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A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

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30 Minus 2 Days of Writing: Cheesy (1/28)

February 1, 2013

I refuse to write about cheese.

Last year, the first day of this challenge, the theme was cheese. Straight up cheese. Not that there’s anything bad about cheese, but let’s be honest — this isn’t a cheese blog.

I like cheese, don’t get me wrong.

But there’s something, well, odd blogging about an obsession with cheese.

The soft feel and dreaminess of the Diana lens makes it a great addition to my digital setup.

I digress.

So I needed something else. And being today is Friday and I sometimes have my Foto Friday on this day, I figured I’d talk a little about photography. It stems from something I saw on Twitter the other day — somebody saying how there was no point in taking a pinhole photo with a pinhole lens on a digital camera.

I see the point. I can see where somebody might question it or think it’s a bit cheesy. I’m the opposite.

Before I go further, allow me to note that I grew up in the non-digital age. I remember using typewriters. I remember when film cameras were still the norm. And different films, at that. My first video game system was an Atari 2600. I used a typewriter. I handed in reports that were handwritten.

My first newspaper job was at a local weekly. When I first started, they had a typist whose job was to type up things people sent in that were handwritten or done on a typewriter.

Imagine that?

I remember when AOL was cool. Seriously. Dial-up was lightning fast. The sound of the modem was really sweet. Busy signals stunk!

So I’ve had a chance to watch technology grow. And during that time, I’ve embraced it. Especially digital photography. Living in a digital age, I’ve become accustomed to instant gratification with my photography. I can mess around or play with settings. I think of photos I’ve taken now and know there’s no way I’d be able to do what I do with a film camera.

The vignetting with my new Holga lens makes me think I took it with an actual Holga. Just without the developing and film costs.

That being said, I still love film. I don’t mind using my Holga. If any of you follow me on Instagram, you know I recently posted a photo of a film camera setup a friend sent me. It’s a body and many lenses. Funny enough, soon after that, my brother gave me some unused film that he and his girlfriend recently came across — two rolls of black and white and two color. So I have some film to shoot.

But here’s reality — it’s not cheap to develop film. I don’t develop my own film anymore and, in fact, I haven’t done it in probably more than 10 or more years. And honestly, I’d rather not get back into it. I have enough hobbies already and I don’t want to add film developing to it. Though, I will admit, I used to love it and I’m sure it would be fun to do it again.

Back to cheesy.

Over the past few years, I’ve purchased or received as gifts, three “lenses” for my digital camera. One is a Diana lens, one is a pinhole lens and the other, added most recently, a Holga lens.

The pinhole lens gave me the opportunity to take a shot like this, which I truly love.

And I love them all. Beyond that, I honestly don’t care if it’s cheesy.

I understand why people would question the pinhole. After all, the idea of many pinholes is the light creating the photo on the actual film. But this gives me the same result. Right away. On my screen. Awesome.

The Holga lens is freakin’ excellent.

And the Diana lens is soft and dreamy, just like it’s supposed to be.

Call it cheap. Call it cheesy. Call it non-traditional. I call it kick ass.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: blogging, challenges, My world, Photography, We Work For Cheese Challenges, Writing Tagged With: 30 Minus 2 Days Of Writing, blog, blog challenge, blogging challenge, camera, Cameras, challenge, cheesy, diana lens, digital camera, film camera, holga lens, photography, photos, pinhole lens, writing challenge

28 Comments

Foto Friday: The HooHaa Holga Challenge

May 11, 2012

My uncle (left) and cousin look over an RC plane in a Holga shot I took a few years ago.

Regular readers of the blog will remember a Foto Friday post I did a few weeks ago where I talked about a fellow photographer using film. I noted the lone film I used — and even that very rarely — is 120 film with my Holga camera.

A Holga is a plastic toy camera. Its lens isn’t glass and it takes “dreamy” and old-school images. These images can have all sorts of looks, from vignetting, to a blur to light leaks to distortions. It’s really quite wild.

According to Wikipedia, the Holga camera first appeared in 1981 as a low-cost camera. It was made in Hong Kong.

The thing is, with digital the way it is, film has become a secondary medium for photography. It’s almost nostalgia. That makes it a bit more interesting, too, when dealing with the “toy” cameras, such as a Holga or a Diana. Cameras like Polaroids have cult-like followings now.

After thinking about this for a while, I uncovered my Holga and dusted it off. I knew I wanted to use it a bit more. So I tweeted Mike (who was mentioned in the initial Holga post) asking him if he had a Holga, which he does. That led me to start thinking about a challenge. And, of course, I was thinking of a way to bring it to the readers of HooHaa Blog.

