When I originally thought up the HooHaa Holga Challenge, it was with the idea that I could find a couple of people who took photos with a Holga and have fun showing off their town.
What I didn’t expect is what I got.
Another of the rejects.
Through Twitter, five others jumped into this challenge. And with that, we had a wonderful variety of photographers from all over the United States and the world. Three women, three men. The USA. England. Switzerland. Kuwait.
What a view!
I’ve always fancied myself a bit of a traveler. Maybe not one who has traveled a ton, but one who would love to travel more. There are many others who have been more places than I, but I’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of stuff in the States, and I’ve been to different places in Canada and traveled to Ireland.
In my lifetime, I hope to visit more places. Some of those places include the ones we saw in this challenge. The photographers who brought you these wonderful pieces showed life from around the world.
Reject 3.
In my own country, Mike made Waco, Texas look like a great spot to visit. And Jeff’s take on Seattle made me almost want to move there!
As we got out of the country, Becky’s view on Totnes, England made me want to see some of this town as it seems like there would be some great places to explore. Shaima gave a nice feel to Geneva, Switzerland. And despite the reality that I will likely never be in the Middle East, Nada’s piece on Kuwait City reenforced my belief that the Middle East would be one heck of a great place to travel for photography reasons.
Photography — and writing, for that matter — are ways for people to share their lives, culture and things around them. Without this challenge, I would have never seen many of the items that others featured.
That’s what I learned about others. I learned some things about me and photography as well.
I do still enjoy film. I will never go back to film fully because I love the advantages that digital gives you. I also like that I can take a couple of memory cards and not worry about the money of buying rolls of film and getting them developed.
Another of the rejected photos.
For example, this challenge was two rolls of film. The film cost me, give or take, about 10 bucks. The developing, including shipping, cost me about $15. That’s $25.
Depending on the brand I choose, I could get about 32 gigs worth of memory cards for my digital camera for that same price. And those are reusable.
Film is great. I do love it. But financially, it’s not the best way to go for me. I like to shoot a lot of photos. Are all perfect? No. And they are easily sent packing with digital. But 5-6 screw-ups on a 24-exposure roll of film is quite costly.
I will continue to use the Holga. I’ll just likely pick and choose a little. I like how it works and such, but I want to make sure that when I do use it, it’s for things I want to see with the Holga feel or on film.
Film is special. That’s how I treat it, too. It’s not my everyday medium for various reasons, but one of those reasons is because it’s a special thing and I love to have that feeling when the film arrives. By happening too much, that feeling would shrink. As would my wallet!
To go back and check out all the Holga Challenge pieces, click on the links below!
- Day 1: Totness, England
- Day 2: Waco, Texas
- Day 3: Geneva, Switzerland
- Day 4: Seattle, Washington
- Day 5: Kuwait City, Kuwait
- Day 6: Delhi, New York
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