5 Good Holga Habits to Start Doing Today

Today, I wanted to share with you a few tips to maybe make your life easier when shooting with your Holga.  I hope you find these helpful!

1.  Take Your Holga With You Everywhere

By doing this and aiming to take at least one photo a day, you will never miss that golden opportunity. You know the one where you're passing by a place and think "if only I had my Holga with me!".

2.  Take Notes

With film photography especially, its easy to lose track of what you did with each shot. It always pays to experiment since Holgas are so wonderfully unpredictable. Write down the numbers 1-12 and record each shot you take and what you did - especially if you are doing long exposures or using filters or some other tools. Write your film type and speed at the top of the page too, and date it. Then when you get your negatives back you can look through your photos and see what works and what doesn't.

I really like this cute little Fieldnotes book from Four Corner Store.

You can also use your note book to write down ideas, inspiration, or places to return to later for photos.

3.  Organize your Negatives

I'm really bad for this. I have a great filing system, but I let things pile up for much longer than I should. I like to organize my negatives into film preservers, label each roll with the date and subject, and file them chronologically in binders. I like these negative preservers and binders from Print File.

I usually get my negatives scanned as well and keep the CDs in a separate storage box.

4.  Look at Holga Photos

Find photographers who you admire, and study their work. Look around online for new inspiration and ideas. A great place to start is my Feature Photographer Series! Each Holga photographer shares a bit about themselves, their work and some tips you may not have thought of!

5.  Check the Basics

Film is expensive these days. It pays to make sure you've got your Holga just the way you want it before you take a shot.

• Did you wind the film from your previous shot?
• Is the lens cap off?
• Is it on B or N mode?
• Sunny/cloudy switch (if you have a new Holga where this applies)
• Are you close enough to your subject? Remember, Holgas tend to take photos a bit farther away than what you see through the viewfinder, so get a bit closer than you think you should and check your surroundings for things that can creep into the shot.

Well, those are some things that come to my mind when I think about ways to maximize my Holga experience. Click here to find some of my other articles and Holga tips.

What are some of your Holga Habits that work for you?