Holga 35mm Camera

When my Dad died a few months ago and my mom, sister, and I were going through all the old pictures in preperation for his service, I realized that at some point I had stopped documenting our life. When my son was younger, I was so good about documenting our day-to-day but at some point I stopped. It was a mix of personal burnout, one of the reasons I stopped taking on client work; I was tired of sitting in front of the computer for hours editing those pictures. It took the fun out of the whole process. The other, was that somehow my son started growing up and turning into his own person and didn’t like me taking so many pictures of him, so out of respect for him, I stopped. And I realized the last few years had gone by and I hardly had any pictures to show for it. I used to be so worried about capturing the ‘best’ photograph, thinking about it’s composition, lighting, how I could edit it, that I lost the reason for capturing it in the first place- to stop time; to capture this moment to live on forever.

I decided then that I needed to start documenting our days again. If only for us, not to share on the socials for the likes and accolaids but to capture our memories for generations to come. I found our ‘vintage’ film point + shoot camera, an old Canon Sure Shot, ordered film and shot an entire roll on our last vacation in August. I’ve been using my iPhone again to capture moments as they arise, not worrying again about anything other than capturing the moment. I love the idea of using film again. To capture the scene, the moment in front of me one time- not shooting a ton of frames just to take the time to cull then edit later. But I shoot it once, send the roll off for developement, and it’s done. Taking it back old school!

Before we left for vacation, I decided to buy a Holga 35mm Camera for fun. Just to try it out and see what I can create. I don’t have to think too much with this camera, just point and shoot. I did learn a few things after my rolls of film came back. I need to use a higher film speed for sure and need to practice a bit more with the different focal points. What I love about this camera is that there is no focusing. You are litterally, pointing and shooting. There are a few settings you can play around with that will naturally give you different focal settings but what I forgot was that they each have a very high F Stop anyway and paired with a low film speed I was set up for ‘failure’ from the get go.

I used a film speed of just 200 for these images and as you can see, it wasn’t enough. Next time, I’ll be getting a film speed of at least 400 and will try shooting in broad daylight. What I do love though, and I think some of these frames are a perfect example, is the potential for double or triple exposures. You can easily make double exposures and one thing I noticed is that the film didn’t advance at the same measure each time, creating a layered effect. It’s such a fun camera to co-create as long as you go in with zero intentions and you allow the creation itself to be your focus.

I debating even sharing these images, nothing really stands out to me much. In fact, I was dissapointed with most of them. BUT I thought I’d share anyway because it’s a great lesson for all us creatives- we all start somewhere. It’s the process of creating that was is important- not the end product. I had such a great time spending the days with my family at the beach, walking in nature, and just taking it all in that the end result is just the by-product. What is important is the time I spent in the moment.

I do think there is great potential with this camera and I’m eager to get out there and try again. Maybe black + white film will be my choice as we start moving into the fall season…