About 4 years ago I was looking for a medium format film camera. I went through all the choices and could not decide. Then I came across Anna Starr (anna.s.snapshots on Instagram). I looked at Anna’s pictures and saw what I was looking for. The 120 film look with an edge, something different than what my Nikon film and Digital cameras could do. Not so sharp but fun.
I bought a Holga 120GCFN to take a chance at medium format I liked the idea that it had a flash and a glass lens. I watched youtube videos on how to use and got some hints from Anna on Instagram. Anna takes Holga photography to a new level.
The Hola is a plastic camera and could cause light leaks. So, from day one I taped up the camera where it could cause a light leak. And I eventually got what I wanted. A not so perfect 120 picture with lots of character. I had to go through a process of learning how to use the camera especially with light. So, I started to pick up the nuances of the camera. Not the most perfect pictures but I did like the output.
I loved how easy the camera worked. It has a 60mm lens and only 2 exposure settings f8 and f11 +bulb. Also, as a 120 film camera I can get 12 or 6×6 and 16 6×4.5 frames. I use the 6×6’s .
Now for the pictures. I recently moved down to San Diego from the San Francisco Bay Area to live near family and be in a new place. I love how there are a lot of different photo opportunities here in San Diego.
I found a beautiful sculpture experience in Escondido CA. It is called Queen Califa’s Magical Garden. Queen Califa was a mythical ruler of what the Spanish thought to be a large island in the Pacific. The Spanish named it California in the mid 1500’s obviously a myth but the name prevailed.
The sculpture was designed and built by a world-famous French sculptor and painter Niki de Saint Phalle. Her mosaics are all over the world. She came to San Diego for health reasons and put together the large mosaic as one of her last works. For me it is a wonderful piece of art. Truly a breathtaking mosaic taking up a large area. It took 2 years to build. I went out to take Holga pictures to enter in Anna’s Zine called Plastic Perspective.
The first photo of Queen Califa is what was chosen for the latest Zine. The other photos are from the rest of the roll taken that day, they show how whimsical the total sculpture is.
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