I know that film photography and Emacs are completely unrelated, but I have been thinking about both of them quite a lot recently.

Since moving back to shooting film in 2003, I have regular thoughts of switching to all-digital again. It’s just easier. I have rooms full of “stuff” in support of film photography, and things would become so much faster and easier without all of that. A nice digital camera, a good RAW editor, an inkjet printer, and some hard drives, and I’m all set.

I took the MP on my walk and was determined to shoot an entire roll. It was overcast, dreary, and the path I walk is pretty boring, but I did my best and made it through the roll.

This roll was shot at 800 and developed in HC-110 (Dilution B) for 7.5 minutes.

I tried, I really did. The Wise Old Internet guided me into changing my film scanning process from a dedicated flatbed scanner to using a mirrorless digital camera setup. I did everything right. I bought good equipment and the right software.

I hated it.

To scan using my flatbed, I load the negatives, hit “Prescan”, confirm that things look ok and press “Scan”. I go do something else for a while and come back to a folder full of JPGs. I edit the files by adjusting contrast and cropping as needed in Lightroom or whatever and I’m done.

Here a few from a recent roll using the Leica M3 and the Leica 50mm Summilux-M ASPH.

I attended our annual family reunion in Newaygo this weekend. It’s always great to see everyone. I shot a roll of HP5 with the MP and 35mm Summilux.

There was a roll languishing in the OM-2n so I finished it during my walk today. I really need to find some new subjects.

Shot on HP5 Plus. Developed in HC-110 (dilution B) for five minutes. Scanned on the Epson V750.

I had lunch with my parents recently and took a few photos with both my film and digital cameras. I shot about the same number of photos with each camera, with close to the same number of “keepers”. Which do I prefer?

I normally don’t like the high-speed films but I’m trying to use what’s in my fridge, so here’s a few from a roll of Kodak T-MAX P3200 shot at 1600 and processed in HC-100.

As usual, this roll contained a few self-portraits, a few of Alice, and a few of “stuff”. My favorites are the ones taken in my dad’s garage.

My wife bought an awful, kitschy plastic lamp and set it on one of the floor speakers. I, of course, balked.

That was a week ago and somehow the lamp is still there. I hate the lamp, but I don’t mind the light that it throws against the wall, and my wife loves it and thinks “it’s adorable”. Who am I to judge?

I took a photo of it. It’s just another boring snapshot by a film photographer looking for excuses to finish the roll. It’s exposed the way I intended and it’s composed nicely, but it’s not a great photo. I love it anyway.