So these are the last images from that night of the blues saloon, the night of the party, only a couple nights before I would decide it was time for a detox.

It’s funny, but my camera has been away at the service facility in El Segundo, CA, and I’ve been using a film camera to get my fix. The shooting is very different. A lot of people will talk about the different qualities of the images, the grain structure, all of that, but something I really like is how few pictures there are on a roll. You get to be way more critical of what you’re shooting, what you see; instead of hitting the button and then looking to see what I can do better, I find myself making those checks (frame edges, composition, etc.) before I click the shutter.

Another thing: developing film is the closest thing to magic us mere mortals can do. Roll the film onto the developing reels in the dark, then put on the lid, turn on the lights, and run it through the developer (FG-7, if you care), the stop bath, and the fixer, and then you can pull out the negatives and see all of your pictures at once. It’s the most boring regular process ever, but at the end you have these perfect little jewels, full of potential. Anyway, look for some shots from film here soonish.

Posted by Matt on 2010-07-09T00:00:00Z GMT