EightyOne

The remaining six photos from roll two are now up on Flickr.

These photos were shot on a Holga 120CFN using Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO black & white film and a 6×6cm mask.

Most of the photos are scratched, as in the previous bunch, and the last two have light streaks caused by the piece of sponge that got wound up in the film, causing it to bulge beyond the sides of the spool.

I’ve put the first six photos from the second roll of film shot in my Holga up on Flickr.

These photos were shot on a Holga 120CFN using Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO black & white film and a 6×6cm mask.

A couple of them show signs of scratched film, and I’ve posted one of them for completeness more than anything else. More to come!

I’ve just taken receipt of prints for Holga rolls numbers 2 and 3 (black & white Ilford HP5+ and colour Fuji Pro 160C respectively), and the results are, er, interesting. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect from these two films, as I had a bit of a camera mishap that caused them both to come out oddly bulging from their spools.

There is a phenomenon known in the biz as ‘fat rolls’. Rather than referring to oversized baked goods or excess tissue stored around the person, this term is used to describe when an exposed roll of film protrudes from the edges of the spool, usually causing light leakage when the roll is removed from the camera. Often, this happens when there isn’t adequate tension on the film to keep it neat, tidy and tight.

In my case, however, this was caused by something altogether different. More recent ‘N’ Holgas have two pieces of sponge glued in the areas of the camera where the two spools sit to help hold them in place and keep enough tension on the film to ensure it sits flat and exposures stay in focus. The sponges came away from the body of the camera, and ended up wound up in roll number two (the black & white Ilford one).

I was able to remove one of the pieces of sponge, as it was right at the end of the roll, and foolishly replaced it in the feeder spool compartment before loading roll number three (the colour Fuji Pro one). Of course, it then ended up wound up in that roll. I’m not sure what caused this to happen, but perhaps the Canarian heat caused the adhesive to melt (I was on holiday in Gran Canaria and it was over 30 degrees Celsius around midday), or maybe it was caused by some over-tension I experienced when winding on roll number two. Perhaps it was a combination of the two, or perhaps one problem was caused by the other.

Whatever the cause, I ended up with two sets of damaged negatives. Almost all of my black & white prints have rows of black dots and trails on them, which it seems are the result of scratches in the compound on the film (surely caused by the over-tension). The last couple of exposures also have large light streaks, which are probably the result of the dislodged sponge causing the end of the film to protrude from the edge of the spool.

The colour film was far more seriously affected by the roaming sponge. There are no scratches on the negatives this time, but only the first four exposures of the twelve escaped without serious artefacts. Still, the resulting images were actually better than I expected. When I handed the films in for developing, the chap behind the counter didn’t hold much hope for my scruffy-looking roll of Fuji, saying that he wouldn’t go ahead with prints if we had nothing but fog.

Although the damage was severe, it has actually led to some very interesting photos, with exposure numbers printing through, and an almost perfect framing of the lighthouse of Maspalomas. There is another with what is undeniably the silhouette of a piece of sponge in the middle!

At first I was disappointed that my photos had been damaged so badly, but on reflection, and after comments from fascinated friends, I definitely consider some of the results to be happy accidents. It’s all part of the fun of Holgagraphy, of course. :)

I made sure to get the negatives scanned and put on CD this time, so some of them will be on Flickr very soon.

I got my first set of photos from my new Holga this afternoon. They have an air of nostalgia with distinctive vignetting and dreamy focus on large, square, lustre (matt) prints.

Despite using faster film (400 ISO) — better for overcast or indoor conditions — I had a few dark ones. I also managed one semi-deliberate multiple-exposure that looks pretty cool, and somehow managed to completely miss a frame! All in all, some I’m not so happy with, but others I’m very pleased with, so the signs are encouraging. :)

One thing I was disappointed with, however, was the cost. When I enquired about prices previously, I was mistakenly given the prices for 135 (35mm) film, despite specifically asking for 120 prices, so ended up paying about two-thirds more than I expected. Boo!

Today I finished off my first roll in the Holga, which I promptly dropped in to Clock Tower Cameras in Brighton. The prints should be ready on Monday, and I can’t wait to see the results (however they may turn out).

The film I used was Fuji Pro 400H, which is a colour film ideally suited for indoor lighting and overcast conditions outdoors. It’s supposed to be stored under 10 degrees Celsius (e.g. in the fridge), which is something I’m not used to!

I thought I’d try to be patient and wait to see how my first roll turned out before loading the next one, so that I could tinker with the camera to improve the results next time around. However, me being me, I just couldn’t wait and have loaded in a roll of Ilford HP5 plus 400 ISO black and white film. There are plenty of brilliant examples of black and white Holga shots, so I’m hoping I can achieve something interesting too.