Getting Started

To get started using film and developing your own pictures you first need to decide what kind of camera you are going to use.

In the past I have used a 35mm Canon Rebel 2000 (film camera). It is a great camera to start with because it introduces you to film in an easy way. It is very simple to load the film into the camera and it advances the film itself. It also has a viewfinder that shows how many frames you have remaining. The lens has some features, without being too advanced. I'll talk further about this camera in a future post.

I want to focus right now on the camera I am currently using. Which is a Holga 120N.
The YouTube video describes some of the basics of the camera and what makes it ideal for beginning and professional photographers.

The Holga is a super light-weight plastic camera that allows you to shoot in two formats. Creating either a square image or the typical rectangular image. I love the Holga because of the square images it creates. Holgas are also known for their many light leaks and vignetting (where the corners and edges of the photo are darker and not as clear as the center of the image).

These quirky effects are what makes an image recognizable as a Holga image. I believe they give the pictures character that is just not the same as a digital picture with special effects on it.

The Holga takes some getting used to. It is important to shoot a lot of film! To find out what is special about your camera. I will talk discuss later the basics of the Holga and how to load the film. As well as simple fixes for some of the problems created by the cheap manufacturing.