a wee bit infatuated

I started out with film by borrowing my friend Jeremy's camera. Pretty quickly I knew I wanted to get one of my own, and was scouting out options online but felt overwhelmed by trying to choose... then one day I happened upon a Canon EOS 650 listed used on amazon for $20. It was compatible with all EF-mount lenses meaning my current ones would all work on it, it was cheap, had good reviews, and it was apparently the very first of the EOS line that Canon released so feels kinda historically significant in a sense. I went for it.

These are the first pictures I've taken with that camera. It's funny noticing and getting used to all the big and little differences between shooting with film vs digital. There are the obvious things, like not being able to see the picture right after you take it. But also things like getting used to the fact that the ISO is dictated by the film, it is not a setting I can change when I want a faster shutter speed at the same aperture or when I want to shoot wide open outside on a bright day. You have to think of what speed you want when you choose the film you load into the camera, and you're stuck with that for the number of exposures on that roll. Also, that there is no need to set the white balance in the camera... again, that's taken care of by the film, which doesn't seem to get as easily fooled or confused as a digital sensor can. So that one's kinda nice. And I really love how it shifts the focus (heh) to making sure you have the picture as perfect as possible before you even press the shutter button, vs "fixing" the photo afterwards on a computer.

You know how sometimes you hear about something or start really paying attention to it for the first time, and all of a sudden you see it everywhere around you?  Suddenly I'm seeing film everywhere. The latest edition of Click magazine featured two different articles on photogs who use film. Then last night I stumbled upon the documentary Long Live Film, which was really interesting and showcased absolutely stunning photography.

So yeah, I'm having a lot of fun with this, shooting and experimenting and reading and learning. I'm liking the 650, though I still have my eyes out for a vintage 35mm camera from like the 70's (like this or this... especially since you can sometimes find these or similar for cheap with a really fast prime lens included... I would loooove an old 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.2 lens on one of these film cams). I also am itching to try medium format film, although those cameras tend to be a lot more expensive and harder to come by... But yeah. It's safe to say I am in full-on infatuation mode.

pretty little teacups

One montessori school where I worked had a collection of mismatched teacups and saucers that they would bring out for parent events at the school, and use for serving coffee and tea. The director had collected them over time from various thrift and antique stores. I thought that teacup collection was just about the most darling thing ever-- I love my big mugs, but there's also something sweetly special about drinking your tea out of a dainty little teacup. One day, when we have stopped moving around all the time and when we have a bit of extra space in our kitchen cupboards, I want to collect a few little vintage cups of my own.

grace in small things #3

• As you can tell from the above photos, everything is still covered by a bunch of snow and spring seems to be takings its damn sweet time coming around. HOWEVER the weather forecasts are starting to show consistent high temps that are ABOVE freezing. #squeewoot
• I was sick yesterday, caught a nasty cold that's been going around. I felt like crap and had planned to spend the whole day moping around indoors whining about how tired I felt and letting Q do kinda whatever he wanted. Then in the afternoon a neighbor stopped by and her daughter invited us ride bikes with her, and I was tempted to say no but the sun was out and it was surprisingly warmish outside so we went. The sunshine and relative warmth (or perhaps I'll say the lack of frigid cold) did wonders for my mood. I was glad to have been pulled out from my indoor gloom.
• I know we're not supposed to like Orson Scott Card anymore because of his more recent horrid rants or whatever, but I read Speaker for the Dead this week and it may be one of the best novels I have ever read. I love getting drawn in to a really great story like that.
• In the past week I've suddenly felt inspired to start doodling, and I'm finding it to be a really simple, fun, relaxing creative outlet. 
• After being all out for several days, Zach went grocery shopping today and replenished my supply of dark chocolate covered almonds. And there was much rejoicing.

Quechee Village

By the way, no, in my recent new-found obsession enthusiasm over film photography, I have not completely forgotten about my digital slr. Yesterday I went down to Quechee Village, which I had shamefully yet to visit in our time here, and walked around snapping a few pics. Unfortunately I didn't stay outside for very long because it was really fucking cold. But in addition to the cutesy outdoor decorations, the village also has a bunch of cutesy indoor shops and I had a pretty fun time wandering the aisles of the antique shop and discovering all the little treasures hid among the shelves.

experiments in film, part 3

This roll may be my favorite so far. And it's so interesting to look through these and I can't even really describe it but it's like they just have a charming quality to them. The first few rolls that I shot I mailed out to a professional lab and never really felt blown away by the results (which may well be my own fault re: quality of the photos vs the lab). For these I tried out our local Walgreens and was pleased to see that they turned out just fine, which is awesome because Walgreens is much faster and cheaper, and there's no worry of my stuff getting lost in the mail (the negatives from my first roll of film were apparently last seen somewhere in California on March 10th. USPS tracking only does so much, I guess...). 

experiments in film, part 2

A few favorites from the 2nd and 3rd rolls of film I shot, a couple weeks ago.  Looking through the scans of the black & white roll, I realized how much I have to learn about shooting in B&W... I gravitate so much to color, and I would like to develop more of an eye for B&W photography. 

I got a couple new rolls developed today, and they may be my favorites so far (I'll share them soon). I'm kinda obsessed with this new(-to-me) branch of photography, my dslr is taking a backseat for the moment... But this really does feel like learning photography all over again-- it is such a different way to shoot, in many ways. And I think is helping grow my appreciation for both film and digital.

a blast from the past--gems hidden in an old camera

I took a chance today and decided to take a couple rolls of film to our local Walgreens to get developed, and see how it went. Since it's cheaper and I wouldn't have to pay shipping, I went ahead and threw in a disposable camera that we've had hanging around for ages, that expired back in 2005. I had no idea what was on it, but figured it'd be fun to find out.

Oh man... what a treat. Turns out it I had used part of the film during a skiing trip back in I guess 2003/2004? In Lake Tahoe, California, back when I was trying to give skiing an honest chance (despite Zach's efforts, I just never took to it... oh well). Check us out, my god we look sooooo young...

Seeing the pictures, I suddenly remembered... I found the disposable camera half-used many years later, took the remaining pictures and then meant to get the film developed... which obviously didn't happen until today. This second batch must have been from sometime in 2009? Donovan was probably about a year old yet in these.

Amazing. That was totally worth the $10.