Film Blunders

 Lancaster PA 


They say practice makes perfect. Shunryu Suzuki, a Zen Buddhist teacher, frequently spoke of practice, and that without it, your practice would become difficult. My practice with film photography is far from perfect, in fact, it's filled with many little blunders. Not letting the failures deter you, especially in the beginning, and finding the grit to load another roll or attempt another develop with no promise of images is paramount. 

Early in my film shooting exploration, which is about 5 years, stumbles were frequent. Learning to load the reels in the dark bag, mixing chemicals, and the development process was all brand new to me. YouTube videos and articles were my instructors, but those could only do so much. The learning was in the actual practice. I remember one particular instance where after a struggle in the dark bag for what seemed like an eternity, I finally gave up on that film, tears of frustration wanting to surface. 

As my practice progressed, so did my focus. Notes for my developing sessions evolved as I found comfort lanes and points of concern. Reviewing notes before develops has proved fruitful for my practice, but blunders, big or small, still can find a way in during the process. Forgetting to wind the film before unloading, uncapping the develop tank before time, accidentally missing a step, using the wrong chemistry are some of the mental lapses that have happened. Some mistakes crucial, others sometimes giving a nice result. 


 Exposed to light while unloading film | Kodak Ultra 400



Exposed during develop | Fujifilm 200


Frame cut wrong | Kodak Portra 800

I'm embracing practice with all its blunders, big or small. They say practice makes perfect, but I'm not interested in perfection. Perfect would mean you can stop. I want to keep practicing, learning and evolve. 

"If you lose the spirit of repetition, your practice will become quite difficult" - Shunryu Suzuki

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