I received that magic email that my prints and scans are available this morning. Because this was a new camera, there were a few images that were too dark (low light never helps either.) Over all though, I am pleased with how very analog the film scans and prints look. The grain, the dust spots and even the occasional light leak are what makes them real as opposed to digital corrections. Check out more in the “FILM” section of the website.

In previous post I’ve shown a Field Notes notebook in the photo which was the inspiration for this webpage. The analog notebook is used to document and organize my film notes such as dates, film used, ISO, and the event the film roll is used for. 

Example: 

“7/15-7/25 Kodak Ektar H35 camera. Ilford HP5+ B&W 35mm film. 36 exposures at 1/2 frame yielding 72 exposures. Black & White night shots and urban photography.”

Other practical applications for the field notes book will include lands well-scaped, a portable Dorian Gray, drawings drawn, erased and redrawn, camera obscura, sunsets witnessed, Polaroids shaken, urban canvassing strategies, concentric thoughts, personalized personalizations, portraits of personable persons, found objects, lost objects, broken things, beautiful things, ephemeral ephemera, scenic scenery, collected collections, eclectic electric expressions, memorable memories, and a whole lot of shitty captures meant to pass off as art. 

I’ve just shot my last frame on the Kodak H35 camera using Ilford HP5+ BW film this morning. Now I am looking for a local developing lab. I want to have the roll developed, receive the negatives and a contact sheet and also to have them digitally scanned for the archives. Not an easy request in a smaller city and the demise of print labs everywhere. Up next, is the Lomochrome Metropolis 35mm film using the Pentax K1000 camera. Stay tuned…

I don’t like overpaying for film rolls. Film photography is not a niche market anymore. It is resurgent. Time for the prices to come down.

I don’t like the fact that I lose one roll due to loading issues inside the camera when the spool rejects the film. 

I don’t like wasting frames due to over/under exposure, composition, blur or, or, or…

I don’t like waiting for images to come back from the lab. 

I don’t like working out how to store all the prints and negatives. 

I don’t like the fact that I do not have a darkroom to develop and make prints at home. 

I don’t like film photography snobs and how they look down on digital photography.

I don’t like checking various websites for a good deal on film rolls and being disappointed.

I don’t like explaining to people that film photography is a thing and not a fad. 

I don’t like film photography. I LOVE it.  

I like the science of film developing with the smell of chemicals in a darkroom.

I like the magic of film developing when your image appears like an apparition after being immersed in those chemicals.

I like the fact there are no storage cards, no cables, or complicated touch screen menus on your film camera. 

I like the manufacturer’s branding on film packs the same way I enjoyed the VHS, cassettes and album covers. 

I like the email notification that tells me “your prints are ready to view!” 

I like the way I feel when I breathlessly open up that envelope containing my prints for the big reveal.  

I like hearing the shutter click. I like feeling the tension in the spool when advancing to the next frame. I like feeling the tension release when I’ve re-wound the spool to secure the roll. 

I like the way that each frame on the roll  can have its own unique exposure or grain or grit. 

I like seeing the negative strip when held against the light. It is ethereal. 

I like having a physical, tactile piece of chemical paper in my hand that has preserved a memory. 

For the past fifteen years, I’ve maintained a website dedicated to my photography. I have been an active photographer for thirty years. In those fifteen years my website has endured, it has seen a lot of changes in server hosting, domain name changes, design and now a new name- MojoChrome. Formerly known as “Photo Mojo” and “PhotoDenbow”, the new brand “MojoChrome” moniker is an homage to a brilliant film emulsion process from Kodak called Kodachrome that has since been discontinued. It also serves as an intention to get back into analog film photography over digital. I’ll still be a hybrid shooter of course, and even the digital work will be post-processed using a different technique I call “mojochrome.”