Parahanga Blog

Analogue Photography New Zealand

Polanoid Shot of the Day (from May) (7/10/2023) - I recently checked the pretty much defunct polanoid.net site and realised I won another shot of the day (it was pretty prestigious in internet terms a long time ago). This was was taken at Pakiri Beach, the expired effects are the psychedelic swirls around the drift wood.
UV ID Polaroid expire October 2009 – Shot March 2022 (3/14/2022) - I recently found the time to shoot some polaroids again. It was UV ID, expired in October 2009. They have been refrigerated, but unfortunately, that doesn’t always mean they will work. The medium tends to stick together, and it takes delicate and nimble fingers to resuscitate them. Out of a pack a of 10, only […]
Polaroid shot of the day (11/4/2021) - It was a surprise to receive this email today: dear parahanga!!! please have a short look at the cover of polanoid.net [ http://www.polanoid.net/cover ] (http://www.polanoid.net/jump/?to=pictures&uid=13197&pid=385985) **CONGRATULATION** you have won the worldfamous ShotOfTheDay award! not only is your picture on the cover for the next 24 hours, generating endless fame and glory, but also you have […]
Develop your own film (9/21/2020) - [Note: this was an unpublished article from Jan. 2015 I had on Hubpages, I’ve decided to go ahead and publish it here with a few minor corrections] Why not develop your own film? As an avid film photographer, I am quite happy to see rebirth of analogue photography such as Polaroids (see my related article […]
Shooting Miniatures, a primer. (9/12/2020) - One of the great joys of taking photos is shooting outdoors, and even more so, seeing all the worlds it opens up. Sometimes you see rocks and landscapes create perfect tiny worlds, or as Blake said ‘To see a World in a Grain of Sand‘. Here are a few things that have helped me shoot […]
Updates and Polanoid Shot of the Day winners. (8/18/2020) - This is the first post in a very long while! After migrating this site from blogger to self hosted system, I realised that I have many analoque images that I have not posted on Parahanga, they instead went to Flickr and Polanoid. While I have no issues with Flickr and Polanoid, I find it important […]
Parahanga (8/16/2020) - My journey into photography (and life) has gone through many successive waves. I started learning photography on 35mm. In my mid twenties, I found my passion in digital photography when it was fresh on the scene. It offered a new paradigm to photograpy – moved from chemical processes to to electrical (digital) process. It greatly […]
Final Post on Parahanga.com: A true roll of junk film (6/22/2014) - About 5 years ago, I rekindled my joy for photography by rediscovering analogue photography. I started this blog as a way of sharing my experiences. I was searching for a name for the blog and decided that ‘Parahanga’ (Maori word for ‘junk’ or ‘stuff’) was perfect for my attempts to do things the old fashioned […]
Pentax MZ-5N Review (1/6/2013) - The Pentax MZ-5N was one of the cameras I won in my ‘Pentax bundle’ auction in December 2012. Like the Z1-P, its fully automatic. First Impressions:Like the Z1-P, its very plasticky. It came with 28-80mm 3.5 lens, as I mentioned earlier I am not a big fan of zoom lenses. The camera has a nice […]
Pentax Z-1P Review (1/5/2013) - I’ve won a whole heap of Pentax 35mm cameras before Christmas in an auction, in fact probably more than I could ever have use for! The first one I decided to test out was my fully Automatic Pentax Z-1P. This is just a mini review so check out the review links below for more in […]
Expired 126 Film Cartridge Getting Stuck (1/2/2013) - I’ve recently had problems with expired film in 126 Cartridge – it wouldn’t wind and would get stuck before the first frame. I have 8 cartridges, I’ve shot 3 but I’ve had 3 cartridges which seemed jammed. I really was hoping that it wasn’t my SL26 camera – as it turned out, thankfully, it wasn’t. […]
Zen and the Art of Rondinax Developing (12/31/2012) - For those who want an simple way to dive into home negative developing, I can’t think of an easier way of getting started than to get your hand on the Agfa Rondinax 35U. The Awesomeness of the Rondinax The Rondinax 35U is daylight film developing tank, meaning that you don’t need a darkroom for developing […]
26 Years after Expiration Date (Old 126 Film) (12/31/2012) - I’ve recently bought a little Rollei SL26, its a gorgeous little camera. Trouble is that film is not available for it these days, and it hasn’t taken to 35mm to 126 kindly. So I bought some extremely expired film of Ebay and would give it go. I developed 29 year old film before here, and […]
The Polaroid 600SE – I’m not selling it. (12/31/2012) - The Polaroid 600SE was my first really serious investment in a pack film camera. I had picked up several cheap pack film cameras in the past for less than $15NZ in the past. I did some research and the 600SE seemed like the way to go for getting some serious quality packfilm shots. I am […]
Flying Colours (11/14/2012) - Shot on 600SE f5.6 @ 1/250 sec. Baylys Beach, Northland New Zealand on expired Studio 125i (9/2009) Camera being held is a 600 OneStep, using an experimental colour ribbon film I concocted 😉 Here are some addition shots I did at Bayly’s Beach in Northland NZ. These 2 shots where taken on Instax Wide Fuji […]
dreaming tree (v2) (8/26/2012) - dreaming tree (v2), a photo by Parahanga on Flickr. Took another go at the same shot but with a different background. f5.6 @ 1 sec. Horseman 4×5 / FP 100c Film
dreaming tree (8/26/2012) - dreaming tree, a photo by Parahanga on Flickr. Shot on Horseman 4×5 Camera, Fuji FP100C film. 5.6 @ 1.5 secs (approx due to Bulb setting).
