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July 10, 2014 by Anya Elise

10 on 10 || july

Hello and welcome! Somehow, someway we have already completed one full year of our 10-on-10, collaborative project. Applause for all that have been with us for this past year, and a hearty coffee cheers to all of you who are joining us for the first time in “10-on-10: Year Two.” I am very happy and excited to kick off a second year.

When Courtney Zerizef first approached me to join this project way back in May 2013, I felt pretty certain I would only be involved for one year. A nice little, 12-month package. But then 2014 rolled around, we quickly arrived at the one-year anniversary mark, and Courtney asked everyone if they wanted to commit to another year, or bow out gracefully. I pondered the options and ultimately decided this was a project I wanted and needed in my blogging life. It keeps me on task when it comes to the ol’ A/E blog. I will admit that on some months, the 10-on-10 post is the only post to appear in an entire long month in this little space. Mostly this is a reflection on my horrible blogging habits (insert sheepish face here), but in a more positive light, I think it’s a fantastic testament to the beauty of a collaborative project such as this. It keeps us all honest. It keeps us accountable. And it makes us pause once a month, and take inventory of how we’re spending our time each and every month. For me, it’s forced me to make sure I’m taking at least one day a month to photograph something purely personal. In the rushrushrush working world I occupy, taking a camera out with me to photograph my own life has become more essential the further into my career I go. It’s so easy to think of photography just as my job, and not as a wonderful gift I’ve been given. This project helps keep me grateful. How can you pass up an opportunity to be part of a group that does all that? I ask you!

So here we are. Year two. A few of our inaugural members declined to take on a second year. And in their stead, Courtney recruited a few new members. So please give a wave and throw a happy high five to all the new and old photogs who participate. Their links are right here:

And now, to my July 2014, 10-on-10 post!

For those who are new visitors to my blog — HI! A few things about me: I live in beautiful Denver, Colorado. I am a photographer for the local section of the Denver Post. I drink (probably too) much coffee. (It comes with the journalism territory. See this instagram photo here.)

As a working journalist gal, I have the awesome pleasure of being a member of the nation’s oldest press club. (You go, Denver.) Every Wednesday, the Denver Press Club offers a $6 burger-and-fries special. So a few weeks ago, we walked on over and enjoyed the beauty of a six-dollar meal. Instead of shooting on my trusty fancy phone, or lugging along the big DSLR beasts I usually have slung over each shoulder, I broke out my Fujifilm Instax camera. I don’t use this little fellow much. However, I’ve been experimenting more and more with film these days, so thought it was a great opportunity to do so. Not all the results were very pretty. But that’s just part of the process right? Practice, practice, practice.

denver press c 01

denver press c 02

denver press c 05

denver press c 03

 denver press c 04

Next time you fancy folk are in Denver, I’ll take you over. We can sit at the bar, chat with Bartender Will (a gem of a person), and if it’s winter, we can sit by the most perfect fireplace in all the lands.

And if you have managed to make it through this long blog post, I will buy the first round. Thanks for reading!

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October 10, 2012 by Anya Elise

colorado colors || instax film

This morning we drove over to the house that my parents lived in when I was born. We were killing time before an appointment to renew our passports. As we ambled by my dad said that it looked exactly the same now, more than 25 years later. Nary a change to be found, as if it was just preserved there forever, locked in time. Framed by the car window, you could almost imagine it being a photograph.

As long as you’re diligent about backing up (and backing up and backing up) your files, there’s no real reason that you won’t have all your digital photos available to you and your children decades from now. But nothing really replaces being able to carry a memory in your hand.

To that end, I recently introduced this bad boy to my camera collection: an instant film camera. In terms of operation, it’s about as easy as it can get. There are very limited settings, most of it is automatic, so all you really have to devote your attention to is moment, composition, setting. All the core elements of making a photograph. Pop the shutter, pull out the film, and minutes later, voila, your handheld moment.

This past Saturday I returned to my old haunts and photographed some of the delicious Colorado color offered up each fall. There’s a definite old-timey feel to the resulting images, which I love. (What I have scanned and posted here is the true size of the film.)

 (Can you tell what’s going on in the bottom-most left image? Taking guesses now.)

There’s a certain amount of trial and error associated with film photography of any kind, but I’m pretty excited to usher this little fellow into my arsenal.

I found a little silver jewelry box to contain the photos.  It’s sitting on top of my grandmother’s old desk, in my little studio apartment, in Denver, Colo.

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October 31, 2010 by Anya Elise

The first attempt || Denver film photography

My sophomore year of high school, I took a photography course. It was strictly film-based. You learned how to use a 35mm SLR, develop the negatives, make contact sheets, develop prints, the whole shebang. I can quite distinctly remember my first attempt at rolling film onto the developing reel…in complete darkness. Even a minor sliver of light could threaten your undeveloped roll of film, so you had to learn how to remove the film roll from those little containers that I’m sure many of you still have in plastic bags in forgotten closets (my family certainly has a collection!) and transfer it onto a reel, based entirely on touch.

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