Back to the Holga

Fajitas!

Got some film dev'd from my Holga. Got one (two technically) I really like.

Enjoy:


Large & On Black Background: Clicky!

And another one of my mate:

Large & on Black Background:
Clicky

311

The colour is cool in the first one ,weird effect ,very artsy:)

Zillah

I adore the left half of the first one. Wonderful rich texture to it, very atmospheric.

prox

Fajitas! wrote:

Got some film dev'd from my Holga. Got one (two technically) I really like.

Enjoy:

Was the person developing the film physically assaulted during the processing?

Zillah

Maybe. That could be art...

Thats actually a great art form. You hire people to harass you during the whole process.

prox

That sounds too much like work. Isn't there a photoshop filter that will harass me instead?

Seriously, there are bloody fingerprints on the first scan. That's not art, it's evidence.

irishcrazyhorse

Here Alan,will you remind me next week to steal that off you?Cheers

CrowdedHouse

Is it just me or does anyone else think this Holga thing is the Emperors New Clothes ?

Fajitas!

I wouldn't say new clothes...I've been using mine for near 2 years now. It's something you either like or don't.

An no, there's no photoshop filter with a random algorithm so complex as to allow for random light leaks, vignetting, blurring etc. You could and can do it all yourself.

As for the processing, who ever did it most likely was assaulted - but then again, I like the result

DaireQuinlan

They're certainly pretty distinctive ! Did you cross process the first one ? I love the colours. I have this image of you giving the film in to some eager young lad, and then collecting it a couple of hours later from some dodgy bloke who won't meet your eyes, has his baseball cap pulled down over his face, and BLOOD ALL OVER HIS HANDS ...

Fajitas!

First one is really expired film, plus there's about a 5/6 month difference between when I took the one on the right and on the left.

The fingerprints are most likely bad handling when printing - A good few of us handed in 120 format together, and all have fingerprints at some point or other.

DotOrg

i'd be seriously pissed off if i got my negs back with dirt and fingerprints on

holgas are very trendy at the moment, i've seen a lot of people leaving in 120 film from holgas with absolutely **** pictures but they think because they're taken on a holga they are artistic

if someone can't take good photos with a compact camera or an SLR or a dSLR then they won't be taking good pictures with a holga

the difference and interest in using a holga to me, is shooting something with a square format, you have to see in a different way to a traditional aspect ratio

you have to have a subject in the centre of the image as it's the only place where focus and distortion don't affect the image too much

DaireQuinlan

Fajitas! wrote:

The fingerprints are most likely bad handling when printing - A good few of us handed in 120 format together, and all have fingerprints at some point or other.

Where did you hand them in ? The only roll of 120 I've actually had commercially developed (the one I put through my grandfathers camera as a test roll) came back quite dusty and with fingerprints all over it, emulsion side and base side. It had also been cut quite badly, instead of neat horizontal cuts it looked as though it had been haphazardly thrown through a guillotine and sliced randomly. There was one cut that was about 30 degrees that actually sliced into the picture area of one of the frames. I was pretty unhappy with it, but it was a test roll so I didn't give it much thought.

Fajitas!

They were done in McGowans. I usually get it done in Gunn's. As I said, a group of us handed them in together, otherwise I would have went to Gunn's.

DotOrg wrote:

holgas are very trendy at the moment, i've seen a lot of people leaving in 120 film from holgas with absolutely **** pictures but they think because they're taken on a holga they are artistic

What would the above go under?

magicbastarder

DotOrg wrote:

the difference and interest in using a holga to me, is shooting something with a square format, you have to see in a different way to a traditional aspect ratio

my holga is a 645 model. are they uncommon?

Fajitas!

The standard frame is a 645...Just take that out and shoot.

DotOrg

Fajitas! wrote:

They were done in McGowans. I usually get it done in Gunn's. As I said, a group of us handed them in together, otherwise I would have went to Gunn's.

did they put them on cd too or did you scan the negs yourself?

Fajitas!

Scanned myself, on a cleaned scanner. Actually, 3 different scanners...

Other negs handed in had fingerprints too.

magicbastarder

did you complain?

Fajitas!

Haven't been back down yet. Asked for neg's only.

Think it'd be worth our while?

Tbh, the last time I was in McGowans, they gave me the wrong price for my prints (Told me it was 100 quid, not 180), so I complained about that...

rymus

prox wrote:

Was the person developing the film physically assaulted during the processing?

Comment of the week imo

magicbastarder

Fajitas! wrote:

Haven't been back down yet. Asked for neg's only.

Think it'd be worth our while?

it would be, even if it caused them to clean up their act, seperate to whether you get any recompense for it.
show them the URL for this thread; they won't like the bad publicity.

prox

But if they'd processed them properly they wouldn't be art, they'd just be blurry snaps. Man.

prox

DotOrg wrote:

the difference and interest in using a holga to me, is shooting something with a square format, you have to see in a different way to a traditional aspect ratio

There's a definite character to the images due to the plastic lens optics outside of the square [="retro"] format which is appealing.

That's not to say the square frame isn't an interesting way of presenting images, but [to take a possibly overused example] Adams liked medium format because of the freedom in later choosing a rectangular crop, rather than keeping the full frame.

ender ender

DotOrg wrote:

holgas are very trendy at the moment, i've seen a lot of people leaving in 120 film from holgas with absolutely **** pictures but they think because they're taken on a holga they are artistic

if someone can't take good photos with a compact camera or an SLR or a dSLR then they won't be taking good pictures with a holga

Not meaning to offend but surely it's subjective, as Fajitas says you either like it or you don't. In thinking about that last sentence, of course you're entitled to your own opinion, I'm probably contradicting myself...

For sure, I got a few rolls developed from the Holga a couple of days ago and thought, "if I only used my slr for that shot, I could've done it so much better". But for as many shots I thought the Holga was the right tool for the job, and was really happy with the results. But lookit, if you want to give me the money for a top notch medium format camera, go ahead...

BTW did anyone get to see the Holga exhibit a couple of weeks ago? Lots of low fidelity loveliness there...

DotOrg

my point was that a holga won't turn a bad photographer into a good photographer

if a person thinks that taking an abstract photo which includes all the blurryiness and weird distortion that holgas give, they'll automatically be making something artistic then i think they are wrong. they still need to have a basic understanding of how light works and know what composition is

ender ender

Sorry mate, I just read what I'd written and I'd worded it a bit wrong, I was reading back my own last sentence as I'd typed it, not yours. I was a bit drunk at the time of writing...
I do see your point, in fact I agree with you, I hate that whole Lomography "don't think just shoot" rubbish. But if that's what they think is arty, different horses and all that. Anyway I'm off out to the beach with mine now, and I'm bringing the slr as well this time!