new lens :D

elven

Yup, i spent a whopping €30 on a new lens!



My holga is fabulous, but developing, scanning and dust-spotting negs is a pain in the rear end, and i was stuck with black & white too. Now I can shoot holga style with all the benefits of digital

That's all very well, but I then found myself using lightroom to process the stuff... *gasp* I've suddenly found the urge to push that black slider up, and it's quite disconcerting

So my question is, do they still look like my pictures? Or does it just look like I've walloped them with the "fajitas LR Preset" stick?

A few favourites:







The rest of the set here.

Roen

Lovely stuff Al, that preset rocks!

Cabaal

Roen wrote: »

Lovely stuff Al, that preset rocks!

rofl

elven

Grrrr.

Roen

Sorreee. But I guess the point I'm trying to get at is: Is it really necessary to go to all that new lens trouble if you're going to process the images heavily afterwards? Why not just put the nifty fifty on and give those the treatment?

From what you've written I feel that you went out with the intention of doing the holga thing and leaving it at that. But when you started trying out a few things in LR you liked the results. Good stuff

It happens me often too. I've spent a fortune on some great glass, and some of the images I like from those lenses are virtually untouched processing wise, but some go through the wringer. The ones I processed may as well have been shot on the cheapo variant of the lens I have for all anyone could tell. God, I don't know what point I'm trying to make, but there's definitely something on my mind.

By the way I absolutely love the top left, bottom right and bottom image, from a compositional and tonal point of view.
The SoFoMoBoMoo thing is coming along at a rare old pace! You should be proud of your motivation. I have none

Fenster

Where did you get the lens?

leinsterman

Roen wrote: »

Lovely stuff Al, that preset rocks!

Lol ... man you got there before me!!


To be honest I've never really fully understood the allure of a Holga ... though it does illustrate the point that gets made a lot here about the photographer being more important than the kit ... I've seen some cracking images from Holga's ... but then again I've seen cracking images from all sorts of kit ...

There are some nice compositions in your set ... I agree with Roen though ... adding a holga lens to a DSLR seems a bit defeating the point ... surely the fact that you are using MF film is part of the overall holga experience (with the obvious caveat of my earlier comment about not getting the Holga thing) ...

As to the question about are they your style ... I'm not sure this is so important ... the fact is you are experimenting ... to experiment is part of learning, helps you to improve and ultimately leads you to develop a style of your own ...

bovril

I don't know what Al's preset does so I'm only comparing your photos to the photos he puts on his flickr. I think you've left more colour in them, whereas I think Al put toning on them. I like both styles and I think they are both different. I agree with Leinsterman about it not being important about them being like your style either and the experimenting bit. I've been doing a lot lately too trying to develop a style of my own and I have been guilty of the black slider and the vignette slider in Lightroom.

As for the holga lens on a DSLR, I couldn't imagine how to give the photos the glowy(sp?)/ slightly out of focus edges look very easily in post processing, maybe I will stand corrected. I'd imagine it would take more time than taking the photos with the holga lens on in the first place.

magicbastarder

the last shot there is fabulous.

PaulieC

The black slider rocks. As do the Clarity/Vibrance sliders. In fact, I'd go as far as to say I'm a Lightroom fanboy!

Great shots BTW, I especially like the chair one

elven

Fenster, got it from Holgamods. You could buy a holga and DIY it but I couldn't bring myself to take a hacksaw to one...

Roen wrote: »

Is it really necessary to go to all that new lens trouble if you're going to process the images heavily afterwards? Why not just put the nifty fifty on and give those the treatment?

I dunno, the whole thing with the holga lens... as Simon pointed out, yes, the MF film is an element of it - and I'm missing the square format. But this is a sort of melding together of the two things - a combination of the unique effects you get with the lens, and the convenience of digital shooting. And although I'm sure you could, if you worked at it, get the same results purely through shooting with the 50 and processing for the softness, the glow, the radial blur, somehow it just wouldn't be the same - in teh same way that I'd love to shoot some TTV but I absolutely won't do it through frames or actions in photoshop - I would have to get some ground glass and a cereal box, and do it 'authentically' - i suppose we all have our own lines that we don't want to cross.

The other thing is that getting the lens gave me the inspiration to get out and shoot - even if just to see what things look like, when I use it! That, I'd say, is a single justifiable reason to use it. I'd been floating about aimlessly, panicking because I had no inspiration for SoFoBoMo, and fed up because I knew I was trying too hard. When you stick something so plastic and clunky on your camera, it's impossible to try too hard, because you just can't take it seriously

It's possibly just a coincidence that I also picked up the whole LR thing at the same time, so i didn't go out with the intention of processing them heavily. You can see a set here from before the black slider got the better of me... I don't think there's a huge difference, apart from the shadows and the toning.

So I suppose my answer is maybe that it's less to do with the results, and more to do with the process. Although, that, in effect, affects the results...

DaireQuinlan

I like them. Although I do think the look is more down to the PP than the lens. With the canon sensor you're only picking up the very centre of the holga image circle I reckon, so you're missing out on some of the more crazy extremes. I'm disappointed in you though, abandoning poor medium format film ! It's sad now. All those little rolls of 120 ...

AnCatDubh

hey elven,

Personally - i like the set. There is a pre-set in silkypix which i use from time to time called "nostalgic toy camera" which I reckon is as close to the Holga as they could get it. However while I like when i use it - others absolutely hate it. Perhaps they are looking for technical perfection, vibrant, tack sharp focus etc.., all of which you won't get with a Holga or Holga style and boy do they dislike the end result.

I think its a great idea for your SoFoBoMo thing-i-me-bobs though. Not sure if i'll make 31 decent images myself but at least it got me thinking about pressing the shutter release again.

I had read your post earlier but didn't have time to reply and thinking about it i was going to ask well why bother with the lightroom stuff but i think you've answered it. In essence it is who you are trying to please with the final result - as said earlier Holga or Holga style won't be for everyone but then again if you have a target audience of one then you'll know what you like and it is worth while.

Had a look at the before and after 'lightroomed' version and maybe i'm getting taken with the subject material but i'd see quite a difference in the pre and post versions. The processed versions have more depth/warmth to them and for a book which you may publish (even for an audience of one) i think they will definitely work better.

Results or process? I think it's results which satisfy your objective but the process provides you with the mix to achieve the desired end point.

Have fun.

DadaKopf

I *always* twiddle the black slider. And the high highlights. Getting the effect you want is why they're there, it's how you use them.

I think the photos look superb! Slightly different to your usual style.

Fajitas!

I like them.

I don't mind how I get my images, whether it's a holga lens on a digital camera, or expired film through a polaroid, etc, etc, as long as I get what I'm after. Most of the time, I'm experimenting, seeing what works, and what dosn't.

I think that's a big part of processing too, at least I know what I can do now, even if t does get overdone!