project guide

PROJECT Film Rewind Handle

Shutter Release Button Frame Counter

Film Rewind Knob

Top Case Viewfinder

Aperture Switch

Body

Focus Ring Lens

GUIDE

The bond between camera and photographer is the first rule of photography. Good images happen everywhere, all the time. You may be surprised at how much more you look at the world around you when you venture out with a camera in your hand.

You don’t have to be a pro to take pictures.

We hope to expose you to photography and help develop your eye.

Have fun. Let things develop. The light leaks and black corners will add character to anything you see.

Photography is a fix.

It’s an individual mode of expression and voice. What do you have to say?

A Holga stretches our brains. Using a Holga adds a new and exciting level to the way we look at the world. We notice more about the things around us, we capture what we see, and the Holga helps us visually describe our world to others in a new and exciting way.

A Holga is an educator. A Holga is a rule breaker.

Designed and engineered in a factory in China, the Holga was initially introduced to the Chinese public in 1981. Soon this special all-plastic camera had spread west, and its popularity was growing.

By 2001, the Holga’s 20th anniversary, over half a million cameras had been sold worldwide. Since then, photographers have purchased tens of thousands more. Today, the array of cameras and accessories available from Holga reflects its continued popularity among photographers of all ages.

Symbol of a Group 33 ft. or Less

Focus Ring

Symbol of a Group 20 ft. or Less

Symbol of Family 6.5 ft. or Less Lens

Symbol of Person 3.25 ft. or Less

Aperture Switch

Mode One: Sunny

Mode Two: Cloudy, Fluorescent Light

Shutter Mode Selector

Bulb Setting: Use this for long exposures in low light situations

Use this setting for all “Normal� light situations.

In this project we have included for you one roll of B&W and one roll of Color 400 ISO film but any type of film can be used, as long as it’s 35mm.

The lens on a Holga is plastic, after all, and tends to lose detail in the shadow areas. For B&W negative film, the rule of thumb is to expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights.

Even color negative film can benefit from the habit of over exposing slightly.

Place the spool of film into the left side of the camera with the leading edge pointing to the right.

With your left thumb resting lightly on the film, pull out the paper film leader until you can insert the tapered edge into the take-up spool.

Spool the film with a couple of turns of the take-up knob. Keep your thumb lightly on the film to prevent slack.

Press the film windup button.

Take up the windup crank and turn in clockwise rotation as shown. Once the crank is no longer taut, your film is completely wound back into its canister. Only then should you pull the crank lever to open the camera and remove your film.

Besides the creative door this opens, a key technical benefit is that you can build up exposures in low light situations.

Long exposures are easily achieved when using the bulb setting built into your cameras. Simply set the exposure switch to the “B� position. Push down the shutter release button and keep it down as long as desired. Then, release the button to close the shutter to complete the picture taking cycle.

Holga’s sheer simplicity is our key to power. Think of it not as a camera, but as paintbrush, liberally splashing your photographic canvas with exactly the scenes that you choose to take pictures of.

Holgas look oversized, kind of clumsy, a little toy-like, and definitely not intimidating. So relax, have fun, and try to get people to open up for your lens. Natural is best.

Did you know that the best photos come out of spontaneous, impulsive situations and that many are therefore never taken, simply due to the lack of a camera?

What happens down below and up above our fields of vision, from a dog, cat, baby, bug, slug, bird and insect perspective? Don’t always feel the need to look through the viewfinder, enjoy the surprise!

Photography is a surprising diversion and will enlighten you with true, simple and wonderful revelations.

Photos always emerge from a plethora of different and unexpected situations, ideas, views and intentions. It’s always up to you. Your subtle play with the outside world and its related coincidences make the choice: to photograph or not to photograph?

There are a few ways of doing this nifty little trick but this is perhaps the best way of doing it reliably and it doesn’t require anything more than your existing ability to count to 20.

Begin at the LEFT side of the subject/scene/victim you wish to capture. Press the shutter. Wind-on for 20 clicks and ignore the numbers on the back of the film. They’re nice enough, have their place but not required for this so just forget about them better still black – tape over the window completely. Outta sight, outta mind.

Move the Holga to the right, shoot. Wind-on. Move to the right. Frame. Shoot.

Click and Wind. Move to the right. Frame. Shoot. Click and Wind. Repeat.

If your Holga has a flash unit built in, why not try use the flash in the bright outdoors? This technique produces a nice fill light and works best when facing the sun or bright light.

The Holga viewfinder is a little restricting. Try looking over or to the side of your camera instead. This way you can see much more around you, and as you take the photo you can see what is being captured.

Playing with themes is a great way to spice up your photography. Take ten minutes to brainstorm some ideas. Write them down.

Ok I got vans and windows.

Now you could shoot out of a van window, through a van window or even into a van window. See the potential of combining themes?

Look up, look down, look all around. You miss hundreds of things each day because you rarely move your head up and down. Try concentrating on looking up and down. (Try not to bump into anyone though!) You’ll begin to notice a whole new world of interesting photographic opportunity!

If you have been shooting color for a while, go black and white. The same applies if you are using black and white a lot too! Changing around film makes you think differently about photography and obviously gives you much different results.

– Kit Frost, Professional Photographer

– Joe Ostraff, Professor, BYU

– Lesley Krane, educator at California State University, Northridge

– Sandy Carrion, Coordinator of the Krappy Kamera Competition.

– Julia Dean, founder of the Julia Dean Photographic Workshops.

– Randy Thomas, Founder,

This is

, my photography project!

PHOTO SERIES TITLE

Sick, right? Yes, it’s true and I couldn’t be more EMOTION

about it. This project has been my

experience ADJECTIVE

with photography .

My personal vision could be described as being

.

and I’m inspired by ANYTHING GOES HERE

EMOTION OR CHARACTERISTIC

,

My favorite things about this project have been ANYTHING GOES HERE

.

and ANYTHING GOES HERE

Thanks for looking!

PERSONAL CLOSING

P.S.

!

!!

!!!