In honour of my Halo self portrait being selected as one of Holga Blog’s best Holga photos from Flickr July 2009, I decided that my first post here would be about taking self portraits with a Holga. I do a lot of these, and it seems to be an area that a lot of my fellow photographers neglect, or don’t enjoy doing. Well, I’m here to change your mind!
I’ve got a few suggestions for you if you’ve ever wanted to try this but not sure where to begin. These can apply to other toy cameras as well.
10 Tips for better Holga self portraits
1. Long Exposure
This is my first and most important tip. This will give you a lot of control over your photo, as well as the freedom to shoot wherever you want, especially indoors (as self portraiture isn’t really a public event!). If you do not have a “B” mode on your camera, you will probably have to shoot your self portraits outdoors. This is something I plan on doing in the near future, for something different!
2. Light Source
Light sources are especially important when shooting a long exposure. I like to experiment with different techniques such as candles, lamps, overhead lights, window light, etc. I’ve gotten some great lens flare by using candles and angling my Holga just right in order to capture the flare (takes some experimenting).
3. Surface / Tripod
Make sure you balance your Holga on a solid flat surface, or use a tripod. I prefer to use whatever is around me – counter top, chair arm, table, my knee – to achieve a unique look. A tripod can also be useful for when you need to shoot somewhere that doesn’t have such a surface.
4. Film Selection
Different films will give you different results. Expired film is great for getting that soft, grainy look. 400 speed film usually works great anywhere. Then you have to decide whether you want black and white or colour. Try some slide film, cross processed for funky colours!
5. Do something to the lens
I like using close up filters or my tunnelvision lens so that I can “get closer”. Especially if you are shooting at arms length or closer, these will give you better results. You can also get creative with your lens, add something over it, around it, etc to create different effects. One of my favourite things to do is add some black tape (hey you’re using it anyways!) across the lens barrell.
6. Props
Use props to create a character for yourself or tell a story. There are so many things you can do with this one. Hats, wigs, masks, makeup are just some of my suggestions. Lots of room to get creative here also! Also a great way to disguise yourself if you are leery of posting a photo of yourself online.
7. Multiple Exposures
Everyone wants to do the signature “double headed” shot of themselves. Try it! Or play around with other double exposures you never know what you’re going to get!
8. Motion Blur
Move around while doing your long exposure. Move your whole body, or just part of it and see what kind of effects you get. This takes some experimenting as well and under the right circumstances will get you some pretty cool shots.
9. Arms Length
If you do not have a cable release (such as myself), make sure you are conscious of your arm and hand that you are using to keep the shutter open. Try to angle it in such a way that it does not look like an obvious self portrait. Also, keep a steady hand on your Holga to avoid blur (unless of course you want blur, in that case, shake away!)
10. Have Fun
This is the most important thing of all, no matter what you are shooting. Toy cameras are all about fun! So, don’t take yourself too seriously and just have fun with the process. Think outside of the box and you’ll be amazed with what you can do with a simple photo of yourself.
The Challenge!
I’d like to challenge all the readers out there to shoot some self portraits with a Holga, or other toy camera. Post your one best shot to this Flickr group by October 4, and I will select some favorites which will get featured on Holga Blog, as well as on my personal blog.
(Please tag your photos with what camera was used as well as what techniques you used from this list)
As this is a flickr-grouped competition, you will need a flickr account, but worry not, it’s free to sign up for a standard account.
Alternatively, if you think Flickr is evil, just leave a link to your photograph as a comment and we’ll include the image in the judging process.
A random draw of all entrants will also be held and the winner will receive a free 8×8 signed print of their choice from my flickr stream.
Happy Self-Shooting!!
~Jen
The smallprint
Actually, there’s not much smallprint at all. You retain all rights to your submitted photograph, but by entering the competition you allow us to post your photo on holgablog, and the Holga Darkroom (linking back through to your flickr photo page). That’s it! Anyone around the world can enter the competition and the results will be posted by the end of October at the latest.
Any questions? Leave a comment!
Comments
As a below average looking middle-aged man, I can only say that I can’t get the camera far enough away for it to help.
I have the same problem steve, I find it’s a good job I can’t get it far enough away, so at the least the photos are out of focus!!
Ok guys, you need to get into the spirit of things! I challenge you to do it anyways… use some blur or selective composition to get around your insecurities
Do it for me ~ Pretty please?
this is wonderful. i may have to take up on this seeing that i’ve just barely started to get out of my creative funk-
Ok Ok I’ll give it a go, thank god I can develop the photos at home, would have been embarrassing otherwise!
As always, great advise and great images! Thanks Jen!
i’ve seen jen use fake mustaches (at least I hope they were fake) so maybe Andrew and Steve could do something like that. That way no one will know its you.
Great article! Are we allowed to enter if we’re part of HolgaBlog?
Fantastic! I was in fact looking for weekend inspiration. The dude at the photo lab think my Holga photographs are weird anyway.
Being attractive doesn’t hurt either, seriously, self portraits in my photostream no matter how interesting will never get the same amount of hits as a good looking persons
[...] 10 Tips for Better Holga Self Portraits « Holga Blog http://www.holgablog.com/2009/08/27/10-tips-for-better-holga-self-portraits – view page – cached #Holga Blog RSS Feed Holga Blog Atom Feed Holga Blog » 10 Tips for Better Holga Self Portraits Comments Feed Holga Blog Lomographic Society=Pure Marketing Fluff? Ilford Price Rises from September — From the page [...]
Nice tips. I’ve not experimented with self portrait very much. I was pretty happy with the last shot I did at arms length though
[...] read my blog, you should no doubt be familiar with Holga Blog. Holga Jen recently wrote a great article over there about how to take self portraits with the Holga. She also had the great idea to issue [...]
Did this the other night. Kinda went wrong due to lack of any film except 3200! Plus my holga ate some foam 5 photos into the roll(and kept on rolling the film around it!).
[...] don’t usually do these. It’s late, I can’t sleep, and I let this article on the Holga blog be my inspiration, except I used my Nikon D80 and a Lensbaby Composer with the [...]
this was a great read~!
I’m thrilled to experiment some now
but are old selfportraits ok too? pretty please? <3
Here is mine for you:
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/6518/selfportraite.jpg
[URL=http://img3.imageshack.us/i/selfportraite.jpg/][IMG]http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/6518/selfportraite.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[...] that I found in a thrift store and fixed myself. I took this camera out to take up Holga Jens self portrait challenge so most of the twelve test shots from it are me and my good looks. Turns out its a really fun [...]
nice tips. only problem: I *loathe* getting my picture taken, self-portrait or otherwise.
[...] holgajen wrote an awesome article for holgablog about this very thing. jen takes some amazing self shots… amazing enough to make me want to [...]
[...] Click here to visit the original article on Holga Blog. [...]