My second roll of film
Newsletter #10
I told myself I wouldn’t write this about the weather. Multiple times. But as the heat continues to consume me while I try and spill some words onto this page, I can’t think about anything else. Plus I’m British, it’s what we do, and who am I to argue with that.
I love the summertime for the longer days, pub gardens and BBQs, but aside from that, I think I prefer literally any other season. I find that, despite those long days offering endless opportunities to do things, my motivation wanes significantly as soon as the temperatures begin to rise. And this has been super evident recently in my photography.
Since getting back from Portugal a month ago, I’ve barely touched my digital camera. No lunchtime walks. No evenings in town after the kids are asleep. Not even any editing of old photos, which lets be honest isn’t exactly energy-sapping. I just can’t bring myself to do it.
That said, I don’t just shoot digital anymore - and I have felt slightly more compelled to go out with my 35mm Pentax ME Super film camera which I got a few weeks ago. Now, for those of you who read my previous newsletter, you’ll know my first roll of film didn’t quite go to plan, and you can catch up on the results here if you’d like to. Thankfully, my second roll turned out a little differently.
What I should mention at this point, is that I no longer use the camera that produced the photos from roll one. I convinced myself it wasn’t completely my fault that all the images turned out blurry or weirdly exposed, and as it was still in warranty, I sent it back and bought an identical, albeit black-bodied, replacement. That one arrived just in time for an Analogue Wonderland photowalk in Exeter, led by the immensely talented Dan and Matt.
It turns out, however, that being surrounded by experienced film photographers, doesn’t automatically make me one. As we sat down for a beer at the end of a scorching afternoon, I came to realise I hadn’t loaded the film properly, and not a single image which I thought I’d got, was there. Can’t blame the camera for that one, dickhead.
The very faint silver lining was that the film was still unused. So that evening I loaded it again - properly - and went back out to retrace some of the route, and then finished off the roll the following day at home with the kids.
Back to the weather for a second, oh boy it’s hot, my keyboard is literally slippery with sweat. Maybe I should get to the point a bit quicker….
THE IMAGES WEREN’T BLURRY! Or weirdly exposed, too light, too dark, out of focus (ok well some might have been that). What a different emotional experience it was receiving the scans back this time.
So here you are, below are some of the images from my second roll of film, with my second 35mm analogue camera, on my third attempt. Film photography is ridiculous, perhaps digital was invented for a reason. That said, I’m currently waiting on my scans back from rolls three and four…
18 July 2026
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