We’ve had the distinct pleasure of having a new edition here in the house. A few days ago my Grandpa Snow gave me a new camera. This isn’t just any camera; it is a good-as-new Mamiya C220 twin-lens reflex (TLR) medium format film camera. It belonged to his brother and he was kind enough to think that I’d appreciate it and enjoy it. Isn’t it beautiful?

Here starts a great return to film for me. I’ve always loved film. I started with a film SLR back in my school days at the UofU. It was Julie’s suggestion and desire to get an SLR (we are a match made in heaven I know). While we were living downtown I took a class which was held at the SLC Art Center. I really enjoyed being in the darkroom and actually making a photo. I made some of my favorite photos during that time. Here are a few examples; Julie making Fire; and the Latern.

The class eventually ended and I kept telling myself I’d go back to the art center to make more images. Alas, I didn’t make it happen. I ended up sending my film to a 3rd party for printing; they made the prints, they made the creative decisions, and everything was out of my control. This started my transition to digital photography. At that time I discovered raw processing and also Lightroom. These two tools allowed me to have the creative control I enjoyed in the darkroom and more. At that point I sold my film camera and went all into for digital photography.

However, my grandfathers gift is a game changer for me. I’m really excited for this opportunity to try my hand at a medium format camera. The sensor size in my D7000 is so much smaller than the negatives from the C220 (0.9 inches for the Nikon and 2.25 inches square for the Mamiya. That is a huge negative and really changes the physics and feel of the photos.

Additionally, a friend in the neighborhood runs and operates a darkroom. How fortunate for me. I look foward to making a lot of good use of the new camera and the darkroom. Here’s to a lot of creativity.