If you are a film photographer then you know that the first week of October is Holga Week. The Holga is an iconic plastic film camera that renders dreamy images with a soft vignette. I shot a lot of film this week with a variety of film cameras that I own. I have a 1968 Nikon F which is amazing. It's also iconic and was used by many war photographers. It's heavy, it's a serious camera for knowledgeable photographers, and it was a perfect alternative to my Holga.
The Holga is primarily a point and shoot no frills camera. The Nikon F is set the aperture, the shutter speed, and nail the focus. Let's just say that both cameras could not be more different; they are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I probably shot four days out of seven last week which is a lot for me. Detroit had a brief last blast of summer weather, and I think we all knew that this was the last hurrah, so everyone was out, enjoying the freakish October warmth.
I did a lot of experimenting with splitzers, filters, films and lenses. I thought too late that I should have taken a short trip somewhere because I couldn't think of anywhere I wanted to go to take photos. I decided to go downtown where all the outdoor cafes were buzzing, but detoured for a quiet walk through the stadiums. I wanted to shoot hand held in the late evening so I loaded Cinestill 800 and Cinestill XX Double X films.
I also packed my Lomo LCA+ because I bought an Etsy splitzer a few months ago and I wanted to test it out. All in all I'm happy with last week's images. I pushed both films to 1600 Cinestill XX Double X is dramatic when pushed; it's definitely black and white. If you're expecting shades of grey or shadows? Forget about it. Click to view larger; galleries and slide shows are cropped.
Love these! Happy Holga week! I am going to have to pick up one of those splitzers to try.