When Film Goes Weird

I shoot a lot of film, and most of the time I stick to the tried-and-true films I prefer: Fujifilm Superia XTRA 400, Ilford HP5+, Ektar 100, and so on. But sometimes, I try something different just to see what will happen. I’d already shot Velvia 100 as positives and I wanted to give it another go, and since I was carrying two cameras—my Pentax and my Start—I loaded up the old Soviet machine with the slide film and started shooting.

The fun didn’t last long. The Soviet Start is a seriously fickle friend and went on one of its many jamming jags in the middle of the roll. I took it to get fixed shortly after (for the umpteenth time, it seems), and the Velvia was wound back half-finished.

Maybe it’s for the best, because the images I got back were seriously weird.

I don’t know if the film was just too old (a distinct possibility) or if something went wrong with the developing or scanning of the images. This weird pastel wash is certainly not what I anticipated when I took the pictures.

But you know what? I kind of like it.

Sure, it looks a bit like a faded Barbie ad from the 80s, like cotton candy and acid wash jeans and old postcards from a beachside stand in Florida. Because of that, though, the pictures have their own character—just one I didn’t anticipate when I shot the images. That’s the fun of shooting film. Sometimes it’s predictable, sometimes it’s pastel. You have to embrace the unknown and uncontrollable, and these happy accidents lead to photographs that are truly distinct.

Perhaps next time I shoot a roll of Velvia 100, it will look completely different. I can’t say, but I am definitely looking forward to the surprise.