This is the year I practice/learn how to shoot film. Film photography -- to me -- is very Zen. I slow down. I think about what I am doing -- what I want, what my purpose is, set the dials, take a breath and shoot. Then I wait. Sometimes an hour, sometimes a few days, sometimes nearly a week while waiting to finish up a roll. Then I look and it brings me a lot of happiness looking at tangible prints in my hands. Sound kind of weird, but it feels more real to me and solid even though I am just looking at images of something that have already passed. Not to mention no post processing. I got so used to altering reality (zapping out a zit here, erasing something that looked weird there), but for now, I just want to focus on reality and on here and now. Film does that for me. So, yeah, that's about it.
Photo: From roll #3, self-portrait in bathroom mirror.
I shot an entire roll of black and white film using my FUJICA st605n on New Years Day. As my third roll of film, I am pleased. There is something so very Zen about being in the snowy woods with nothing by the sound of a nearly-frozen creek, birds calling, and the whoosh of clumps of falling snow from trees. You may view the entire series at my Flickr page.
