disney: a la holga!
Even though I love shooting digital, I come from film, chemistry, fiber paper and hands in the fixer.
My very, very first camera was my dad’s old Gaf 136 XF. It took Magicubes for flash and used 126 film cartridges. I still have the brown and black vintage camera. It’s totally beat up, full of personality and history. And there is still a cartridge of film in it. I know the cartridge has some of our family pictures on it…..
I was probably around 8 when my dad gave me this camera. And even though my father didn’t want to give up his camera (he loved taking pictures as much as I did), in the end he gave it to me. I was never the same after I got that camera in my hands. And ever since then I’ve always had a camera in my hands. Sure. They’ve evolved tremendously. That old Gaf and my D700 sit next to each other and it’s an amazing juxtaposition of technology and design.
So even though my D700 is the baddest around, I am an analog girl at heart. And so I’ve been very happy to say that I’ve found a great way to relieve that analog-angst via my Holga. I just got a pinhole Holga too, which I’m dying to try out.
And I also got the best gift an analog, lomo-loving photographer could want: a box full of 120 expired film, which made its way alllll the way from California, courtesy of the Icon lab. Thanks guys, you so rock! If you do film, check them out! They provide traditional and digital imaging services….follow them on Twitter here, visit their FB page here or check out their cool ass site, here!
And if you are a Lost fanatic, and love photography, take a look at the goodies they are offering here. Limited edition custom printed and numbered, fine art museum quality prints of the cast here!! Woot….
I digress.
So I took my Holga to our Disney trip in January of this year. Why do I love this camera? Cuz it’s FUN, and has NO dials or LCD panels or beeps or knobs or menus or battery packs. It’s LIGHTWEIGHT! It’s fun! Not that my D700 isn’t fun, but when I get to use the D700 all the time. When I’ve on vacation, I want to do something different and I also don’t want to carry around a ginormous camera….and let’s face it. I’d die if my D700 was stolen while on vacay….the Holga, no biggie to replace, right?
What I really love about the Holga though is that I don’t know what I am getting….I don’t receive instant gratification. I have to slow down. Take my time. Take in the scene and make different decisions.With the Holga, I don’t have that free-for-all that digital gives you, which means shooting hundreds of variations of the same image….uh uh!
With my Holga, I step back in time and slow down….and then I get to wait anxiously for the film to come back. It’s magic. And I love that it’s not a perfectly sharp, perfectly exposed and perfectly clean image. Right out of the camera it has ‘life lines’. Right out of the camera, it has sensuality. That’s film….!
And so here are three of my favorite shots from our trip….love you holga!
