posts in category film photography

December 27, 2025

Lomo Purple

I picked up some Lomo Purple earlier this year on a whim, almost as a joke. I figured that at worst, I’d have a laugh at whatever the emulsion decided to do. At best, I’d be pleasantly surprised by a frame or two. Imagine my surprise when most of the roll contained photos I was genuinely excited about.

I asked a couple people about how to get the most out of the film stock, and the general consensus was to shoot foliage during bright, sunny days and that’s exactly what I did. I worked my way through the roll over the summer. Most of these were shot at state parks and on random trips to the dog park when the weather was good. I can't wait for next summer because I'm definitely going to be shooting more of this when the leaves come back.

📷 Nikon F3 + Nikon Series E 50mm f/1.8

🎞️ Lomo Purple

🏮 Processed and scanned by Indie Film Lab

35mm, 35mm photography, analog, analog photography, analogue, analogue photography, film photography, lomo purple, Nikon f3, photography, tomography

August 22, 2025

Accepting the mundane [musings]

Leica M4-P | Voightlander Color Skopar 35mm f/2.5 P II VM | CineStill 50D
Alabama, 2024

I was working on finishing up a roll of film at the end of December. I’d put in an order for my next batch of film to be processed, and I was determined to get it sent out before the post office closed for Christmas. We’d just arrived in Alabama a couple of days prior, and despite not having visited in over a year, I was having a hard time finding compositions I liked. I kept thinking about the work that has been shared by photographers I admire. I imagine the photographs I would make in those locations: the big cities, the mountains, the small towns, the various coasts. But I don’t live in a big city, or on the coast, and my small town doesn’t seem picturesque. A part of me hoped that getting away from my everyday surroundings would mean being surrounded by interesting subjects and compositions. And yet, I found myself at a loss.

Olympus Infinity Stylus | Kodak Colorplus 200
Alabama, 2024

I frequently lament “wasting” film on the subjects of my everyday life: the trees just off my balcony, my dogs running around, the sun filtering through our bedroom curtains. Those capture my attention in the moment, sometimes even convincing me they’re worth their space on celluloid. Despite knowing the general contents of any given roll of film, I still hope that something breathtaking will reveal itself after it’s been sent away for processing— that I’ll somehow have forgotten that I did in fact take a trip to the Tetons (I’ve never been there) or visit the Cascades (I’ve never been there either). I find myself feeling down for not being able to capture the natural wonders of the world regularly.

Fujifilm XT-5 | Fuji XF 35mm f/2 R WR
Pennsylvania, 2025

Although my film doesn’t return to me with some photos from a forgotten adventure, I find myself staring at each photo with the same enthusiasm as if it did. Those photos of the trees and curtains and dogs always make me smile. There will always be photographers capturing breathtaking scenes, and sometimes it’ll be me. But there are also many, many photographers capturing their own version of trees and curtains. Their mundane walk around their neighborhood seems so foreign and exciting to me because it’s not my neighborhood. It is instead my expectations that I’m realizing I need to manage. I do travel, if only a little. We take regular enough day trips to the big cities around us. We live in the mountains, just not the picturesque mountains west of the Mississippi River. Our mountains are soft and rolling, not the jagged, snow-capped peaks that I often see photographed.

Fujifilm XT-5 | Fuji XF 35mm f/2 R WR
Pennsylvania, 2025

As mundane as my town is to me, it would be a lie if I said that there isn’t a certain happiness I feel when driving through the rivers and mountains in our part of the Appalachians. I think about the collections of photographs that others can put together, and I ask myself why I can’t do the same. I certainly have a large number of photos that I’ve yet to publish, but it’s difficult for me to group enough of them together to justify a dedicated post. But maybe I’m looking at that wrong, too? Maybe my subject is The Mundane. Now that I’m shooting film regularly, I’m a lot more conscious of my photography. I don’t have a delete button or the luxury of some inconceivable limit on a memory card— each frame costs me real time and money. Maybe this is why I take so long to finish a roll of film. I question myself frequently about whether a shot is “worth it” or if I feel I already have too many like it. I think that I can certainly afford to be more trigger-happy. I find myself missing shots from second-guessing myself on a semi-regular basis. Many of my favorite photographs are made from moments where I saw something I liked, composed, and took the shot. Not the moments that I had to mull over for several minutes before deciding to make something of it.

