life on film

did i already tell you about [one of] the amazing film cameras i have?

it's this little yellow beauty. a vintage (circa 1987) minolta weathermatic, 35mm waterproof camera. my bestie, carol, found it in a second hand shop here on the island when she was house-and-cat-sitting for us earlier this year and left it here as a gift for me.

the only thing that seemed to be wrong with it was that the cover of the battery housing was stuck half open (or closed). and, with a bit of careful jiggling and poking at it with a blunt knife end, i managed to get it open and replace the batteries.

next, the film. loading it with one from my stash, i took a gamble that it was still working.

and i wasn't disappointed.

i love film for so many reasons. one of which is the trip down memory lane i get when a roll comes back and i put it in the scanner. it often takes me a while to use a whole roll, so it can be months before i see the end result. i also love it because its unpredictable and deliciously grainy and feels ethereal, even though film is a tangible object.

here's a few from my most recent roll - a black and white roll of expired ilford hp5

i've got my next roll of film loaded in now though i suspect i'll get through this one, and a couple more, quite quickly over the next week, because...

...we're off to the south island to meet up with carol and her lovely man in queenstown. we're staying there for two nights, then off on a shared adventure to pātea / doubtful sound (the second-largest fiord in fiordland national park). i can't wait!