So, we came up with a “My town” sort of challenge.

I also decided to see what I could find on Twitter in regard to Holga shooters. When all was said and done, I ended up with six people (including myself and Mike) who are willing to take part in this challenge. We will cover different parts of the globe — from three places in the United States to Kuwait to Switzerland to the United Kingdom. This will be one fun challenge.

The rules of the challenge are simple enough:

  • Two rolls of 120 film — one color, one black and white. ISO will be 400 for both.
  • The participant takes two rolls of their home area — a radius of 15 miles from their home address.
  • Each roll will have 12 exposures, thus 24 total photos.
  • Of the 24 images, 12 will be chosen for this challenge. A minimum of three images must come from each roll.

The challenge starts this Monday — May 14. Photographers will have a month to get things done and all photos will be taken by June 11. Then, from June 17-22, each person will have a guest blog post on A ‘lil HooHaa talking about their images, their town and anything else they want to add. It will give readers a chance to see the views of other towns in this world — whether buildings, landscape, people, sports — anything — that shows the area.

I can’t express how I am excited for this challenge. We’re doing this in a friendly way — as a way to show this medium of photography and a way to learn and see how others do things. I’m stoked to see the images from this challenge as it seems like people live in different size places and I really think being able to see other parts of the world will be fun.

Also, I hope this won’t be the last time I run this challenge. In fact, I’m already starting to think of other challenges to do with Holgas and such that I can do on the site. But one at a time!

To start this challenge, I would like to introduce you to the five other people who are taking part in it, with one of their past Holga photos.

****

One of Jeff’s favorite past Holga shots. Copyright and all rights reserved to the photographer.

Name: Jeff Soderquist
Location: Seattle, Washington
Holga used:  120N (for this challenge); Holga 120WPC.
Photo interests: Beyond shooting with my Holga 120N, I am an avid pinhole photographer. My photographic interests fall into two categories, encompassing urban and natural landscapes. Living and working in downtown Seattle I’m fascinated by the daily functions of a densely populated urban center, and strive to capture it on film. I wouldn’t classify my style as street, but it contains elements of it. I’m much more interested in capturing the human movement over time through long pinhole exposures and supplementing it with more intimate subject matter. Beyond the confines of the city, I’m an avid hiker and landscape photographer. Weekends are often spent out on the coast or in the mountains wandering alone along trails with my cameras. I find this time to be very relaxing and self-reflective and strive to convey that through my photographs and accompanied writing.
On the web: 

  • Flickr
  • Twitter
****

One of Becca’s favorite past Holga shots. Copyright and all rights reserved to the photographer. 

Name: Becca G
Location: Totnes, Devon, United Kingdom
Holga used: 120GN
Photo interests:  I shoot digital, 35mm and medium format film, using a variety of different cameras.
On the web:
  • Flickr
  • Twitter
  • 500px

****

One of Nada’s favorite past Holga shots. Copyright and all rights reserved to the photographer. 

Name: Nada
Location: Kuwait City, Kuwait
Holga used: Holga CFN 120
Photo interests: I don’t like to limit myself to one style, but I find myself mostly doing either street photography or abstract.
On the web:

  • Blog
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • Shoot-Film (contributing writer)
****

One of Shaima’s favorite past Holga shots. Copyright and all rights reserved to the photographer.

Name: Shaima M (also known as Shayouma on some blogs)
Location: Versoix, Geneva, Switzerland
Holga used: 120N
Photo interests: Basically, I love Street Photography. I love photographing my kids as well. I would do nature on very rare occasions, when there’s a scene in front of me.
On the web:

  • Blog
  • Twitter
  • Shoot-Film (contributing writer)
  • Lomography

****

One of Mike’s favorite past Holga shots. Copyright and all rights reserved to the photographer.

Name: Mike Davis
Location: Waco, Texas
Holga used: 120CFN
Photo interests: Instagram, Hipstamatic, DSLR, underwater or whatever.
On the web:

  • Tumblr
  • Flickr
  • Twitter

**** 

I look forward to seeing what these photographers bring to this challenge. I think it will be a wonderful way to see other parts of the country and the world and am excited for the results!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! 

Filed Under: Cameras, Foto Friday, HooHaa Holga Challenge, My world, Photography Tagged With: film, film camera, holga, holga challenge, photo, photo challenge, photography

7 Comments

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