638 - Jones Point
Today I took a job at a camera shop in DC.
Well, not today today, but I’ve started enough blog posts with this headline that I’m stuck in the routine now.
The headline is correct, though. I recently started working at District Camera in order to up my photography knowledge. Now that I’m settled in DC for a while, I figured I mind as well get paid to hang around cameras instead of driving around doing Uber like a schmuck.
That app’s only fun when you’re traveling the country.
The crazy thing is that despite thinking I knew so much about photography after all these years, it turns out I didn’t know jack. Sure, I can work a Sony mirrorless like the back of my hand, but what about a Minolta SRT-102 film camera from the 70s?
You get caught up in one brand ecosystem, and that becomes your world.
But I’m speed-running my knowledge gap here. Most of my co-workers have been in the photography business for 10+ years, so they’re catching me up on all that I’ve missed while my head’s been in the Sony clouds.
More specifically, my knowledge gap when it comes to film photography.
A genre that’s making a massive comeback due to Gen Z's avid interest in analog technology. Adults created an AI revolution and the teens want nothing to do with it. Go figure.
Which leads me to today’s adventure… My first shoot on film. Ever.
One of the perks of this job is that I can take out anything in the shop for the weekend to mess around with it. This weekend I went with a Minolta SRT-102 paired with a Rokkor 50mm 1.7 lens, which is a fully manual film camera and lens with a built-in light meter.
This means I have to manually set the shutter and aperture for every single shot according to the light meter needle inside the viewfinder, while also ensuring that each shot is in focus from the manual lens ring.
It’s low-key a pain in the ass. But the appeal to it is that it makes every shot that much more intentional, because you only have 30 something clicks before you need a new roll.
And with the price of film and development being ~ $30 a roll, it’s hard to mess around when it’s nearly $1 per shutter click.
Compare that to digital where you can take thousands and thousands of photos for free.
But again, that’s the appeal of this world. Slowing down. Being intentional. Making things harder on yourself for absolutely no reason at all.
OK I might be throwing a little shade here, but it does have a strange element of fun to it.
That click when you pull the film forward, the action of switching the dials, the pulling of the focus ring- it feels like you’re creating something different. It’s hard to describe.
You also barely have to edit the photos. Each film variation is like a built-in Instagram filter, so you save yourself on the back end work, minus a few basic touchups.
For my shoot, I decided to take Alara to Jones Point, which is a massive park that exists almost entirely under a freeway overpass. It’s a neat vibe. Here were my top seven shots from the vintage adventure:
“Tabletop”
Taken with Minolta SRT-102 + Rokkor 50mm 1.7
[I don’t remember the settings]
“Reflection on Table”
Taken with Minolta SRT-102 + Rokkor 50mm 1.7
[I don’t remember the settings]
“Hair on Fire”
Taken with Minolta SRT-102 + Rokkor 50mm 1.7
[I don’t remember the settings]
“The Long Path Ahead”
Taken with Minolta SRT-102 + Rokkor 50mm 1.7
[I don’t remember the settings]
“Rock Garden”
Taken with Minolta SRT-102 + Rokkor 50mm 1.7
[I don’t remember the settings]
“Cheesin”
Taken with Minolta SRT-102 + Rokkor 50mm 1.7
[I don’t remember the settings]
“Dreaming of a Future”
Taken with Minolta SRT-102 + Rokkor 50mm 1.7
[I don’t remember the settings]
I think my favorite thing about the experience was that since you don’t know if the photo turned out after you took it, you simply move on to the next scene. There’s less of the “let’s try this again and get the perfect shot,” because the built-in assumption is that you did get the perfect shot.
This whole mindset forces you to try a bunch of different scenes in rapid succession instead of lingering on a single moment for too long. Something I’m 100% guilty of in my search for digital perfection.
Anyway, it was a fun experiment. Stay tuned for more wacky adventures, because the gear world is now at my fingertips.
Byeeeeee.
