Photographs of Fire Water @ The Rocks, Sydney

The 3 photos: Opera House; Sydney, Australia; 2009 ©Gabriel Ponzanelli

I just got back from the Fire Water event at The Rocks. I almost didn't go as I was enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon, but I'm so glad I did get off my butt because it was awesome and I got some really nice photographs. Of course, so did everyone else (seems like everybody had a camera and tripod today), but still. Here are 3 of my favourites of the Opera House lit with different patterns. The show was pretty good also. They had a ghost ship emerge from the sea in front of us and light up in flames before sinking again. Pretty cool. It was a reenactment of a convict ship named the Three Bees that burned in the 19th century in the Sydney harbour. The music was also very nice, and of course there was lots of food. All in all, a very nice end to the weekend.

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Old-ish 35mm film shot

City Skyline; Sydney, Australia; 2007 ©Gabriel Ponzanelli

For some bizarre reason, couple of years ago I got into shooting with film again just for fun. I pulled out my very old Holga and shot a few rolls of film, which I really enjoyed and have been doing somewhat consistently since. But I felt I needed a different toy. I shot a single roll with my old Nikon F-401x, but that just felt like going back in time with no real benefit. So I decided to go on ebay and find myself an old rangefinder. I had never really used one and have always been fascinated by Leicas (one day I'll buy one... I think). Anyway, after buying a dozen or so cameras in the $20 to $40 range with mixed results I finally got one that's become my absolute favourite film camera, the Konica C35 Automatic.  That little camera has a very sharp 38mm lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.8, a great combo for street photography. The camera is completely automatic, so all you do is literally point and shoot (well, and focus). I find the simplicity of this, and the fact that you cannot see what you've shot until after the film is processed, makes me shoot very differently. I tend to slow down and pay more attention to the framing and composition. I tend to visualize the shot before I even look through the viewfinder. With digital I sometimes tend to shoot a billion frames at a time from every possible angle just because I can without really stopping to consider what's the one best shot. It's really cool that using film again is allowing me to think more about the photograph I'm taking.

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Holga photo: Sydney's Opera House

Opera House; Sydney, Australia; 2007 © Gabriel Ponzanelli

I'm too tired to write anything coherent, but I wanted to post something before going to sleep. This is another photograph taken with a Holga. It's fun playing with film again.

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Holga photo: Bronte Beach, Australia

 Bronte Beach; Sydney, Australia; 2007 © Gabriel Ponzanelli

Another Holga photograph. This is from the first roll of film I put on the camera. I wasn't sure what I was going to get then, but I think it turned out all right. It was shot in black and white and the only post-processing was a slight increase in contrast.

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Holga photo: Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Harbour Bridge; Sydney, Australia; 2007 © Gabriel Ponzanelli

I've been playing a lot with a Holga lately. It's a cheap, plastic camera that uses medium format film and is a lot of fun to play with. The lens is also plastic and of very bad quality, so it produces a lot of distortion and focus is all over the place. There is no control over exposure other than a "bright/overcast" button that I don't think does anything really. To make it even worse (or better, depending on how you look at it), the casing isn't really well built and lets some light in randomly. I've found that at least with mine, light leaks depend on how hard I press the camera! Anyway, all of the defects above are actually what make it fun. Holga's produce a very distinct look that can sometimes be used to an advantage. Of course, it's not to everybody's liking, but I enjoy shooting with it and sometimes really like the results. It's liberating shooting with a camera that all you can do is truly point and shoot.

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