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.