practice lomography

Since I can’t spend much money right now on unnecessary things, I’ve asked for a Holga for my birthday as a fun gift. I don’t think I’ll actually get it, which is fine, but it can’t hurt to ask!

Looking through the stores lately at all the interesting new cameras coming out is exciting. I was depressed that Polaroid wasn’t making their instant film anymore, but noticed that they have a new camera with a portable printer… prints off little photos in your hand. Seems odd to split one object into two, but still… the photos look nice (too nice?), and I’d probably love it.

Must say “no” to consumerism. No, no, no.

Shooting with a Holga is like vacationing from formal photography. Here’s how you focus: turn the ring to point to a cartoon depiction of one little person, three little people, seven little people, or a mountain. Here’s how you set your aperture: select sunny or not sunny. Here’s how you set your shutter speed: let the camera fire or hold it open with your finger and count. That’s all you can do. You can’t even worry about your camera if you abuse it; it’s cheap enough that if it falls and crashes to pieces on the ground, your main concern is having lost prior shots to overexposure. As a bonus, a Holga adds a layer of cool vignetting from the plastic lens, light leaks from the cheap construction, odd focus anomalies from the film’s loose pressure on the plane, and so on. And compared to 35mm, the negatives are huge. I haven’t been in my element lately so I don’t have much to show for it, but I’m digging the Holga so far.

In yet another example of my paltry understanding of photography, it didn’t occur to me until a week ago that plastic cameras facilitate shooting on medium format film for an initial investment of twenty bucks. That’s so shockingly affordable that I had to upgrade to the Holga with flash: 32 smackers and change.