Images shot with the HL(W)-SN Holga Lens on the Sony NEX-5N
Getting your work done in batches is often a good thing. You can stay in the same mindset and get multiple similar jobs done without mentally switching between different stuff all the time.
So when I was sorting out the images and writing the post about some old digital Holga lens photography in Shanghai, I thought I may as well get this one done for the Hong Kong shots I took with the same glass plastic too.
Hong Kong was a place I always enjoyed going to, and I wish now I’d done more photography there when I had the chance. But at least I have these shots, and it’s nice to dig them out and finally get them published here.
Contents
Always keep your unedited original photographs
With this being the sister blog post to the aforementioned Shanghai one and with the photographs taken around the same time, there are going to be some similarities.
The first of which is some of the effects I used when shooting or editing some of these back in the day. Like that one looking across Victoria Harbour up there.
I’ve no idea if I shot it like that with some in-camera setting, or if I’ve played with it in Lightroom, or if the sunset really did look like that. I highly doubt it was that third option, but this is the only version I have now so this is what I have to use here.
Similarly with the next shot too. Some sort of high definition setting in the Sony NEX-5N making the parts of it – the bear especially – a bit painting-like.
Just like the Shanghai set, these images are a mix of different looks. Monochrome, colour, funky settings and effects. I like to keep things more coherent now. But for these Holga posts at least, I can live with it.
It’s only Holga photography anyway. It’s not meant to be taken seriously.
A few from a Hong Kong Island street market
Whenever I found myself in Hong Kong, I always preferred to spend time in Kowloon rather than Hong Kong Island.
I’m generalising here, of course, and am someone with very little real knowledge of the place. But Kowloon always felt more dirty (in a good way), disorganised, and local business-like, whereas Hong Kong Island was shinier, more kempt, and more international business-like.
That said, the next few shots from a street market are from Hong Kong Island.
I had to check exactly where, but I’m pretty sure they’re from the Graham Street Market area. One of the last remaining open-air wet markets, according to that site I linked to.
And according to another site I just checked, the Peak Cafe Bar on Shelley Street is now permanently closed.
Flamingos, buskers, and other things I shot too
The majority of times I went to Hong Kong, it was just for a visa run so I could continue living in China. Yangshuo at first, and later Shanghai.
This meant dropping off my passport at the agency and having a couple of days to walk around the place before I could pick it up again.
Hong Kong was expensive though. Relatively. For me at the time. So I needed cheap or free things to do. Wandering around with a camera was ideal.
Because I always stayed in the Mongkok area of Kowloon, I’d always walk down Nathan Road to the harbour. On the way was Kowloon Park, which was always a nice place for some peace and quiet.
Sometimes I’d get some inexpensive Indian food from the ground floor of Chungking Mansions and take it back to the park to eat. But I would always go and see the flamingos in their pond.
I quite like how the clouds behind this building lined up with the reflections of the other clouds in its windows. I got a bit lucky there.
It’s been that long since I took these photographs that I can’t remember if I was trying to do that or if it’s something I noticed after the event.
The remaining shots after this one are just a hodgepodge collection of what’s left, really.
A chap with a microphone talking to passers-by about something. Some street performers. A couple of stags in a mall. A felt-covered crocodile with little people in its mouth.
The usual stuff.
Final words on these digital Holga lens Hong Kong shots
I always enjoyed going to Hong Kong when I needed to do a quick visa run. Because the place felt different to mainland China, it served as a nice little break from mainland China.
I do have a couple of regrets, though.
First is that I never had the money to experience it as I would have liked. Simple things like stopping for an afternoon drink when I was walking around. Bars were just too expensive for me and what I was used to back then.
Second is that I don’t have more photography from those times. Hong Kong is a great place for it, and I didn’t really take advantage of that.
There’s these Hong Kong street shots I did one time, and a few appear on the F.Zuiko 38mm f1.8 lens review too.
I did also take one of my favourite ever shots there too, with the Super-Takumar 55mm f1.8. This one, of an iconic Hong Kong taxi.
I think that if we’re digging up old photographs taken with a completely different lens to what this blog post is supposed to be about, it’s probably time to end this.
Hong Kong, though. What a place it was for me, and what memories it gave me.
As for you, remember to check out the Shanghai digital Holga lens blog post too if you haven’t already.
And thanks, as ever, for reading this one. 🙂
If you enjoyed this look back on some digital Holga lens shots from Hong Kong and fancy some more posts about images shot on a mirrorless camera with vintage lenses, why not have a look at some of these too:
And if you think others will find this post worth a read, help them find it by giving it a share 😀
