Trying Out Film

The fun part about a hobby is that you can take risks and trying things out with little to no consequence (if you don’t count time or effort).

And so, while I don’t do New Year’s resolutions, this year I’m going to try to do a bit more 35mm film photography.

I just posted my first batch of photos developed from a roll of Fuji Superia film. My local photo shop actually developed them for me last year, but it’s taken me this long to get them scanned and uploaded. I’m also working on a roll of Ilford black and white film that I’m excited about.

All of this film stuff has me thinking about experimenting with film more. Specifically, I want to play with my Tomyko LT002 plastic toy camera. I just loaded it with some Lomography 400 speed color film (if you’re going to go toy/plastic, go all the way, right?). While poking around, doing some research on the camera, I came across some sample images – the type of dreamy photos I’ve wanted to make, just for fun.

(An aside: it’s super hard to find info on these Tomyko – or Lavec – cameras. But you can grab your own for $15 on eBay, or for $5 at a local thrift store.)

Also, I have collected rolls of Kodak Portra and Ektar to try out with my Pentax K1000.

To do all this, there’s a little bit of an investment involved. It takes money to develop and scan the film (though not much), but that’s to be expected with any hobby. And lord knows I know how to spend money on a hobby.

Taking photos with film is different almost automatically. You need some patience, and some selectivity, to make film photos.

That’s my goal for 2014: explore this measured pace. Make thoughtful images. And learn a bit about how people used to make photos.

photography 35mm, 35mm photography, film, film photography, fuji, kodak, pentax, photography, tomyko