Fujifilm XT-5 | Fuji XF 35mm f/2 R WR
Pennsylvania, 2025

I may not be comfortable with how mundane a lot of my photographs feel, but it’s something that I’m going to work toward. My Mundane may not look like yours, but it’s not supposed to. And maybe the beauty I find in others’ work is the same beauty someone will find in mine.

Leica M4-P | Voightlander Color Skopar 35mm f/2.5 P II VM | CineStill 50D
Pennsylvania, 2025

So, here they are: the places I've been, the places I frequent, and the life I live. The moments and the frames that have never felt special enough, significant enough, memorable enough. Here are my life's in-between moments that deserve their place on film or on a memory card. They're mundane to me, but maybe you'll like them. If I'm honest, I like them, too.

Olympus Infinity Stylus | Kodak Colorplus 200
Pennsylvania, 2025

Olympus Infinity Stylus | Kodak Colorplus 200
Alabama, 2024

Leica M4-P | Voightlander Color Skopar 35mm f/2.5 P II VM | CineStill 50D
Pennsylvania, 2025

Nikon F3 | Nikon Series E 50mm f/1.8 | Kentmere Pan 400
Alabama, 2025

Nikon F3 | Nikon Series E 50mm f/1.8 | Kentmere Pan 400
Alabama, 2024

Nikon F3 | Nikon Series E 50mm f/1.8 | Kentmere Pan 400
Alabama, 2025

Nikon F3 | Nikon Series E 50mm f/1.8 | CineStill 800T
Alabama, 2024

35mm, 35mm photography, analog, analogue, analogue photography, cinestill 50d, cinestill 800t, film, film photography, fujifilm, fujifilm xt5, kodak colorplus, leica, leica m4-p, Nikon f3, photography, voightlander

January 9, 2025

dead mall [kentmere pan 400]

Since moving here and first visiting our shopping mall, I’ve felt the need to photograph the desolate, near liminal space. Something about the empty hallways interspersed with skylights and (real!) foliage brings on a certain type of melancholic nostalgia. I recently made a trip there for the purpose of shooting some of the areas that always seem to grab my attention.

I decided to start slow. I thought exterior shots would be easier, considering there was no one else there, but it actually felt a lot more intimidating once I got out of my car. Although the mall is pretty empty, there was still security doing rounds and I was right next to a fairly busy street. I was relieved to see that security didn’t seem to mind my walking around and taking photos and I eventually got comfortable enough to really get into the swing of things.

The tattered paper on the inside of these doors unsettles me, yet I can never look away.

With the mall being as empty as it is, I was really self conscious on this outing— a lot more self conscious than I normally am when shooting in public. And because I was shooting film, the camera I was using wasn’t the most inconspicuous, either. In more crowded spaces I’m able to melt into the crowd. However, I was one of the few people walking around in that big, open space. I felt as if I was on display as I composed each shot. I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I suppose I just want you to know that I’m proud of myself for not skimping out and forcing myself to take my time in getting the photos I wanted to get. (Though I was really tempted to spray and pray and call it a day.)

The mall may be dead, but these plants are not.

We’re always sure to grab a slice at the local pizza place inside our mall. It’s genuinely great pizza and it feels like an appropriate nod to my adolescence, hanging out at the food court with my friends or on family shopping trips.

I don’t remember why I chose to shoot black and white on this day, but I’m happy with how it turned out. There isn’t much color in our mall to begin with, and I knew that the angles and shadows were what I was aiming to capture. Although I’m happy with the photos overall, if I had to do this over I’d choose an orthochromatic film stock instead of panchromatic.

These photos were taken on a Canon 35mm SLR with a Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM lens. My film stock of choice was, as the title suggests, Kentmere Pan 400.

This batch of film was processed and scanned by State Film Lab.

I have quite a few rolls of film that I’m in the middle of working on, and another batch about to be sent out, so look out for more regular posts on here in the near future!