Hot and Fresh
The results of film photography are still highly unpredictable for me. This is what makes it fun—and frustrating. Some of the photos I had taken, hoping they would work for my current project, just did not work.
I really have difficulty editing sky colors and tones, and my film skies tend to be less bright, owing to the Kodak Portra film, I think. I try not to make the photos too “matchy-matchy” but it drives me crazy when some of the images have skies that lean toward blue yellow and others that lean toward blue red, and all the variants in-between on the color wheel. The more I attempt to correct and mix the colors, generally the worse things look. So, I mostly just leave the sky alone and work with what I have. All of this becomes important as I pull together pictures and sequence them for an interesting and creative flow.
For my current project, A Guidebook For Small Travels, the images are bright and vivid. Not exactly postcard-esque but leaning toward that style. So the film images just felt too muted or flat. Except for a cool photo of an ice cream stand at the fair and another of a dinosaur and a giraffe from the mini-golf on Patterson Avenue. Those two worked great and you can see them on the project page.
The film images still give me great joy and I’ll share a few here from time to time.
This image of the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop brings back treasured memories. I spotted this particular franchise in the Newport News area when we were visiting our son this past spring. It was one of those Pull Over Now moments where I instructed my husband to cross as many lanes of traffic as necessary to get me and my camera to that parking lot. I haven’t eaten a Krispy Kreme doughnut in years, and I am 100% certain my GI system would revolt with even one bite. But my mom LOVED those doughnuts! The closest Krispy Kreme to my hometown was a good 80 or 90 miles away, and whenever we made the trip from Colonial Beach to Richmond, she insisted we swing by and pick up several dozen glazed doughnuts, hot and fresh, to share with the entire family. Family being Grandad (Big Head), Grandma (Dot), Aunt Shirl, Uncle Bobby, Uncle Cal, Aunt Alva, Dad and all of the various children and cousins, all of whom lived within about 3 blocks of one another. I am eternally grateful to my mother for the legacy of childlike glee she bestowed upon me. When I think of my core self, this attribute is at the center, a fountain of delight, bubbling over.