The Holga rides again

  

Double exposure - Expired Kodak 400VC. Wide angle attachment giving an almost fisheye effect

I've not used a Holga since 2011 when I had some bad experiences with a mail order developing site and mourned the passing of Kodak 400VC, my favourite film. Most of my photography since then had been done using my mobile phone  - as Chase Jarvis says "the best camera is the one you have with you" - or with my Olympus DSLR

Anyway I recently discovered the Lomography brand of film and thought I'd try their 400 colour print film to see how it compared with the vibrant Kodak VC I used to use. I also bought a used Holga 120PC (6x6 pinhole camera) from Ebay and Holga 120 Pan (6x12 Panoramic camera). Hopefully I will have some interesting images from those cameras to post in a future blog. I will definitely go back to using my local photo processing shop, even if it is quite expensive, as they seem to know what they are doing (Express Imaging in Cardiff).

Roath Park, Cardiff - Expired Kodak 400VC

The images accompanying this blog came about because I was inspired by the images from one of the first rolls of film I shot with a Holga, so I returned to a local park this autumn (2015) armed with some expired Kodak 400VC in a Holga GTLR. The Kodak film was great for capturing the warm, rich colours of autumn. I hope the Lomography colour film will be as well, but the weather has been overcast and dull since the day I took these so I've only shot with black and white Ilford film this week. 

Acer from my garden. - Close up lens + flash on a Holga GTLR

I had not noticed light leaks with my Holga GTLR before, so either it has started leaking, or the age of the film produced the streaks on the right hand side of the frame on two of the shots from this roll.

Another double exposure. Distortion from wide angle attachment.

For the first time I tried the GTLR's colour flash. I wondered if the blue gel would correct the warm colour cast of interior lighting - nope - it just makes the pictures blue! Sorry Duke (my new Sheltie Puppy).

Still I'm blessed to live an a country with changeable seasons, this means the landscape is constantly offering something different to photograph. The warm light that bathes everything in a feel good glow all day at this time of the year (when the sun appears!) is something those who live near the equator never get to experience.

My final shot is another attempted double exposure. Only when I got it back did I remember the home made spliter attachment that I could have used to avoid this image looking washed out. 

Still I've really enjoyed getting the Holga out again and I will be shooting several rolls of film in the different Holga cameras I have over the next few weeks. If I can get 7 or 8 decent shots per roll of film I'll be happy. Getting the exposure right on the pinholga could prove a challenge - wish me luck.