Canon ELAN 7NE – Ilford HP5

Canon EF II 50mm f/1.8

This was actually the first film roll I had shot in almost two years, the first since moving back to Texas. This was the first roll of black and white I had shot since high school. And in many ways this is the roll that started me back down the path of film photography, although I didn’t know it at the time. I started out treating this roll like I had treated every roll up to that point: cross my fingers and hope there’s enough light and that the lens and camera and meter are all working correctly – then shoot each frame carefully, cautiously, almost fearfully, and whenever the roll was done throw it in a drawer to one day be developed (or lost). But this roll didn’t even get that far, stuck in the careful/cautious/fearful limbo for more than a year, sitting half shot inside my Canon.

But in that time I started watching YouTube videos about shooting film and developing at home and scanning with a digital camera and I realized that I wanted to try those things. The only problem was that I wanted to start with developing color, but my only film camera had a roll of black and white languishing inside it. The solution? Buy another camera… or a few cameras. 😬 I went back through my history and I think the first film photography video I watched on YouTube was by EduardoPavezGoye on Aug. 19, 2021. My first film camera purchase on eBay was Aug. 23, 2021. I don’t think of myself as compulsive, but the data might prove otherwise.

Not every frame on this roll is a winner, but this is by far the strongest roll I’ve developed at the time of writing. Maybe that’s because of that caution mentioned earlier. Maybe that’s because I took my time with it and had a variety of subjects. Maybe I just had beginner’s luck. The two rolls of HP5 have taught me at the very least that I need to be shooting more black and white.

Hit Rate: 32/36 (89%)