a song of the open road

"Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road, 

Healthy, free, the world before me, 

The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose. 

 

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune, 

Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, 

Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms, 

Strong and content I travel the open road...."

 

"The earth, that is sufficient, 

I do not want the constellations any nearer, 

I know they are very well where they are, 

I know they suffice for those who belong to them. 

 

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens, 

I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go, 

I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them, 

I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.) "

- Walt Whitman
 

first try at film

I bought a medium format film camera off of ebay, having never shot film in my life, and decided to just dive in. The look of film makes me feel something deep, and shooting with it makes me a much more thoughtful photographer, since I only have a handful of shots per roll (and it's ridiculously expensive).

Unfortunately, this camera is manual focus and viewed through a tiny, dark prism finder, which has led to an enormous amount of blurry pictures. Or maybe I am just freaking blind. I don't know. These are some of the only shots, out of three rolls, that were not completely out of focus. Really frustrating! I have a feeling I will be selling this baby in the future for something with auto focus. I'm just not sure I have the eyesight or patience to master it. We'll see.

Anyway, want to know the raddest part of this experiment? I do not have to edit my images. What the whaaaaat?! These are straight outta the camera and scanned thoughtfully by Indie Film Lab. Booooom!! 

Mamiya 645 Pro TL, Ektar 100, Scans by Indie Film Lab

Mamiya 645 Pro TL,  TRI-X 400, Ektar 100,  Scans by Indie Film Lab