Ah, the Ninth Grade Formal. It seems like ages ago. I know I'm taking a bit of a hiatus, here and everywhere really (except for maybe Instagram), but I can't not participate in my beloved One Kid, One Roll, Once a Month project. I knew when Cal's Ninth Grade Formal rolled around last month that I'd be using those photos for this project for sure.

At Cal's school the Ninth Grade Formal is a Big Deal. Whew! As big as I remember my Jr/Sr Prom in high school. He went with a great friend of his (with her permission, I'll share those photos in the next little bit), which is the best way to do that kind of thing, and they had a blast, it seems. Cal had been wanting a suit for ages, so we used the occasion to buy him one as a graduation from middle school gift. Somehow he ended up with two. That kid always swings a deal.

I used the occasion to take some more formal portraits, which I loved doing, and could do more and more I think. Portraiture = scary for me, but also portraiture = a way to push myself and fun. I'll take some volunteers if anyone else wants to get in front of the camera. Anyone! ;)

My friend Amy Bethune comes next in our circle. I think her kids are so stunning. I can't wait to see what she's up to this month!

gratitude

Oh, hey, we're back! It's time again for One Kid, One Roll, Once a Month. You may remember that I joined in on this project, which was founded by my friend Jen Golay, last month and includes some other wonderful Film Mamas. You might also remember that I whined and moaned my way through the whole thing, but that's a story for another day.

I was not thrilled with last month's photos. Not technically at least. My story of not being thrilled but being willing to feel that way resonated with a lot of people, at least. Hold it lightly.

So I had some goals for this month. Aside from just "take a picture!" I wanted to learn and do better and manage the light and focus better (so, "everything") than in last month's photos. I challenged myself a little by shooting a new film (Kodak Portra 800), but you know what? It did go better! I bought myself Elizabeth Messina's The Luminous Portrait and learned so much from the tips she shared in that book. If these photos fall down on being too much the same (style-wise) as last month, they're world's ahead in gaining understanding of light and focus. And my limitations. Plus, Cal got a haircut.

But that's not the story I want to tell this month. I've talked a lot among my forum about how Cal had grown uncomfortable with me taking his picture in recent months. Prickly is too tame a word when it comes to describing his reaction when my camera came out. I blame myself. This summer when I was starting to teach my Intro classes, I used him as a model a lot. Too much, really. Combine the struggle in our relationship with my deepening artistic funk...well, you can see how unhappy I must have been.

That all changed with film. I loaded up Christine's camera and took Cal to the back yard and snapped a couple of shots of him. "That's it?" he said, when I said we were done. Yes. That's all. Not "let me take one more," over and over again. Somehow, with film, he's thawing. He likes its renaissance nature. He likes that it's old fashioned. He likes that I don't take forever. He doesn't always want to help me, but dare I admit it, he likes making me happy.

And the camera I took these shots with? My Pentax K1000? He got it for me for Christmas.

Please go check out Michigan Film Photographer, Dena Robles and her gorgeous work this month. The work in the circle gets better and better as the women grow closer and closer.

one kid, one roll, on film :: july

one kid, one roll, on film :: march