During this slow transition between wedding seasons, I decided to focus on traditional analogue film photography. This in-home maternity session on film is proof! This medium has transformed my photography in so many ways. It requires a slowness and intentionality that I feel is easily forgotten with digital mediums. Photos have become a dime a dozen with the dawning of digital cameras and iPhones. My camera roll of over 17k images is proof. With film, the photograph is already tangible the minute the shutter is released. This is so magical to me as someone who believes very strongly that photos should be held in our hands, touched and felt in more than just our iPhone. Film photography engages all of the senses. You hear the shutter release and the winding of the film from across a room, louder than any silent digital shutter. You feel the glossy film as you open the film back and load it in. You feel the weight of the camera fill your hands, bulky in all the best ways. The first shutter release and wind of the film clickity-clacks in your palm, more satisfying than I can describe. You smell the chemicals during developing (well, the team at Photovision does anyway). You taste the sticker paper on an exposed roll, sealing it tight for shipment to the lab. Not to mention the sight of the images you get back — like Christmas morning every time you see the email that you’re film has been scanned. The colors, true-to-life but with a little extra something. The way the light and color mix to create a dreamy almost painting-like look. The grain, loathed and innovated against in digital technology, so nostalgic and cozy. It makes you feel even the digital scan of a film photograph.

The love I’ve developed – no pun intended – for film has reinvigorated my creative spirit. It’s a new way to explore light, color, & emotion. It makes me slow down, compose, manually focus and choose each frame with intention. Rather than click, click, click away at my digital camera. I hope you love these photos as much as I do. They were taken during a mentorship with Tory Baker and scanned by Photovision.