my photography
I’ve never considered myself a “photographer” by any means, more so just someone who enjoys taking pictures for fun. I find that capturing special, often ephemeral moments to reminisce on in the future is very fulfilling, especially when those moments are shared with other people. That’s partially why, similar to my sentiments regarding video, I love being able to tell stories through a sharable visual medium. However, given the choice between an SLR and a DSLR, I’ll always choose to shoot on film. Nothing against digital photography, but there’s a certain emotion that film can capture that is absent in DSLRs (in my personal opinion). I’m not against giving digital photography another try one day, but I digress.
My camera of choice is probably my Mom’s old Olympus OM-G (a 35mm manual film camera from the ’80s) as it holds significant sentimental value (thanks for letting me use it, Mom!). For a long time it was in a box in our attic until we rediscovered it in early 2025. After watching quite a few YouTube videos on the basics of film photography, I bought some Fuji 400 and took it for a whirl.
That first roll turned out about how you’d expect… It didn’t.
I won’t lie, as soon as I realized each of the 36 “pictures” I took all looked identical to this… My heart sank. If you’ve ever done film photography and have had this happen, you’ll know the exact pain I’m talking about. Even though I felt like giving up in the moment, this unfortunate experience reminded me of something extremely valuable that applies to both film photography as well as the rest of life — shit happens.
As much as I wished that first roll of film had turned out, in a way I’m grateful it didn’t. Unlike digital photography, where you can take dozens of pictures in a few seconds and view the results immediately, film demands purposeful intention and patience. You have a few dozen chances to get things right and, most importantly, you need to accept the possibility that your efforts might be in vain because you didn’t even put the roll in the camera properly in the first place. These lessons have led me to work on living in the moment, not just through the viewfinder, when I’m adventuring and taking pictures. Every time I pick up my camera, I learn something new and I’m glad I can document my journey in one of the coolest ways possible.
-Blake 🙂