On the move

I got my processing mailers yesterday. I unloaded the role of film successfully from the Holga and packed it in the mailer. The envelope asked for 2 first class stamps. I was going to put it in the mailbox for the posty, but my fabulous husband was going to the post office on other business and offered to mail it for me. Luckily he did as when he handed it in they asked for more postage!

Hmmm... and I thought my $16.75 included postage.

As I have nothing to show for my Holga adventure so far I am posting a photo of my wonderfully supportive husband who saved me from the headache of having my first roll of film returned to me postage due! Thanks Mark!

Still waiting

I am still waiting for my processing mailers. I checked the mailbox everyday this week, but nothing. I am disappointed. I checked my order status on B&H and it re-directed me to UPS shipping. On there it said that my package made it to Conroe on Tuesday 5/24.... and that a delivery has been rescheduled for 5/29.... hmmm, I wonder if they tried to deliver it and I was not here..... but there was no note or anything. Who knows?

All I know is as soon as I get my processing mailer I will take the film out of my Holga and mail it back immediately. Hopefully this time next week I will have my photos so I can see my errors and move on with this creative journey.

Vignette

For me one of the most endearing qualities of the Holga is vignetting.

From Wikipedia, "In photography and optics, vignetting is a reduction in image brightness in the image periphery compared to the image center. Vignetting is sometimes used for creative effect (such as to draw attention to the center of the frame)."

I took this chess piece with my Canon Digital Rebel. The first version is the basic photo, for the second version I used Photoshop Elements to add a shadow around the outside to approximate the vignette look. I love how the image looks with the darkened shadow. There is a moodiness and purpose that just appeals to me.

I am excited about seeing if I can make a more organic vignette with my Holga instead of manipulating my photo in Photoshop Elements.

About the Holga

This is what Wikipedia had to say on this subject:

"The Holga is an inexpensive, 120 film, toy camera, originating in Hong Kong in 1982[3], that later came to be appreciated for its low-fidelity aesthetic.
The Holga's cheap construction and simple meniscus lens often yields pictures that display vignetting, blur, light leaks and other distortions. Ironically, the camera's quality problems became a virtue among some photographers, with Holga photos winning awards and competitions in art and news photography."

It has only one shutter speed 1/100 of a second and two f. stops: f. 11 for "sunny"; f. 8 for "less sunny", which I have read turn out the same image, so are in effect useless. There are a few tricks you can learn to improve the Holga's performance, but it seems much of the skill in using this camera is knowing about composition and lighting and understanding the limits of the tool.

Some other places you can learn about the Holga are here and here and a Washington Post essay on a well know toy camera using photographer here.

Reading, Learning

I have been reading this book Plastic Cameras - Toying with Creativity, by Michelle Bates. I have already learned some great tips about taping up my Holga to stop the light leaking in and tips on film processing. After my reading I am thinking that my first role will be lucky to produce any photos at all.

This book is full of awesome examples of the wonderful poetic shots you can take with the Holga, I am so inspired. I have a vision of what I want to produce - photos of my 'real' life as a mother, what it looks like, what is feels like, not snap shots but more, the essence. I can see it in my head and I believe this is the tool to help me get there. I just have to learn it all first and be willing to face my failures and not get disheartened.

I wish my processing mailers would hurry up and get here!

120 film processing

I found a store that processes 120 film. You purchase a pre-paid mailer and you send them your film in the mailer and they mail it back. I bought 10 malier packets. For B&W 120 film it is $16.75 per mailer, that included shipping, processing and the copies. I have decided to get my first role of film rocessed before I move on to the 2nd role so I can see how my mistakes affected my photos.

I am awaiting my pre-paid mailers to come in the mail.

I should have read the manual all the way

So I read the manual and followed the directions as best I could on inserting the roll of film. I got the film in, yeah. I made a plan to shoot on a theme - 'the toys in my yard'.

I wanted to shoot the kid's playhouse, strollers, a truck etc with the Holga and also my Canon Digital Rebel.

Mistake #1
I read that I should wind on until I see the numbers. I rolled and rolled but no numbers appeared. I was afraid that I would run out of roll so I started shooting. I wrote down what I was shooting on a piece of paper. I shot and then wound on about 5-6 winds. When I got to my 10th shot I started seeing numbers in the little window! I realized that everything I have just taken was on the wrong part of the film :)

So I went back and did it all again, this time rolling on until the next number appeared.

Mistake #2
When I was done I read the rest of the manual to see what I was to do with the spent roll. I came to the 'tips' part at the last page and it says "Always load or remove the films in a dark place".... OK, why was that not in the 'Film Loading' section???? I loaded my film in the kitchen, albeit a dark kitchen, but not dark dark.... So I have no clue if my photos will come out at all!

This is really a trial and error venture. Stay tuned!

Note: Just to be clear - these photos are from my Canon :)

Initial thoughts

I am nervous about all this. I bought 10 roles of film, all black and white. The box says the camera will take 12-16 shots per roll. I am a little on the cheap side and loath wasting money. I have no idea on how I should get them developed, but I am sure it is not inexpensive. I feel like I have to do lots of research first before I 'waste' the film, which is contrary to my usual artistic process. I am not one to do a lot of research, I like to dive in, without reading the manual, and figure it out as I go. This will be a wonderful stretch for me!

I bought a book on toy camera on Amazon, it has not yet arrived as I chose the 'free shipping' option and that always takes a little longer.

My new Holga camera arrives in the mail!

I have been reading this photo journal site Blue Coyote Laughing for a while. I love how the photos capture a feeling, an idea rather than attempting to be a perfect photo. Seeing that the artist was using 'toy cameras', I just had to know more. So I researched and found out a little about a particular toy camer, the Holga camera.

I found one online and it was so cheap that I just had to have one!

Today I got my Holga in the mail, I don't even know how to load the film! I was about to journal my thoughts about this new adventure, make a list of what I need to learn, what types of shots I need to take (this is not a digital camera so I can't take whatever I feel like and delete the bad ones) and decided to journal my thoughts online!

This is the space that I am going to post about learning all about taking shots with my new Holga.