a couple of weeks ago, i learned that holga was shutting down their factories in hong kong. in response (and a desperate move for photography motivation),  i added a new friend to my repertoire of cameras – a gently used holga 135bc.

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i’m no stranger to the world of toy cameras – having gone on several adventures with my diana f+ back in 2009 & 2010.

to complement diana’s 120 film capacities, my holga shoots 35mm film and i’m excited that there’s a community darkroom (newspace photography center) here in portland that is very easily accessible.

on wednesday, i made my valiant return to the darkroom after shooting a roll of film with holga. i admit i was pretty nervous since i’d been working with a new camera and the last time i processed film myself it was definitely overdeveloped (leading to always contrasty photos).

pushing my anxiety aside, i cranked up my tunes, double-checked the processing time for the temperature of the water i was using and poured the first solution into the developing tank. when i didn’t see any photos as i dumped the spool into the film washer, i was mildly disappointed. however after the final step, i released the spool found a nicely developed roll of film!

observations from my contact sheet:

  • awareness and care not to over-correct the difference between the viewfinder and the lens.
  • many of the photos were underexposed, so unless there’s direct sunlight, i should use the cloudy setting.
  • i should also carry around my mini tripod for darker scenes.

i’m looking forward to getting back into the darkroom this week to make a few prints and will be making a habit out of it in the upcoming months.

i look forward to sharing and seeing what i come up with.

later.