Wall art series

Shabbat in Los Angeles / wall art series.
Original photos taken with a Holga 120GN camera

Here is another way to present your lovely photos. You can select pictures in a series or pictures that somehow relate to each other, or even photos that just look nice together.
Here is what you need:
Any size wood panels (you can get them in any arts and crafts store)
Photos printed with inkjet, laser printer or toner base photocopies
Mod Podge
Acrylic paint

1. If necessary sand and prepare the surface of the wood panel.
2. Using acrylic paints, paint the panel with the color of your choice. Alternatively you can replace the painting part with wood staining or even adhering designer paper to cover the surface.
3. Carefully measure and mark the area where you want your photo to go.
4. Brush a thin layer of Mod Podge on the wood surface, paste your photo and make sure to smooth out any air bubbles from underneath your photo. By the way, instead of pasting the photo onto the panel you can alternatively transfer your image onto the surface.
5. Brush a layer of Mod Podge over your photos to finish and protect them.
6. That’s it really. Now you can hang these wood panel beauties on your wall or display them on a shelf.

You can find lots more photo processes in my new book:
So Much More than Photography
eBook edition Price: $10
Kindle edition Price: $10
Print edition Price: $35 (Now on sale for $25.20)
Black & White print edition Price: $20

How to take panoramic photos with a Holga camera

Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills / Holga 120 panorama

Unlike panoramas taken with other cameras, with a Holga there’s no need to stitch the images together on the PC; the whole “stitching” thing is done directly on the negative.
Holga panoramas are made simply by turning the advance knob only one turn after taking the first picture. By doing so the second picture will overlap the first image, the third will overlap the second and so on.
There are mainly two ways of making Holga panoramas; you can stand in one place and just shift your body between images or you can move sideways between images keeping your camera at the same level. One important thing to remember is to take the panorama images from left to right.
And also don’t forget it’s a Holga! In other words, the panorama doesn’t have to be perfect; actually it’s probably better that it isn’t.

You can find this process and many other photo processes in my new book:
So Much More than Photography
eBook edition Price: $10
Kindle edition Price: $10
Print edition Price: $35 (Now on sale for $25.20)
Black & White print edition Price: $20

Don’t buy expensive cheap cameras!

[Holga 135BC ]

If you really like the images produced by the Lomo L-CA but can’t afford it, I know just the camera for you. It is a 35mm version of the Holga called Holga 135BC, where BC stands for black corners. Basically it’s a smaller
Holga that is adapted to take 35mm film and includes the Holga’s signature dark vignetting.
This plastic camera is sold for $42 at Freestyle.
It is ridiculously light and very easy to shoot on the go, two characteristics that are an apparent benefit in Street Photography.
The Holga 135BC produces interesting photos, and in fact they look a lot like the photos produced by the Lomographic Lomo L-CA except with a much lower price, which brings me to the question: if both of these plastic cameras produce similar results why pay the Lomographic Society $250 or more for another piece of plastic? It doesn’t make sense, right?
In fact, I think that even $42 is a little too expensive for a toy camera.

Don’t buy expensive cheap cameras! part two

Last week when I stopped by Freestyle I noticed they are selling a 35mm version of the Holga called Holga 135BC, where BC is for black corners. Basically it’s a smaller Holga that is adapted to take 35mm film and includes the Holga’s signature dark vignetting.
So I got the camera for $42 and took it for a test drive a few days later. This plastic camera is ridiculously light and very easy to shoot on the go, two characteristics that are an apparent benefit in street photography.
The Holga 135BC produces interesting photos, and in fact reminded me of the Lomograph lomo L-CA except with a better price, which brings me to the question: if both of these plastic cameras produce similar results why pay the Lomography Society $250 or more for another piece of plastic? It doesn’t make sense, right? It’s either that people are simply gullible or I’m missing something… In fact, I think that even $42 is a little too expensive for a toy camera.

[Read my previous rant about the subject here]

Shooting 35mm film with a Holga

Funny thing happened to me yesterday when I picked up my film from the lab. They apologized and said that sadly two of my negatives were blank or just didn’t develop right and therefore they didn’t charge me for the two. Obviously I was disappointed but oh well, this is the risk of the trade, so I just took the negatives home. But before tossing the failed negatives away I placed them over a light table, you know, just to be certain, and sure enough the negatives looked quite weird with light leaks all over the place but I could definitely see a few faint images… So I scanned the negatives and was pleasantly surprised to discover these soft beautiful images of the east side of Hollywood.
The camera these “failed” negatives were taken with was a modified Holga that was adapted to accept 35mm film and make some cool pictures. The best thing about this Holga modification is that the original Holga’s medium format exposure area is larger than a 35mm which means that the entire negative is exposed including the sprockets. Also since the 35mm does not fit tightly the images often come out very soft with lots of light leaks.
Modifying your Holga to accept 35mm is actually quite a simple modification and there are plenty of easy tutorials on how to get it done available on youtube. Check it out.