one kid, one roll, on film :: june

Because I even love the out of focus ones...

We headed to the mountains as a late birthday gift for me last month. It was pretty much the best present ever. I grew up near the Great Smoky Mountains, and here, in Coastal Virginia, the topography doesn't bump or ridge much above 9 feet above sea level. We're flat landers now. I'll do a post on that trip soon since I have lots of photos to share.

These One Kid posts have grown to become as much about my photographic journey as they have about Cal, and as I look at them and love these shots, I see so much truth in myself as a photographer. When you first start to take photography seriously, and I see this in my students all the time, there's a push to consider going "pro." And if not going pro necessarily, then specializing. Finding your niche. Weddings. Boudoir. Newborns. Family. Street. Food. Still Life. Landscape. There's a tendency to want to do it all. So many things to try.

I could write a million posts about my journey, my continuing journey to find my voice, and someday I will, but when I look these shots I think specifically about the difference between lifestyle photography and portraiture. I love lifestyle photography. Capturing a family or a people in real, seeming unscripted moments. Do I love shooting it? Not as much.

I knew over the course of this yearlong project I wanted a more unscripted month where I caught Cal being Cal, but the truth is, I feel like I enjoy the process more and really capture him best when I'm shooting true portraits. Go figure! Am I glad I have these? Heck yes! Will I do it again? Probably. The year is long, after all. But boy, I learned something big this month.

I've been intrigued by portraiture for awhile, and I think about dipping in a toe, but how? I'm awkward and shy! I know I'll rely on my army of film shooters to guide me and my favorite subject to keep practicing on.

The deets: Kodak Portra 160, shot on a 35 mm Canon Elan7. Developed and scanned by the FIND Lab.

Our circle grows more amazing each month, and after me you can find the lovely Tricia Boutelle, Lifestyle and Photography. She has a daughter the same age as Cal, and I just love that!

field day on film

Okay. I know I said I'd get you to the beach in Clearwater today, but. Life happened. I'm testing a new camera (long story), Field Day rolled around (every year!), and I cheated and used our local Walgreen's for developing. Film photos dropped off and picked up on the same day? A miracle!

If there's one frustration I have with film, okay, I have a few, it's the delay in seeing my photos. And honestly, that delay is usually both a blessing and a curse. Generally I like it. It's part of the slowing down that film makes me do, and all of that slowing down is good. But with things like Field Day, I want to tell the story, and sometimes I want to tell it right away. Before it gets too far away.

So Saturday was Field Day at Cal's school, and as I said on Instagram, it's A Really Big Deal. It's the school's major fundraising event for the year, and generally a real blast for kids and families. How big a deal is it? Well, we had a coastal storm dumping wind and rain and tidal flooding on us all day on Friday (another canceled baseball game), but Saturday? Well Saturday dawned sunny and warm. Even Mother Nature wants to go to Field Day.

A perennial favorite are the lemons with the peppermint sticks, and I finally got my own this year. Cal's pretty under the weather right now, and he was miserable this weekend. What got him out of bed Saturday morning? Those lemons. So tempting to make my own, but I don't think it would be the same.

It was worth it when we got there, because hello, Dunk Tank! We're not old timers to this school and this is only our 6th Field Day. Still, we don't remember a Dunk Tank before. It was a Big Hit. All the baseball kids lined up, and as you can see from the photos, a few prospects too. Apparently Cal dunked his English teacher and his Latin teacher too. He says he hugged his English teacher right after, but I guess his Latin teacher was still on her shift in the tank when he had to leave. There goes the Latin grade.

Cal spent the rest of the weekend coughing and slurping on the sofa, but I still think it was worth it. You can't miss Field Day. And I'll remember my Walgreen's trick this time next year.

All photos were shot on Fuji Superia consumer grade film on a Canon Elan 7E and developed at my local Walgreens. (For the Win!)