Holga 35mm BC

I’m really loving my Holga 35mm BC and have recently put some Fuji Superia x-tra that was 8 years past its expiry day through it.

To be honest i was expecting more crazy results due to the out of date film, but still, i’m pleased with what i got… and love the Holga’s vignette.

This is now my carry everywhere lomo camera. I’ve even found another 3 rolls of 5 year expired Supera film to play with (and also a local lab that will develop my colour negs really cheap!). Need to shoot some black and white with it next.

 

A new year…

It’s a new year and therefore that must mean it’s time to start blogging again!

I have a few things to post that I shot last year but never got round to getting them on here, and i got some new (old) cameras so i’m sure they will make an appearance. I really plan to pull my finger out this year and set up some cool photo shoots and i have a number of personal projects to tell you about.

I plan to take more photos with my holgas and also give the Dina Mini another chance! I didn’t have much luck with her but i’m looking forward to trying again (and hopefully not waste any more film). I’m also looking forward to using my Polaroid 340 more and have a fridge full of film waiting to be used.

Another thing i’ve been wanting to do for a while is get the Polaroid back back on my Holga and get some cool Holgaroid shots.

So lots to do and lots to blog about. I aways say this but i really do hope to update this more often, especially after seeing my end of year stats. It seems people are actually visiting this blog!

Thanks to you for reading my ramblings and check back again soon for more. Here is a silly pic to be going along with…

Have a great creative year and feel free to comment or follow me on Twitter (twitter.com/swallowingflies)

Tiny Toys

Another so called ‘toy’ camera has joined my collection recently, and it’s a little cutie!

No i’m not some giant, i’m just holding the Diana Mini (note to self: put towels away when taking photo in mirror!!)

I’ve never had a Diana camera before. I’ve got Holgas and so haven’t really seen the point in getting another plastic Lomo camera that also takes 120mm film. Is there really much difference in the type of shot it takes? But having one that shoots 35mm, now that’s a different matter!

The Diana Mini shoots half frame (two shots to a 35mm frame) and square format onto 35mm film. So, if set to half frame you can get loads of shots out of a roll. Fun if you like just snapping away, frustrating if you like to take thought through arty stuff, as it will take you ages to finish the roll of film. Shooting square will give you roughly 24 or 36 shots and i love the square format so i mostly used that setting.

Like the Holga you have to remember to set the focus, but unlike the lovely chunkiness of the Holga this is much more fiddly on the Diana Mini. Also like the Holga it has fixed shutter and just two aperture settings, though we all know that the aperture setting on the Holga dont actually do anything! It seems it does work on the Diana Mini however so remembering to check that (as well as making sure it hasn’t slipped into bulb mode) is also important.

The shot above was a very sunny day, i had forgotten to set the correct focus, i didn’t check the aperture setting and i had the crappiest roll of out of date ISO200 film in the camera… still, i remembered to take the lens cap off!!

I just love the colours and feel these cameras produce and I really want to shoot more colour with this and my Holgas but the cost of developing means i mostly shoot black & white. However, having said that i think my new Diana Mini will just live in my bag with a roll of old colour film in it, ready to grab as and when the right moment comes along.

In with the old

I’ve rediscovered my old camera, and i’m really enjoying using it again.

I know! Every photographer has taken a mirror shot like this at some point!

Ok, so when i say ‘old camera’ i dont mean old like some of the cameras i use. This was my main digital camera for a long time and using it again reminded me that it did, and still does, a dam good job. It’s a Nikon D100 and has been acting as my back up to my D3 (until i get myself a D700) for the past couple of years. So, of course, it’s not been used for ages. Until now…

A couple more grainy ones…

Here are a couple more shots. As i’ve said before, I love the grain you get in real film. And these were shot with 400 iso film pushed to 800 for an even more grainy effect. I’m going to push the next roll to 1600 iso.

I’ve got a bunch more stuff to post over the next week or so and hopefully be out this weekend shootin’ shootin’ shootin’.

Pushed to 800!

A while back i thought i’d get myself a 35mm film camera. I already have one, a lovely Nikon F5, but it’s a beast of a camera! It’s fairly big and heavy and built like a tank. Built for pro photographers to take into war zones. I have no real problem with it and its very similar to the digital camera i use professionally (not in war zones though..yet), a Nikon D3, but i wanted something i could just sling in my bag with a 50mm and not really draw attention to myself as those big cameras tend to do.

Zara gets the best angle (even though Holga’s shoot square!)

So, i won myself one of those baby’s for a mere £15. Bargain…. i think!

The EM is a semi manual (or semi automatic i guess) 35mm camera. So i have control over the aperture and it decides what shutter speed to use. Or at least some of the time it did as it seems the meter on the EM only works when it feels like it!

So, its a bit hit and miss. Having said that, i got more shots than i expected. These were shot on Ilford HP5 plus 400 iso but i pushed the film to 800 iso as i wanted some nice grainy black and white shots (and the option to shoot in lower light).

That’s a gorgeous purple Holga Zara is using there. I’ll be posting some more colour Polaroids of Zara and her Holga in the next few days. And when i develop her film we’ll see how these shots she’s taking came out!

I’m always keen to hear what you think so feel free to contact me via twitter or email. I really need to get this blog sorted so you can leave comments and so i can post bigger photographs!