Holga

   

There aren't many choices when shooting with a Holga. There are two apertures, sunny(f/11), and cloudy(f/8), and two shutter settings, 1/100, and bulb.  There are also some some symbols that can be set for the focusing distance.  The advantage some claim for the Holga is that its simplicity allows a photographer to concentrate on just taking pictures.  The pictures the Holga takes are known for some sharpness at the center that becomes soft at the edges. Also vignetting and light leaks are considered a feature in a Holga.

I am one of those who does like what the Holga can do to an image.  I don't see myself ever using one frequently, however every few weeks I get the urge to see what results I can get.  

 I took the one above last summer holding a yellow filter over the lens.

This one is from one of the few snowfalls here this winter.  While shooting this roll I again learned the lesson of making sure that the shutter setting is on N and not B.  At least on my Holga it is easy to switch the setting to the bulb setting which results in some blurry images.  I remember checking the setting before I started to shoot, however I must have pushed it over by accident and it ruined my first 8 shots.  

You can take either 12 6X6cm images or 16 6X4.5cm images with a Holga. To do the 6X4.5cm you need to add a mask.  The first time that I used color film in the Holga I had the setting to 16 images, however I forgot the mask.  I still liked the results.  

There also is a fish-eye attachment for the Holga.  I don't care for this much and have only used it once.  

Lastly, it is fairly easy to run 35mm film through my Holga.  I can fit a regular 35 container in there and count the turns to get the spacing right.  I forget however many turns I used - so it isn't something I have a lot of enthusiasm for.  Also if you do this you need to tape up the red window and unload the film in the dark.  

So that covers my Holga experience to far.  If you are interested, a search will turn up so much information on the Holga that you could probably spend a day reading about it.  Still since a Holga is cheap probably the best way to satisfy any curiosity would be to get one and take some pictures. 

As usual there is a Gallery.

My Photography Year in Review - Part Two

As far as a review of last year I think this will be the second and last part.  At least it serves as the title for one more post.  My history in photography goes back to the 1960's.  My first camera was a 127 camera that the Boy Scouts sold.

After my experience with the old box camera  I decided to see what other film equipment I still had.  One of the first things I found was the Boy Scout camera.  I also found a roll of Verichrome Pan film that had expired in December of 1967.  The film has been at room temperature and from what I have read it is possible that images still could be made with it.  My plan has been to try the old roll of film in the Cub Scout camera.  However while I learned about the possibilities with this old film and camera I haven't felt the inspiration yet to test that knowledge.

My mother, aunt, brother and sister from around 1965. Taken with Cub Scout Camera.












Now, while I am aware of the shortcomings of some of the simple cameras, like my Cub Scout one, I actually always kinda liked some of those less than perfect results.  So when I decided to do film again one of the first things I sought to learn about was the other simple cameras.  One thing I found is that there are many people who have the same interest.

I remember spending quite a bit of time looking at the Junk Store Camera site. I also found that there is a Toy Camera group on Flickr. There also is a whole movement called Lomography based on using often simple cameras and almost seeking out less than technically perfect results.

So my first phase in a return to film was getting and trying out several box-type cameras from mostly the 50's and early sixties.  I also got one of the famous Holgas.

Taken with Agfa Clack.  The Clack was a popular family camera in Europe during the 1950's. 

Taken with Imperial Reflex 620 Duo Lens. Another camera from the 1950's.

And here is one from a Holga. 










These are just a few of the cameras I tried.  I learned that each camera has its own character.  And that character can show even more variety as it interacts with different films.  There can be a lot of surprises with these cameras.  They are probably not the best camera to use when you want a reliable predictable result, however if you enjoy image-making they can be a lot of fun. And at least I find that I am much more emotionally engaged by the images these cameras make than I am by my digital images. I suppose part of it is from my love of history and feeling that I am connecting to the photographic past with these cameras.  I wonder who might have used the camera before me and what images they made.  

So this is as much reviewing as I'm going to do.  Hopefully, I can come up with better and more creative titles as this blog grows.