Tag: film

Might Change My Workflow

This is another in an endless line of posts about getting photographic film developed. As usual the main theme is that I am an impatient asshole. Consider yourselves warned.

When I first started mailing film off to a development lab I was sending it to a place in New Hampshire. The lab is close enough that I could probably drive to it and drop it off in person. It’s a little too far to do as a spur of the moment, off the cuff kinda drive, but it was close. When I dropped the package in the mail it was usually at its destination the next business day.

Then I changed labs. Instead of shipping to New Hampshire I was shipping to San Clemente, CA. All the way across the country. The service was a little cheaper, and to my very ignorant untrained eyes the end result looked a teeny tiny hair’s width better. Was it actually better? I don’t have a clue. The question was, does the slightly lower cost offset the extra 4–5 days of travel time to get the package of film to its laboratory destination? At first I thought yes. Now?

My plan for this summer is to shoot film once a month. Last year I was trying to go out and take pictures of stuff any time the sun was out in the early morning on the weekend. It got the point where I was sneaking out of the house 2–3 days each week. That was silly. This year I am going to blitz for one weekend, weather permitting, each month and that will be it. This month had an extra day because I needed to test drive my new camera, but outside of that I plan to stick to once a month.

Next month I think I am going to go back to the lab in New Hampshire. Hell, I might even drive there. Probably not, but if I can find some excuse I might. At the very least I will compare prices between the two labs directly and if it’s even remotely similar I am going to go with the faster shipping turn around time with the closer to home service. 

I dropped four rolls of film in the mail on Saturday. I don’t expect them to get to California until Friday. I am generally a patient person and that wait should not bother me… but in this case I am completely impatient and it does bother me.

Damn it, I am such a freakin’ nerd.

Winter is Over

I shipped off three rolls of film for developing two days ago. If things go well I’ll have a few more on Tuesday.

Winter is over, folks. It’s time to blow absurd amounts of money on film photography. Bring it on!

I mean… winter is sort of over. It is still pretty cold out. I went to the store this morning and wore a winter jacket. I’m wearing a fleece jacket while sitting in the living room at home. Still… 35mm and 120 film rolls are out in the mail. It’s that time again!

In other news, in about two hours we’re going to leave the house and drive to the airport in Boston. From there we’re driving back to Burlington, VT and then driving home again. It’s going to be a long day of driving. Maybe I should bring a film camera with me. No… not today.

Will I Bring it Next Time?

If you had asked me two days ago whether or not I was planning on bringing a film camera on our next Florida vacation in June I think I would have said no.

Then yesterday I got a bunch of film developed and now I think the answer will probably be yes. I am so easily manipulated.

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Seven Rolls

Seven rolls of film. All downloaded, sorted, cleaned up, and uploaded to Flickr. Here are a few randoms from the haul.

From Burlington, VT. I don’t remember the name of the bookstore.

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From the Atlantic Ocean in Hampton Beach, NH. Splash.

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From the happiest place on Earth.

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From Animal Kingdom… unless it’s from The Last of Us.

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From the lake surrounded by the Beach Club, the Yacht Club, and the Boardwalk hotels in Disney World.

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With Kylo Ren at Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios.

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From Rockefeller Center in New York, NY.

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And in closing, my new favorite photograph.

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Race

In my previous post I speculated on which of the two packages I have shipped over the last few days would arrive at its destination first, thus winning the race. Would it be the USPS package full of 35mm film that shipped out on Saturday or would it be the FedEx envelope with my passport renewal application that shipped out last night?

I have the answer.

The film has arrived at The Darkroom. I can expect my scans to be uploaded to my account in 3-7 business days. In other words, an eternity. Disney and New York on film… coming soon.