I’ve always admired film photographers and their work. Their images always coming out with the creaminess of skin tones, the most beautiful greens, and some seriously gorgeous pinks. They have a softness about them that are unmatched. The light reflected just right in every single image they produce. They are able to catch the most organic and raw moments during each session by being intention with each shutter click. Something that I just never thought I would be able to teach myself.

In fact, I never thought I would venture into film photography at all until three of my best photog friends encouraged me to jump in and try it, after listening to me complain on several different occasions that I felt like I was stuck in a creative rut. I went back and forth with myself for what seemed like ages. Overall, there were many reasons that kept me from adding this medium to my repertoire. A few of those included not being able to shoot in low-light situations and still match the style of photography that I love, not being able to see the back of my camera to make sure my camera settings are correct, the extra time it would take me to learn a whole new area of photography, and mostly, the inability to click my shutter a couple hundred times during a shoot until I get just the right shot of your squirrelly little toddlers that I have the pleasure of shooting. I mean don’t get me wrong, I love those soft, slightly blurred images just as much as anyone else but I also love the in focus, everyone looking at the camera smiling ones too. Those images just aren’t always possible when shooting film exclusively, especially with my littlest clients. But what is possible and just so, so good with film is the way it forces me to slow down and be conscious with every image I take. It forces me into a different zone of creativity that I don’t feel when I shoot digital. It gives me a nervous, excited feeling every time I pull out my Pentax. And, the best part, it pushes me to learn new editing tricks so I can seamlessly match my digital and film images. I truly feel learning film these past few weeks have made me a better photographer. I have still have so much to learn and so much practice to do but for now I am happy with my decision to become a hybrid photographer. I’m not sure when and where film will take me but for now, I am enjoying the ride.

A huge thank you to this sweet mama and her boys for letting me shoot my very first roll of film in their beautiful home. I will forever treasure this session.

Photos are a mix of digital and Fuji400H scanned by Richard Photo Lab.