Holga Shooting

 

Most professional photographers will go through patches in their career where 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 it, then I don’t want to do it. So I took out my Holga to have some fun while I am out and about during the week, and I had so much fun with this little camera.

 

 

The thing about shooting with a Holga is that you have very little control over the photos you get. You have two apertures, F8 and F11, and one shutter speed of about 1/100 of a second. You have a very rough guide to guessing your focus, and your viewfinder provides very rough frame lines. 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 think, 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 have exposed the film already. But this can lead to some happy accidents like the shot above. Whenever 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 masses of people, but if you are patient and like to go exploring, you can find many quiet places to relax.

 

 

I own so many cameras, but the Holga is by far the most fun to use. Shooting 120 film is not cheap—the film in the camera costs more than the Holga itself—but the fun I have taking the shots far outweighs the cost of the film. If you are bored with your photography or have a creative block, go buy yourself a Holga and have some fun.

Shaun