I had read about lomography a few times while stumbling through the internet. I didn’t pay much attention to it then. A few days ago I found some really old photographs that I had taken with my Hot Shot Camera. This camera was pretty basic with really nothing in it, especially the lens which used to generally spoil the edges of the shot. Combine that with the 110 mm film that it used to work with, which was also not very fast, you had pictures that looked like they had been taken a few years ago, even on the day that they were developed.
This is what my Hot Shot camera looked like. I was not able to find the exact one online
The 110 mm Film used in the Hot Shot Camera
It was then that the few lomography articles that I had read came to mind. I don’t think that I will go and and buy a Lomo camera any time soon, but the effect that the substandard parts of a lomo camera generate can look really nice in some cases. I am not a big fan, because most shots just look like they are badly shot, but some of them can really stand out. It was for these few shots that I decided to experiment with some of my existing pictures and apply lomo effects to them using the GIMP.
The GIMP Plugin Registry has its fair collection of plugins that you can readily install and start using to get your desired lomography effect, but I would also recommend doing it manually from one of the many GIMP tutorials available online. There is also a short You Tube video showing the steps for GIMP if you like that knid of stuff. The official lomography website is also available if you wish to navigate through a really difficult to navigate website with small fonts and clickable areas. That site really needs a redesign. However you can go there and see some examples of real lomo pictures taken with real lomo cameras.
So I used the GIMP plugin featured in the above link and came up with a couple of lomo fakes. Hey if anyone wants to share some real lomo pictures then I would be glad to see them. My first attempts are below.
The next before and after set.
More to come, but like I said, I’m not really too interested it this. Maybe if I got a real lomo camera! Hmm…
Similar Posts
- My Must Have Photo Tools for Linux
- Long Exposure Shots
- Tilt Shift Photography
- Toronto Miniaturized
- Tone Mapping in GIMP
Abhilash is a part time blogger and blogs about photography, technology and travel. When not blogging Abhilash is either selling outsourcing solutions to companies or indulging in marathon episodes of various science fiction shows and movies.
I love using the lomo effect on my shots…do it most of the time except for lanscapes…
Yeah, the look is definitely appealing and takes you back to ye olde' days. The main thing is the right amount if saturation I think. That can really make or break your lomo.
[...] Lomography Plug-in: What is it about the lomo effect that has gotten people to rally themselves together and create groups and clubs for it? I don’t know and I don’t care really. However, the effect does give some interesting pictures to look at and you can always “argue” that the “feel” of the scene changes when you have shot in lomo (whether real or fake). The lomography plugin gives really nice results and you can actually choose the kind of colours that want the image to take, whether you want to make the skies green or the whites yellow. This plug-in has it all. If you have enough money and the willingness to spend it then get yourself the real thing. [...]