Katy M.: Holga 135

The Holga is pretty much responsible for my love of Lomography. My sister got a Holga 120 CFN a few years ago (which I stole so I could try it out) and not only does it look incredible, but the results can be awesome.

Taken with a Holga 120 CFN in 2009.

The Holga 135 uses 35mm film rather than 120mm film. This makes it the tiniest bit easier to get the films developed when you’re done. I got mine while holidaying in the States in October ’11. I chose the red one because, duh, who doesn’t want a bright red camera?

My first roll with this camera was a double challenge because I was a) using a camera I’d never used before and b) using black and white film for the first time.

Black and white was weird for me because although I do a lot of black and white conversion in my digital work, primarily my main reason for taking a photo of something is because of the colours. With black and white you have to think about how the photo is going to look once the print is in your hands as obviously a picture that looks amazing in colour will look pretty terrible in black and white.

Film: Kodak Professional BW400 Black and White film

I wasn’t entirely happy with the first roll for many reasons. Mainly because everything looked so boring and bland, also because I was having difficulty getting used to the lens. I did, however, discover that the focus ring actually works on this camera (on my Diana Mini turning the focus ring makes next to no difference).

Nevertheless, over the past couple of weeks I've been trying again, but this time using a colour film. These turned out slightly better. I think this camera is going to be a learning curve. Sometimes it’s amazing and other times it feels deliberately frustrating. That being said I still got all of these beauties: