Abandoned

Holga 135, probably XP-2, possibly Fuji 400

Not really abandoned. Just early morning at the Seaport. I can't for the life of me remember why I was down here early enough to experience an empty car park. Perhaps work? Maybe.

I've always liked this shot, pointy rooves, nice even-ish mix of tones: no black-metal-blacks or blinging whites.

From the cupboard #1

"CHILDREN ARE NOT TO RU(N)"

I recently (well, 6 months ago) migrated to a new laptop, and decided I needed to move old photos to new laptop. This gave me a good reason to go through some old images and see what I have.

So, while I don't use film very requently any more, I'll be posting to odd photo here from the archives.

Holga 120GN

It arrived today: A Holga with a glass lens (AKA Holga 120GN, Woca). Why? For uni. I've decided that it's important to use this particular camera for whatever project I decide to run with.

Now, all I need is some Shanghai GP3 and I'm set...although my heart tells me to spend a bit extra and get Ilford Delta 400 or HP5, or even some Fomapan.

Willow Court

Part of the derelict Willow Court complex at New Norfolk. 

There are a lot of different styles going on around Willow Court and the adjacent Royal Derwent complex, including this (quite obvious) art deco building which I believe was an administration centre. Some parts of Willow Court date back to 1827, which is about as old as it gets in Tasmania. It's a rather bleak and depressing site, much of it fenced off from the public until it's decided what to do with it*, and I am glad that I and other members of my family and friends never had the misfortune to require its service.

There was a superb example of what I, in my own lack of architectural wisdom, call "Soviet-bloc/Eastern Europe circa 1980), but unfortunately I didn't get a decent photo with the Holga.


* I've just read that parts of Willow Court are being converted to high and low end holiday accommodation.

...And here I am.

I have been quiet of late with the film. Partly because it was somewhat disheartening to go from 80c per scan from 120 to $3.50, which means using medium format is now so prohibitively expensive that I may as well give up on it. Or I could just fork out for a scanner of my own.

Last week, I enrolled in the local university's summer school program, undertaking the decoratively-titled "Dialogues in Black & White". It's a 10 day course in January on B&W film photography. This includes access to the university's wet darkroom. Nice.

In preparation, I am going to order myself a Holga GFN (aka 'Woca') and a bunch of film.

I'm excited.

More recent-ish Holga shots.

blossoms

Been a while since I had a film developed. This is an old film I finally got done.

ol' timey

Latest photos from the Holga 135. I am more and more impressed with this camera every time I get results back. I was a bit worried it might be a bit like a "pseudo-Holga" in that it mimics the look of the Holga 120, however I think that would be a bit unfair to say: the Holga 135 is definitely it's own camera.

Film used was Fuji Neopan 400.

Pointy

I always like buldings with these kind of rooves.

Not sure if it's a pity it's blurred (the dreaded B-switch).

On Four Corners Dark's blog, there is an interesting history of the Holga written by the people who make them. Includes this nice little fun fact:

Lovers of the cameras in China even created the cute name “Big Brother Monkey” which is a Chinese phonetic approximation of “Holga” pronounced in English...

Gate

More CH Smith. More urban dead space.

Pineapple

Pylons behind the derelict CH Smith warehouse in Launceston.

letters

We have a letter slot on the inside of our front fence. For outgoing mail, we assume..

Crocs l'Orange

My French is trivial at best. In 6 days in France, all I learnt was:

l'addition, sil vous plait - "the bill, please"
un/deux bier, sil vous plait - "one/two beer/s, please"

Sorry if Crocs l'Orange is a bit dodgy.

powerlines

Beech @ Night

I tried my hand at night photography a month or so back. A nice bright night was the catalyst - so I took the Holga (loaded with cheap & cheerful Lucky) out and attempted some star trails. Which didn't work out because I'm too impatient.

This is a view of our new beech & our neighbours' rooves.

Ceiling + light

Holga 135 - first results

they came out alright - although i have to admit the resuts are not dissimilar to those from the Vilia or the Zorki...and they both have more than one shutter speed. still, the holga 135 has proven itself now as a worthwhile addition to the collection.

Also worth noting is that the bottom right corner "ghosting" that is so familiar with the Holga 120 is missing. I remember once reading why this happens with the Holga 120, but have completely forgotten what it was or where I read it. Something to do with the shutter, I think? Anyways, whatever happens to make that happen, it doesn't happen with the Holga 135. Which isn't all that important.

Holga & Minolta

These two have been my two recent favourites. I haven't seen results from the Holga 135 yet, but the amount of shots I've taken mean I should get something done about that sooner rather than later.

I am enjoying using the Holga 135, but it does make me feel slightly not-in-control. I prefer to have more than two apertures to choose from, and more than one shutter speed. I might just have to get used to that, though - this is part of the reason I choose to use Holgas, all the 'technical' side of things is dispensed with straight away.

However, I do much enjoy the Minolta. There's a challenge there (although the Aperture Priority mode can hi-jack this somewhat), and the results are usually superb - especially with that Rokkor 1.7 lens on board! I've heard one or two people say that the lens-film combination are what matter, and the camera itself doesn't have a lot to do with end result. I say "poo" to that (with knobs on) - if you're not comfortable with the capabilities and features of the camera body you use, it doesn't matter how good your lens or film is because you'll end up with crap.

That's not to say my photos are brilliant by any stretch. But I'm never disappointed by the Minolta.

Holga 135

On a strange whim, I ordered one of these a couple of weeks ago.

It seems unexpectedly robust for a Holga. And there's the benefit of 35mm film, albeit at the loss of the wonderful 6x6/6x4.5 format. But it'll be useful. I think I just wanted a 135 camera that I can throw in my bag, doesn't take fancy photos, and doesn't require me to think too much when I'm shooting.

A cheap Holga-branded flash and some cheap Lucky colour film are also on the way.

Thanks Christ for eBay Hong Kong!