I love history, especially when it comes to my family. I’m pretty sentimental actually. In a box under my bed I keep a set of pillow cases that my great grandma hand crocheted. Her antique drum table fits beautifully in my living room, and I think she would be proud to know that I enjoy cooking her recipes and canning jams in the summertime. I feel that it’s these nostalgic things that keep us connected to those we love and remind us where we came from. Nearly every time I take a trip home, my family and I go through old photos. I’m sure there are some members in our family that could care less if we ever pulled out the old slide projector again… but me, I’m sentimental, I love it! I love to remember. Film is the way I remember my childhood. It’s the way I get a glimpse at life before I was born. It’s nostalgia at it’s best.
When I was 12 or 13 I remember sitting at the dinner table with my Dad and his 35mm camera. He spent about an hour or so teaching me how to use it – in manual of course. I was so intrigued. From the moment I picked up that camera I couldn’t put it down. I developed more film in high school than most people I knew. I shot for our high school newspaper and any other reason I could think of. I spent a week learning the dark room at Michigan State University and dreamed of having my own one day. I love looking back at those photos.
Nearly five years ago I retired my film camera with the excitement of a new digital purchase. It was a whole new world! Instant gratification, thousands of photos, and hours of work to be done on said photos. After starting my photography business I never looked back at film… until now. This year Beto and I decided we wanted to go back to our analog roots. For him that meant a new record player and loads of vinyl, and for me film! On one of my parents trips down to Texas I asked my Dad to bring along a couple of his cameras for us to play with. That 1980′s 35mm camera felt like an old friend in my hands. Photography was exciting again. The process was enjoyable – plan, shoot, wait, enjoy. Receiving our first sets of prints back from the lab was comparable to Christmas morning. We were so excited, especially Beto. These were his first rolls of 35mm and 120 film. There is definitely something freeing about shooting film. You commit to a moment, a frame, a hope. When that film comes back properly exposed, it’s a deep sigh of relief. Boxes, frames, albums of real photos rather than archives of unedited files. I’m pretty sentimental, so for our personal memories, I love knowing they’ll be there to look back on.
Since no post is complete without a photo or two… here are a few film frames we shot during Jessica+Dustin’s engagement session. :)
I love this frame Beto grabbed through the vines… that light is gorgeous!!
Favorite shot of the day!!
by Lindsey
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