera blends so well with his fun-and-go personality with semi-circular fisheye masterpiece, he can just shoot and shoot, little did I know he's up for another roll. He can view that the outside world is about to twist, turn, and distort into an intoxicating fisheye-framed wonderland. We'll drink to that! Certainly, I'll just buy Fisheye lens for my Holga since I'm a bit envy with him, but not too soon.

Anyway, the most inspiring concept for me about lomography is the fact that everyday you are bound to discover photographs by anyone that are outstanding. Not only may be for boyfriend, but for others as well who share the same passion.

I was really inspired by the random concept of Lomography, and though, there are lots of tips and tricks, but it was always in the spirit of wanting to do my own thing. I want encouragement from a small circle of like-minded lomographers who are equally obsessed with capturing their own quirky visions of the world they inhabit on film. For me, this is lomography at its best.

I curl up in your voice
like a freshly made bed.
I'm never asleep
but I don't twist and turn.
It's raining inside of familiar songs
while I breathe like a damp wind after
a hot summer storm.
My ceiling becomes the sky
as I drift off into the night dream
that you're playing just for me.

Room 425

These dark mornings have become old friends, haven’t used an alarm clock in months,haven’t seen busy streets. cold out there and night drizzle up to here, the nurses are the only others up. Coffee and a piece of bread watching him sleep, a glance in the window, then there’s the pillow and a shower.