I am very excited to get the opportunity to use a Holga.  I have had quite a bit of experience with them in the past but it has been a while since I have used one.  While I have a good grasp of the functionality of the camera, it is incredibly handy to have this packet full of useful advice.  The focal lengths are particularly helpful because the ones in the camera’s instructions are so horridly off.

I particularly enjoyed reading about the reproduction of photographs because I find the intersection of mass production/commercialism and art very interesting.  The invention of the negative film process was such a turning point in the ever evolving definition of what was and what wasn’t “art”.  Mass production changed everything.

The reading on Light and Shadow was incredibly interesting.  I liked how the book focused not only on photography, but on many artistic mediums to portray the many different way light is utilized in art.  I would be very interested to experiment with some of the less conventional forms of light, such as projections and exaggerated shadows.

I found the reading to be very direct and informational. I especially appreciate the reference tables as they categorized a lot of very useful detailed information. I found myself spending a lot of time reading and rereading the sections on DOF and circles of confusion. While I have a grasp of the basics I still get things all jumbled up in my head when I try to make sense of it sometimes so it was nice to have a clear, concise paragraph to set the record straight. I also found the comparative photographs of wide/50mm/telephoto images incredibly useful. The concept of what a wide angle vs telephoto lens captures is simple enough but the illustration helped to highlight the dramatic effect the lenses can have besides just simple cropping.