.October 2024.

Within the darkest month, I’ve seen the Light(room). All this time I was under the impression film wasn’t to be edited. I messed around with the auto setting to see if I had captured the image with good exposure but would always revert back to the original scan. Either way, thus begins my saturated suffering. Alongside the change of season with the leaves; what initially sparked my attention was the autumn sunsets and sunrises. The gorgeous gradients of purples during the evenings & ripe orange paired with green hues in the mornings were not being truly reflected in the film. Although I love the aesthetic film offers; I was unaware it was okay to bring out the colour that was already baked into the film. So this is my first foray, and I have more than a handful of previous months to revisit and redux. 

What is another month in photography without a few more lessons? The first roll of the month I shot a dinner party; flashing it up with colleagues only to find out post-development my flash wasn’t synced because I had accidentally flipped the switch - something I will now check every - single - time. We’ll chalk it up to the memory only club. Later that weekend I came across a fashion show at Blue Mountain, only half way through to notice my back door wasn’t fully closed when it flopped open - briefly flashing the film. Walking around looking for something to stick it shut, I found myself in a pitch black public bathroom salvaging the last half of my roll. Reminiscent of my night that was lost in Banff attempting to return ejected film into the canister in a dimly lit room. Luckily this time it wasn't so bad - you’ll see some flash streaks; which of course my friends… is art. 

So I finally came across a second camera! With a little help from Helder at Memento Film Lab, I was connected with another photographer and acquired the Minolta AF-C. A fantastic little 35mm f:2.8 camera with detachable flash has been keeping me company while the SRT-102 is in-repair. However, this was a very late October situation, so only one roll was used on Halloween down Pacific Ave.  

This is a long one friends; the Halloween action is at the end, but on along the way we have our standard Streets of Toronto, an attempt to catch the Salmon run,  and a lil fashion show. I absolutely love doing this, even when it feels overwhelming. The constant self-doubt matched with the heck-yeah! excitement of nailing a photo followed with putting it all together for the Monthly 35mm Project is part of the journey. It is the fulfillment and sense of presence this brings that makes it all worth it. What is life without suffering(saturated).

I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you liked or couldn’t stand to see!