I have bought a new camera. Okay, it’s not new. It’s actually quite old. I bought a new old camera. It’s an Asahi Pentax K1000, which was likely manufactured in 1981 or 1982. So it’s exactly the same camera I used when I was on the school newspaper staff in high school and college. Yes, I have decided I’m done with digital and will be returning to film. It feels a little crazy, but I’ve been having very strong feelings about digital vs. analog everything, and I’m coming down firmly on the side of all things analog are better.

Anyway, here it is! Isn’t it lovely?

It’s not an easy thing to shoot with film anymore. Just finding a place to develop film and do it well is a struggle, and heaven help you if you’d like them to make prints from the actual negatives instead of printing from digital scans of the negatives. It is my intention to eventually develop my own film at home, and I would like at some point to also have access to a darkroom to make my own prints. But for now, I just want to remember all the things I have forgotten about shooting photographs with a film camera. It’s a little scary, but it’s important for me to do things that feel scary. Things that feel hard. Things that move me out of my comfort zone.

The camera arrived on Monday, and I spent hours that day inspecting it, cleaning it, and familiarizing myself with its minimal functions. I’d planned to take it downtown on Tuesday to snap some photos, but the day started dark and when the sun finally came out, it arrived with a whole lot of wind. Like ridiculous levels of wind. If it’s that windy at my house, downtown would be a nightmare, so I worked on other projects, chased down outdoor things as they blew away, and grumbled quietly about my plans being ruined.

Today it looks like it’ll be gloomy and moist, but at least not windy, so I’m going to shamble around outdoors a bit and hopefully find something interesting to photograph. This first film is ready just a light leak test and to make sure the camera actually functions as a camera, but I might as well try to get good pics, or at least do the best my rusty skills will allow. I am not expecting greatness, but you know I’m always hoping for it.

And if the weather turns too foul for being outside, I’ll just work on the camera related projects I started on yesterday … going through my fabric stash to find materials for a camera bag, strap, and changing bag. To go along with my negative feelings about digital things, mass produced things also make me cranky. I’m simply not paying as much as they want for things I can clearly see are low quality and will need to be replaced regularly. If I make the things I need, I have only myself to blame if they suck.

Anyway, it’d been a while since I posted on the blog, and I thought maybe I should mention this thing that’s been taking up a good chunk of my free time lately (and into the future). I’d say I promise to post over here more often, but we all know I’d be lying. I post when I feel like it, and I guess I don’t feel like it all that often anymore. I’m okay with that.