An advice from a good friend

I went out of town with some friends yesterday. We had a long trip down south, just because the city's too toxic for us. The trip was actually a breather for us. We were able to just chill and enjoy the cool breeze there. Of course, the long conversations and laughs were part of the trip. We talked about almost anything and everything, including Lomography. Well, one of my friends is a Lomographer. He's been into Photography ever since we were in high school. I remember him having a film camera before he had his own digital point and shoot camera. It's been his passion and so he wanted to learn more, thus learning and loving a new one for him which is Lomography. He started to have interest in Lomography before we entered college. It's his third year now of enjoying Lomography, and so I asked him what Lomo camera to buy as a newbie. I told him that I like Diana Edelweiss and he said that it's okay for starters. But the camera that he recommended is the Holga starter kit. He said that it's a simple toy camera that produces amazing images. It has a built-in colorflash, variable shutter speeds, variable aperture, four focus settings (portrait, small group, big group, and infinity), uncoupled advance and shutter for multiple exposures and overlapping images, and a 120 medium format film.

I'm still thinking about it because I still like Diana Edelweiss. But I'm considering it as one of my options. I really still don't know and I still want to look for other toy cameras. Oh, btw, the picture is my friend's shot using his Holga. He has his own Holga which was his very first toy camera. I just hope that I'd get my first toy camera soon.

Oh Diana! You're such a beauty

While I was sipping my hot 3-in-1 coffee I tried to research on the different Lomo cameras. Thus far, I like the Diana Edelweiss. It's one of the clones of the original Diana Lomo camera. It really caught my attention because its color is white and I really love white. But of course, that's not the only reason because I saw that it produces soft and dreamy images, super saturated colors, unpredictable blurring, and random contrast images. It uses 120mm film with two shutter settings, three aperture settings, and manual focus. The amazing part of this vintage camera is that its lens can be removed to have a super small aperture for endless Panorama and Pinhole shots.

I also searched how much it costs, and so far the cheapest price that I saw is around Php 3,000-3,200. Do you think it's quite expensive? Hmm...Well, I'll research for other toy cameras so that I'd have more options. But I already like this one, for some reason that I see myself in this camera.

And I wonder, will it love or like me back if I'd buy this beauty?

Why a toy camera?

I've been using digital cameras since it came out because of the convenience of not printing every picture and their amazing function to let you view your images on the spot. Also it's very timing to the technology now, where everything can be found in the internet. So you can simply just transfer all of your pictures to your desktop then upload them. It's just that easy.

And so, now I'm thinking why I really want to buy my own Lomo camera. Well, the first thing that came to my mind is the challenge to take pictures without seeing or knowing what will be the result each shot. That will actually be exciting for me, since you'd be able to learn from that and from there you'll know if you really have an eye for Photography. Also I'm the type of person who loves soft and dreamy looking pictures like what some Lomo cameras can produce in every image. Lastly, I want to have it for experience because I really think that having one is a unique experience in every moment you click the camera.

But of course, I considered how much I would spend for the printing and the films. I asked some people regarding where and how much is the printing. They told me that I could have it printed in Digiprint and it will cost me around Php 5.00 per print.

Although it may be expensive to have a film toy camera, I still believe that it will be a worth it experience. I'm really for it and I can't wait to have one soon! I also can't wait to go to the South later with my friends.

The Newbie

I really love how photographs show beautiful memories, things, and people. It's been months now since I've had interest in Photography, and now I'm starting to like Lomography too. 

Well, I've discovered that Lomography started when General Igor Petrowitsch Kornitzky and Michail Panfilowitsch Panfiloff requested LOMO PLC factory in St. Petersburg, Russia to make an improved version of the Cosina CX-1, the first ever working LOMO LC-A camera. After that year the LOMO LC-A camera was mass produced and discovered by many people around the world. Also to many Lomographers out there it is a culture. It is capturing each moment with your own toy camera. It does not require you to think, you just have to shoot whatever you feel is beautiful, dramatic, etc. for you. It is something that encourages you to be creative and experimental using your favorite Lomographic tool anywhere you go. Thus, making beautiful images are simply made by using a Lomo camera.  

Knowing these things make me really excited to have my very own Lomo camera. I'm still thinking which camera will suit me because there are a lot to choose from. There's the Holga, Diana Edelweiss, Diana F+, Diana +, Fisheye, LC-A, etc. Well, I just hope that I'd be able to find what camera to buy so that I'd be taking pictures soon. By tomorrow I should have my top choices already.