how the holga sees

It is June, a start of another month. Last year I went on a camera buying spree. I was able to acquire second hand cameras, a Leica M6, Hasselbad 500C, Rolleiflex, Canonet QL-17 and the brand new Holga. It was relatively easy to figure out most of these cameras with the exception of the Holga. My first roll of film came back blocked out that it was useless. I could not figure the right exposure. When I finally was getting decent exposures with the camera, the picture is coming out not as I wanted it to be. So a few weekends ago, I tried figuring out a test for a camera that has a fixed f stop and shutter speed.

To do an exposure test, I placed the Holga on a tripod (yes the one I got from Hong Kong already has a tripod screw mount, no need for modifications!) Since it is of one exposure, (f/8) then I metered the wall accordingly using the rated speed of the film, in this case Kodak 125PX. That morning I was getting a reading of f/4 at 1/125 sec, the closest to 1/100 sec supposed shutter speed of the Holga. Working on this assumption, I should click the shutter 4 times to reach the equivalent exposure of and f/8 at 1/125 sec. I then did the next two frames at the equivalent of one higher EI and one lower EI. The negatives look promising but I still did not get to do a contact print to judge which was the best EI to use. I will find out the answer this weekend.

The second part of the test was to figure out how the Holga sees. I positioned the camera with the corners of the square covers the Holga's viewfinder totally. The picture at the top of this blog entry shows the result of how the Holga sees up close. It shows that there are a lot of extra space to the right side and the bottom that I did not see when I was looking at the view finder. I suspected this was the case because earlier when I took a picture of the new Ferris Wheel in Suan Lum, I covered the view finder with the entire wheel. Yet when the negatives came back, there was a lot of space available again to the right and to the bottom. This will be useful in figuring out how to compose the photograph.

I am slowly figuring out this plastic camera. I decided that in order that I can enjoy my cameras, I will have to spend 2 months with each of them at a time concentrating on each of them, learning how to use them. I am now learning more about my Holga and finally am starting to figure it out. So this June and July, I will post the pictures that I manage to come up with this fantastic plastic camera. I am sure I will be having fun along the way!

© 2006 daddywasabi

lotus pond

I always come back to this lotus pond near my home. One time I almost got into trouble because everyone was jittery about security and they thought I was taking pictures of sensitive installations, when all I was interested are the lotus flowers in full bloom early in the morning. I promptly removed myself from the place before I get into any more trouble. But when I went back last January, I limited myself to where there can be no mistake in my intentions, that is to take the pictures of the lotus flowers in full bloom. To my surprise, one woman told be to go further in because she said, I might even find small turtles in there. I did not find them, only more of the lovely bright pink flowers lit brightly by the morning sun. © 2006, Bangkok, Thailand, daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

luang prabang trees

It was not an original idea but there were a lot of bare trees reaching up like fingers to the sky. So I could not help myself and used up a lot of memory space in my cf card. It was also a good way of easing up on my back because of the long motorcycle ride. © 2006, Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

royal barges

I found it by accident. I did not even realize that the barges were located somewhere in Samsen. I just decided to go back to this soi we entered by mistake during the Holy Week when I was visiting the old churches of Bangkok. After taking pictures using my Holga, I went to the river and found black boats and beyond were some of the Royal Barges. I saw the sign in the piers that on certain days, the express boats will not be passing by some piers because of the rehearsals of the Royal Barges to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the ascension to the throne of HM the King. The minders of the place allowed me to take pictures. But then he commented why I was taking pictures when the sun is going down. I took his advise and came back the next day with my Canon 30V and a roll of film. It was a bit cloudy with light being diffused but bright enough and I went and took as many picture that my roll would allow without me falling into the water. These are just scans of the negatives. I will be definitely be making hand prints of these pictures. © 2006 Bangkok, Thailand, daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

erawan revisited

A few weeks ago, a crazed man went to the Erawan shrine at the corner where the Grand Hyatt Erawan is located and smashed the revered image. People were shocked to learn of the news the following morning. Now the Fine Arts department is makinga new statue which is made of metal and cement which will include the smashed plaster statue. In another few months the new statue will be ready. When I visited the place, pictures of the old statue were placed in the shrine. Last week, as I was taking pictures of the walkways under the BTS line, I notices that they had erected white scaffolding around the old shrine with the picture of the original statue outside. I read in the papers that when they were building the old Erawan Hotel, so many accidents had been happening during the construction. The place was being declared as cursed. Erawan is the Hindu elephant god. So a shrine to the Hindu god Bhrama was constructed. After this was done, all he accidents stopped. I never saw the old Erawan Hotel. When I moved to Bangkok in 1990, the Grand Hyatt Erawan was already being constructed. With all the changes the old Erawan shrine was left untouched. Many people from different countries visit the shrine and make their wish as the shrine is well known to make some wishes to come true. I took the pictures using Leica M5 with a 50mm summicron lens. #&169 2006, Bangkok, Thailand, daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

erawan vendors

I visited the shrine again a few weeks ago to see what had happened to the shrine. I also took pictures of the vendors around the shrine. The lottery ticket has been there forever. I posted his picture last year. Along the road are the sellers of the garlands, incense stick, bananas and the elephant statues that are usually offered in the shrine. I will be posting pictures of te shrine as I saw it in a few days from now. © 2006, daddywasabi, April 2006, Bangkok, Thailand, all rights reserved.

lumpini park

On that day, there were sculptures on display near the red cross building. Otherwise it was an ordinary Sunday afternoon at the park. Near the open air gym, there were men who seem to be practicing an ancient martial art as they were hitting each other with thick wooden rods that was perfectly coreographed that each of these men seems to avoid each others fatal blow. The ancient trees still provide a restful shade . I am glad I live nearby this park because this place never ceases to provide me with something new to look at. © 2006 Bangkok, Thailand, daddywasabi all rights reserved.

pool

We had a get together a few days before Songkran and the temperature had started to become very hot. The two photos on top were taken with a Leica M6 with the viewfinder guide in the wrong scale. The last photo was taken using Holga. I wanted to take a picture of just my friends and the water. April 2006, Bangkok © 2006, daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

broom seller
Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, February 2006, © daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

gold panning in luang prabang
Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, February 2006, © daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

bare trees
It must have been because of the time of the year. Some of the foliage were dry. I found a few trees without leaves. The shrubs on the ground were quite thorny that I remember being sorry for not wearing my jeans during my mini trek. Nevertheless I found the trek to the village with Pat was a good exercise. Luang Prapang, Lao PDR, © daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

xieng lom
The village of xieng lom was the nearest village nearest the resort I stayed in during the last few days of my stay in Luang Prabang. The people seemed quite easy going and went about their activities in the morning while I was walking around the village. Some I found congregated around the corner store exchanging news of the day. Most found it interesting why I was carrying around 2 cameras around my neck. I am glad that they obliged when I took some of their pictures. Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, January 2006, © daddywasabi, all rights reserved.

morning at the market
Every morning after I finished my breakfast, I would stroll around the Luang Prabang market. Markets offer interesting sights to a visiting tourist such as myself. Women wearing traditional clothes. Exotic foods abound. One time I even saw a woman selling birds and squirrel, perhaps hunted in the nearby forest the day before. Mostly, I would go for breakfast where they served hot chocolate drink and and fried bread batter which never fails to provide comfort for the early morning cold weather. Luang Prabang, Lao PDR January 2006 © daddywasabi, all rights reserved.