Joshua Ababa's Trip to Hong Kong With Lomography Color Negative 800 Film

In this interview, film enthusiast from the Philippines, Joshua Ababa, shares his analogue journey. Joshua started analogue photography after being inspired by a friend who also shot film. He describes his style as maximalist, incorporating various subjects, elements, and in-camera effects into his photos. He recently took our Lomography Color Negative 35 mm ISO 800 film with him on a trip to Hong Kong and captured intriguing moments in various areas around the city. His photographs reflect a blend of urban aesthetics and candid moments.

Hi Joshua! Welcome to Lomography Magazine! Can you introduce yourself and tell us what you do?

I’m Joshua! I’m a 27 year old economics graduate but now an IT practitioner with film photography as my hobby. I execute IT solutions at work while trying to collect as many lens filters as I can.

How did you start your analogue journey?

I have a friend who is a design graduate and shoots film and I was kind of jealous because at that time I had no hobby outside of media consumption. Cameras and film were pretty cheap back then so it was easy to start. I started with a point-and-shoot, and eventually upgraded to an SLR camera.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on shooting 3D film photos using my Nishika N8000 at the moment. I have some film I bought from 2019 which have expired. It's an experiment I’ve always wanted to try.

How would you describe your style of photography?

I would say maximalist. I often try to incorporate as many subjects, as many elements, as many effects as I can in photos. I experiment with multiple exposures just to see how subjects would fit togethers. I always take the longest to finish a roll because I’d eject it midway just to shoot with the same film again. I think that’s my style.

What kind of gear do you mostly use?

I use three main cameras, an Olympus 35SP which is a fully manual rangefinder, a Nikon FE SLR which allows multiple exposures, and my Nishika N8000 for my lenticular photos.

How was your trip to Hong Kong? Where did you visit?

It was nice but it wasn’t really a sightseeing trip, more of a shopping trip. I just visited some malls and shops around the Tsim Sha Tsui, Tung Chung, Wan Chai and Central area.

What features did you like most about our Lomography ISO 800 Color Negative film?

How fast the film is and how reliable it is at night. I only need to make sure my shutter speed is 1/60 (1/30 if I’m feeling confident with my hand steadiness) and it’s great for whatever night shots I have.

The effect looks really great! What filter did you use for this shoot?

I shot with my two favorite filters which are the Kenko Linear Focus and 4-star cross, but I also brought along my Kenko Mirage 5SS.

What is your favorite photo from this series and why?

This one (below) because of how the linear focus filter spreads the colors against the background of buses and walking people.

Anything you’d like to share with the Lomography community?

I think to fully enjoy your analogue journey, you have to try everything there is to try and sometimes the best shots do come from those moments where you don’t know what to do.

Thank you Joshua for sharing your photos with us! To find out more please visit his Instagram !

written by nikkicheung on 2024-01-18 #gear #people #places #philippines #hong-kong #lomography-color-negative-800 #apac