We are looking for photographers from around the globe to be featured in our POTM section. Entering is simple, fast and easy. Simply find us on Twitter, follow us (if you aren’t already doing so), and send us a Direct Message with your website address by midnight tonight MST (September 7th, 2010).

We will then select the next photographer to be featured in POTM on Holgablog – you will be contacted when your name is selected and you will be asked to submit a 350-500 word write-up about you, your work, your favorite image/camera, whatever you want. In your piece, you will be able to showcase a small handful of your favourite shots, as well as promote your work by including your web site address and any/all social media accounts you wish for folks to find. Your tale will be at the top of the POTM list for one full month so that you get maximum exposure, and so that everybody can see your wonderful art!

Sounds like something you might be interested in doing? Once again, all you need to do is follow us on Twitter, then Direct Message us your web site address before midnight tonight MST (September 7th, 2010). Your entry will also be kept for future POTM consideration, in case yours isn’t the first name chosen.

We’re looking forward to seeing your entry!

Love,

The Holgablog Family

Indian industrial designer Saikat Biswas has come up with a novel and frankly, fantastic looking digital Holga.  He calls it the Holga D.

Saikat has managed to merge the key elements of the Holga and combine them with a digital sensor.  We would love to see Holga make something similar.

More information available on his site:

http://www.saikatbiswas.com/web/Projects/Holga_D.htm

It’s a really interesting read, and he has put a lot of time and thought into designing this Holga D.

So what do you say Holga…time to make the Holga D

Holgapalooza is here again!

Forget Glastonbury, the Tour de France, or even your summer holiday , Light Leaks Magazine brings you the greatest summer event ever….Holgapalooza!

A huge Holga contest, judged by some of the largest names in toy camera photography, and sponsored by a plethora of massive companies, the holgapalooza contest is going to be a fantastic competition.

As with last year, we are sponsoring Holgapalooza again! They have simplified things this year and have three categories to enter:

• Roadside Attractions
• Creatures
• Nudes

All with much larger prizes on offer including big cash prizes and lots of great toy cameras. We are sponsoring the 3rd place for the category ‘creatures’.

Here’s the brief blurb from the website:

Holgapolooza is an annual photo contest and celebration of the Holga camera.

Each year from June to September, photographers from around the world are encouraged to participate in an international contest featuring Holga photography. This annual contest is presented by Light Leaks Press, an independent group who have brought you Light Leaks Magazine and Toycamera.com.

Categories will be presented and submissions will be reviewed by well-respected and internationally renowned judges who will determine winners in each of the categories. Winners will be rewarded with cash and prizes donated by our sponsors as well as have their photos published in Light Leaks magazine.

Holgapalooza will continue to be a champion web site for the Holga camera and all of the photographers around the world who embrace it.

We will be sure to let you know the results when they are compiled!

You may have noticed HolgaBlog looking a bit different this week!  Polaroid Week 2010 is finally upon us (well it is in approx 12 hours!).  If you haven’t participated in a ‘Roid Week before, never fear, here’s the lowdown:

‘Roid Week was started back in 2006 to celebrate all-things-Polaroid.The organisers wanted people throughout the world to get out their cameras and shoot as much as possible through the week in celebration of Dr Land’s amazing invention.

Organised  mainly through their Flickr Group Page which gives further information:

We started POLAROID WEEK to celebrate instant film. We also started it as a project — to see what new and interesting things we could do with instant film; and to challenge ourselves to produce some really great work.

We do this twice a year: in the Spring and the Fall (according to the Western Hemisphere).

Below are the posting rules:

# 1: Give us your best possible work.

# 2: You get only (2) TWO photos a day. See Rule #1. (PS: In Flickr-world, a day = 24 hours. The Flickr clock resets itself at 8 pm EST)

#3: It’s five days, Mon – Fri. We realize a week is actually seven days, so please don’t send emails correcting us. We chose Mon – Fri because it’s easier for us to manage as Administrators & Moderators.

