Tag: film photography

Which Film Camera Should You Buy?

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One question I get a lot is what my film camera set up is, and what cameras would I recommend if you’re just starting out.

I don’t have a go-to camera, although my new Nikon FM2 is rarely put down long enough to gather any dust. I have a collection of film cameras, all of which are second hand and most of which are thrifted. In this blog post I’ll run through the main protagonists in my film camera collection and the pros and cons of each, to help you decide which film camera you should buy.

My Cameras

My first film camera was a Pentax ME Super that I inherited from my grandmother. She used to show me old family photos taken on it, and I was astonished at the quality. One day, the shutter ceased functioning, and I never managed to get it fixed, so I went to my local store to replace it. Nowadays, I would probably have looked on Youtube for a fix, but this was ten years ago and I was a lazy teenager. My second film camera ended up being a Pentax K1000, in my view an even better camera than the ME Super. These two cameras operate and perform really similarly, however the ME Super is electronic and the K1000 fully mechanical. It is the reliability of the K1000 that has made me lean more towards fully mechanical setups later in life. ‘Fully mechanical’ means that the cameras operate just fine with or without a battery. Since buying my K1000 ten years ago, I have never had it fail me. So, the short answer to the title question is this: I shoot with my Pentax K1000 and Nikon FM2 the most, with 28mm (2), 35 (2.8) and 50mm (1.4) prime lenses. They are built like tanks and I am very confident in their ability to withstand a little bashing about in the bottom of my bag. I’ll be the first to say that I don’t take the best care of my cameras, and sometimes they look a little worse for wear.

Pentax K1000

I honestly believe that the Pentax K1000 is one of the best film cameras you can start out with. It is so intuitive and so robust, it does exactly what it needs to do and nothing more. There are no confusing extra knobs and dials, it boasts no extra functions you don’t need, this thing is a solid workhorse. The K1000 has only three shooting controls: aperture, shutter speed and focusing. You don’t need to remember turn it on or off, it’s always ready to shoot. For that reason, it will forever be a part of my film camera arsenal. If I am going out to shoot something that is really important to me, I will likely grab my K1000 over all of my other cameras due to the fact it has never let me down (edit: in 2023 it is now probably my Nikon FM2 I’ll reach for). I actually just got a K1000 for one of my best friends to replace a camera of hers that broke, and I’m so excited to see the results (spoiler, they’re awesome).

All shot on my Pentax K1000.

Nikon FM2

The Nikon FM2 is becoming a fast favourite of mine for similar reasons. It is built as solidly (in my opinion) as the K1000, with some nifty extra features. These include depth of field preview, self timer, multiple exposure lever, and being able to see both shutter speed and aperture in the spacious viewfinder. It also has a wider array of compatible lenses, that are more readily available than the Pentax K-Mount. When asking the question ‘which film camera should I buy?’, you should consider how familiar you are or are not with the basic concepts of photography, as many of these extra settings can become confusing and even frustrating. My only pet peeve with the Nikon is the shutter lock; you are unable to shoot a photo when the wind lever is not cocked out, which can lead to missing a time-sensitive shot if you forget. If I was to nitpick, I also prefer the Pentax K1000’s needle light meter as opposed to the LED meter in the Nikon. It is just personal preference, but I like to see where the needle is in reference to the over/under exposure guides, instead of simply overexposed or underexposed. I would say that the FM2 is a logical purchase once you’ve mastered the basics of film photography on a camera like the Pentax K1000 (when you are ready to start experimenting with more settings, without it being confusing).

A women jumps from a boat in Rhodes, Greece
Photos shot on my Nikon FM2

Canon EOS 1N

Coming from digital photography, I have always used Canon (edit: in 2023 I now use Sony). If you are interested in shooting 35mm and are coming from Canon digital SLRs, then a Canon EOS film camera would be a great starter choice. Every EF lens made from 1987 until today will work on the 1N, which was the main reason for my purchase. The shutter speed goes all the way up to 1/8000, pretty much as good as it gets with film and digital SLRs. Features that I love are the film rewind button, the multiple exposure settings, and, of course, the autofocus. However, the autofocus has let me down more often than not as of late, and I tend to only operate this camera on manual focus after messing up one shot too many. There are so many more things that make this camera great, as you have essentially full creative latitude over the picture, almost to the extend of a digital body. The difference being, of course, you cannot preview or check your shot in a LCD display. I would argue this camera is not for beginners, but for confident digital photographers. I would also say that this camera is nowhere near as reliable as the aforementioned mechanical cameras I shoot with.

