Holga Workshop
My Holga photography workshop is your chance to try out the funky plastic camera that helped inspire Instagram. I provide the cameras, film, and instruction. No photography experience is necessary.
Check out my interview with the Wisconsin Life PBS show about the Holga
Not a toy
It is a simple camera to use, but don’t let simplicity fool you. This is a serious photographic tool. I will share the idiosyncrasies of using these fun 120 film cameras. The Holga has been one of my favorite cameras over the past decade I’ve been shooting film, and I’ve put hundreds of rolls through them. I will teach you what the camera can do and what the camera can’t do.
Simplicity is beautiful
The Holga has only one shutter speed and two light settings, “sunny” and “not sunny”. The beauty of the Holga is its imperfections. Even the lens is made of plastic. Yet, despite a plastic lens, the images are surprisingly dreamy and beautiful. Even professional photographers are inspired to use the Holga to produce unique artistic photographs.
The more you use a Holga, the more you learn to embrace the beauty of its imperfections and sometimes unpredictable surprises. The Holga’s simplicity and aesthetics were in part the inspiration for Instagram’s square format and filters.
The annual celebration of “Holga Week” is held the first week of October.
Holga workshop details
I’ll provide instructions on using the camera, Its quirks, and its history. I’ll give you tips on exposure and film selection, plus tips on creating double and triple exposures. Then we will load some film and get out to take photos with a Holga. The workshop is limited to only 6 people to provide individual one-on-one learning.
Each student is provided the use of one of my Holga cameras as well as two rolls of film.
Other film photography workshops I offer
Intro to film photography
Beginner darkroom classes
Pinhole photography workshop
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Experienced professional instruction
I have been practicing film photography for 30 years now at a professional level as a national award winning photojournalist and as a fine art photographer with my pinhole and Holga cameras. I mentored for several years under Herb Nelson teaching his film classes. He is an educator with 50 years of teaching darkroom skills at the college level. Herb is now retired, but I am proud to be carrying on his legacy of bringing people into the “dark arts” as he is fond of saying.
I’m also a published author of two photography books. The first is entitled Around Wisco: Hiking the Ice Age Trail where I documented my hike of the entire 1200 mile Ice Age Trail. The second book is Ristad Farms: Grain Farming in the Red River Valley I spent and entire season on a farm in Minnesota documenting life on a modern farm.
My film photography zine Small Towns – Big Spaces was acquired by the National Art Gallery Library in Washington D.C.
I teach digital nature photography workshops as well.