1) Begin by brushing a good amount of glass & tile primer on your
tile surface to increase transfer adhesion and let it completely dry.
2) Choose a mirror photocopy of the photo to transfer. Images with
a plenty of light areas where the mirror or tile will show through,
work best.
3) Cover the photocopy with a thin layer of mod podge or Gel Medium and place the photocopy face down onto the mirror or tile.
Make sure to gently smooth out any air bubbles between the image and the surface.
4) Let the transfer take place and dry for no less than 24 hours.
5) Spray the back of the photocopy with water and begin to gently rub off and remove the paper to reveal the actual transfer. Repeat this step as many times as needed until all the access paper is completely gone.
6) Protect your artwork with a clear protective finish.

You can find this photo process and many others in my new book:
So Much More than Photography – eBook edition is now on sale for $10.
Get it here

This method is quite similar to the basic image transfer except the image is printed onto an inkjet transparency film.
Set your printer to inkjet transparencies settings and print a mirror-image of your photo into the non-shiny side of the transparency.
Coat the background of your choice with gloss Gel Medium and place the image side of the transparency face down into the background surface.
Smooth the transparency softly with your fingers to remove any air bubbles and to help transfer the ink.
Lift the transparency to reveal the transfer.
(After the transfer is done you can use the transparency in a mixed media collage; simply adhere it to your collage using gel medium.)

You can find this photo process and many others in my new book:
So Much More than Photography – eBook edition is now on sale for $10.
Get it here

You can find this photo process and many others in my new book:
So Much More than Photography – eBook edition is now on sale for $10.
Get it here

    

After a long waiting time period I finally got my Yashica Mat 124 G, and I can say it is fantastic and a different experience shooting with a TLR camera.

The Yashica Mat 124 G was created between the 1970 and 1986, this camera was the last TLR camera made by Yashica, It´s almost similar with the Yashica Mat 124 the only differences is the almost black elements of the body and it has gold contacts.

The technical details it has an aperture of  f/3.5, shutter speed from Bulb to 1/500, It can handle 120mm as well as 220mm film, you can use studio lighting  and has a self time. The Yashica Mat 124 G has an internal light meter that uses a 1.3v mercury battery that is no longer available but you can get a replacement with the same voltage from Wein Cell from Amazon, ebay, etc.

Where you can get this TLR camera? well this is very simple I got mine on ebay, just find the one that is in a very good condition and with the light meter working. Mine as you can see in the photo above is like new but I found the Mercury battery spill and probably damage the light meter wires. I think is a simple repair solution but I still have no time to send it for repair.

Other way It works perfectly all the internals are mechanical so the battery is only for the light meter reading. But in the TLR world is better to use an external light meter.

Here are some samples of the first 2 rolls of film shoot in Black and White and as I already shared before using my DiY Film Scanner to share is over Flickr.

This image I use a strobe triggered using the Yashica PC Sync input

So far is a fantastic camera if you are looking more quality in your photos that you can not get in your Holga or Diana camera.

I hope you find this helpful, ah I just forgot  you can get this camera around $80-$400 dollars over ebay just be sure to get the one in better conditions.

I wrote this in spanish in my blog but I really need to shared here.

This camera review is posted by raypg

Here is an example of double exposure. Endless fun.

I will shamelessly plug my blog: timirving.blogspot.com

Photography with film and old cameras plus art and the odd gallery visit.

So Much More than Photography is a book of ideas and inspiration for creative and experimental photography.

The first part of the book encourages photographing without following the rules while at the same time exploring new methods and ideas to approach photography.
The second part of the book shares numerous ways to present your photographs artistically such as Image transfers, texture layers, mixed media photography and so on. You will see how easy it is to take your ordinary photos to the next level and you don’t even have to attend an art school or have any special skills to utilize these creative techniques.
The third section includes an article about Print on Demand, selected entries from my photography blog, and final thoughts.

All the processes shared in the book are the product of many experiments, endless trial and errors, I made in the last couple of years. I hope you will find these techniques easy to do and most of all they will inspire you to create your own photo-art work.