whatipu tennis ball (8/26/2012) - whatipu tennis ball, a photo by Parahanga on Flickr. Tennis ball washed ashore at Whatipu. Shot on Polaroid 1200i Camera, spectra film (expired 2007).
whatipu cabbage tree (8/26/2012) - whatipu cabbage tree, a photo by Parahanga on Flickr. Cabbage tree at Whatipu. Shot on Spectra with 1200i Camera.
whatipu lagoon (8/26/2012) - whatipu lagoon, a photo by Parahanga on Flickr. Took this on Poloard 1200i, spectra film, expired 2007. At Whatipu, the landscape always changes – Its a gem of a place.
Hat Guy. (8/12/2012) - I forgot the orginal specs of this shot, but was on of the first shots on my Horseman 4×5 camera which I bought in February. Shot on FP 100c Fuji instant film. This picture was also cropped.
Mowbody (8/12/2012) - Shot on Horseman 4×5, Fp 100c film, F 5.6 @ 1/2 sec.
Polar Bear Club (8/12/2012) - Shot on Horseman 4×5, fuji fp 100c film, F 5.6 @ 1/4 sec.
Waste Disposal (8/12/2012) - Didn’t quite get this photo the way I wanted… I should have widened the depth of field so the barrels are more in focus and perhaps added some ‘toxic spillage’… but here’s one of my latest efforts. Shot on Horseman 4×5 with fp100c instant pack film. F5.6 @ 1/4 second.
Driftwood Corpses (5/26/2011) - Taken on French Beach, Sooke Vancouver Island Canada. Push Processed Tudor 200 ASA Film
Hat Man Do (4/13/2011) - Shot on Tudor Film 35mm 200ASA. Canon AV-1, UV Filter, Push processed. Cropped.
Ravineous (4/12/2011) - I should mentioned that these films recently have been push processed; I extended the development time. The colours tend to be a bit more punchy. Here another visit to our friend with his downed C-47. Cropped to square, shot on Canon AV-1 with Tudor (Fuji?) film 200asa.
Scenic Lookout (4/11/2011) - Scenic Lookout. Shot on Tudor film 200asa. Cropped.
Wishing Pond (4/10/2011) - Wishing Pond. 35mm shot on Canon AV-1 using 200 Tudor film (which I believe is FujiFilm rebranded). This was shot on 20mm lens with UV filter. Post processing in photoshop including cropping the negative and slight saturation boost.
Long Time, No Post (4/5/2011) - Hard to believe its been such a long time since I posted. Unfortunately, a very close and dear friend passed away after long battle with an illness. Though I completely splurge and bought a massive amount of film in last November, photography has really been the last thing on my mind. However, I did take […]
Infrared Abandoned Train (1/8/2011) - This was my first attempt at Infrared Photography. I had used very old chemicals (3 years expired but refridgerated) – I probably ‘pushed’ it a bit too far, but as this was a test roll, it was ok for me to just muck around with it. The results where interesting but very very grainy. Though […]
Polaroid Beginners Guide (1/3/2011) - update 2020 Aug 16: Sadly, this resource has been deleted by Google. Happy Pola New Year all. I hope that everyone is going well. I spent most of my spare time during the holidays changing this site template and also Polaroid Beginners Guide. It sums up everything that I’ve learned from using polaroid film, mistakes […]
3 Magnolias (12/25/2010) - I’ve taken my 600SE out for a spin today (Christmas Day) to test my Hoya Diopters (they are like magnifying lens for you ‘camera lens’). These where shot F5.6/125 on FP-100c film with a +2 Diopter, about 15 inches from the subject. It was a bit difficult to judge the framing effect of the Magnolias […]
Auckland Christmas Tree (11/14/2010) - This little fellow was the first shot I took on my new-to-me Polaroid 600SE. This was taken on expired UV-ID polaroid film shot at 4.7/125 Its Norwich pine with some cheesy Christmas decor.
Quick study in Film types: Fuji Instax Wide, Polaroid UV-ID, Polaroid Spectra (11/14/2010) - As I don’t have a car at the moment, I haven’t been able to hit the road and take many photographs. I had a few pictures left in my Instax Wide, Polaroid 1200, and Polaroid 600SE (my new favourite camera) and decided to take a few snaps. I have skylight in my place so I […]