During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic I used the forced stillness to learn about film photography. I had shot a few rolls the previous fall on my Dad’s Canon AE-1 Program after a Clean, Lubricate, Adjust service, and I had the film developed at The Darkroom. But now with more time on my hands I watched hours and hours of YouTube videos, read up on articles and “how-tos” and filled my browser history with eBay listings, leading to a few purchases of my own, and initial attempts to develop my own film.
I love the idea and the practical result of owning the creative process of photography from loading film into a camera to developing and scanning the results. It takes effort and attention and intentionality, so I tend to cycle on and off of using my film equipment. Right now I’m currently in an active cycle so I wanted to share some shots from last month - photos of my friend Nicole in Atlanta, travels with family to California for a wedding (both shot on expired slide film, hence the red tint), some fun shots on a “Sprocket Rocket” camera which exposes the entire height of a 35mm frame in panorama, and some shots on Cinestill 800 with my Canon EOS-1 V of a Stephen Day and Carly Bannister concert.
