God Rays in Boca Raton

Specs: Canon 7D. Holga Lens.

Boca-Holga copy.jpg

I shot this in 2011 while working on a documentary in Boca Raton, FL. I was filming a band playing live and set up early with a tripod to ensure great coverage for the concert and had time to kill, so I experimented with a new (at the time) lens I bought off eBay. You may be familiar with Holga cameras the cheap plastic toy cameras that have experienced a bit of a renaissance in the last couple years due to the "Hipster stereotype". While it's easy to dismiss these as gimmick or trends, I like to view these techniques simply as different mediums. I wanted to experiment and found that someone had converted the Holga plastic lens to fit on a Canon EOS Mount and decided to give it a whirl. Here are some example photos of the lens (stock photos)*.

This lens is unique and not suited for everything, BUT it does capture the sky/clouds in a very interesting way. I really like how it make the "God Rays"*stand out in the sky. *(A term learned from a friend/mentor Mark Emery, A wildlife photographer/filmmaker for National Geographic/BBC/Discovery/ Two time Emmy Award winner).

Overall I've found the best looks for this lens are on vintage and/or expired 35mm film. It really nails the lo-fi look, but limits you to that aesthetic. I find myself whipping it out for certain shots that I would like a in-camera effect instead of photoshop processing. But thats the fun part about photography, you can do whatever you want.