Bionic Holga

Tags

alan, holga, rossiter, Rosslare, SonyA700, wexford

WTF is a Bionic Holga? It’s a digital camera with a Holga Lens. Bit like a Ferrari with Lexus lights. Looks awful and sounds awful but if you want Holga type images without the pain and time needed to develop film this is the best compromise.

I’ve mentioned before the interest I had in Holga type images…when they were done right. I’ve seen some rubbish but I’ve also seen some skilled photographers produce some amazing images with them. So it can be done. Now it’s time to see what works best with a Holga, €12 plastic lens.

Rosslare Strand is a nice place to visit and you can pick up the unusual angle here given the high slopes to the beach. A sunny say with shadows helps. Nothing like a tropical outlook when trying to shelter from the winter wind.

And the best of it is that when you look for something with a fixed focal length like the Holga you move around more and notice the unusual. (Notice I didn’t call it a “Prime Lens”). This cannon, one of a pair, I’d not seen before.

Thank God for a quiet railway. Rosslare Strand has a railway Station. Who’d have thunk it, eh? Must be popular with the big smoke, aka Dublin.

Always do as you’re told. Similar to above it’s the less obvious that becomes more interesting.

Who sat here last? I wonder, as it’s on the wrong side of the tracks from the station. But anyways, a typical subject.

Irish Optimism

Tags

alan, B&W, black, digital, holga, ireland, prague, rossiter, sony, white

This is a rare find. Rare in what way? Well, in Ireland if you want the weather to be in your favour you put this little statuette in your window. This is the little Child of Prague. The reason it’s rare is that it normally has the head glued on where it broke off…where the statuette was blown off the window from the storm. And so is the weather in Ireland.

This image was taken with my new toy. I’ve spent thousands on lenses. I’ve seen others spend thousands more trying to get the sharpest image, the correct tonal colours, etc. I stopped such a chase some time ago. But I did venture into film photography some time ago for a short spell. And the most appealing type of image to me was the contrasting shadows of the Holga. Now don’t get me wrong, I liked film photography but I considered it a drawn out labour intensive task. Load film, shoot, unload, transfer to a spool in the dark, develop with chemicals, dry, scan, adjust contrast, etc on computer. No, too much.

But then I spotted a Holga lens that has an adaptor to suit my camera. And so the ability to take Holga type images again came home. And I’m loving it. Noise, shadows, distortion, vignette…who needs grey lenses.

Row to Hell

Tags

B&W, obscure, post processed, rowing, wexford

Thinking what to do with photography has been my biggest challenge…and something to challenge me is what I need. It’s OK to take photographs to make them a representation of what you saw on the day. I’ve done that…went through the pains of making colour corrections to represent “reality”. But that doesn’t excite me. B&W does to an extent as this isn’t “reality” unless you’re colour blind. No, what I wanted was something different, something that shows a feeling, not a moment in time.
I’ve always liked the Holga, a plastic camera with a plastic lens which shows what would normally be considered inferior images. It’s up to the viewer, I suppose, but I’ve always liked the flaws and the not-so-sharp appeal. More on this later. But I also liked images where what you don’t see is as important as what you do see.
This image is a rework of a simple rowing boat shot. But the appeal, or so I’ve been told, is that it’s recognisable, but not recognisable at the same time. The perception is there to what it is but the questions – who, what, where, when start to appear.
I like this sort of stuff…dunno why!

I saw Big Bird

Tags

Big_Bird, ireland, pipes, square, wexford

Yep…Big Bird it was. Definitely. His legs were a bit off colour but it was him alright. And he’s a big bugger too. No sign of Mister Snuffleupagus though…he’s probably asleep in Sesame Street.

Ferrycarrig

Tags

ferrycarrig, ireland, wexford

Another image from what was set out to be a successful morning, that turned out not to be, that then turned out to be a good morning. Confused? Check this for more info.

Ferrycarrig, near Killurin and close to Wexford town, Ireland.

Killurin, early morning

Tags

10-20mm, Killurin, Landscape, Sunrise

An impromptu morning – I saw orange light coming through the bedroom window so got up to go take photographs. I haven’t done this in a long time so the anticipation was high. Wexford Bridge was the original destination as the wind seemed light…it wasn’t. And as soon as I got there it got dull. I saw some bits of fog at Ferrycarrig. When I got there it was OK, but I decided to on to Killurin. I was happy with what I found and the Sigma 10-20mm really likes this sort of random layout.

Life

Tags

amusing, home, life, still_life, trampoline

Life. It exists everywhere. Even under our trampoline.

I’ve said it before and no doubt I’ll say it again. It’s the simple things that make the best images. And it’s the normality of life that intrigues. Where else would you get a layout at random that can tell so many stories without giving away anything than under the “toy” that has given so much pleasure and so much pain than a trampoline.

A ball, a spiky ball, half a peg, one sock & a well beyond sell-by-date paint brush. Fun, necessity and life.

Fun!!!

Tags

amusements, B&W, event, ireland, wexford

Not all images need to be sharp, or clear, or colourful. Maybe an image that’s so far gone rubbish it might have an attraction about it. That’s what I thought about this one…right or wrong. It seems to have enough to identify but not enough to make it boring.

Gone All Potty

Tags

Kilmore Quay, Landscape, pots, wexford

Each year our club, Wexford Camera Club, has an exhibition in Kilmore Quay for their seafood festival. They normally give us a theme and this year was no exception. The theme was “Kilmore”. Now, this sounds like you’d be shooting fish in a barrel but not as easy as you think. The inclination is to go to Kilmore Quay and take photographs of the trawlers. I did that too. But you have to find something different, something than just a snap shot of something that everyone sees and notices.

I like to go down the route of simple photos. Nothing complicated but something in isolation…but simple. I found this, among others. I’m thinking of a B&W version for this too…not sure yet.

Trawler at dusk

Tags

Boat, dusk, trawler, wexford

This is an image from March 2011 – I went back to see what would happen to the image if I tried to get the colours right. The trawler is admittedly a little soft but the exercise was the colour. But handheld at 1/8 sec is never likely to create an image to cut your eye out.