A few days ago, I processed my third roll of film at home and gave myself a second attempt at scanning it as well. I'm getting more proficient with the developing part and I actually look forward to it. There's something immensely satisfying about donning gloves, mixing chemicals, taking temperature readings, and then operating in total darkness to produce images that will be seen by you before anyone else on the planet. It's like holding a secret in your hand.
I typically dread scanning (and I still do), but I decided some research was in order before I threw in the towel, swearing under my breath. As it turns out, reading some instructions and helpful tips totally changed my approach and attitude! Who would've thought? Here are some of my favorite images from this roll of HP5:
We're big supporters of science in this family, so here's my daughter patiently waiting to have an atom painted on her face.
Approximately 5,000 showed up to support science at our local march in Oklahoma City. It was all but ignored by the local media, naturally.
Oklahoma has such beautiful land, but so much of it is inaccessible. This shot sums up my feelings of being so close, yet so far from being one with nature. Can you tell I'm a quasi-hippie?
I've driven Route 66 and its offshoots dozens of times in order to get my girls to sleep. They gave up naps at home when they were 18 months old and the only way to get them some shut eye is on the road.
My mom visited for a couple of weeks and we went to our wonderful zoo on one of those days. My youngest is OBSESSED with carousels.
My eldest happily tags along with her for the ride.
For Cinco de Mayo, I dragged my husband downtown for some free salsa dancing lessons. It seems I wasn't the only wife with this idea...there were many, many men just thrilled to find themselves there on a Friday night. Here's my husband in mid sentence telling me I better not be taking a picture :-p
To add insult to injury, I then begged him to play pool with me. It's one of my favorite past times that I just don't get to do enough of now that we have kids. See all those white specks and lines? That would be dust and fibers that I forgot to take out when scanning.
I also managed to put another roll of film through my Mamiya, and it did not go well. I literally burned through the grain due to massive overexposure. I'm perplexed as to how it got SO blown out because I synced the settings to my Leica's in-camera meter and the Leica's exposures were spot on. The lab guy suggested a possible shutter lag...hope that's not the case because I'll be going to Quebec at the end of the month and I want to bring the medium format system with me. Here's a combination of images from Clickin' Walk 2017 shot on my Mamiya, Leica, and Polaroid SX-70...
See all those weird amoeba looking things? Yeah, that's where I burned through the silver halides in the film emulsion...whoops.
Polaroid goodness. Figures that the shot I had the least control over is the one I like the most.
I realized during this walk that I have definitively become an analog photographer at heart because I simply took very few shots. Film gives you the ability to look at a scene and decide whether or not you truly care to press the shutter. As a result, I had to run through the rest of the film when I got home/the next morning. I decided to capture some quotidian of course.
We're in the process of building a deck out back, so we've had 2x4s stacked out front for the past week that the girls love to play on.
Ready to move on from Oklahoma, but this will always be their first home.
Oldest: "I have a stinkbug friend."
Youngest: "I have to go potty!!!"
I've accomplished pretty much both goals for May within a week, so I guess now I definitely have to put another roll through the Mamiya and hope there are no functionality issues there. I'm also on a mission to find someone I know who has been to Quebec City and can recommend places to go. It's my annual "Mommy Vacation" and I desperately need a European/French fix, so Canada it was! Can't wait :-)