#4: Though we call it “Polaroid Week” any instant film is fine.

#5: Only photos you HAVE NOT posted on Flickr before are welcome. Give us something new. We delete all photos posted before the start date.

#6: DIGITAL PHOTOS that have Polaroids in them will be deleted. If you don’t have a scanner, you can take a digital photo of your polaroid, but crop out everything but the instant photo, please.

#7: No Pola droids! This is a FILM ONLY group, good people.

#8: If you do not like these rules, or want them changed — then this isn’t the group for you. Please do not join and then complain about them.

#9: If you do not play by these rules, then you and your photos will be removed from the pool without any notification or explanation.

I know, I know. We’re big meanies. But, we’ve been doing this for a while now, and we want to keep it simple and fun for everybody.

Be sure to check out some of the past pools for inspiration.

This year has an added twist however, the kind people at The Impossible Project are giving some film away.  Every day the organisers will pick two photos from that days additions to the Flickr pool and the photographers responsible will win a pack of PX600 film.  If there was ever an incentive to shoot those last few packs of Polaroid film you have been stashing, this is it!
We are doing our little part during this week with new Polaroid articles every single day, including:

• Tests on late 1970’s peelapart film. Will it still work?
• A review of the Holgaroid
• How to make a homemade Holgaroid
• A historical look at the evolution of the Land Camera
• HolgaJen takes us through using the SX70 with ATZ film for the first time.
• A Holgaroid featured Photographer of the month
• Flickr Friday-Holgaroid edition

Plus a whole heap more!

To keep you interested for now, here’s some of our ‘vintage’ Polaroid articles:

• Why you should own at least two instant cameras
• Review of Impossible Project’s PX100
• The Impossible Backlash
• The Polaroid 20×24
• SX-70 electronic mod
• The resurgence of instant film
• The Polaroid House

You can follow Polaroid Week on Twitter and Flickr.

copyright Harvey Stein

Opening at The Gallery at Hallmark

“Holga Inspire”, a photographic exhibit at The Gallery at Hallmark

The Gallery at Hallmark is excited to announce the opening of “Holga Inspire”. This traveling exhibition is representative of the myriad images that can be created with the classic Holga camera. The show features 10 different very talented artists and their unique view of the world through the lens of their Holga. The opening will take place at The Gallery at Hallmark, on Friday, May 7, 2010. Located in the Colle Opera House at 85 Avenue A in historic downtown Turners Falls, the exhibit will appeal to all who appreciate the sublime purity of the classic, yet creative images that can be created with a simple and affordable camera.

Holga Inspire was developed by Holga Limited, a company of the Universal Electronics Industries group co-founded by Mr. T.M. Lee. Mr. Lee invented and still manufactures the Holga range of cameras. The purpose of Holga Inspire is to challenge professional photographers and artists to stretch the limits of their creativity using a Holga as their tool to produce original, inspirational images to share with the world.

The Exhibition Opening reception, available to the public at no charge, will take place from 1:00 to 7:00pm and will include refreshments and live music. “Holga Inspire” will be on display Fridays through Sundays 1:00 to 5:00pm through Sunday, May 30, 2010.

The next exhibit at The Gallery will be a collection of the very best student work from the June 2010 graduating class. To view details about the show and the complete list of upcoming events, visit gallery.hallmark.edu.

About The Gallery at Hallmark

The Gallery at Hallmark strives to foster a greater understanding and appreciation for photography by displaying visual expressions of the fine and applied photographic arts. The Gallery serves as an extension of the educational processes and objectives of Hallmark Institute of Photography while endeavoring to engage the lives of students, the local community, the state of Massachusetts, and the Northeast region. The Gallery at Hallmark fulfills its mission through exhibitions, outreach, and related educational programs dedicated to cultural and intellectual enrichment.

Rejoice! It’s that time of year again. WPD2010 is on April 25th this year, so grab your porridge tin and starting snapping!

