Layered Film Shot: Fashion Care Laundromat

So after my first experiment with cramming two rolls of 35mm film into my Holga 120N camera, I learned a few things.

1. A Holga can handle two 24-exposure length 35mm films on a single 120 spool better than it can handle two 36-exposure length 35mm films.
2. With the larger exposure area on the films, you’re only going to get about 10 total photographs on each roll of 24-exposure length 35mm film.
3. Those two metal clips on the side of a Holga are about as durable as a trailer hitch made of gum wrappers.
4. This particular camera has more leaks than a BP oil pipeline.

Before I competed last Sunday in the Summer Bowl trivia competition, I took an early-morning opportunity to load the Holga with another two batches of film – this time, I put the Fuji 200 “redscale” roll on top (the “butter”) and the color film on bottom (the “bread”), so that the redscale would be exposed first.  I also re-jiggered my Holga – I removed those flimsy clips and wrapped the sides of the camera with black Velcro.  Makes for easier loading and unloading, especially in the darkroom.

The plan was to drive along the stretch of Central Avenue in Albany, until the road became State Street in Schenectady, and photograph some interesting business signs.  You know – the ones that seem to have been built in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s and are either rusted, tilted, abandoned, or just iconic.  It was just a set of kitschy signs along the road – motel signs, restaurant signs, laundromat signs.  As I finished photographing the “1 hour” sign in front of a deserted laundromat in Colonie, I could feel the Holga run out of film as I wound the camera.

Back to the darkroom.  Pulled the film out of the camera and put each exposed roll into its own opaque black film canister.  You need a black canister, especially when you’re transporting loose film to the photo lab.

Monday morning, I took the rolls of film to McGreevy Pro Lab.  Simple instructions.  Loose film in the canisters, please use a changing box to transfer the film.  Both films are C-41 processing; one of them is in redscale.  Don’t cut negatives.  Scan all images on CD, scan out to the sprocket holes and edges. I’ll assemble them digitally once I receive everything back, which would be Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday afternoon, I picked up my developed work.  Unfortunately, trying to do this type of photography in a Holga is often hit-or-miss.  I have to create some way to keep the film tensioned throughout the photography process; since the film is not in its original 35mm canisters, it doesn’t stay in the proper position in the back of the camera through the photography process.  I also had to deal with some under-exposure and some scratches that were on the film (probably from me fumbling to cram the rolls into the Holga in the first place).  And there was a nasty light leak near one of the seals in the back of the camera; I have to be more careful about that when I seal the camera next time.

However, I did see one set of pictures that actually looked as if they came out correctly.  It was a shot at the recently closed Fashion Care Laundromat – the building in Colonie with the old 1960’s-era “NORGE” polkadot globe on the roof.

I fired up the Corel Photo-Paint 9 and got to work.  In this case, I took the picture at a Dutch angle (think the crooked camera work whenever you’re in the Joker’s lair in a Batman episode), and once the pictures were processed, I turned the film at a 45-degree angle.

And here’s the shot:

So if nothing else, I did get this shot. And more trial-and-error experience in working with the Holga in putting together these layered shots.