10 on 10 in February :: The spy camera edition.

My dad had this teeny tiny spy camera. It came in a box. I used to pretend the box was my spy briefcase and I would set out to capture things in a make believe land. I was little and not really a spy, but it was the coolest camera ever…even if it never seemed to be loaded with film. My dad had another tiny camera from the same company and that one he used a lot. I remember how small it was in his hands, the way the lens folded out, the impossibly small red shutter button and how he held it steady. My dad had steady hands, beautiful hands…he was not a spy either, but a surgeon so those hands were important. On Sunday it will be 13 years since I last saw his hands. How can he have been gone for 13 years?

In those years there have been many photography things that I have wanted to share with my dad and when I saw the tiny Minox digital camera in the Photojojo store, I just about cried. Those spy cameras were Minox…I had not thought of them for ages. I just knew I had to try that Minox out. Everytime I use this little camera, I think of my dad.

Last week, Gemma started a new school. For ten hours that day, I played spy.

After a week of happiness at the new school, I caught Gemma crying silent tears at dropoff this morning. She was just missing her old friends. I hugged her and assured her that I understood the missing and that it can really sneak up on you out of the blue and right in the middle of happiness. Whether it is 13 years and really permanent or just the last four and a big ocean between me and the ones I love…I certainly get the missing.

I adore this little camera and it has quickly now surpassed my phone as the snapshot machine. It even comes in a gorgeous wooden box of its own! As there are not many controls beyond a guestimating focus ring from infinity to half a meter, I can actually say, this camera takes really lovely photos. This is not a performance tool, it is an art-making toy. A lo-fi gem that takes the most delicious and dreamy shots. There is grain and a slight cyan cast, but it is charming. When I am out, the camera’s miniature detailed appearance stops grown geeks in their tracks with a “May I hold it?” Since my first post of images with it, I have figured out how to go into the camera menu and change the EV settings. Needless to say, this camera’s sensor does not handle low-light situations all that well in the color noise department. Upping the EV helps and I have also created two Photoshop actions that enhance the look with a creamy color one and a mellow black and white. I am working with my friends over at Photojojo to arrange for the actions to be a free bonus when you buy this camera from them. I will have details soon.

This post is the second edition of the “10 on 10″ monthly blogging series I am doing with a whole group of fantastic lifestyle photographers. If you click the link to the next blog at the end of each post, you will be able to complete the circle and end up back here. Continue the journey with Molly Flanagan’s day next.