by Chad Neuman

Here’s another way to create a Holga effect. Some Holga photos have varying hues or vignettes, and the one shown here. But others have a faded out focus on parts of the photo and a faded look. Here’s how to achieve that in Photoshop.

Step 1
Open Adobe Photoshop and open an image you’d like to use.

I chose this photo by Joey Nelson at iStockPhoto.

Step 2
Press Cmd-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate the Background layer.

Step 3
Next, let’s add a blur to the copied layer. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. The amount of blur depends on the size of the photo. This photo I am working with is very large, so I set the blur to 15 pixels. You may try 3 or 4 pixels or so if hte photos is much smaller.

Step 4
We need to add a mask to the Layer 1 to mask out parts of the blurred layer. Click the Add Layer Mask on the bottom of the Layers palette. This will create a white box on Layer 1.

Step 5
Choose a large, soft-edged brush, and set the Foreground color to black and click once in the photo to mask out part of the blurred layer.

Step 6
Next, click the Create a New Layer icon on the bottom of the Layers palette. Choose an orange Foreground color (I chose #ffc000) and press Option-Delete (Mac: Alt-Backspace) to fill the layer with this color. Change the Layer Blending Mode of this layer to Multiply.

Step 7
Change the Opacity of this layer to 50% and go to Filter>Distort>Lens Correction. Drag the Vignette slider to the left to create a dark border. I chose -100. Multiply blending mode is subtle, but try Color Burn and the look even looks more like a Holga.

Step 8
There we go! This is another way to create a Holga look.

by Chad Neuman

Holga cameras were created in China decades ago in order to create an affordable camera for the masses. Now hipsters and artists alike have discovered the Holga, taking photos that often turn out very suprising. Waiting for the photos to develop results in often desaturated photos, vignettes, and extra saturated areas on the photos. Here’s one way to add a Holga look to a normal photo by using Photoshop.
Step 1
Open holga.jpg, a photo of my friend Roxanne, in Adobe Photoshop.

Step 2
Double-click on the Background layer and click OK to make it a normal layer. Go to Filter>Distort>Lens Correction. Change the Vignette amount to -100 and the Vignette Midpoint to +40.

Step 3
Next, press Cmd-J (Ctrl-J) to duplicate the layer. Now let’s desaturate the top layer somewhat. Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and set the Saturation to -22. This effect is very subtle so far, and you can click the Eye icon to see the difference.

Step 4
Click the Eye icon on the top layer to make the top layer transparent for now. Click the bottom layer to edit it.

Step 5
Next, go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. Change the Saturation to +100.

Step 6
Click the Eye icon on the top layer to turn off its transparency. Click the top layer to edit it, and the click the Add layer mask icon on the bottom of the Layers palette.

Step 7
Next, be sure to click the white mask box on the top layer in the Layers palette. Then, choose a soft brush, 300 pixels. Set the Foreground color to black. Click once in various areas and along the edges to simulate the Holga look seen in some photos.

Step 8
Finally, go to Filter>Distort>Lens Correction and set a Vignette to darken at -75 since we need more of a black edging for that vignette look that is often seen in photos taken with a Holga.