Why?

I’ve just ordered a new-to-me camera.

Some back-story. Back in 2023 I decided to participate in the Frugal Film Challenge. My chosen film was 35mm Kentmere 400 and the camera a Sprocket Rocket lo-fi camera I’d had for a while just sat gathering dust. It didn’t end well. Within three months I’d acquired a severe aversion to K400 and the Sprocket Rocket was resting in peace on the local landfill site.

Sprocket Rocket teamed with Lomography 800 colour negative film for a riot of abstract colour. *SCAN OF NEGATIVE* Epson V550, Silverfast and NLP

Since then I’ve come to terms with K400 thankfully but have stayed well away from all things Sprocket Rocket related. Until today. When I purchased a day-glo green Sprocket Rocket on a well known auction site.

Why? Indeed, WHY?

All I can say is that over the last few months whilst I’ve been heavily involved in the 2025 BoF Holga Challenge I’ve been thinking about the Sprocket Rocket (RIP) and about possibly replacing it. This has truly been a year of lo-fi for me and shooting a Sprocket Rocket in December seemed like a nice way to end the year … hopefully on a lo-fi high!

As an aside, apart from the Holga Challenge I’d not set out at the start of 2025 on a lo-fi kick, the year just developed (pun intended) that way for all sorts of reasons. But why would someone with good quality cameras and lenses “waste” time on low-tech, unsophisticated plastic cameras with low quality plastic lenses? It’s a question I’ve been asked many times this year.

I have been making photos for over fifty years and consider myself reasonably competent and capable of at least producing a properly exposed and appropriately sharp image, be it on film or digital. Yet I insist on using cameras with negligible control of exposure and which produce images which are often devoid of any areas of sharpness.

But why?

Well, put simply I like it. In common with all my film photography I like the whole tactile process from loading the film, through taking the images and then developing the film. I also enjoy playing with the, mostly plastic, gear, often with judicious use of gaffer tape and rubber bands, and working with the limitations and challenges it brings. Finally, the way the final images look and feel is just so different from the usual images I produce with high quality cameras and lenses. This is a very low-stakes endeavour, you just aim and shoot and then decide how best to develop the film to improve the odds of a successful outcome. I look at the images with low expectations and often end up with something that I really like. These “liked” images invariably appeal to me on an aesthetic or artistic level rather than a technical one and that’s what lo-fi is all about.

Sprocket Rocket teamed with Lomography 800 colour negative film for a colourful take on a garage wall *SCAN OF NEGATIVE* Epson V550, Silverfast and NLP

So, there we go. The replacement Sprocket Rocket will (hopefully) soon be on its way to Elland and I’ve dug some fresh 35mm film out of the fridge in readiness. Watch for an update next month.

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ps … my return appearance on the Lensless and Lo-Fi podcast will hopefully go live mid-December , watch this space!

Snapshots from a Dream

Images from the Lensbaby lenses that I occasionally use have a quality unlike anything any of my other lenses produce, with the exception perhaps of my toy cameras. Dream-like is an oft used appellation and for good reason I think as it does capture the essence of many of these images.

Of course, where there are dreams there is also the potential for nightmares; the line between the two can easily get blurred.

However, nightmares are bad enough in real life without going looking for them so I don’t often make this style of image. Instead I mostly look for the more ephemeral, almost wispy fragments of the visual world that have a dream-like quality; not just in visual appearance but in the sense that the whole story is glimpsed rather than laid out fully in front of you. It’s as if a tiny photographer had been quietly and unobtrusively inhabiting your dreams capturing snapshots and fragments of these dreams.

But for today, I’m leaving you with this dream sequence … or is it a nightmare? You the viewer can decide.

BOF Holga-a-Month Update

Yes, I know a very late update being six months since the last! In my defence I have posted plenty of the images from around half the films exposed in one of the Holgas over the last six months.

May

May saw me gaffer-taping a close-up lens to a Holga 120 N and attaching a piece of string to give me the distance to subject for an in-focus image. The results exceeded expectations (see above) and it’s definitely something I’d do again (I’ve even saved the piece of string).

June

I’ve already covered June in full with the Another Holga in Scotland post. It was the second trip to Scotland this year and whilst I took the AndyCam in March I packed the Holga 120 GCFN for the family holiday in June.

July

I only managed a couple of rolls in July, the highlight being the Behind the Veil series made with Rollei IR400 film and and R72 filter.

August/September

Early August was very productive with four rolls in quick succession, however it was mid-way through the month that our year started to go pear-shaped. However, I maintained the monthly discipline albeit with just a single roll in September.

