Frugal film project
At the beginning of each year I search for a way to keep my creative brain engaged. Whether it be a project 52 or another monthly challenge, something that will force me to pick up my film camera and shoot. Living in the PNW, it’s pretty dark and dreary a lot of the time. I am a color girl at heart, so I struggle during the winter months. My photography usually slows down as I find myself waiting for Spring. I tried searching for different photography projects or ideas but didn’t find much that interested me. Thankfully a few weeks into January I came across a YouTube video by Molly Kate aka Eclectachrome. I already subscribe to her substack and really enjoy her content so when I came across her video I was intrigued. (Go check her out!)
Sounded easy enough, so I joined the Facebook group and looked to see what others were shooting with. Some of the rules (see below) hindered what I could use so after searching for a camera and film, I decided on my gear for the year. A holga GCFN with expired Ilford HP5. Honestly, it came down to having 12 rolls of the same film stock and then deciding on my two available medium format cameras. (I have three total, but one already has film loaded in it and i’ve actually never used it, more on this later!)
Here are the basic “rules”:
- camera kit - under $75 USD. This includes camera,extra lenses, flash, filters and shipping.
- Film - 12 rolls of cheap film. It must be the same brand and speed. You can’t mix ISO. If you choose Fomapan 100, that’s your film for the year.
- shoot the roll and post in two weeks. That allows two weeks development time. Jan 31st is the deadline, Feb 14th is the post date.
- have some fun, experiment, be creative with your camera and film. What can it do? Rain, snow, inside, creative light, funky filters the possibilities are endless!
The Holga was around $50 a few years ago and luckily all the film was gifted. Some film as old as 2001! Thankfully, I was able to persuade another film photographer to join the project and help keep me accountable. I have little experience shooting b&w and keeping this up for a whole year will be a challenge in and of itself.
The month of January I used a roll of film that expired in 2001 and got some interesting results. By interesting I mean I wasn’t all that thrilled with how all of these came out so here are a few that were okay. All photos scanned and developed by Indie Film Lab.
If you’re interested in seeing more from the FFP, please check out my friend, Amy who has decided to join this year! Yay!
Hoping to mix things up for next month with some 3D printed additions! Stay tuned and keep shooting film!