So I am now a film nerd. I didn’t think it would happen, but it absolutely came in and swept me off of my dainty feet.

It all started when Sarah and I decided that we needed a little vacation back home to see our family. While we were there visiting, my grandfather decided to give me his old Hasselblad 500 C/M. You reading this likely have no idea what that is, but it is an extremely sought after medium format film camera that just about every famous picture taken from the 60s-90s was taken on. It’s like the holy grail of film cameras. To say I was thrilled was an understatement, so I happily took possession and bought a bunch of rolls of film at an awesome camera shop in Sacramento (Mike’s Camera). I excitedly read the 430 page manual like a teenager reading Twilight, and off I went.

This first roll was shot in Sacramento and then on our way to Fort Bragg, where our child free vacation awaited us. You can click on all of these to zoom in and see how incredible the detail and colors are. Unlike digital photography, I have not edited these in any way (other than to straighten the occasional horizon). The film I used for this batch was Portra 400, which I guess I would describe as low(ish) contrast, high(ish) saturation and really pastel-y colored. I know, you’re disappointed with the lack of terminology, but that is the best I can do.

The first image is at a delicious sandwich shop on Sacramento, followed by my mother-in-law’s flower garden. We hit the road and came to Clear Lake and the colors were amazing. Past Clear Lake, the drive became much more wooded as we snaked through the coastal mountain range.

The other thing I failed to mention is that this camera only takes 12 pictures per roll of film, so it makes me MUCH more aware of the things I decide to capture.

Almost to Fort Bragg, I ran out of frames and loaded up another film called Ektar 100. It is much more saturated and contrasty than Portra and I really loved how these turned out.

The flower covered hillside was definitely foreshadowing the theme of our trip: flowers everywhere. The eroded coastline and incredibly blue water is something that is really indescribable to someone who has not seen it. Every time I go back to that place I am stunned all over again. We headed to our glamping site to settle in and took a quick trip to glass beach. Glass beach is the remnants of broken glass bottles and other garbage that the ocean has tumbled into soft, round seaglass. It leaves a strange emotion when you see it; you feel ashamed and in awe.

Back to Portra 400 for the next batch.

We went to Jackson Demonstration State Forest to hang out with some old redwood trees and enjoy some of the incredible coastal forest. As far as I could tell, we were the only humans around for miles in that place, and to be honest, I think it was my favorite part of the trip. The smell of the air, the calmness, the bird noises, and wild Columbines… It was perfect.

We came back into town for lunch and went to Noyo Harbor, where the fishing boats all come back to sell their bounty. The fresh seafood was better than I could have imagined, so much so that we came back to this harbor everyday of our trip in order to gorge ourselves.

I popped in a roll of Fuji Acros II 100 (which is black and white obviously), and fell asleep.

The next day we went driving up the coast, and stopped at Noyo Harbor again to eat (hence the same crab pots). If you’ve read any of my other writing, you would know that I tend to shy away from black and white for self-confidence reasons, but I have to say that I think these turned out beautifully. I especially like the tree corridors and the one of Sarah walking to the water.

We explored until dark; our eyes and minds exhausted by the overwhelming beauty of it all. Back to our tent we went, warm and awash in the sounds of the sea.

Our last day in Fort Bragg arrived and I loaded up a Portra 400 roll again as we left.

The main street of Fort Bragg is adorable, flushed with tiny shops and quaint Northern-Coast restaurants. The yards of the local homes are foaming with flowers and the size of the trees really confirms the miniscule nature of our species. We parked the car and walked under a bridge to the beach and enjoyed each other’s company; one last day of serenity.

I put in my last roll of Portra 400 and we headed back to Noyo Harbor one last time for some fresh crab.

The harbor and the pretty lady are the last remnants of Fort Bragg that I captured. Fat and happy, we embarked back to the foothills of California to where I am from. The canyon, houseplants, and Japanese Maple are all from my parent’s home, which is exactly how I remember it being.

The last leg of our journey was to go to Lake Tahoe and meet up with my parents and children. The last photos are of that incredible drive, and of the greenery of the actual rental.

The trip was amazing, and I am thrilled to have fallen in love with film; it is wholly unique and pleasurable. The tactile thump of the shutter and the soothing vibration of winding the film are all things I did not know that I needed. I already have more rolls being processed at the lab, of the Tahoe trip, and of miscellaneous oddities. I can’t wait for you to see them!