Holly Hang
Holly works at a health tech company and is a freelance photographer. She has a BA (Hons) in Photography from UCA and has been working on a foraging photography project since 2020. www.instagram.com/ photoxcore_archive
My photography journey started when I was in my pre-teens. I would borrow my parents’ Nikon RF2 35mm point-and-shoot camera, snapping away at daily life and family holidays. I now own the camera.
I love film because it allows me to slow down and think about the subject, framing and camera settings than if I were to shoot digitally. Not exactly knowing how an image will turn out until you finally get the roll developed is part of the thrill. An image shot on film also looks more aesthetically pleasing.
I’m fortunate enough to have a varied camera collection. I love all my cameras but if I had to pick favourites, it’s the Mamiya C3 TLR and Hasselblad Super Wide Angle (SWA) – both medium format as I prefer the larger 6x6 negative in comparison to 35mm. The C3 was the first professional medium-format camera I purchased while studying at university. After its namesake, the SWA has a fixed 38mm biogon (wideangle) lens. Both cameras are perfect for capturing my go-to subjects – nature and animals.
My favourite film stocks are Kodak Portra 400 and CineStill 800T. When I started shooting with medium format, you had the choice of Portra 400NC and 400VC. I preferred VC, which was vivid colour, but Kodak eventually stopped making both and just produced Portra 400. I like today’s Portra 400 as it has lovely warm tones. I enjoy shooting with CineStill 800T because it’s so versatile and great in low light/at night as well as daylight conditions.