Within a month of owning my 1N, I have had many focusing issues and had it completely cease to function in the middle of a trip abroad with the dreaded *bc error* code. After doing some research, I spent some time picking the camera apart with a screwdriver, anxiously glued to Youtube. I have had to repair this camera three times now for the same issue (magnets sticking), and I will now likely have trust issues with this camera forever, as it’s not a quick fix you can do in the field. When asking the question ‘which film camera should I buy?’, you should consider how willing you are to get stuck in to fixing electrical problems by yourself. Despite these minor annoyances, I do still love using the 1N and the feel of a proper bulky SLR to shoot film with, but I will always bring a backup camera when taking it out. I’ve made several impulsive and recklessly uninformed photography purchases in the last few years, but I can safely say the EOS-1N isn’t one of them. I love the results I get with this camera.

Tropical plants on 35mm film
A Canon EOS 1N collection

Lenses I Love

My go-to lenses are 50mm or 35mm prime lenses. For portraits, I use a 50mm Nikkor f/1.4 on my Nikon FM2, and a 50mm 1.8 on my Canon 1V. I really like the classic field of view that 50mm lenses afford the viewer. Sure, it has limitations it has in terms of its focal length, but this challenges me to be more creative. If you put your hands stretched vertically at the outer edges of your eyes (like horse blinkers), the edge of your hands is the limit to the frame on a 50mm lens; the magnification is pretty much exactly the same as your own human scope of view. I use a 50mm for portraits and documentary style photos, and the 35mm for landscapes and adventure. It’s worth noting that prime lenses have a fixed focal length, which means there is no zoom function. Many of these are also manual focus only, at least in the film world. Instead of zooming with your hand, you will zoom with your feet. You will move a lot more and be very creative with your positioning. Without the temptation to zoom, you will undoubtedly become more adventurous with your framing.

Point And Shoots

Point and shoots are a fantastic starting point if you’re new to photography in general. They are built with simplicity and ease in mind (hence the term: just point and shoot) and usually sport a fixed lens. This means that you’ll learn one of the crucial skills of photographer early on: composition. A point-and-shoot camera is a great choice if you don’t want to carry anything heavy or worry over complicated settings. They’re super compact and easy to slip into your pocket, so you can take them adventuring with you without a backpack. They’re also very versatile, many of them armed with a built-in flash to capture those late-night party shots. These point and shoots come in a variety of price points, but you don’t need to spend a lot. The more fashionable ones such as the Contax T2 toted by Kendall Jenner & Zendaya will set you back over $1500, but this is more of a trend than any kind of superiority. If you’re wanting so splash the cash on some fancy glass, research the Contax series or the Nikon 35TI. If you’re just starting out, then I would recommend something like a Nikon L35AF or an Olympus Mju I.

Photos shot on point and shoot cameras.

Lenses I Love

My go-to lenses are 50mm or 35mm prime lenses. For portraits, I use a 50mm Nikkor f/1.4 on my Nikon FM2, and a 50mm 1.8 on my Canon 1V. I really like the classic field of view that 50mm lenses afford the viewer. Sure, it has limitations it has in terms of its focal length, but this challenges me to be more creative. If you put your hands stretched vertically at the outer edges of your eyes (like horse blinkers), the edge of your hands is the limit to the frame on a 50mm lens; the magnification is pretty much exactly the same as your own human scope of view. I use a 50mm for portraits and documentary style photos, and the 35mm for landscapes and adventure. It’s worth noting that prime lenses have a fixed focal length, which means there is no zoom function. Many of these are also manual focus only, at least in the film world. Instead of zooming with your hand, you will zoom with your feet. You will move a lot more and be very creative with your positioning. Without the temptation to zoom, you will undoubtedly become more adventurous with your framing.

Film

I shoot almost exclusively on Kodak Portra 400. To my understanding, this film stock is super popular because it is so dang reliable. It is also really forgiving, meaning if you over or under expose by a few stops, your shot will more than likely still turn out really well. I order it in 5 packs from Moment, and the shipping is so fast! Now I’m not a film nerd by any means, I haven’t done a ton of film research, and I don’t tend to shoot indoors much (if ever). The consistently good results I get from Portra 400 make me reluctant to switch. I always aim to shoot in warm, golden light and I feel that Portra always performs beautifully in soft sunlight. A cheaper alternative to this if you’re looking to achieve photos with warm tones would be Kodak Gold 200 or Portra 160.

