35mm love.

**I'm just going to go ahead and warn you that this is a pretty photo-heavy post. Then again, it's about photography, so I don't know what else you would expect. :)

 I have been enamored with cameras and photographs as long as I can remember. I swear it's genetic, because my mom has boxes and boxes and boxes of photographs spanning several generations, and we both get super depressed about seeing old photographs at flea markets & antique stores. I seriously was in tears once because I found somebody's wedding picture in a stack of old photos at an antique mall. We're both shutterbugs like I've never seen before, and I'm pretty sure we're the only people who fully understand this characteristic in each other. I even worked in a photo lab during my early college years. I loved developing film!

My mom bought a Canon AE1 SLR when I was a baby, and of all the things I've used to take pictures--my phone, various point-and-shoots and DLSRs, and even Polaroids--it just might be my favorite.

I love love love shooting film. I wouldn't call myself a photographer by any stretch of the imagination, but taking photographs is one of my favorite things to do, and it's just so much better with film (and, unfortunately, so much more expensive). Don't get me wrong; I love digital, too--I'm saving up for a DSLR right now, actually. But film is just.....purer, somehow. You have to adjust on the front end, because you can't exactly Photoshop film images. (Okay, I know there are ways to upload images so you can edit and all that business, but it kinda takes away the magic for me. Yes, I usually end up uploading them so I have a digital copy, but even then, I've never edited the digital versions. Call me a purist. Or a snob. I don't care.) I love the suspense of film, too. You're not able to see your results right away, but sometimes after you press that shutter button, you just know---you nailed that shot. It's a rush, and then the anticipation builds, and you have to slow down and not waste the rest of a precious roll just so you can hurry and get it developed. Gosh, just talking about it has me wanting to drive across the state and borrow that old Canon from my mom again.

I've been looking through some of the film photos I've taken over the years and these are some of my favorites that I've run across so far. You will notice that I tend to be a fan of black & white. :) None of them are perfect, but there's something about the imperfections that are so endearing to me. I remember exactly how I felt when I took every single one.

These were taken at my dad's neighbor's; he's owned a salvage yard for years, and some of the finer old cars have found their way to his property. My brother and I fed his dogs for him a few times when he went out of town, and we wandered around for awhile, exploring his collection. 

These were from my first trip to the Oregon in 2010. The Oregon Coast is like nowhere else on earth--it's one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places I've ever been. It gets into your soul, I think. My friend/tour guide/travel companion commented that using film would stress him out because he would be worried that the pictures wouldn't turn out; I told him that sometimes you just know....but I still brought a point-and-shoot just in case. :)

This is from the same trip to Oregon, and I know it's technically terrible, but I love it so much. There is actually another version of this picture, because I realized I hadn't set the correct exposure (yay for manual!), so I fixed it on the next frame. The crazy thing is, this version is by far my favorite. It's so moody. 

(P.S. This is Ponytail Falls/Upper Horsetail Falls in the Columbia River Gorge, and it's completely worth the short hike from the trailhead. If you're ever in the area, don't just stop at Multnomah!)

 These final two shots are from a trip to Grand Lake with my beautiful friends Sommer and Kristina (above). Kristina's grandparents own a house on the lake, and we spent a weekend there a few years ago. It was the most wonderful, relaxing, laughter-filled time. Love those two so much.

Have you ever used film for funsies? What did you think?