Pure Excitement.

The only way to describe the feeling of collecting my first couple of rolls of film. Anyone who has shot with film knows there's a level of patience that comes with the process. Nowadays there are fewer and fewer places that actually develop film, so this creates a backlogged process which has increased the wait times. With that, for me at least, its created an extra bit of suspense.

And who doesn't love a little bit of suspense?

Right after we rolled into 2018, I decided I wanted to pick up a little point and shoot film camera. I knew that I wanted to dabble in film photography, but I wanted it to be something I could just fit in my sweater pouch. So that naturally seemed like the best choice. Another factor of me choosing a P&S instead of an SLR was to make things simple. I wanted to be carefree with it, I all to often find myself looking for the perfect photo when I am shooting with my DSLR. Over the last 3 years, I have trained myself to be conscious of everything in my viewfinder, constantly thinking of composition, lighting, and narrative. The downside is sometimes I don't think moments are "worth" capturing. I wanted something to carry around to encourage me to look at things differently. To capitalize on little moments that, in the long run, would probably mean more to me.

I feel like I got pretty lucky when I started searching. I made a couple of Instagram stories, followed by a post in a local Facebook photo group. I had multiple people reach out to me the same day. I had one guy send me some options which included the Nikon L35AF, or as its more often referred to as, Pikaichi. The quote below is an excerpt from one of the first articles I stumbled upon when I was researching to see what L35AF was capable of. I am pretty sure I messaged the seller immediately after reading it. It was exactly what I was looking for and it was decently priced. Unsurprisingly, I pulled the trigger.

“At the time of its release, Nikon nicknamed it Pikaichi, meaning top notch, and while self-proclaimed nicknames rarely catch on, this one did. The L35AF became synonymous with quality.”

— Casual Photophile

Tying this up, I think that this little camera is doing more for me than I initially thought it would. I feel like I have been more liberal with what I choose to shoot, allowing myself to better document my day to day life. I think now as a photographer, one of my biggest fears is missing moments that matter. When I first got this camera it was to combat my gut reaction to pass on capturing moments I didn't think would make for interesting photos. Past Bernie probably wouldn't have taken photos of his dad while they are out to coffee, but through this process, I am realizing that those are the things I want to remember most.

Please enjoy what I have captured: