The old guy at the lab who showed me how to load a reel in the dark

I was fumbling with my Paterson tank at this photo lab in Austin last year and this retiree named Bob just came over and said "you're fighting it, let the film breathe." He showed me a trick where you pinch the spool with your thumb and forefinger while feeding the leader in and it clicked instantly for me. Anyone else have a stranger teach them something that totally changed their film workflow?

2 comments

2 Comments

webb.jordan6d ago

That Bob sounds like a good dude. Had a similar thing happen at a camera shop in Portland where a guy told me to stop being so precious about my film and just shoot through a roll like it's nothing.

hugo_gonzalez686d ago

I get where that shop guy was coming from though. Being precious with film can actually make you a worse photographer because you're too worried about wasting a shot to try anything bold or unusual. If you're paying $12 a roll you should make every frame count sure, but sometimes you gotta burn through a few just to loosen up and find the good stuff.