It’s no secret that I love film. I shoot digital and try to emulate film. My first camera was a Nikon 35mm. The image I took where I knew I wanted to be involved in photography was taken on film when I was about 11. There’s something magic about film.

I’ll admit I’m rusty. I haven’t picked up a film camera in almost 14 years. My parents were coming home to Maui for a visit so I thought it would be the perfect time to play – and I went for it – I rented a Contax 645 with a Zeiss 50mm lens from Contax Rental, which is 120 medium format. I’d never shot that before, but I’m pretty confident in my skills as a photographer and looking for light. What did take getting some used to was the manual focus lens, which turned out to be a “delicious” experience as my Grandpapa would say.

This experience was a real testament to the art of SLOWING DOWN, breathing, composing, and trusting. There is no looking at the back of the camera for the image and it’s taken me a little over a week to get the images back from Richard Photo Lab.

I shot 3 rolls while we were in Hana. I’m waiting for the other two and can’t wait to see them. Perhaps a medium format film camera will be added to my repertoire (I already emailed my Pops and asked him to search for his old 35mm Pentax).

Ultimately, I love these images. I love the care that went into each one, the color tones, and the memories of each time I hit that shutter.