Featured in the Light Leaks Gallery, the LAST Issue, Sniff, Sniff....

Light Leaks Magazine, Issue 19, Secrets

Light Leaks, Issue #19, arrived in my mailbox yesterday. It was a bittersweet moment, because I knew one of my images was being featured in the gallery, but I also knew it was the last issue ever. Yet another one of my favourite magazines is no longer being printed. Here is what Mike Barnes and his wife, Rachel, had to say about their decision, in an email sent out about 2.5 months ago:

"As you know, we have struggled to keep Light Leaks in print over the past year. We had an excellent plan—with the addition of the Light Leaks Shop and Holgapalooza we felt the financial difficulties could be resolved. Unfortunately those additions required more of our own time. With a growing young family, free time has quickly become our most precious commodity.

While we enjoyed working on Light Leaks over the years, we have come to a point where we must focus on our own careers to support our family. My own interest in toy camera photography has always been a hobby, not a profession. Unfortunately as much as I loved putting together Light Leaks I spent most of my time putting together a magazine about toy cameras, but not actually being able to use those toy cameras myself!

Contributing to each issue of Light Leaks magazine was (I think) an excellent use of my time, and I think all those who contributed will feel the same way. It was always a labour of love for an end product that never lacked in quality. For all of you that have been scoffed at for wielding your beloved low-fi cameras, Light Leaks represented you and why you love what you do.

For current subscribers, you believed in us, and we thank you for that. We would be honoured to have you consider your unfulfilled subscription a donation into helping us pay our final printing payments. We can offer you some of the remaining back issues that we have left, or some of the digital versions we have created (which also includes The Toycam Handbook), however supplies are limited. In addition to creating some revenue from the digital issues, we have had to sell off our entire store inventory to help get this last issue to you.

We will be closing the Light Leaks shop, but keeping www.lightleaks.org open along with links to the digital versions.

We want to thank you all for supporting our humble magazine, and especially to those who contributed over the years, particularly Gary Moyer, Steph Parke, and of course my wife, Rachel who did a lot of the work behind the scenes. Best to you all in your future low-fi photographic adventures!

Mike Barnes (toycamera@rogers.com)"

My little one...

...hamming it up

My image, Talking Walls, is a Holgaroid double exposure, made using a Holga CNF 120 with a Polaroid back. The original image is on chocolate Type 80 film from impossible project, which has shades of brown and pink, but it was printed in black and white for the magazine.

 My photography also appeared in Issue 13, Road Trip and Issue 14, Childhood.

Goodbye, Light Leaks. You were a stellar Canadian publication that toy camera lovers around the world will always remember fondly. Thanks so much!

Kickin' It Old School With My New Retro ORANGE Pentax Camera Case!

My dear friend, Kim, and I, like to check out the local thrift stores and rummage sales when we can. And should one of us be out hunting for treasures without the other, we pick up items for each other. Kim recently found an awesome camera bag for me for $4 bucks. Now, that would be a steal for any functional camera bag but this one is ORANGE, which just happens to be my favorite favorite color (although I don't like to discriminate, I like all the colors in one form or another). When she brought it over I was so excited! It is so nice to have a friend who knows something that screams "me" when she sees it. And extra nice that she picks it up for me.


Now, as a professional photographer, I have tons of camera bags, because I have tons of cameras. Only two are digital, my Nikon SLR and my Leica point-and-shoot, and the rest are analog; various 35mm SLRs for film, plenty of Polaroid cameras, a bunch of point-and-shoots for film, a 4x5, an argus, a yashica mat twin-lens reflex, and of course, my Holga with Polaroid back. These all live in various camera bags, some of which were made for them, some of which were not. Case in point, my Holga with Polaroid back, which produces Holgaroids. A Holga is a plastic camera that is so simple and unpredictable that the artistic possibilities are endless. And adding a Polaroid back to a Holga not only increases the fun, it makes the camera a complete tank. Case in point, see the photo above. (Yes, that is green masking tape, all the better to keep the Polaroid back from falling off when I am taking a photo...). If you are interested in checking out some of my Holgaroids, here are some shots on my Flickr.


Soooo, up until now, my Holga was living in a much-too-short-but-wide-enough-to-house-it Polaroid Spectra case. Which meant my Spectra was either naked or living in some other case which didn't suit it. NOW, thanks to this orange case, my Spectra gets her home back, and my Holga AND all of her accessories, which were living in the super small Holga case, can live in luxury in the retro goodness of the Pentax case.


A place for everything and everything in it's place. Ain't life grand? Thanks, Kimmers! Now, I need to get busy making some new camera straps...

Light Leaks Issue 14

I have been so behind since returning from Holidays. I saw the newest issue of Light Leaks in my pile of mail, and I knew that one of my images was in it. But since I like to savor these moments, I waited until I could take the time to properly look through the issue. So, yesterday, the time arrived, and I tore off the envelope to find what I think is my favorite issue of Light Leaks. The theme is childhood. As some of you know, I use nostalgia and memory in a lot of my work, and childhood naturally comes into play. And since becoming a mom, I spend a lot of time photographing my children. I jumped for joy when one of my images was chosen to be in this issue. It is a beautiful issue, filled with emotional images, from some amazing photographers who I am excited to check out further. Great job again, Light Leaks!


My Image - The Invisible Thread of Time, a double exposure Holgaroid shot using a Holga CFN 120, with a Polaroid Back, using Polaroid Chocolate Type 80 F film from PolaPremium


My image in Light Leaks


One of my favorite images from another photographer in this issue. Image by Rebecca Tolk

My Summer Vacation - Victoria Beach, Manitoba - Part One

Victoria Beach August 2009 Holgaroid Image by Tiffany Teske

The above image was shot a few days ago, as my family left the cottage we were staying in at Victoria Beach, Manitoba, on Lake Winnipeg. It is a unique and idyllic place where you must park in a lot and then walk or bike to your cottage. The only vehicles allowed past the gate are Victoria Beach taxis. It makes it a safe place for kids to run wild and experience that necessary freedom of childhood. And it makes everyone more physically fit. I was able to shoot several images of this rare place, both digitally, and with my favorite analog camera, my Holga, and will post them in coming days.