On my list of photography goals for this year was to buy a Nikon film camera and at least "play" with film. At this point I don't have goals beyond that, but playing sure is fun!

I wanted to buy an F100, but when I when I was able to scoop up an N80 for just $9, I didn't hesitate! The great thing about having a Nikon is that I can use all of my lenses with it.

This is my first roll. I made a ton of mistakes, and I missed focus a lot the first couple of times I shot with it. There are just 5 focal points on this camera, and since I am not used to using focus and recompose all the time, I messed up a lot! That also explains some strange compositions you'll see - - I was trying to catch the moment and just haven't put it all together yet with the new camera. :)

I find it very difficult so far to use film on toddlers; I am waiting for the right moment to press the shutter but end up missing that moment. I need practice!

Film: Portra 400, rated at 200 and overexposed an additional 1 to 2 stops (most of the time!)
Developed/Scanned by Indie Film Lab (w/ corrections); NO further editing done

March 4-
This was after Kate's dance class. I had just received my film in the mail and wanted to give it a go! We stopped at the outskirts of the Stonebridge Golf Course for these. There were several others that would have been really neat had my focus not been completely off! Here are a couple though- blinking in one and hand chopped in the other, but the light is pretty! :)

After the golf course stop, we headed home. Anytime we're traveling north through town, we take a detour on Gray Branch Rd (off of Ridge before 380). There are some beautiful trees and lovely homes as well as stables and pastures with horses and mules. I drive 2 mph down this road as we stop to look at everything. We've been doing this for over a year, but on this day, there was a man out feeding the horses right at the road. We were creeping along as usual, and he waved me over. I turned the car around, and he invited us to get out and help him feed the horses! Kate was very timid about actually giving the horses the treats, but thoroughly enjoyed herself. Caroline was all over the place as usual.

I did not have my digital camera in the car - the film camera and my 85mm was all I had, so that's what I used! I did not want to miss out on these shots. This is also the main reason I did not do "straight scans" with the film lab. If I messed up my exposure, I really wanted these to be saved. The 85mm was definitely a challenging focal length, too; I had to back up way too much, and it just couldn't always be done (so a few more weird compositions and chops here too)!

Kate LOVED the miniature mule, "Jackson." Every time we drive down Gray Branch Rd now, we always look for him. Kate is convinced he just hasn't grown up yet. :)

Kate and Daddy mending the fence (March 9?) using the 50mm-

A Lens Baby playdate at the Arboretum (March 13) probably using the 50 again-

A few from Easter weekend at the Carlsons' house (March 29-31) most likely used the 50 for all of these, too -

So, even though these are far from perfect, I'm already dying to shoot again!