Classic Camera takes photos of Classic Automobiles

The local Home Depot (in my neighborhood of Westlake in Daly City) had an auto show in their parking lot just yesterday. My dad and I decided to check it out. With Holga in hand, I was able to capture these pictures. It was fun doing something with my dad. He enjoyed the seeing cars and the memories they brought of his childhood. It was great listening to his stories and snipets of his past.

Endless Summer

My good friend was kind enough to give us some hand-me-downs--a slide and a scooter at that! My son and niece had a blast (and continue to do so, given our current "heat wave" of three days).

Scooter Boy

Slide Gal

Remembering the 10 Golden Rules of Lomography

Already while browsing through some other blogs, I have come across folks saying that there are "too many Holgas around" and that "what you see in the frame may not necessarily mean art."

I think people are taking lomography way too seriously. I mean, really, who cares if there are too many Holgas around? So what if a lot of people want to use a Holga. It's all relative anyway. I'm sure professional DSLR users out there are out to say the same thing about digital cameras.

I wish to remind these folks that there's an artist in every one of us. Lomography (even photography for that matter) should be fun and mainly done for oneself. Really, in both cases, one must be satisfied with the end result. And usually, it's an end result that one is proud of. Proud enough to put on a blog or on Flickr.

So, I post a link to the 10 Golden Rules of Lomography to remind people out there--it's a free world. Beautiful art is in the eyes of the beholder.

Bye-bye Jelly-Lens!

My two dollar fisheye jelly-lens is no more. I had it on my cell for all 30 hours and well, the "jelly part" that serves as the detachable adhesive attracted all sorts of lint in my pocket that it just gave out, stuck onto another part of my cell and just doesn't look like it will work properly again. I've taken it off my cell, put it away for another day.

Besides, I've already got my Lomo Fisheye 2 that is my newest toy camera... :)

Fisheye Diversion

I'm going to divert a bit from my Holga, only because I'm been amused lately with the fisheye effect. Here, I have an example of a photo taken with my "digital toy cam that fits in my pocket" (a.k.a. my cellphone!). I ordered the fisheye jelly-lens (from a cheap re-distributor from Amazon) for a mere $2.00 with a $3.50 shipping! Not bad for a toy attachment, I guess...

Fisheye Charlie

Gloomy Day No More

Of course, now that I have my handy-dandy flash, I did not need to use it on my Holga 135 BC on my second trip to South Park. I thought it would be a good idea to go again and take some photoes on yet another gloomy day to see the difference, but that was not to be. Miraculously, mid-morning, the sun came out and it was a beautiful day in San Francisco today!

South Park Street Sign

Entrance to South Park
with green color filter on

Potted Plants
used the flash here, but don't see much of a difference...

Sunny Day at the Park

Swing Set
can't recall if I used the flash here

New Holga Flash

Because of my miserable attempts at taking photos in this continued gloomy Bay Area weather, I was prompted to buy a hotshoe flash for my Holga 135 BC. I have a fresh roll in the camera right now and it's in my purse for some shots tomorrow. I hope to have pictures that are more clear.

There were two flashes I was debating over--both which I found online. One was bigger and bulkier and the other was small and looked newer. I opted for the smaller, newer one. Both were around $15, then add shipping. Four Corners store was quick; my order from last Friday came today (Wednesday). Not bad at all!

I hope to post some pictures with flash here, soon. That is, if I get to take some tomorrow and manage to have them processed in an hour.... and if I don't get derailed and end up getting that Lomo Fisheye 2 that I have been salivating about the past few days...

Holga Fisheye Shots

I used the fisheye lens attachment (plastic for my Holga 120 CFN) while used 35 mm color film for the following shots. At best, I got more vignetting, but not necessarily the fisheye I wanted and hoped for. Perhaps, if I went closer to my subjects, the effect would be different, but from what I can see, only the second shot of the yoga session came out with some fisheye effect.

I have 120 color film in the Holga 120 right now with the fisheye lens still attached. Maybe the different type of film will render a different effect, but I will only know once I finish that roll and get it processed...

Union Square Heart of San Francisco

Public Yoga

Charlie Sleepyhead

South Park, South of Market in San Francisco

Gloomy day in The City, I decided to take a stroll to a park that I discovered nearby. The discovery was great, but shooting without a flash in gloomy weather underneath trees was not so great. Here are some shots with my Holga 135 BC. Got them developed at the local Walgreens. After 36 shots and one hour later, I only have these few pictures to show for it:

South Park

South Park Cafe (across the way from the park)
Having a Smart car in The City is a smart choice.

Eat/Rest Area

Jungle gym/slide/swing area

Some day, my son will be on these!

We all need reminders to pick up after our dogs.

Motorcycle repair shop on my way back to work.

Handicapped Smart Car

Sign at the Supper Club
Who knew they're just right behind my work building? I'm linking this to reviews on Yelp.

