Category Archives: Photo Post

Graffiti and the Holga 135

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I have already tried this camera, but I gave that away ages ago and found this one for $3. There is a BC version which means black corners indicating more vignette. As you can see from my example photos the original camera already has quite a lot of vignetting.

I was quite excited to try this camera again as every 120mm Holga I have tried has had pleasing results. I didn’t really give this one a chance when I first tried it as, but my opinion of fantastic plastics has chanced since then.

As I was going to London for the 100 heroines exhibition, I decided to take some time to try this camera in an area I have not visited before. I did a search for places to see if you have already seen the top tourist spots and Shoreditch came up as a choice. For fun I thought I would try to capture the graffiti around the area with a black and white film. I loaded a Fomapan 100 with the intention of push processing it to 400. I thought it would have a different look to it and show off the vignetting.

I absolutely loved my day in Shoreditch, an area I had not even thought to visit before. Everywhere I looked there was something else to see. Using the Holga was easy and the resulting photos are by far favourite series of photos that I have completed recently. I have already put another film in the camera, a colour one this time. Where shall I take it?

Unframing Identities Exhibition London

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I have some exciting news. Exciting for me, but probably meh for you unless you are family or a friend. If you are excited for me then, “hello friend, how are ya?” 🙂

While I was on holiday in Japan I noticed a post on a Facebook group I am in with details of an exhibition in London. It was an open call to female photographers so I decided to send a couple of photos. As I was on holiday I could only get screen shots from my website, quite low quality. I then forgot all about it until I received an email asking for more details. Things fell into place and showed me once again how fate can work magic sometimes.

  1. I had just been talking to someone about my photos and they said I should do more exhibitions or projects, and then the post showed up on my feed. So I was in the mood to take a shot.
  2. I was in Japan to collect my left luggage, inside that luggage were the negatives for the shoot I intended to submit. Without traveling back, I would not have had access to them.
  3. The photos were from only the second project I had ever completed and it fit with the exhibition theme completely so I didn’t have to think of a new idea by which time my mood might have changed.

So this weekend I am traveling to London to take my exhibition photos to hang. I have chosen six photos. Here are two examples.

If you are in the area the main exhibition is on right now. My photos are part of a second phase that will take place at the end of the June. You can read more about it at this website. You can also search for these social media tags
@RPS100Heroines
#UnframingIdentities
#KCAW19

I will also travel down for the actual dates, of 28-30th June and will visit the exhibition at various times. If you are around please say hello or just quietly pass by and enjoy all the different pieces of art.

Return To The Olympus OM30

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I knew I had left at least one SLR in Japan, but I didn’t know which one. I was happy to find it was the Olympus OM 30 with a 50mm lens. I used that one for most of my holiday, once I put in 5 batteries..yeap 5!

First I took it to the Kounosu Poppy Festival which had over 30 million poppies in bloom and a delicious Kakigori.

Then I took it to the Kawajima Rose Festival which has the longest rose tunnel in Japan. It really did get a flower workout.

After being in a suitcase for almost a year, you can see it still worked perfectly. I finished the film on the way to Champ Camera to get it developed.

It was nice having (almost) one camera to choose from for a while and it reminded me why Olympus was my first love.

Return to Pinhole Photography

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Yesterday was World Pinhole Day 2019. So I decided to dust off my Ondu camera and give it another try.

As it has been a while since I tried it, plus have only even done pinhole a couple of times before. I forgot how to calculate the exposure. So I lost the first 4 shots as they were too underexposed. Then I remembered the handy guide in the box and adjusted the timings. There are the results from that point.

Now that I have worked out the timings I might try a few experimental shots. Actually the Building shot on the top row has a person running passed the camera, but the exposure was so long she has disappeared. I think I will try this again…but with a slightly more visible person.

Pinhole is not like anything I have tried before. Initially I am always disappointed by the lack of focus. Then I look at the shots in a different way, they make me do that. I look beyond the actual image and think about the process. Pinhole is not for a rich person, a person in a hurry. It is something to savour, to enjoy for just what it is. For me it is a time to be alone, even when I am not.

Update on the Kiev 88

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I finally used the Kiev 88 again. I bought an extra cassette too though for this excursion I didn’t use it.

I went for a local walk after work. It was a short walk, specifically to use this camera. I reread my previous post about the camera and reminded myself of the issues I had. It helped. I wound the cassette to the first shot and cocked the shutter before attaching the cassette to the body. The light was rapidly fading, but as there are only 12 shots I managed to finish in time and developed the film when I returned home.

I was getting ready to sell this camera, now I am not so sure. Oh Beastie, you are a fickle friend.