Conclusion

So, in summary, the film cameras I shoot with the most are fully mechanical. The Nikon FM2, Pentax K1000 and Canon EOS 1N are my go-to cameras. My go-to film is Portra 400 as I have yet to find a scenario in which is has failed me. My most used lens is a 50mm prime, but I do often use zoom lenses for landscape photography. Follow my film adventures on Instagram for more.

Nikonos V Review: The Ultimate Film Camera for Outdoor Adventure

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Written for Field Mag.

A huge blotch of rain lands on my shutter dial, lightly splattering my right cheek. Then another hits my eyelid—exposed to the elements as I’m facing skyward, trying to catch a photo of the howler monkey a few feet above my head. A distant, low rumble of thunder. The monkey slips out of view, taking shelter as the pitter patter of rain hitting foliage grows in intensity to a seemingly impossible volume. The heavens have opened, a deluge like I’ve never seen, leaving me instantly drenched. For a nanosecond, my heart stops. I love my daily shooter—my Nikon FM2. But I’m also quietly terrified every time I bring it outside in any sort of weather; it’s expensive, beautiful, and precious.

Thankfully, that camera was tucked away safely at home. In my hand was my trusty, strikingly orange Nikonos V, one of the most legendary 35mm film cameras ever made. This is a camera built for a specific purpose: to be used where other cameras will drown and die.

History of the Nikonos V

The brainchild of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, the Nikonos made its public debut as the world’s first fully-fledged underwater camera at the 1963 Photokina Fair in Germany, where it was displayed submerged in an aquarium. Two decades later, Nikon released their final and most advanced version of the manual-focus camera, the Nikonos V. The fifth-generation Nikonos V had through-the-lens metering and aperture-priority auto exposure capabilities, along with an impressive quiver of superb lenses and strobe choices. For almost two decades it would stand as the most successful underwater and all-weather camera that Nikon (or anyone else) had ever made. It was the go-to choice of underwater photographers, amateur and professional alike. If you see an underwater photo from the 1960s, ’70s, or ’80s, it was likely shot with a Nikonos.

Nowadays, the Nikonos V has a deserved reputation of being the toughest and most durable film camera around. For adventurous photographers who shoot on mountains, atop skis, or in surf, and in rain, snow, sleet, hail, mud, or smoke, the Nikonos is simply the film camera to own if you don’t care to be at the mercy of the elements when your shot is on the line. Designed for scuba diving, the Nikonos can go as deep as 50 meters underwater, more than deep enough for recreational divers. But even if you never intend to use it underwater, because of its simple mechanics and rugged build, the Nikonos is an excellent all-weather travel companion.

Nikonos V Review

Unlike my FM2, the Nikonos V isn’t precious, and is ambivalent about being chucked into the depths of a backpack. You don’t have to worry about hurriedly stashing it away when the skies open, either. It is, essentially, a watertight brick of metal that you can take anywhere. Armed with the Nikonos V and its signature 35mm f/2.5 lens, I set out care-free for a month of adventuring in Costa Rica, ready to take on all the mud, rain, and humidity that the rainforest would throw at me. Still, the question remains: how well does this camera shoot?

Operating the Nikonos V

This camera takes some getting used to. Since you’re not looking through the lens to compose your photo like you would with an SLR, the viewfinder window is merely an estimate of what the camera sees, so you have to compose accordingly. (Leica users will feel more at home here.) There are definitely some additional nuances to the Nikonos, too. Aperture and focus are controlled by robust, twistable knobs extending out from either side of the lens. Reading the corresponding f/stop number requires flipping the camera upside down to look at it—a habit that can be a little frustrating to form. Focusing is one part experience, one part luck, while composing shots can be, at first, a maddening exercise of second-guessing and fiddling. But once you’ve broken it in and figured out these quirks, the Nikonos is a remarkably intuitive and simple camera.

Nikonos V Construction

The bright orange exterior, alongside being aesthetically stunning, makes it very easy to spot if you happen to drop it in the ocean (users beware: it doesn’t float!). Despite its heft (the Nikonos V weighs in at 873g), it isn’t a cumbersome accessory like some cameras (I’m looking at you, Pentax 6×7). Well-designed rubber pads and a large anatomic grip give the user a great hold, which is especially useful underwater. The large advance lever can even be operated with wetsuit gloves on since there’s no fiddly housing to navigate.

