I don’t shoot film often. I really wish I did but I’m just not able. Most days I’m a starving artist and film is impossible to squeeze into the budget. However, once in a blue moon, I load up my shiny little Canon AE-1, my Holga or one of the Yashica TLRs my husband and I share and I spend some time enjoying the magic. For me shooting with film is usually about the memories. Unlike with my digital pictures I know my film ones will be printed. I know they’ll end up on the walls or tucked in away in a photo box like so many family photographs. To me, every single exposure should count (even if the photos don’t turn out so pretty). I should be able to look back and smile and take away the memory of a precious moment or a person I love. Some day something unimaginable could happen and all my digital files could be lost. If that were to happen I would no longer have my life’s story in photographs but at least I would be left with the important bits on film. I would lose all the big adventures but I would keep the little moments that made life worthwhile. For me, film is a rare treat and I use it to savor life.