So what is Pinhole day?  Basically, make a pinhole camera (the more DIY the better) and take some photos. Workshops are occurring worldwide so check out the WPD website at http://www.pinholeday.org/ to see if there is one near you.

The website has more info about the big day:

This is an international event created to promote and celebrate the art of pinhole photography.

On this unique day, we encourage people throughout the world

• to take some time off from the increasingly technological world we live in and to participate in the simple act of making a pinhole photograph.
• to share their visions and help spread the unusual beauty of this historical photographic process.

You can post your results on the Flickr WPD group too: http://www.flickr.com/groups/wpd/

As Holgablog is concentrating more on ‘Roid week this year for specific articles (all these special weeks/days come at the same time!), take a look at some of last years articles:

• Our review of the Holga 120 WPC
• How to turn your holga into a pinhole in 5 minutes!
• The top 20 strangest Pinhole cameras
• The 15 best pinhole shots (ever!) from Flickr
• How to make a pinhole camera

We will also be having a special PINHOLE Flickr Friday this coming Friday

Go forth and Pinholify!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Holga-Blog/115390788475518

As we continue to embrace more and more web technologies (but always trying to not spread ourselves too thinly) we have launched a Facebook fan page for Holgablog!

We will be piloting Facebook as a means to embrace the community of photography fans and offer exclusive content, discussions, competitions, plus exclusive offers from our sponsors.

As an enticement to ‘become a fan’ on Facebook, we have a small competition.

If you become a fan of Holgablog on Facebook, you will be entered into a prize draw, where we will select a winner at random to receive exciting prizes.  The competition ends on 1st June 2010, and the winner will receive the following prize(s) depending on the number of fans:

100 fans

1 Roll of Kodachrome (including free development if UK-based). This could be your last chance before it disappears forever!

250 fans

Me & Polaroid - super color 635 CL by .Lírica Aragão. on Flickr (Creative Commons)

Polaroid Supercolor 635, just in time for the release of the Impossible Project’s PX600 film.

500 fans

Brillant Pinhole by Secret Agent Pierre Tombale

Voigtlander Brillant TLR camera, built in the 1930’s this classic camera still packs a punch. More info here.

750 fans

Twin pack of Polaroid 669 packfilm, expired in 2000 but kept in a fridge since before then.

1000 fans

Polaroid SX70 camera, perfect for the Impossible Project’s new PX100 film. The camera seems in decent condition, although is untested.

5000 fans

Everything above in one big goodie box!!

If you are the lucky winner, you can choose any of the ‘lower’ prizes instead if you would prefer.

Hello Holgablog readers!

You have probably noticed recently we have been having horrid server problems resulting in ‘403-forbidden’ or ‘error accessing database’ messages.

We have finally got to the bottom of this, and it looks like you like us too much! The server we are on just can’t handle the load at peak times.

We are going to try and move hosts this weekend to a new flashier super-fast server which will hopefully mean you wont have to wait tenbizillion years for the site to load. There may be slight access issues over the next 5 days due to this.

Stick with us though, we have loads of intersting articles coming up

Cheers,

Andrew

The Instax film format by Fujifilm shows no sign of succumbing to the digital world, with the fun credit-card sized prints increasingly popping up all over the place.

To add to the party, Lomography.com have just today launched an Instax Back for the LC-A+ (and the original LC-A). Those of you with the similar Diana+ back will know how refreshing a change of film can be, and – goshdarnit – just how cute the Instax results are. Hopefully the LC-A’s in-built metering will also lessen the fear of under- or over-exposing one of your precious film cards…

Of course, the LC-A+ has a hinged back, rather than a detachable one like the Diana+, so it’s worth checking out Lomography.com’s  quick guide to the new device, as well as their instructions on fitting it, which requires some gluing and screwdrivering.

In the UK, the new Instax Back retails at £95. There are also various LC-A+ bundles you might want to check out.