Tagged: Photography

Trial, Error, and Happy Accident

I`ve had my Holga for two years and it`s been in the original box for quite a while. My first roll of film was a total failure, none of them came out sharp or anything that I could even recognize. It was a series of blurry photos. Developing the pictures aren`t cheap either, yet the camera itself costs less than $50. Last week when I was doing some cleaning I found the camera and decided to give it another go. I bought 120mm film x-pro 20o. Holga is well-known for it`s square size format, but it means that I can just have 12 pictures out of one roll. I didn`t know how they`re going to turn out but I held down the shutter anyway. Randomly. Then I took it to the lomography store to get it developed. I was anxious because the process itself was going to take 5-6 days. I didn`t have my hopes high but I didn`t want to be disappointed at the same time. Yesterday when I picked up the pictures, I was quite surprised with how the pictures turned out. I really like the vignette look of the photos. Some pictures are completely dark and that`s (partly my fault) because I took the pictures indoor. But the ones outside turned out to be pretty decent. Here are some pictures from the 120mm. Don`t mind the speckle on the pictures, it`s my scanner :)

My first attempt on double exposure. I like it, but I had a hart time remembering the position of the first picture and how it would overlap with the second one.

This is what I am talking about. Holga doesn`t do well in the dark, even though it had enough lighting. Or probably next time I`ll try the higher ISO.

All the pictures in the roll were supposed to have this tone of color. Yet there were only 2 or 3 that had the yellow tint to it.

I took the challenge of trying out the 35mm in my 120 Holga. I bought the extra adapter, too bad they didn`t have the one with sprocket holes to it (I love the look). Trust me, don`t try and print your pictures at the drug stores even though they promise it`s going to take an hour to print. I learned my lesson.

My first time at Alamo Square. Love the Painted Ladies.

A friend took this picture of me. It was a mistake that he clicked it twice but I like the result. Happy accident.

I am on the fourth roll of the film. Can`t wait to see how the pictures turn out!

Overweight Squirrels

I did the 17-mile drive, and absolutely loved it! The scenes were gorgeous, I wish the weather could have been better and not as foggy. There`s so many things to see as we moved from one point of interest to another. Lone Cypress was definitely on the top of my list, followed by Seal Rock Picnic Area. When people were paying attention to the seals I was more interested in the overweight squirrels.  They`re soooo adorable. I`d never seen ones that were so chubby and friendly (though I found them a little on the aggressive side). They weren`t scared being near human, and even walked to get the nuts from your hands (which I don`t think we`re supposed to do in the first place). The squirrels were definitely the highlight of my trip.

Over the Rainbow

To be honest, I wasn`t as excited to go to Niagara Falls as I was to Yosemite. I thought it would just be another waterfalls. I was wrong. Before we got to see the waterfalls, we went to the imax theatre to watch the history, legends, and myth of the falls. The story itself was informative, but the execution was pretty bad. I learned all about Lelawala and the incident of Dianne and Roger in 1960. That story made me really alert and cautious when I was standing on the brink of the upper falls.

I was in awe when I finally saw Niagara Falls. It`s really magnificent, and at night it felt magical when the different colors of light hit the water. Unfortunately when I was there, the sun set at 9 pm and we couldn`t stay for long. We went back next day in the morning, and the falls looked different from when it was at night. When the light hit the water, it was grand, majestic in every way but in the morning it looked really peaceful. The rainbow was so pretty and close, it was as if it`s within the reach of the hands.We circled the lower falls with the Maid of the Mist Boat. It was such a fun ride that I wanted to go on it again. We went in to the heart of the falls, and of course the wind and water got us really wet. Lucky that they gave out the blue raincoat before we stepped into the deck. Such a unique experience!

I definitely want to go back to Niagara Falls! It is to put it simply, breathtaking!

Happily Ever After

Location: Orlando, FL

This is the third Disneyland I`ve been to. There`s two more that I still need to go (Paris & Tokyo). I didn`t really care for the rides, I just wanted to visit the Haunted Mansion and watched the amazing fireworks. I felt like a little kid again running around at the park trying to find Mickey and Minnie. Too bad the Toontown in this Disneyland was under a construction. But I did find them, and I got a kiss on the cheek ♥ Score! These are some shots I got at the park.