An Afternoon at Venice Beach & Abbot Kinney

I've lived in LA for about 10 years now and there are still so many areas that I have barely explored. This time around, my friend Julia and I went down to Abbot Kinney and Venice Beach (which is very close). Its a cool and funky area with lots of shops and places to grab good food and drink. Plenty of people watching as well as interesting things to photograph. Originally I had intended to try to get some people pictures and ended up not getting much in the way of people at all, more atmospheric. Venice Beach is always an interesting scene with many many different kinds of characters, performers and musicians. It was a bit overwhelming though, to much activity and people. I've decided that next time I'll need to really hang out for the day and people watch and just take my time. A revisit sometime over the Winter could be interesting.

I usually carry more then one plastic camera and in this case had both of my Holgas, Black Slim Devil and a Polaroid SX-70 Sonar.

  

Polaroid SX-70 Sonar, ATZ Edgecut film.

Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160

Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160

Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160

Holga 120S Ilford HP5+

Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160

Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160


Black Slim Devil Kodak Gold 200

Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160

Black Slim Devil Kodak Gold 200

Holga 120CFN Fuji NPS160

A Summer afternoon around Abbot Kinney and Venice Beach during Labor day weekend. Its strange, I shot these images a little over a month ago and yet it feels like its been longer then that. Time, always messing with me...

Holga-Tele

All of these images were shot with the Holga 120CFN and Holga 2.5x tele snap on adapter using very expired Fuji RDP-III chrome film that I had cross processed (except for the b&w which was shot with a Holga 120S using Plus-X film). I had no idea that vignette would turn out so heavy, basically making a circle that is almost fish eye like, but obviously not. Its an interesting effect depending on how its used. I haven't done enough people shots with it quite yet to see if it will function a little more like a portrait lens or not. I was more interested in far away objects on these shots, mostly. Its definitely not something I would want to over use, but at least now I know what to expect. Its pretty straight forward and easy to use. It just slides on to the lens and pushes all the way on allowing you to still turn an focus. I got mine thru ebay which came via China, took a few weeks. There are a couple of places online that you can order from as well. Four Corner Store and Light Leaks both carry it. Comes with a cloth case bag and front and rear lens caps, the front one has the Holga stamped on it. Its also compatible with the Holga 135 camera. Its a nice option to have handy in the camera bag. Eventually I'll get the wide angle and fish eye adapters as well. I'll have some more shots to show with the tele adapter once I get a chance to drop film off at the lab, then pick it up, then scan it, then post it...

     

     

Holga 120CFN and 120S, expired Fuji RDP-III cross processed chrome film and expired Kodak Plus-X black and white film.

Remains

Palm Leaves, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Quick post, a few remaining images from Ojai from a few months back. Took a little while longer then I thought to finish off the roll....and to then get them posted.

    

Holga 120S, expired Kodak Plus-X, processed +1/2 stop, scanned from neg.

B&W Holga

Here are a couple of Holga shots I did sometime between November and Early January. I haven't shot very much B&W with my Holga over the last year, maybe 3-4 rolls. I think it has something to do with living in southern California and always having great warm light (most of the time). I need to load up my 120CFN with some B&W so I can do some longer exposures. I've been keeping the 120CFN loaded with color and using my 120S primarily as a B&W option. Maybe its time to swap and mix things up a bit. I've always had a love for B&W photography, in my college years its what I focused on. Also, when I lived in Vegas, didn't go outside during the day much, had to make due with existing available light. When I lived in Seattle, well, it rained a lot and was grey a lot, so B&W seemed to be a natural choice. Here in L.A., I find it a lot harder to want to shoot B&W film as much as I love it. I've got no problem shooting b&w digital (especially indoors) and plan to do more B&W Polaroids as well (really like the high speed Fuji). The colors, they distract me...in a good way. When I used to shoot film in college, since it was B&W, I did my own processing and printing and that may also be another reason why I don't do as much now. True silver B&W prints look so much better then what the scanner can bring out in my opinion. Trying to push and challenge myself into shooting more B&W again. Need to look at things more monochromatically. I've got 4 or 5 shots of B&W left in my 120S, what to do, what to shoot...

Does anyone else tend towards color or B&W based on where you live in the world or seasonally based on the quality of light?


branches, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120S, expired Ilford HP5 Plus B&W 120 film. Pushed +1/2. Scanned from negative.

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_, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120S, very expired Iflord HP5+ b&w negative film, processed normal, scanned from neg.

cafe plants

cafe plants, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Took this shot while having my lunch. Hadn't shot any b&w thru my holga in a few months, thought it was time to do some more. Now that I have two holgas, I can load color and b&w and be ready for anything!

Holga 120S, very expired Iflord HP5+ b&w negative film, processed normal, scanned from neg.

Gone International

Was invited to contribute 5 of my Holga images to a all lomo show in the Ukraine called Lomo Sapiens. Check out this Flickr group with shots of the exhibit, more info about it here. And this for those who participated. Another write up with pics here. Looked like a really good turn out with local news and everything. I think a couple of hundred (296) people contributed enough images to hit the 1,000 mark. Pretty cool I must say. Glad to be a part of it.

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-, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120S, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Fairfax Canters

Fairfax Canters, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120S, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Fairfax Palms Canters

Fairfax Palms Canters, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120S, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Sin on Fairfax

Sin on Fairfax, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120S, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Fairfax Ave - Facing North

Fairfax Ave - Facing North, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Holga 120S, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Fairfax Ave - Facing South

Fairfax Ave - Facing South, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Another shot from my new Fairfax series.

Holga 120S, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Fairfax

Fairfax, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

The beginning of a new series...

Holga 120S, expired Fuji NPS 160 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

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Originally uploaded by LeandroF

When I took this shot, she was taking this shot.

Holga 120S, very expired Kodak Portra VC 400 120 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Birds and Wires

Birds and Wires, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Santa Monica, CA.

Holga 120S, very expired Kodak Portra VC 400 120 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Flare Chair

Flare Chair
Originally uploaded by LeandroF

Holga 120S, very expired Kodak Portra VC 400 120 color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from proof print.

.2

.2
Originally uploaded by LeandroF

Having lunch with the Mrs. at Golden State Cafe and when I shot this I forgot that this was 100 speed and not 400 speed and figured it would be a little dark. Ended up being darker then I thought, but I liked it just the same and the colors shifted a bit more (in a nice way) because of it.

Holga 120S, very expired Fuji Provia 100 RDPIII 120 slide film, processed normal E-6. Scanned from film.

El

El
Originally uploaded by LeandroF

Holga 120S, expired Kodak Portra 400vc color negative film, processed normal C-41. Scanned from negative.

Bright Dress and White Wall

Bright Dress and White Wall
Originally uploaded by LeandroF

Out with my Mrs. wandering around Fairfax Ave.

Holga 120S, very expired Fuji Provia RDPIII 120 slide film, processed normal E-6. Scanned from film.