Holga 120S
The legendary history of Holga cameras all started with the Holga 120S — it’s the original Holga, the first model ever made and since discontinued.
The Holga 120S camera has a plastic (lens too), a fixed shutter speed at 1/100s, 4 focus settings for (3 feet to infinity), plastic 60 mm f/8 meniscus lens, f-stop switch with 2 positions (sunny and cloudy), hot shoe, and a 6 x 4.5 film mask.
I like shooting with 6 x 4.5 film mask, but many folks prefer the 6 x 6 square format. The f-stop switch on my Holga has since broken, and one day I heard rattling and parts fell out of my camera (and showed up on film!) — thankfully it didn’t change anything and my beloved Holga continues to work just fine!
I adore my Holga 120S camera. It seems magical, with impossibly beautiful images. I love everything about Holga images — I love their dreamy quality, the miraculously sharp focus sometimes possible, and their delightfully unpredictable nature.
Holga Magic
“Analogue Days” was from the first roll in my Holga 120S. I love this photo for many reasons – remembering the day itself, slower analogue days without cell phones, the joy of my first Holga — and how it sat for 17 years in the camera and came out so miraculously well, and for rekindling my love of photography.
It’s a long story why it sat unfinished in the closet for 17 years … but early in 2018 I rediscovered my Holga with the unfinished roll — and rediscovered my love for photography, and especially film.
I promptly went out and finished shooting it. And my sweetie developed it for me. We didn’t have high hopes for the roll, considering is sat for 17 years, but it turned out amazingly well. A testament to the beauty of film — and Holgas!
Selected Holga Photographs — Old Cars
Selected Holga Photographs — Skateboarders
Selected Holga Photographs — Mixed Selection
Creative Holga Wedding Photography
In 2018 my partner and I photographed a friend’s wedding. It was a two-day shoot — the first day was the actual wedding, then the next day the couple had this idea for a photoshoot on a lake with gorgeous little islands.
It was such a fun day! We went out in two speedboats, with a row boat in tow, and found a few perfect islands for them to row to and pose on. I shot with a mix of cameras (film and digital) and towards the end I really wanted to try a few Holga photos. Of course they turned out to be my favourites from the day!
I shot this series with Kodax Tri-X 120 B/W film. The BW images were lovely, but I could see their potential as sepia-toned images so I digitally altered them. I really love how vintage and old-timey they turned out.
📸 Holga 120S
🎞 Kodax Tri-X 120 B/W film, altered to sepia-tone