Multiple exposures were to the fore in August

September however gave me one of my favourite rolls of the year so far.

So, that brings the year up to the end of September. All three of us involved in the Challenge are still on target and with eleven of twelve months now completed we can see the home straight ahead. Indeed, we are already discussing a 2026 Challenge.

BoF Holga Challenge – a few November images

In my last post I mentioned I’d also put some Kodak Gold 200 through its Holga-paces in November. Here’s a few examples, all AndyCam unless stated.

HolgaPan

Mmmmmmultiple exposures!

Jurassic Holga

For the last few months of the BoF Holga Challenge 2025 we’ve had a series of monthly themes and for November we chose Kodak TriX. John decided to up the ante and supplied some old, long-expired TriX. Exact expiry date was unknown as the writing had been completely worn away but it was an older packaging. Andy dubbed it “Jurassic”.

Good start … the first frame on the roll

For this special roll I opted for my special Holga, the 120N nicknamed affectionately the AndyCam as it was gifted to me by Andy. With no trips planned at present I opted for my usual stoat to the shops and back. The morning was dry, cold and reasonably bright. I was sure the film would have lost some of its sensitivity but with just one roll I wasn’t in a position to determine a reasonably accurate ISO. I decided to trust to the Holga Gods.

Toned in Snapseed

Back home I conferred with John and Andy and we agreed a semi-stand development in trusty old Rodinal would do the trick. I opted for a dilution of 1+100, a development time of one hour and to keep the temperature at a constant 20° by standing the tank in a water bath.

The film has a relatively heavy base fog but lost no details in the negatives and scanned very well as can be seen.

The sun made a brief appearance too

So, month eleven of the Challenge is complete. I also put a roll of Kodak Gold 200 through the AndyCam during November and a rare outing for the HolgaPan, also loaded with Kodak Gold. Images in a future post I’m sure.

The final image from the roll

All in all a very satisfactory result for Jurassic Holga Month. Expired film is always a lottery and serendipity plays a big part in Holga photography; this time it worked in my favour.

Inspiration Zero

For many weeks now I’ve not been able to maintain my usual, regular, habit of posting to this blog. Fear not though this isn’t an update on the whys and wherefores. Suffice to say they are mostly ongoing but I’m very keen to get my creative activities back on track.

From my ongoing 365 project

My 365 however has continued uninterrupted. As we have just passed the 8th anniversary of its inception I can reflect on how well ingrained this activity is in my daily life; I’m no more likely to skip the daily image than skip my breakfast! However, ongoing projects and planned new activities have all sat patiently on the back burner. Even August in an Instant has had to sit unfinished for the last eight or more weeks.

So. I’m sat in my favourite cafe, where I’ve written so many blog posts, with a mug of Yorkshire Tea and a brain as empty as Old Mother Hubbard’s fictional cupboard. Inspiration where have you gone? Despite its absence I have though managed the introductory paragraphs above, thus reassuring myself that I can still at least string a few words together in a reasonably coherent fashion.

But this is a photography blog. It needs some content that is vaguely related to photography.

Now, I have a notebook by my armchair with several ideas for both photographic projects and blog posts. But these are ideas I’ve not visited yet and thus are of no use to me here and now. I do have my holiday snaps however but somehow I’m not sure they are what my reader may want to see.

Holiday snap … ONDU 6×6 pinhole

My August in an Instant project was, as I’ve already mentioned, left unfinished so I do have that to complete although it may need to wait until the Spring. One project that, probably owing to its collaborative nature, remains firmly on track is the BoF Holga Challenge and I am currently planning a commemorative zine to record this achievement (I’m very confident of finishing it). Around a third of all the film I’ve used in 2025 has been through one of my Holgas.

BoF 2025 Holga Challenge

Last week I spent a couple of hours chatting with Andrew and John from the Lensless and Lo-Fi Podcast, some of which was recorded for the December edition of the show. Whilst chatting I revealed details of the BoF 2026 Challenge (no spoilers yet) and Andrew offered to send me a rather unusual camera to use during the Challenge. That too will provide me with some much needed inspiration I’m sure.

Whether I get back to posting a couple of times a week in the very near future remains to be seen but at least there are now several irons in the proverbial fire. I will write about my (second) visit to the Lensless podcast studio in a separate post to coincide with the podcast going live. I will also reveal the 2026 BoF Challenge and the mystery camera nearer the end of the year.

In the meantime I’ve some scanning to get done!