Film is magical

I take a lot of pictures for my clients. I overshoot and cull down to the best, but I still send a lot of photos back (typically a lot more than what is estimated). In the world of digital photography, you’re able to do that. It’s a wonderful luxury.

But sometimes, when you know you have thousands of shots left on your cards in your camera, you can become…lazy.

When I say lazy, what I mean is – the stakes aren’t as high. You have a lot of shots left to get what you’re hoping for, so because of that, the desperation isn’t there. You don’t have to consider every single thing within the frame. When you have Lightroom and Photoshop and AI sharpening programs, in the back of your mind, you know you can “fix” things within a shot if you have to.

It may be a bold statement, but if you’re not careful, you can start to lose your sense of creativity.

I’m not saying I did, BUT, I needed something to refresh my skills after my busiest busy fall season ever. I relied so much on overshooting in certain situations and fixing problematic elements in post that I was mad at myself for not getting it more right in the moment.

So, I decided that 2024 was going to be a film inspired year. At the start of the year, I set a goal to shoot at least one roll of film a month, if not more.

Obviously, we’re only about two and a half months into the year, but I can already say that I’ve learned a lot and that my creative juices are flowing thicker again. I really do think I’ve made some strides towards overshooting with digital less, as well. Plus, the not knowing is kind of amazing.

Sending off a roll and wondering if they’ll turn out exactly the way I imagined or if they’ll come back totally different is incredibly invigorating. Because my part in the photo making process is a bit different than digital, that makes it all the more interesting. I’m not editing these photos. The film and the way it’s processed will totally dictate the end result of the photo. I kind of dig that.

All that to say – here’s a few of my film favorites from January and February of this year!

My horizon is a little crooked, but it is what it is. My goal was to get the Big K sign and the storm clouds. In a moving vehicle, this isn’t too shabby of a result.

My goal here was to capture the vivid colors of the sky and the water reflections on the road.

Cam and Xavier playing Mario Kart at the studio.

It had started to snow this night – the first true snow of the season, right after my birthday. We took our portable Godox light outside and I angled it behind the tree to backlight it a little. It has a vibe to it.

The next day.

I had hoped the bird might be a little more towards the center of the frame, but maybe it’s better this way. I’m happy I got my shutter speed right here.

I bought myself a new record player for my birthday – I thought it would be cool to get a shot with the record in motion.

Xavier with my plants at the studio. I think this was one of my technical best from this roll because I used the Godox light again. Ambient lighting is possible with film, of course, but certain shots really do need a direct light source when you’re capturing a subject indoors. It also just depends on what you’re going for, though.

I think I like this shot, but I’m not sure. I think it’s a matter of the exact moment I snapped. A lot of times his hands would be moving while his face and body were fairly still in comparison, and I wanted to capture the motion on the grill. But it’s still kind of cool.

I got exactly what I was hoping for here. A silhouette of Kitty and getting a decent sense of how vibrant the sky was outside. I like how the window panes add a sense of line, too.

I also really love this one. Salem’s tongue is at the perfect curve.

I really like the light here, and I also love the treatment of the greens, thanks to the film.

I mainly love this one because I caught Kitty and Salem fighting.

Overall, I think the light in this is pretty on point. Sentimentally I love it because Xavier’s expression is so peculiar, and because we’re proud of our new (to us) van.

Same as above. Also, his t-shirt is way too big but he demanded to wear it.

Cam’s 30th birthday cake. The shadow from the candles is my favorite part.

Come on, it’s paw prints.

Technically Cam took this, but I did set up everything for him before I handed him the camera.

I think it would be cool to share these here on the blog each time I get a new roll, since this is basically my 2024 passion project.

So…I’ll see you next time!