Film, Travel, and Final Projects
So far, 2026 has been a great year for my photography. I’ve learned tons and also spent tons. I began the year sending my film off to different labs to try and find the best results with scanning and pricing. Now, I’ve resorted to self-scanning to help cut down on costs and have better control over the results. I was blessed with some beautiful pictures at the beginning of the year that I had shot in 2025. I had lost the roll of film in the back of my film freezer and was extremely happy when I got to see those pictures.
I’ve also done some travel. I took a trip back to my old home in the Tampa area, and primarily shot Kodak Ektachrome while I was there. Slide film is a beast and has a very steep learning curve, which I felt once I got my scans back.
Clearly, I was having trouble metering. Some of these I was able to save with self-scanning, though the portrait of my friend Ryan standing with the trees looks like he died, and this is an “in memoriam” photo. He is very much alive. The photo of my friend Tennyson with the jet behind him is pretty much completely void of any shadow detail and thus unusable. I could’ve sworn I metered for his face, but no worries, I still have backup portraits of him, just not as interesting of a composition. Man, I was hoping for that photo to turn out bangin’. Alex’s photos turned out good, a tiny bit over exposed, but still good. As for the rest, they are alright, they can be saved with self-scanning, which I just haven’t found the time to do. I use the copy stand and scanning equipment at my school, which has some annoying caveats. I am planning to purchase equipment myself soon.
Self-scanning also has a learning curve to it. There is plenty of room for user error. Some of my images have had an orange/red cast on the sides due to reflected light coming from around the film holder. This is one of the caveats about scanning with the equipment at school; nothing quite fits together as it should. I’ve also blundered and not checked critical focus while using a macro lens for my Fujifilm XT-5, resulting in an entire roll of scans being out of focus. frustrating, but I can clearly see where I went wrong and how to adjust for next time. Overall, the experience has been great. I have really enjoyed the process, and having that extra level of control over the images is fantastic. I’ve been using Negative Lab Pro for Lightroom for conversions.
This spring semester I took an experimental process class. For the first 10 weeks of the class, it quickly became something I did not care about in the slightest. Process after process, it was the same result, a terrible print as each image could turn out completely different, even if the chemical mix, drying times, coating, and washing were all the same and at a constant. It wasn’t until we did image transfers and specifically polaroid transfers that I became interested again. That little boost was enough to get me back in the swing and really try something interesting for my final project, even if it was falling back onto what I do best. Orbs.
I am proud of where my photography has gone this year. I am happy with the results of my final project. I think it was only a matter of time before I really deep dived into all things film. and hole punching. The project was well-received in my class, and I hope to make a few TikToks pop off again to see what the audience at large thinks of the project. Seeing what other people come up with about the images is what makes it worth it. Makes it feel like I really made something worthy enough to be called art.
My favorite image from the project.
I am going to begin doing more portrait work. I really do enjoy it now, more than I did before. Hope to share some more images soon.
I recently went to Milwaukee for a few days of work, while there I was able to use my extra time to do some photography. I think I may have captured a pretty cool scene, just need to get the film developed. My two favorite cameras now are my Mamiya 645 and Minolta x700. They are just really fun to use.
I will make a blog post again about those new photos and about building my own film scanning setup at home. Also looking for apartments.
I don’t want to live in a hole anymore.
pce.