But this camera doesn’t just shine in the water. As a scale focus camera, there is no rangefinder—nor a mirror—so the image composed through the viewfinder is at best an estimation of what the lens will capture. The lack of mirror also means that the shutter makes almost no noise and is thus perfect for unobtrusive street and travel photography. Although it requires batteries for aperture priority mode metering, the Nikonos has a mechanical release at 1/90 of a second as a stopgap if you experience unexpected battery failure.

Shooting With the Nikonos V

The Nikonos V also has the brightest, clearest viewfinder I have ever used—since it was designed with scuba masks in mind, it is very wide and can be viewed clearly from quite some distance. The simplicity of using the Nikonos V may be surprising to some, given that it’s such a specialized and purpose-built device. But the reality is that it’s less like a professional underwater camera and more like a high-grade point-and-shoot, if you want to shoot it as such. Think: user-friendly, submarine Leica.

The Nikonos also has an impressive quiver of lenses that don’t leak when installed properly. These specialized underwater-only “UW” lenses are still regarded as the best underwater optics ever made. Bear in mind that the UW lenses are for use underwater only—they will not focus correctly unless submerged, as the front elements are designed to work in conjunction with the magnification index of water (brain exploding emoji). I used the W Nikkor 35mm f/2.5 (the standard lens). In this case, the “W” marking denotes that the lens is a waterproof amphibious lens, meaning that it will work equally well when used either above or below the water’s surface.

After shooting a few rolls of film on my Nikonos, I came to understand the value of this truly exceptional travel companion. Street style, portraiture, macro, landscapes, underwater—this is the one camera to do it all. You need to feel the weight and ergonomics of it in your hand to appreciate how tough it is; this thing is built to survive the apocalypse. As Ken Rockwell put it: “Impervious to everything…If you’re expecting trouble, this is the camera to bring… Anything that comes your way is more likely to kill you than kill this camera.”

I was also very pleasantly surprised with this camera’s ability to take portraits. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t very nervous—determining exactly how many centimeters Ben’s eyes were from the camera wasn’t easy and I wasn’t hyper-confident in the shot. The results came out better than expected. The shutter speed of 1/90 produced some really pleasing results, allowing me to shoot fast-moving water without a tripod. And the amphibious lenses still perform very well underwater, despite tricky conditions. I can’t wait to see how the underwater-specific lenses perform in clearer water and good light though.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the trip, I was really impressed with the versatility of this camera. I love the 35mm focal length, and it excelled the most where I had the least expectations: in macro and portrait shots. Landscape shots are pleasantly uncomplicated, thanks to the infinity focus option, whilst the f/2.5 aperture still allows for excellent foreground blur. The enormous viewfinder meant I was able to compose quickly and efficiently, which is a rarity in the rest of my film camera collection.

The Nikonos V is the toughest Nikon ever built, and its renowned image quality combined with a durable build (not to mention a gorgeous steampunk aesthetic) massively outweigh the minor inconveniences of its bulk and operational nuance. Being a little haphazard by nature, I wasn’t worried about dropping it, spilling beer on it, fogging the viewfinder or even scratching the lens. Rugged, sexy, and outstandingly reliable, this beauty will likely accompany me on every trip until the end of my days, water or no water.

Film: Portra 400 & Ektachrome 100

My First Roll on the Nikonos V

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Well, I always thought manual focusing at 1.4 was kinda hard. Turns out zone focusing strangers in the powerful Pacific Ocean is really, really hard. I picked up a Nikonos V last minute before a trip to Mexico on eBay, and it arrived from Japan just in time!

My first impression was that it was really quite chunky, but I loved it. This is a beast of a 35mm camera, produced between 1963 and 2001, and is part of Nikon’s Nikonos series and can handle what seems like anything. It’s built like a complete brick, with a reputation for being ultra-tough and ready for even the harshest environments. Photographers have used it in extreme weather events such as hurricanes, hailstorms, riots, sandstorms and any other nasty or difficult location to shoot photos. I find myself in quite a few nasty and tricky locations to shoot these days, so I’m hoping we’re a match made in heaven!

The Nikonos V is an underwater camera that is usable up to 50 metres (164 ft) below the surface. It’s heavy, clunky and comes in bright orange or camo green! After some quick googling and a few Youtube videos, I greased up the seals, loaded some film and took it into the ocean in San Pancho, Sayulita for a spin.