BOOK CONTENTS

Part one: Why you don’t need to follow the rules – Intro to non.photorapy – no rules – The science (art?) of photography – Abandoning the rules – Street photography – Accidental Work – Unplanned and unstaged photography -The challenges of street photography – Photographing on the move – Constructing a street photograph – Alternatives in street photography – Photographing in the rain – Shooting in the fog – Sky, sunset & sunrise
Photographing at night – Long exposure – Flash effects – Motion panning – Zoom lens effect – Shoot different cameras
Part two: Unconventional and creative photography techniques – The cameras we use – Polaroid – Holga – Other toy cameras – expensive cheap cameras – Diana – Lubitel 166 – Holgaroid – Classic cameras – Best camera for street photography – Film and scanning techniques – Cross processing – Tungsten film – Time Zero film – Multiple exposures – Expired and damaged film – Extreme and creative scanning – The negative as a frame – Computer techniques – Canvas background layer – Aging a color photo with coffee – Adding texture to a photo – Make your own textures – Texture from a mixed media collage – Working with textures and layers – Fake HDR – Positive/negative composite – Inkjet transfer – Basic image transfer (inkjet) – Perfect photo transfers – Transferring with transparencies – Xerox (photocopy) image transfer – Test transfer – Packing tape transfer – Paint transfer – Mixed media transfer – Transfer to mirror or ceramic tile – Gel Layer transfer – Aluminum foil transfer -Transfer to Polaroid – Paint a transfer – More transfer ideas – Hand coloring and painting photos. – Modified negative – Distressed prints – Mixed media and journaling – Slicing and reassembling a photo – Print on Demand – Which Print on Demand should I choose? – Standard books POD (Lulu & CreateSpace) – Publishing a Photo book – Lulu Studio – Blurb BookSmart – Publishing on Amazon – Marketing your book – Selling at your local bookstore – Online Marketing – Website/Blog – Search Engine Optimization – Join an Online Network – Link exchange – Book review – Social Networks – RSS feed – Marketing services – Paid advertisement – Document sharing services – Tools you can use – Photo editing: Paintshop Pro – FTP Client: FileZilla – Blog: WordPress

Preview selected pages from the book here

After seeing photo transfer techniques all over the blogosphere, and seeing that my younger sister doesn’t have a light switch cover for some reason, the stars aligned and in a rare stroke of brilliance, I decided to make a customized, photo transfer light switch cover for her.

Using the techniques found at Still Alive, Sabby in Suburbia, and The Feminist Housewife, I made a beautiful light switch cover that hopefully even my teen sister can enjoy.

Other than requiring a ton of patience and a gentle touch, the process is fairly simple. First, paint the light switch cover. Once it’s dry, apply a coat of Mod Podge and allow to dry.

Print off or obtain a Xerox copy of your picture to desired size. We have a laser jet printer, which worked perfectly fine. I’ve also heard ink printers work too. Because of my sister’s obsession with London after spending last Christmas there, I printed a picture of Big Ben. It fits perfectly along the bottom and even follows up the side of the cover.

Coat your picture with Mod Podge and firmly press onto the cover. Using your fingers, squeeze out any air bubbles. (Ignore the text on the back of my paper, it’s just recycled…)

Wait as long as you can stand it to let this dry. I waited over night, which worked much better than the few hours I allowed the photo transfer tiles I made. Spray the back of the paper with water and start rubbing with the pads of your fingers. The fibers of the paper will start falling off and you will be able to see the image on the cover. Keep rubbing until there are no fibers left…if you leave any they will dry leaving your image looking like a ghost. If there are fibers left, just re-spray and keep rubbing.

If you want to add words, print the words backwards and use the same technique as you did for the picture.

Once all the fibers are gone, touch up with paint and cover with a coat or two of Mod Podge. Screw the cover into the light switch and have the coolest cover ever!
Thank you Nitsa for giving me this chance to share the fun I’ve had with photo transfers!

Judy from What I Live For

You can choose any surface for this mixed media background but I prefer wood surfaces such as artist wood panel or any type of wooden blocks.

What you need:
wood panel.
An old newspaper or pages from an old dictionary.
Gel Medium
White and black Acrylic paints
A big nail

1) Thoroughly cover the wood surface with acrylic black paint and let it completely dry.
2) Use white acrylic paint to cover over the black paint, but let the black paint show through in some areas.
3) Use a big nail or a screw or any other tool to scratch and distress the surface.
4) Using gel medium adhere a few pieces of old newspaper or old dictionary pages and lightly cover them with white paint.

What you need:
Any size canvas or hardboard panel.
An old newspaper or any designer/art paper.
Mod Podge.
Acrylic or water paints
Optional: distress ink.

Its true you can make some beautiful textures on your PC and it will probably be an easier, faster and a cleaner process. However, if you like the direct contact with the materials, you will sure
love this process.
Ok, now on to the details:
Cover the canvas panel with an old newspaper or a textured paper adhering it with Mod Podge. Make sure your work is sloppy and not smooth so there are creases and bumps to the newspaper.
Paint one thin layer of paint covering the newspaper. Wait until it’s almost dry, add a drop of water to a different color and paint another layer letting the layer beneath show through
in some places.
Cover your work of art with any clear finish; Mod Podge can be used for this purpose as well.

When it’s dry and ready you can scan it and use it as a background texture for your images. 
(Another great application for this thing is to use it as a background for your photo print which you are going to frame and proudly display by your bed.)

Next: Texture from a mixed media collage 2