The Holga is a plastic film-shooting camera that harkens back to the days before digital became more popular than film. You can make your film-based toy camera shoot like a Holga by using the same photographic techniques when taking a picture with film. A tripod or any photographic equipment is not needed to make your toy camera shoot like a Holga.
Instructions
1. Go into a room that you can darken completely such as a bathroom or a room in the basement. Close the door and place a towel against the bottom edge to block light from outside. Push on the latch on the back of the toy camera. Pull the back section off the front section.
2. Pull the leader out of the 35mm film cartridge a few inches. Place the back section of the toy camera face up on the bathroom counter. Remove the film spool from the depression on the inside left side of the back section.
3. Place the 35mm film cartridge in the depression. Insert the end of the leader into the slit in the center of the film spool. Wind the film around the spool in a counterclockwise motion for a complete revolution.
4. Place the front section on a tabletop or counter with the lens facing up.
5. Turn the room light off. Pull the film out of the 35mm cartridge as you drag the spool over to the depression on the right side of the back section. Place the spool into the depression. Grip the front section and place it onto the back section.
6. Turn on the light once you have pushed the latch back down. Take the towel away from the bottom of the door. Open the door.
7. Go outside in your backyard. Stand so that the sun is behind you; if you see your shadow in front of you in the viewfinder, slightly angle your position to cast the shadow out of the picture.
8. Bring the toy camera's viewfinder up to your eye. Look through the viewfinder at a scene that you would like to take a picture of -- for example, a tree arching into the sky. Compose the shot so that there aren't any telephone or electric or cable wires running through the back of the tree.
9. Bring the camera down from your eye. Wind the shutter knob next to the shutter button on the toy camera until it clicks and stops. Bring the camera back up to your eye and compose the picture again. Press the shutter button on the top of the toy camera when you want to take the picture. Continue to take pictures in your backyard and at any other location that you want -- for example, a park or at a family gathering.
10. Return to a dark room when all of the film has been shot. Place a towel against the bottom of the door. Release the latch on the back of the camera. Turn the light off. Separate the two sections of the camera. Grip the 35mm cartridge in the back section and pull it out. Hold the cartridge in one hand and rotate the tab at the bottom counterclockwise with the fingers of the other hand.
11. Keep rotating the tab until the film breaks free of the spool and enters the cartridge -- you will feel a lack of tension happen when this occurs.
12. Turn the light on and take the towel away from the door. Put the toy camera back together and place it away for use at a later time. Take the film to a camera store or to a drugstore to have the film developed and pictures made.
Tags: back section, Bring camera, front section, latch back, Turn light