The Nikonos V is a rangefinder camera – what’s a rangefinder, you ask? They are pretty new to me too. Rangefinders use range-finding focusing mechanism which requires the photographer to measure the subject distance before taking the photos. Rangefinder cameras don’t have a mirror, and have a reputation for having very high image quality.

The Nikonos specifically is actually a scale-focus camera. This means there’s no focusing aid, like you’d have with an atypical rangefinder. Instead, you focus with a scale located on the lens. The Nikkor lenses have two dials, an aperture dial (for selecting your aperture), and a focusing scale dial which will then increase or decrease the distance you can focus within, based on the aperture you have chosen.

This all sounds really confusing, but in broad daylight, it’s actually pretty easy to focus if you shoot at f/8 and above. It’s important to remember with this camera that if you shoot wide open at 2.5, you’ll have a really narrow window of accurate focusing opportunity. All of my images in this blog are shot at f/8 and up!

The Nikonos (like most rangefinders) is also really quiet! Without the mirror, there isn’t a mirror flip and clunk with each shot, all you hear is the quiet click of the shutter. At first I felt like I had done something wrong when there wasn’t a loud mechanical noise with the shutter release! Another win is that you can see through the viewfinder the whole time. As most other (SLR) mirrors flip up to take a picture, your viewfinder blacks out at the moment of photo capture. I’m totally used to this, but it was really refreshing to be able to maintain vision at the most important moment: the moment when an image is burned into the film! This is really confidence inspiring and helps with the nerves, especially if someone blinks just after the shot and you’re not sure if you got it or not.

However, it’s a little unnerving to have the viewfinder totally separate from the lens, as with rangefinder cameras, your viewfinder is slightly above/beside the lens, and sees from a different point of view, albeit only by a couple of centimetres. I was actually totally stoked on my images and don’t feel like my perspective suffered in any way.

Whilst I found the lack of focusing ring really weird at first, I learnt to just trust the camera and went along with it. Pick a distance and go with it! Some of it was simply waiting for the wave to come to me.

The built in light meter ended up being really accurate, and I used the automatic aperture priority function a lot, as had been recommended by a few other Nikonos users I had connected with. By the time you’d moved the controls to focus the correct distance, in the ocean you likely won’t have time to check your other settings as well! I know I always bang on about not just shooting on Auto, but in this instance I endorse it – as you’re only letting the camera choose the shutter speed, not all the settings! You choose your aperture and focusing distance using the dials on the front of the camera, and let the camera do the rest. On land, you can shoot fully manual when you’ve got the luxury of time! I shot this roll at ISO 200 on Portra 400 film.

Overall, I am really happy with this camera! I have another roll from this trip to finish and I feel like I have a ton of opportunity to try it in different environments without worrying about damaging it. It really is a huge relief not worrying about moisture damage, sand or leaking housing. I shot exclusively underwater on the next roll, too, so I’m sure that some shots will be murky green out-of-focused soup, but hopefully some will be pure magic.

I am excited to try it with my wide angle 15mm lens and also at lower shutter speeds. I’ve read that rangefinders are more forgiving than SLRs when it comes to shooting low shutter speeds handheld, this is again because the lack of a mirror which is meant to reduce the amount of camera shake. A couple of issues that I foresee are the ability to only focus on a spot in the centre of the image, and being unable to focus closer than 1 meter. But we’ll see how we go! Time to take her out in the snow… stay tuned for more!

Mount Assiniboine on Portra 400

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This July, a dear friend and I finally got out into the furthest corner of British Columbia to explore the stunning Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park. It had been on our ‘list’ for a long time but requires a fair bit of planning, time off and logistical planning to get there from Whistler. The trip started with a ten hour drive to Canmore where we spent a night before heading up the to the Mount Shark Trailhead and waiting for our chariot (helicopter) to take us into the lodge.

Having never been in a helicopter before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was really, really bumpy and I wasn’t a huge fan of the constant lurching! It was nothing like being in a plane, even a float plane. Perhaps it was an especially windy day, but I was clutching the side of the heli the entire time – and I don’t usually consider myself a wimp.