Peaches and Apple Picking in Brentwood, Northern California

Ole Truck

Weighing Station

Ole Tractor

Fruits 4 Sale

Farmers's Daughter's Farm Signage

Disappointed

The summer kicked off with my Holga in hand. I was prepared for shot after shot of extraordinary pictures. I got the accessories that I wanted, upto a fisheye lens for my Holga 120. Mid-summer, my son turned a year old. What a milestone. Aside from his birthday party, we went to Tahoe. Yes, lots of photo opportunities, eh? I have had in my purse, two rolls of colored 120 film. Shots of the birthday and shots of Lake Tahoe.

Unfortunately, I had set the camera to take 16 shots. I wanted to try out if taking more shots would be beneficial. In hindsight, this time would not have been the best time to have experimented on trying to maximize 16 shots out of the roll. I got the films processed and well, the lab told me they can't scan the pictures to a cd.

In short, I have processed film, no prints, no digital forms of the shots for me to enjoy. To say that I'm a tad bit disappointed is an understatement. I saw the shots through the lightbox and it was just hard to be satisfied with results I really could not see.

Now, I'm on a mission to find a lab who will scan my processed film so that I can at least see some of the pictures. In this process, I just fell in love more with my Holga 135 BC. Why didn't I know about you sooner?

I Love Lake Tahoe in the Summertime

Summer get-away to Lake Tahoe, California. All shots taken with my Holga 135 BC:

Woods

Beachfront

Boardwalk

Canoe stuff

More canoes

Embarbadero Shots - They came out great, after all!

All shots taken with my Holga 135 BC:

San Francisco Bay Bridge

Cupid's Arrow at the Embarcadero in San Francisco

Ferry Building, San Francisco

Lunch Taco Truck in the financial district in San Francisco

At My Son's 1st Birthday

Uncle Dan giving Sparky the Clown a run for his money on the mini-bike.

My Niece, Erica, in the Jumper

My son with Daddy watching Sparky perform.

Darn that B setting

For my lunch break at work, I went off on a leisurely stroll to The Embarcadero here in San Francisco on this rare, sunny, warm-ish day. It's a good 4 city block walk one way. I took several shots off my new Holga 135 BC, then realized when I got back to work that the setting was at B. Darn it. I have read more than once on a blog somewhere to make sure the setting is on N; even recommended to tape it down... but I thought--I have a new camera, that does not apply to me! Not!!

Well, I just have to keep my fingers crossed until I get the roll of film processed. Who knows? With the unpredictability of the Holga, I might just get fantastic bay shots!

My New Holga 135 BC

I just could not resist, could not help myself. It was like Amazon made me do it. Amazon made me order my second Holga. It's Amazon's fault, after all. To make matters worse, because I just could not wait for the "Free Shipping" being offered by Amazon, I got suckered into signing up for Amazon Prime Shipping. While this shipment still falls into my 30-day trial period, I have come to accept it. I must have a start to an addiction to lomography!

I waited until all my chores were done before I opened up my Amazon box. You know--the one with the smiley mouth. That was me as soon as I came home and saw the box. I just knew it had my next toycam in it. I had a smiley mouth essentially all night tonight.

I absolutely love the box this camera came in. It seems all modern. I love the little Holga manual that came with it, too. The camera strap falls on the left side. Did a lefty make this version? Nevertheless, I'm excited to try it out as soon as I can. Time to load up my 35 mm film.

I'm most excited that processing can happen at my local Walgreens and that I'd be saving some money while still succumbing to my "addiction."

I have yet to decide if I will cancel my Amazon Prime shipping or not. What would an addict do?

My First Lomo Shots

Holga 120 CFN - Features and Accessories

Accessories: All purchase brought on by reviewers on Amazon. I got the filter adapter and color filter set. I also got the 35mm film adapter kit for those times I may want to use 35 mm film. This Holga is built to use 120 film (which I have never used before).

Features: This Holga version I got is the CFN version--color flash with the camera, so I had to install two AA batteries inside. The flash has a white default, then you can turn the wheel to use red, yellow, or blue flash. I have never used any of these flash options before.

Film: I got a 3-pack of 120 film in black and white and a 3-pack of 35 mm film, ISO 100 in color. Both brands of film are from Lomography.

My Holga 120 CFN

My Holga arrived today. At first, I had the feeling of "disappointment" that well, it's not the DSLR that I had dreamed about. Well, I made this choice. To choose a camera as far away from a DSLR as possible. I went analogue. And the best part of this is that, the price is as far away from a DSLR as possible, too!

Interestingly enough, I read about lomography when I was on a digital photography website. Turns out, folks who take photos with their digicams alter the pictures using Photoshop to get the old lomo look. So, it was suggested by a reader to get the full, unaltered effect just by getting a cheap lomo camera. Thus my search for an analogue camera began. Amazon was a site I did most my research. And you know how they indicate who the supplier is? That's how I found Adorama. They are based in New York city, but will ship orders. I ordered this camera with a few accessories online.

I read about lomography last year but never did anything about it. I thought, "Cool. Cheap. Maybe if I run into it, I will give it a try." Well, I purchased this Holga now through Adorama because I simply cannot afford a DSLR (albeit my salivating over wanting them for it's pro-looking photos) and after taking the DSLR for a test drive at the electronics store, I feared I would aggrevate my carpal tunnel. Those DSLRs are heavy!

So, now I'm excited. I don't know how to use this plastic thing. I don't know what I will get. I will hope for the best.