Holga Shooting

 

Most professional photographers will go through patches in their career were they get bored with what they are doing. I have been shooting digital for so long now that I am bored to death with it, and if I am not getting paid to do, then I don’t want to do it. So I took out my Holga to go have some fun while I am out and about in the week and I had so much fun with this little camera.

 

 

The thing about shooting the Holga, is that you have very little control about the photos you get. You have two apertures, F8 and F11. One shutter speed of about 1/100 of a second, very rough guide to guessing your focus and you have very rough frame lines with your viewfinder. Taking photos like this should be crazy but it is so much fun trying to guess what will make a good photo. Each time I held the camera up to my face, I had to thing, will this work.

 

 

One of the biggest mistakes that I often make with the Holga is that I forget to wind the film after I have taken a shot and I have no idea if I had exposed the film already. But this can lead to some happy accidents like the shot above. When every I shoot with the Holga, I have to keep reminding myself to wind the film after I click the shutter button.

 

 

Getting a sharp photo with a Holga is almost an Oxymoron. Just enjoy shooting with it and hope for the best.

 

 

China is so populated that it is hard to get away from the mountains of people but if you are patient and like to go exploring, you can find so many quiet places to relax.

 

 

I own so many cameras but the Holga is by far my most fun camera to use. Shooting 120 film is not cheap, the film in the camera cost more than the Holga camera but the fun I had taking the shoots far out weigh the costs of the film. If you are bored in your photography or have some kind of creative block, go by yourself a Holga and have some fun.

Shaun