Holga 35mm in Rio

Getting back into the film groove I wanted to try and use my Holga camera that I have had for many years, so I brought it with me to Rio in May for my first visit to that famous city by the sea. I was there for the National Association of Interpretation's International Conference, more on that later, and as part of the conference I was able to attend a couple of field trips to the natural and protected areas around Rio. I brought my modified Holga with me on those trips. I had modified the cheap plastic camera to shoot 35mm film in a camera made to shoot 120 or medium format film. It is made possible by adding a couple of custom pieces (that I bought from randy at Holgamods) that hold the 35mm film canister in place. This allows you to expose the entire film width, including the area around the sprockets, and allowing for a sort of panoramic capture as well. However, like any shot with a Holga you have to guess the exposure and with this particular set up you also have to count the number of clicks or turns of the film knob in order to advance the film and expose the shots evenly. 

This was my first time using the Holga in many years, and the first time with this 35mm adapter in place. The results were not groundbreaking in any way but I would give it another try one day for sure.

I visited the Serra dos Órgãos National Park in Teresópolis as well as the Urca Hill and Pão de Açucar in Rio. 

Winter

Sun Worshipers

Sun Worshipers, Baja Norte.

Baja Holgascapes

Baja Dreamin'

It's been so long since I've been down to that great dry peninsula known as Baja. A place that for me holds so many desert jewels. Jewels like the unique desert plants, the martian and often people-less landscape, the coveted sand bottom pointbreaks, and the warm and friendly people who live there. With all of the craziness that seems to be going on down in Mexico right now it could be a good time to take a break. Although, I along with many others have always thought of the place as a zone where the dirty goes down and that's why many Baja travelers know to be cautious until you blow past Ensenada, or even El Rosario. As Wildcoast director Serge Dedina pointed out in one of the mags recently; the Northern Mexico and Baja region is an area where some of the poorest people from all over Central America and Mexico gather. It has always been a place of desperation for so many, and it will continue to be one for a long time if we do nothing about it. I don't have all the answers, just wish that somehow we, the US, could help out our neighbors in a way that would put an end to all of the extreme poverty and violence.

Sun Worshiper

Close to Home

All these images were taken during short hikes that are all very close to home. Sometimes your own backyard can be just as exciting and new as Yosemite or any other grand place in the world. In fact I'd rather shoot somewhere that no one has ever really shot before, and that's why I tend to search out my own little nooks that I find by constantly searching, sometimes all I need to do is walk out the front door.

HOLGA BAJA

Baja is red dirt roads that lead to new discoveries, pot holes the size of semis, and cold tecates.
White bones bleached by the desert sun and salt air.
Campfire stories and nuevo amigos.
Sketchy waves in fishy places.
Beyond the beach lay the volcanic remnants of our chaotic creation.
Brisk offshore mornings and white hot afternoons.
Howling winds and lonesome coyotes stalk the sparse shore.
Migrating gray whales and wandering gringos.
Fish taco heaven and hell-like Holga Landscapes.