Bali Hai's blog

A Holga Lot of Happiness

I recently took my Holga 120CFN with me on holiday and tried to take at least one decent photo in each place we visited.  For the most part, this was successful and I'm very happy with the results.  You can see them here if you like: Bloomfield and George   I love the anticipation of receiving the latest batch of Holga prints, wondering whether the nifty angle I tried to take or the vibrant colours would turn out.  It really was the Holga that got me interested in taking photos.  The camera is fairly cheap, it's easy to use, and it really is fun.  On the down side, the film and processing is not so cheap and it's hard to find a place to get them developed.  I had some developed in Brisbane by Fotofast recently and was happy with the results.  When I contacted them, they were enthusiastic about developing Holga prints, which I was relieved about because I had experienced some quite indifferent attitudes at other developers closer to home.  It makes a difference.

So, here is my Holga, showing its grubby masking tape and dodgy neck strap (it comes off when it has had enough):

I try to experiment with different films.  For a while I loved cross processing - taking a film used to create slides and having it developed using the usual film process (there's plenty of information on the net about the more technical side).  The results can be beautiful but unpredictable.  Which is fine!  Here is one I took at the Buchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia.  This place was heaven for Holga because of the insanely vibrant floral displays.  Travelling there in late summer, I was fortunate enough to see their displays of tuberous begonias:

Being cross processed, it saturated the colour so much, the lush dark green leaves turned to black. 

Catball

This cracks me up.

IKEA $4.95.

Take Me Back

I have a shockingly poor memory.  It's a miracle I find my way to work every day.  Some things just don't stick.  But my memory is kind to me and will occasionally feed me a glimpse of forgotten moments.  These glimpses are unsolicited, uncontrollable and unpredictable.  Today, while sitting in a two hour meeting to hear about the latest in performance management,  I was taken back to some happy moments while travelling recently through Northern California.  Like a multi-dimensional photograph, I at once saw the sweeping road ahead of us and the golden afternoon sunlight shining in our faces, smelt the pines and grasses and heard the sound of the sea.  My mood immediately changed, though my interest in the meeting was as low as ever, and it left me feeling - and this is going to be the corniest thing anyone has ever written, and no doubt so many people already have - alive!  There it is, I said it, but it is the simple truth - it's the small things.  So here's to daydreaming...

From my private collection.

Snap a Vintage Dream

When I was named in the 'Top 100 World's Worst Photographers - Ever' list, I was determined to hold my head up high and persist with my amateur clickings.  

 

My best friend, the finest artist in Australia Magic Jelly, gave me a Spartus Full-Vue to muck around with.   I love using it.   I find twin lens reflex cameras more comfortable to use as I don't have the camera pressed up against my eye.   I love the heaviness of it too; it's chunky and makes a satisfying 'ker-chick' sound when I take a photo.   The view finder is blurry and scratched; it's not much good in bright light at all, but somehow I find that comforting.  If a photo doesn't work out, it might not be my fault!   Anyway, here is the little beauty...

 

 

 

And here is a snap I took on a particularly warm day at Semaphore.  I like this one for its soft focus and pastel colours (or, if you're a practical non-dreamy sort, that will be out of focus and over exposed):

Bali Hai is about temptation, distraction. longing and desire. For me, anyway. It’s about the things I think of when I gaze out of the second storey window of my dull grey office. It’s about the things that inspire me and make me happy. So, to kick off, I want to say ‘cheers’ with a favourite cocktail:

1 part Noilly Prat dry vermouth
2 parts Hendrick’s gin
1 slice cucumber
1 happy fellow