Mr. Holga in a Domke photog vest and old-man bucket hat with his Holga 120 FN (photo by Mr. Holga)
Welcome to Mr. Holga. This is my site for everything Holga and the adventures that happen while taking photographs.
I am an amateur photographer who still prefers to use film over digital. Not that I don’t own a digital camera or two, I just prefer the quality of images and the pleasant surprises after developing images.
Starting in Photography
I started seriously doing film photography in 2003 with the purchase of my first Rolleicord, which takes very beautiful images on medium format film. My Rolleicord came all the way from an eBay seller in Australia. It cost about $200 plus shipping for the camera and another $70 to have it serviced at Garland Camera. Lucky for me Garland Camera still had someone who knew what to do with a 50 year old Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) camera.
Rolleicords use medium format film, which is 120 roll film. The camera creates a square 6 x 6 cm negative (2.25 x 2.25 in). My Rolleicord produces an image that is 5 square inches. Standard 35mm cameras take an image that is only 1.5 square inches.
Medium format camera are still better than most digital cameras today.
Art as a Goal
My goal was to take a better picture for my drawing and painting. I was not satisfied with the quality of 35mm or digital films images at the time. I decided that more film would create a better image. I have dabbled in both medium and large format photography over the years.
I still consider myself a drawer or painter. I never call myself an artist. I also do a lot of printmaking. All of my fine art can be seen on another site under a different name.
No, I’m not going to tell you my real name. You’ll have to figure that one out yourself.
Holga Cameras
Soon after shooting with a Rolleicord, I discovered Holga cameras, which uses the same 120 roll film.
Holga cameras take less than perfect photographs. The cameras tend to have light leaks, film scratches, double exposures, too much and too little light, and my personal favorite, vignetting around the corners. Each freshly developed roll of film is like opening presents on Christmas morning. You just never know what you will get.
My Holga camera collection consists of
- Standard Holga with plastic lens and no flash
- Standard Holga with plastic lens and built in flash
- Glass lens Holga with multi-color flash
- 3D Holga
- Wide-angle pinhole Holga
- 35mm Holga without flash
Dallas Art News
I am the chief walkabout photographer and photography reporter for Dallas Art News. I was the first volunteer to start with the online art news site. Being a Dallas Art News reporter has given me access to people and places the average armature photographer can only dream about.
While working for Dallas Art News, I usually shoot digital.
Death By Holga
Last summer I came up with the idea of photographing all the people connected with the Kennedy assassination here in Dallas, Texas. I discovered that we have a lot of notable people buried locally. The idea for a photograph book on the Kennedy assassination quickly blossomed in to another book for the Dallas / Fort Worth area. The series will be called Death By Holga.
Mr. Holga in a Domke photog vest and old-man bucket hat with his Holga 120 FN (photo by Mr. Holga)