After 8 highly eventful and somewhat terrifying minutes – we landed just behind the Assiniboine Lodge. The park ranger that greeted us (who I believe is also the lodge host) informed us that there had been a grizzly on the trail to the campground that morning and that we should be extra cautious. We were also informed that there had been some rabid marmots around – and that we should store EVERYTHING in bear caches or our tents – even our shoes – since they loved the chew on sweaty things. An interesting start, and off we went along the beautiful path to the campground. The 2km to the campground felt like forever since we had taken in quite a few luxury items (read: red wine), and we definitely went the long way round. Note: when you get to the campground sign, take the right hand fork, not the lefts, to get to the camp sites quicker! Most camp sites are nestled in the trees, and each cluster of sites have their own cooking/bear cache area. One of the funniest moments of our trip was having to explain to a lady that the bear cache was not garbage, and that there was no garbage facilities out in the backcountry. There are only a couple of sites that have a cracking view of Mount Assiniboine, so maybe hang your packs up and do a quick lap of the area if that’s important to you!

Over our 4 days in Assiniboine we never saw a grizzly bear, although we camped in a heightened state of alert, for sure. I’m not sure I slept more than 30 minutes the first night! We saw elk running, grazing in the meadow and swimming in the lake (utterly surreal) and also got attacked by a mother grouse on the trail to Og Lake (hilarious). I got up for every sunrise, and each one was slightly different. I enjoyed my coffee on the beach and watched as the rays hit Mount Assiniboine and lit it up in all its glory. The beach at the furthest end of the lake, I think, has the best views. You can walk all the way around the lake which as an awesome way to get a feel for the place, and you get amazing views of the glaciers above. We enjoyed Cerulean and Sunburst Lakes most days – they were so close to Lake Magog campground that you could take a stroll there in 15 minutes or so. At sunrise, the reflections are unbelievable! We found it got windier as the day went on (we visited late July), so if you’re hunting for reflections, sunrise is your game.

The hike up to the Niblet and the Nublet is a nice, gradual incline with some of the most stunning views I have ever witnessed. This one is definitely a spot to enjoy sunset! Even with forest fire smoke, the vistas were unbeatable and we could’ve stayed up there all night. We also hiked out to Og Lake and back, which is a super mellow hike, mostly flat and with some pretty neat views of the surrounding mountain range. The only thing that put a damper on our trip was the bugs. They were apocalyptic. I wore a Coghlan’s bug suit for pretty much the entirety of our trip, I’m not sure what was going on this year but these bugs were supercharged. We took a couple hours a day to just read in our tent to get some respite. At the end of our hike, I counted over 40 bites on my right leg alone. Bug spray just seemed to wear off after 30 minutes or so – you almost wanted a deet bath to dip in!

We hiked out as opposed to the helicopter, knowing that we had to do some suffering to enjoy a place as spectacular as Mount Assiniboine. And boy, did we suffer. We hiked out through Wonder Pass which was absolutely stunning, until it wasn’t. The first 13km are a lot more scenic than the last 17km – which is literally a never ending road. It’s amazing how much your body can suffer when it has to walk at the exact same gradient downhill for hours on end – and there’s still a few kms of insulting uphill to be found on the hike out. I’m buying hiking poles for next time! I’m a pretty solid hiker but there was something about this trail that was truly gruelling. The first half of the hike had incredible views of Marvel Lake and you do travel through critical grizzly bear habitat – so we were sure to call out every minute or so, so that we didn’t take any bears by surprise. It’s incredibly scenic and peaceful. However, once you pass Marvel Lake, you essentially walk on a disused logging road for 3-4 hours, which is still in very dense grizzly habitat. Some of it is quite overgrown and eery – we were excited to see other hikers! It took us 7.5 hours from Lake Magog to Mount Shark Trailhead – I logged 30.3km, 454m of elevation gain and 6:15 of moving time. If you have poles, bring them, and make sure you’ve worn in your hiking boots beforehand!

I would love to go back to Mount Assiniboine in the fall to see the colours light up with the changing of seasons. Until then, I’ve attached some film photos below to enjoy. They were all shot with Portra 400 film. Follow along for more adventures here 🙂

The Sunshine Coast on 35mm Film

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The Sunshine Coast region is home to the traditional, unceded, and ancestral territories of the skwxwú7mesh, shíshálh, Tla’amin, Klahoose, and Homalco Nations.

Here are some of my favourite photos of the Sunshine Coast over the last couple of summers. I love this part of B.C. and most likely will end up retiring there. These photos were shot mostly on Portra 400. Some moody days, some days that felt like we were in the Caribbean. We travelled from Comox to Powell River, up to Lund, over to Savoury Island, and down all the way back to Gibsons. The first images were developed at Rocket Repro in Vancouver who kept the raw edge, which I adore. Can’t wait to get back out there!