A Roll of Holga Film from Hawaii

We got back from a trip to Hawaii earlier this month, and I brought my Holga along. I just shot 1 roll, and here are a handful of photos from it.

[click each image for a larger version]

A waterfall on Road to Hana.


Black Beach.


Hamoa Beach.


As the sun was about to rise on the top of Haleakala Volcano (above the clouds!).


On a hike above the clouds on Haleakala an hour later.

I may have some shots from 2 rolls of 35mm to share shortly as well.

North Shore Trip with my Family and my Holga

Last month, my boys and I took my Mom up to Ely and then farther north along the north shore of Lake Superior than she'd ever been before. Here are a few Holga shots from the trip.

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My boys at Black Beach.

Last Day Teaching Film?

I just posted this:

A North Shore Trip with my Holga

Last month, my family and I headed up along the North Shore of Lake Superior to visit some State Parks. My boys and I had been to most of Minnesota's State Parks, and we just had a few more along the North Shore to hit before having been to all 73 parks. I brought my plastic Holga camera on the trip as well. My boys got their last stamps in their "passport" books at Tettegouche State Park making it official that they'd been to every MN State Park.

Here's a quick chronological look at our trip through the blurry eyes of my Holga.

[click each image to enlarge]

Ellingson Island near Split Rock Lighthouse


Split Rock Lighthouse in the distance


A view over Lake Superior


The High Falls on Pigeon River (the tallest waterfall in MN)


My family on a foot bridge at Judge CR Magney State Park


Upper Falls at Judge CR Magney


Temperance River State Park


Temperance River State Park


Temperance River State Park


Temperance River State Park


Temperance River State Park


The boardwalk around Bensen Lake at George Crosby Manitou State Park


Palisade Head at Tettegouche State Park (a 300' cliff)


My family on some cliffs at Tettegouche State Park (with Palisade Head in the distance above them)


Tettegouche State Park


Trees in Tettegouche State Park


Tettegouche State Park


Tettegouche State Park

Holga Quotes

I miss working with my Holga. And when we went to "remote learning" last year, I had to scrap my Holga-based project in my Advanced Photo class. Anyway, here are some fun "Holga quotes" I found on FreestylePhoto:

"Take your Holga out for a ride. Stop often. Play."
- Kit Frost, Professional Photographer

"Mechanically the Holga is simplicity itself. The nature of the Holga places emphasis on seeing, thinking, and interacting with the environment at hand."
- Joe Ostraff, Professor, BYU

"The Holga summons up Dadaist traditions of chance, surprise, and willingness to see what can happen."
- Robert Hirsch, Photographic Historian, in his book Photographic Possibilities

"As for the Holga, I like using it and making my students use it, because it encourages the photographer to concentrate on his/her relationship with the subject without technology getting in the way. The resulting images depend on the photographer's presence (of mind and body)."
- Lesley Krane, educator at California State University, Northridge

"As the Koordinator of the Krappy Kamera Competition, I've seen thousands of images produced with this camera. I am always awed by the variety of images that can be produced with such minimal equipment."
- Sandy Carrion, Coordinator of the Krappy Kamera Competition

"I still have the first Holga I ever bought back in 1988. I loved it then and still do, especially with black and white film."
- Julia Dean, founder of the Julia Dean Photographic Workshops

"I love my Holgas and I have eight of them. As a designer and art director, I have used Holga cameras on many photo shoots and clients love the different effects!"
- Randy Thomas, Founder, Randy Thomas Design Agency

North Shore Holga Photographs

It had been nearly a year and a half since I last got out my Holga. But when the boys and I took a drive up the North Shore 10 days ago, I had to pack a few rolls of film. Here are some images made as we headed north along Lake Superior.

[click each image to enlarge]

Gooseberry Falls.


Black Beach (with my boys climbing those rocks back there...)


Sugarloaf Cove.


The backside of Sugarloaf.


A windier day at Sugarloaf Cove (we stopped there twice).


A gale warning in Grand Marais


A few waterfalls along the Cascade River.


My Holga all taped up between outings at our Airbnb.

Some Holga Photos from a Big State Parks Adventure

Two weeks ago, my family and I spent 5 days checking out 8 different MN State Parks in the far north-western corner of the state. Here are 6 Holga photos that I recently got back and scanned:

Where the Tamarac River flows into Red Lake (the largest natural freshwater lake
located entirely within Minnesota at approximately 430 square miles).


Ready to start the "bog walk" over the biggest bog in the lower 48 states.


Tamarack trees turning yellow in the bog. They are one of the few conifers that lose their needles in the fall.


Hayes Lake.


The bridge at Old Mill State Park.


The boys over the Buffalo River in Buffalo River State Park.


My taped up camera mid-roll. Two layers of tape over every seam.

Here's the story of our adventure "up north" if you're interested.

More Holga Shots from WI

Here’s a final assortment of Holga scans from my time spent in WI on a mini photo retreat:

Many of these were attempts to show how a Holga crops the final image (as compared to what one sees through the viewfinder), but I was able to show proper comparisons to get my point across in this post, so these were just some extras I put together to share.

See more in my first post of Holga photos (which teaches more about how Holga’s plastic lens and viewfinder work), and in this post about my photo trip.