Getting back to film and having fun!

People often ask me how I got into photography. It’s not exactly the simplest of questions to answer… I honestly cannot remember the first time I held a camera, took my first photograph, or even owned my own camera. One memory that stands out in my mind was a family trip to New York City when I was in 1st grade. I remember standing at the top of the Statue of Liberty and taking a picture of the city with just a simple point and shoot film camera. Film cameras were just always around… many people have tons of home videos of their childhood and while I have some videos, there is an overwhelming amount of photographs that capture my childhood.

When I was in high school I started covering my walls of my bedroom with photos of my friends and family that I had taken with a 35mm camera. Then a couple years later I bought my own tiny point and shoot digital camera and can now look back at just about everyday of my life through college on my computer. For all the good memories that digital cameras have given me I have never forgotten the beauty that film creates. While I have always had a passion for film photography, the convenience and practicality of digital photography has put film on the sidelines. But, recently I have had an overwhelming urge to get back to my film roots, even if just for fun… so, I bought a used film body and now we will just see what happens!

This is one of the first rolls of film I sent off to a professional lab to have developed and I have to say… It is actually exciting to put the shutter button, not be able to look at the image instantly, hear that last frame and then the film rolling itself back up, and then having to just patiently wait to see the end result. It is freeing in a way, and I love it.

This roll is from a rafting trip I took with family and friends down the Deschutes River. SO much fun!