On the Street

The Holga has allowed me two luxuries - I can again think in black and white and I can feel comfortable walking around the streets downtown camera in hand knowing that if it gets snatched the only thing of value I've lost is the film. The shot above is on Los Angeles Street, by the New Otani. Below, from Elysian Park, near the Police Academy and Dodger Stadium.

Back in the Car

And back to the Holga. Since it's a range finder, the limits of its focusing mechanism can either make life easier - or harder. You're not looking at the actual image, so it's easy to forget to focus (especially when you've been spoiled by an auto-focus SLR). It's also easy to forget the lens cap is on, but since the winding mechanism is so rudimentary the film does not advance automatically, so you just remove it and release the shutter again.

The image above was taken on a recent Friday afternoon, heading east on Beverly, I think, east of Western. The one below is on Beaudry under the 101 overpass heading up to Sunset. Again, both images were scanned from a contact sheet.

The Benefits of Film

OK, so I was still figuring out the Holga's 120/220 insert situation when I took this (that explains the outline of the next image on the right side of the photo), but the richness of the color, the way you can almost feel the ripples in the water, is a texture you just can't get with a digital camera - yet.

And a note on the previous Holga posts - this image was scanned from a print, the earlier ones were scanned from a contact sheet and so those images were not printed to bring out their full luster.

Enter the Holga

One of the drawbacks to posting film-based images is the lag between their capture and their return from the lab. I have a little stockpile now, though, so I'll roll out a few at a time, starting with some taken downtown. At right is the bridge between City Hall and City Hall East.
At left, the City Hall East steps.

Back to the Treo

I'll use the whole sunset thing as a transition back to the Treo camera for a moment. Walking to the parking lot at the end of the day I often see planes flying low over the city on their way East, and while I have no qualms about getting on a plane, each time I see them over the skyline I get a queasy feeling. This image has been around for a little while, but I like it - the Treo manages to capture L.A. light somehow. Looking at it anew, though, it could be a little creepy, especially in light of the events last week.

The Big Guns

One of the (many) advantages the digital SLR has over the standard point-and-shoots is the manual exposure option and the optical zoom. I used both recently at the Farmers' Market on Fairfax. (Note - post edited to reload image)

A New Direction

After a six-month layoff (respect your local full-time blogger - this can be a very time consuming endeavor) and the addition of some new tools, I've been re-energized enough to revive this effort.

There has been a progression from the Treo digital camera to a full-bore Nikon digital SLR followed by a hard left that brought me back to film in the form of the Holga, a "toy" camera (http://www.theverb.com/Holga/camera_links.htm). The Holga, a medium format camera, is known for its poor plastic lens and the unfortunate habit the rear panel has of popping off, exposing all your film. Luck, and the electricians tape that came with the camera, have helped me avoid that, and I've been thrilled with the results - particularly of the black and white images.

I've been so happy with the results - the immediacy of the digital cameras is extraordinarily gratifying, but film is just so much richer - that a medium format SLR is on the way.

Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't allow me to file by subject, so headers will have to suffice for IDing which camera was used. And while I expect 95 percent of these images will be of and about Los Angeles, there may be the rare addition from points elsewhere, as travel dictates.