Film Photography - SB Hopper

A Fallen Son

I caught up with an old friend tonight, and it was fantastic. As the hour approached, I threw up the usual road-blocks. I'm tired. I'm reclusive. Can I reschedule? Grateful that the answer came up no. Go. TB, we went to Bar Cotto, and it was

On the Road

Long Live Free Radicals

Blog

I'm stuck.

Before the pandemic I started moving away from the fast posts on social media. I don't think there's anything wrong with the fast posts on social media. Seriously. There's a lot wrong with the big social media companies, but after that consideration, it'

Blog

Good news bad news

I tried shooting a roll of film on my grandfather's Leica IIIa before leaving Seattle for Arizona. Ended up finishing it on the road. (Posting this one from the phone, please forgive any typos - hate typing on this damn thing.) When I went to unload the film,

On the Streets

Anticipation

If you like photography, there's a good chance you're aware of the intense debates over which is better - film or digital. I'm not interested in those debates, but I'm not criticizing the people who are. I think to some extent this

Photography

Revisiting Rant

I'm an average documentary photographer. I'm an amateur portrait photographer. I love portrait photography, but realistically, I'll top out at average on that front. I haven't got the creative vision or the drive. To be good or great in any field of

Lensatic Essays

A walk in the park

[Note: Updated after move from Squarespace to Ghost.] I’m not above rambling off unproven assertions based on my biases and projections. People are craving outdoor spaces and nature right now. I know I am. My generalized claim is based on anecdotal observations and an internal cry of get me

Film Photography

Hmm, something's not right

I just got back a roll of Kodak TMAX 3200 that I shot with a Pentax K1000. I did something wrong. The grain is off the charts. I shot some of the photos in lighting that I didn’t expect to work at all, but I was surprised by the

Country Aire Port Angeles Best Grocery Store

Port Angeles

My friend Kate and I recently escaped Seattle for a night and headed to Port Angeles. Kate works a day job, organizes several literary events each month featuring women and queer writers, and sells her art every weekend at Georgetown’s Trailer Park Mall. She needed the break. I’m

Abandoned theater

Royal

A little scattered right now with the photography. I need to sit down and get organized. I wish I could remember where this was. Somewhere in California. Between Cambria and Oakland I think. It’s not a great photo, but I like it. Reminds me (perhaps incorrectly) of that main

Dublin

Bad news on the Olympus XA front. Something’s wrong with the focus. I took it in for a repair before taking it to Ireland. Unfortunately, it’s still off. It’s a rangefinder, and it’s a little tricky, so there’s a chance it’s user error. But

anti-Brexit march London

Built to Last

I shot a couple of rolls of film in the UK. I was kicking myself for not shooting more rolls, but it’s a good thing I didn’t. I took an Olympus XA and my grandfather’s Leica IIIa. I’ve been having focusing problems with the XA. I

Backroads to Ojai

North of Ojai

I’m sorting through a lot of October photos to see if I can put together a cohesive narrative. I added some scanned film images to my catalog while I was traveling, so they occasionally sneak up on me as I’m trying to cull the project files. I took

Acros 100

On the Streets: Indian Summer Vintage

One of the many things I love about Capitol Hill is the wealth of small, independent shops. I always like walking past Indian Summer Vintage and seeing the window displays. I think the shop gets a lot of its items from estate sales. One can’t help but imagine the

Film Photography

Focus problem with Olympus XA

One of the many things I like about shooting film is the anticipation and excitement that sets in the moment you drop your rolls off at the lab. Everything else seems to move so fast these days. If we can’t have it instantly, we get frustrated. I’m not

Arizona

A few more from Jerome

Last December I visited my family in Phoenix for the holidays. I went to Jerome for a few days. I took a few photos with my Hasselblad 500cm, and I finally finished the roll. I’ll add the photos below. I still get a little confused working with digital copies

Arizona

Jerome is Haunted

I wanted to see Arizona’s high (higher) desert again, so I went to Jerome, Arizona, for two nights. It’s an Old West frontier town that enjoyed a wild mining boom followed by a long bust. It’s since reinvented itself as a cool mountain town popular with artists,

Arizona

On the Streets: Medina's Automotive

I posted this same photo of Medina’s Automotive in the previous blog post about the Melrose neighborhood in Phoenix. I liked it so much, though, that I figured it could do with its own entry. For years I’ve been driving by this auto repair shop hoping to get

Arizona

On the Streets: Melrose, Phoenix, Arizona

I’m in Phoenix visiting family over the holidays. Several years ago I discovered Copper Star Coffee in Phoenix’s Melrose neighborhood. It’s a great coffee shop in a converted old-timey gas station. I liked it immediately. Copper Star Coffee, Melrose, Phoenix, December 2018. I try to make it

Acros

Olympus XA: first results

A few weeks ago I was in Portland, which invariably means a trip to Blue Moon Camera [https://www.bluemooncamera.com] in the St. Johns neighborhood. I bought some film, and then made the “mistake” of asking about their point and shoot film cameras. I walked out of there with

Capitol Hill

Fujifilm Quick Snap 400

I recently bought a few disposable cameras for my niece to take on a trip. She’s a really good photographer and has a good digital camera, but there’s something to be said for slowing down, shooting on film, and not knowing what you’ve got until you can

DC

Bad Photography

I’ve been looking through my old negatives for a few photos. I was reminded that I used to be a pretty bad photographer. I’m not sure I’ve improved much over the years (or decades), but I’m at least more deliberate with the shots I take. I

Byzantium

Past Life: Turkey

I should be finishing up my March For Our Lives post. Instead I got distracted by some old photos of Turkey. I taught English in Istanbul from 2000-2002. Incredible people, city, and country. For a while I had the notion of charting a course for retirement in a small Turkish

Bakdash Ice Cream Parlor

Is there still ice cream in Syria?

I visited Syria in 2001 and 2004. Beautiful country with warm, friendly people. It wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot. Even if you went there without knowing it was an authoritarian police state with a history of brutal crackdowns by Hafez Assad, you probably would have been able

Analog Coffee

Chasing Light (leaks)

I got my first roll of film back from my used Hasselblad 500c/m. There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the camera works. The bad news is that there’s a light leak. The other bad news is that even though #filmisnotdead , #filmisexpensive. I