What Am I Doing?
Apparently I’m going to start blogging…
This is the first of at least one blog post. I haven’t blogged since having a xanga account as an angst ridden, oh-so-artsy teenager, so what better way to spend my free time as a 36 year old angst ridden not-so-artsy adult than to post here for nobody to read. I (re)started my foray into film photography in November 2024 after happening upon a free Nikon F3 + a couple lenses - a Nikon Series E 50mm 1:1.8 and a Nikon Series E 28mm 1:2.8. As with most spur-of-the-moment decisions I make in my life, I leaped head (and wallet) first. The process of shooting a manual 35mm camera came back pretty quickly and as I learned the ins and outs of my new camera I realized that it provided me with a familiar and comfortable creative outlet. Something that I’ve been needing for probably a decade or more.
I started by picking up a couple rolls of Kentmere 400 BW film to take some test shots, not only to make sure the camera was functioning properly, but that my brain was too. Did I even remember how to take photos? I sent the first roll off for development, and let me tell you… when I received the scans back I was not only ecstatic with the underwhelming ‘just okay’ pictures, I was hooked. Since then I’ve been experimenting with different film stocks and shooting conditions - likely to be the subject of a future blog post, assuming I get around to it. I even created a spreadsheet to keep track of which stocks I was shooting, associated costs, and general notes. At this stage, I am just experimenting, learning, and enjoying the personal nature of the hobby. I find it to be incredibly slow and methodical, while being visceral at the same time. A few moments carved out of my life of work, grad school, and more work, captured and recorded for my own personal nostalgia.
I hope to keep up with this blog as much as I hope to keep exploring photography. I just ordered a medium format camera - a first for me - so I imagine I’ll post some tidbits about that in the near future. The camera is a Mamiya Press 23 Standard with a 6x9 back and a 90mm f3.5 lens. I have no idea what I am doing, but, I think that’s why I’m doing it.
-Sean
