I took my first photo on film when I was around 11.
My grandpa had a camera, and occasionally he let me into his creative process. I vaguely remember how we turned negatives into photographs in a bathroom lit by red light. It was magic!

In my teenage years, my dad gifted me an automatic point-and-shoot, and I still have albums full of those reckless masterpieces.

Then came the digital era, and I turned photography into my profession. I didn’t think about film for 18 years. Actually… that’s not entirely true. I used to look at film photographers like they were slightly unhinged, outdated lunatics. But somewhere along the way, I fell in love with the film aesthetic. Thanks, Instagram. Thanks, all those artists who refused to go digital.

So eventually, I gave in and bought a second-hand analog point-and-shoot. Not long after, I realised I wanted control (obviously), so I bought an old, fully manual Olympus. Because why make things easy?

After memorising the Sunny 16 rule, I felt ready to give it a shot (pun very much intended). I brought it to two photoshoots as a second camera, just to “test the waters” and see how good I was. When I got the scans back…there were no photos. None. Turns out, the film hadn’t been loaded properly. What a strong start.

So for the second shoot, I came PREPARED.
Notebook to write down every exposure? Check.
Sunny 16 revised? Check.
Light meter app? Check.
Confidence? Questionable, but present.

I asked Alex to be my guinea pig, and off we went, to a black sand beach, on a bright sunny day. With no backup camera. Because clearly, I make excellent decisions.

Well… at least we had fun ))

Out of 36 frames, I exposed… maybe two correctly.

But you know what?

I don’t fail.
I just… collect very expensive lessons 🎞️😄