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"Holgafied" Holga
"Holgafied" Holga
Citadel


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Portrait of a Camera (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED
Location: My home dungeon
Date: May 17, 2008
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/60
Galleries: Still Life, Black and White
Date Uploaded: May 18, 2008

 Here is information about the Holga medium format toy camera.

I am hoping for two things:
1) People will either get the reference or take the time to look it up
2) People will understand the processing in relation to the subject. (I.e. I tried to make my picture of my Holga look like it was taken with a Holga)

For shooting, the biggest key was lighting. When shooting with the Holga you center you subject because everything outside of center starts getting blurry. So if I wanted replicate the Holga effect/experience, I had to deliberately shoot dead center.

Somewhat intentionally, I actually set the aperture to f/11. With the Holga you have f/8 or f/11...or both if it doesn't work properly. Don't ask.

Processing:
Export from Capture on Pro to TIFF

In PSP XI
Square crop
Channel Mixer Layer
Levels Adjustment Layer
Time Machine (Box Camera)
Radial Blur (zoom, strength 2%, protect center 33%)

Two passes of radial blur would have made it more authentic but some might not appreciate the whole Holga retro-avant garde look. (I made that last term up myself...I think).

post challenge:
So it appears most people didn't get it. So be it. The people who did get it appear to have enjoyed it.
Here is same shot without processing except for the crop

Statistics
Place: 127 out of 137
Avg (all users): 4.7484
Avg (commenters): 5.1538
Avg (participants): 4.5781
Avg (non-participants): 4.8632
Views since voting: 702
Views during voting: 270
Votes: 159
Comments: 14
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 05/28/2008 02:47:23 PM
CRITIQUE CLUB CRITIQUE
by karmat

Overall, you met the challenge. I think, though, the subtlety of what you were trying to accomplish may have been missed. In the digital age, holgas and their "look" is virtually obsolete, or at best, largely unknown. Also, I think many pictures in this challenge (mine included) were a bit "ebayish." They weren't necessarily "bad," per se, but they were a bit unintriguing, simply because there was no context to help establish a "story" for the camera. One thing that *might* have helped your composition would be to have it less centered, or to have a lower perspective of it.

I am wondering if a different background would have helped you. The red, to me, is more interesting, but in keeping with the characteristics of the camera that it appeared you were trying to keep, it may have been interesting if you could have found an older part of town or something like that to have as a backdrop.

That said, because of your shot, I feel a bit more educated about the history of photography. :)

Best to you in the future.

Karma
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
05/25/2008 10:27:27 PM
OOF, color might have helped
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/25/2008 10:01:30 PM
too dark for me
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/25/2008 08:34:34 PM
My dream camera, I want to play with it but in Nepal I can not able to find it.....: )
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/24/2008 01:16:20 AM
I've been considering getting one of these of a Lomo, but I have a Pentax auto 110 I want to experiment with first.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/22/2008 07:41:39 PM
OOF to my eyes.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/22/2008 08:49:04 AM
this looks very dark and alittle blurry in some spots
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/19/2008 09:39:46 PM
Image is a little too soft
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/19/2008 08:03:47 PM
Not sharp enough.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/19/2008 04:35:23 PM
Great job recreating the "Holga" look. I'll be checking back to see how many "dark and blurry" comments you get. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/19/2008 03:13:07 PM
A week late for soft focus...... nice job of recreating the look.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/19/2008 01:33:05 PM
You have certainly captured the esence of Holga here - a more interesting back/goreground would have generated a higher score from me though.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/19/2008 01:01:31 PM
now, I'm guessing by the title that this is purposfully out of focus, odd contrast and hints of light leaks.... if not, then it could use work cleaning it up. Unfortunately for you, I bet most voters will not get it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/19/2008 03:23:05 AM
Focus a little soft. Lighting could be improved, Shadows too harsh
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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