John Spahr

If you’ve followed my work, you know I love my Canon Rebel T7. I'll admit, I’m a sucker for DSLRs. They’re inherently more mechanical in nature than their more modern mirrorless and mobile alternatives. Problem is, they’re big and bulky. And I love that… Except when I’m on the go. Sometimes, I just don’t have time to be swapping lenses.  That's where phone photography comes in, right? Well, not really. I love the various tactile controls and shooting modes on my Rebel. Using a phone feels soulless by comparison, with everything being dumbed down and AI-assisted. I was after a DSLR-like point-and-shoot camera, and that's where this little guy came in... Meet Uncle Ricoh! Obligatory Napoleon Dynamite joke out of the way, this is my favorite point-and-shoot camera I’ve owned. This is the Ricoh Caplio GX100 from 2007. It has all sorts of snazzy features that satisfy the camera geek within me. I'm talking about multiple knobs and dials. I'm talking   about a proper  man...

Hey folks! Tonight, I got some pretty neat close-ups of a few objects around my dorm room. These included my vintage Pioneer turntable, a snow globe, and a mysterious glass orb. I paired these with LED lights to get some unique ambient and abstract shots. To preserve colors, I did not make any edits. What camera did I use? You guessed it; my trusty Canon Rebel T7 with a Canon 18-55mm lens. Admittedly, it is my favorite camera at the moment. Anyway, here's what I came up with: Those are the pics! I hope you found them interesting, cool, awesome, and everything in between. I definitely had fun with them.  Also, a massive thank you to Porter for helping me sift through these pics and choose the best one.  That's about all for now! Stay tuned for more.

Hey, everyone! Today, I went out and got some photos around my college campus. The weather wasn't too great, but I got a few pics I like. As usual, I used my Canon Rebel T7 with Canon wide and telephoto lenses. I made some minor edits, but these photos are largely unaltered. Here's what I cooked up: Austere atmosphere Lone stroll Nature vs lamp Take my hand Camry makes a left turn Red splash A rare instance of vibrancy Quaint village; ideal for skateboarding Cascading vinyl Overall, I'm pretty happy with what I came up with here. I am excited to further explore B&W photography, and I'm also interested in continuing to tinker with the color profiles on my camera. I hope to share the results here soon. Anyway, I hope you liked the pictures, and thanks for stopping by. :)

October is nearing its end, and that means we’ll have to contend with winter soon. With this in mind, I wanted to capture rural Indiana's fleeting autumnal beauty this weekend. I decided to do this with two cameras: My beloved Canon Rebel T7 (paired with my Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens) and my Sony Mavica FD88 ( as seen previously   on this blog). I chose to use the Canon for still shots, as per usual... The Fall Vortex Red Splash Bokeh Leaf 3000 By the time I had taken these three photos, the sun had started to set. I was ready for a break. The following afternoon, I decided to find my next subject. My cat Mocha proved to be exactly what I was looking for. Yep, I took a bunch of cat pics. Sue me. A Distinguished Gentleman A Clueless Gentleman A Distracted Gentleman Mocha's Calm Stare I'm glad Mocha cooperated, as the results are quite nice. I had a lot of fun with my fall pictures, but nothing beats photographing cats (when they're on board with it).  As for the Mavica, I u...

Hey, everyone! My fall break is rapidly approaching its end, so today, I decided it was once again time to take some proper pictures with my Canon Rebel T7. I used my trusty Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens for these shots, and it did not disappoint. As usual, these photos were taken exclusively in manual mode with minimal edits. Enough talk, here are the pics! Shimmering Flower Shimmering Flower (Alternate Shot) Flower Nestled in the Leaves Pumpkin Contemplating Fall Vibrant Sunflower In Her Element Intense Stare I'm really happy with all of these shots. I really missed taking photos with my little Rebel. Admittedly, I've been a little distracted by my recent instant camera addiction , but this is still my favorite camera of all time. With that in mind, I'm extremely glad I had the time today to use it again. Thanks for stopping by, and stayed tuned for more photography stuff! Have a good one.

Hey, folks! I did it. I finally got into instant photography. And I love it. Admittedly, I've had some experience with instant photography before now. I got my first instant camera at a thrift store in 2022. It was a Polaroid OneStep from the 90s, and while film was still readily available for it, it was far too expensive to justify using it regularly. As cool as instant photography was, I accepted that it wasn't economically viable for me and moved on. ...Until about a month ago! On one of my first dates with my girlfriend, she introduced me to her Fujifilm Instax Mini 11. It was a much more compact and modern instant camera than my Polaroid. It also used smaller film slides. This was a big deal, as she informed me that the smaller film came at a smaller price. I was intrigued. A couple weeks later, I ventured to Walmart and splurged. I picked up the cheapest Instax they sold: The Mini SE. It only cost about $57, and it came bundled with 10 slides of film. I also picked up an ...