Earlier this month, I wrapped up my second year of law school.

For those who may not know, your grades in law school are almost entirely the result of one final examination at the end of the semester. As you can imagine, it’s rather stressful and takes a lot of work to prepare.

Give this, I essentially put away my camera back in April as I knew I could not afford to be distracted by photography or other hobbies. But — the good news is — I’m now done with finals and have a bit of a break before I begin working at a firm this summer.

So, with a chance to breathe, I figured what a better way to spend a day off than at a ball game?

It just so happened that there was a Subway Series going on between the New York Yankees and New York Mets, so I caught a train to the Bronx with my camera in tow.

Here are some of my favorite shots from Yankee Stadium:

Arrival:

Gettting to Yankee Stadium from Manhattan is quite easy. For me, it was a train to the Bronx, then one stop on the 4 train to the above-ground stop outside the stadium.

It was a beautiful sunny day. I grabbed a hot dog, a beer, and some peanuts before taking my seat in the left-field bleachers.

Game underway!

I brought along my Konica IIIA and a few different roles of film.

The black-and-white photos were shot on Kentmere Pan 400, which I hand-rolled from a bulk roll. If you’d like to see more about rolling your own film to save money, read more about that here!

I’m really happy with how the B&W photos turned out, especially for a cheap film stock like Pan 400.

I chose to push the film +1 to 800 speed, which gave the shots a bit more punch. Additionally, even though Pan 400 is not the finest film, pushing it did not noticably increase the grain to my eyes.

Not bad for a roughly ~$4 roll of film!

Two home runs and a play at the plate

In addition to my Pan 400, I brought along some color film.

I don’t normally spring for the professional grade stuff, but $15 for a roll of Porta 400 felt worth it this time. I shot through the roll over the course of game and was very happy with the contrast range of the Porta and its color tones.

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In the end, the Mets won the game 3-2 after shortstop Francisco Lindor made a sacrific fly in the 9th inning to bring in the go-ahead run.

Hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed making them! Thanks for reading.

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Some rolls of 36 exposures are now costing upwards of $20/roll. That, of course, does not including the cost of development, scanning, and/or printing.

Film photographers are often looking for ways to cut costs, and a fairly simple and reasonable way to do that is by bulk loading your own rolls.

Let’s take a look at the process, what you need, and why it might work for you.

Why you should do it?

The main reason to bulk load your own film is to save money.

Purchasing a 100’ roll of film should yield about 18 rolls of film with 36-exposures each. While bulk-buying 100’ of film will no doubt be a steeper initial investment than buying one roll at a time, the cost savings over the course of the 100’ adds up.

When considering just the cost of the film alone (see below for more detailed cost analysis), I purchased 100’ of Kentmere Pan 400 black-and-white film for $74.99. If I get 18 rolls out of it, that will be a cost of $4.17/roll.

Compare that to the $6.95/roll Pan 400 retails for at my local film shop, and I’d be at $125.10 after 18 rolls.

That’s a difference of $50! Not bad. Of course, that doesn’t consider the cost of equipment needed to roll your own film (again, see below).

But saving money on the cost of film means I think less about clicking the shutter when I’m out on the street, and who knows, maybe that will mean capturing a moment I might have previously thought twice about.

Additionally, it also means that $50 in savings can go toward developing the rolls I shoot, which currently costs a little under $10/roll.

What you need

Of course, cost savings can only begin once you have the equipment you need to begin bulk rolling your own film. Fortunately, the start up costs are not that significant.

Here’s what you need, and what I was able to purchase these items for:

1. Bulk roll of film.

   • I purchased Kentmere Pan 400 for $74.99. I chose this film because it’s cheap and if I messed up rolling my film it wouldn’t sting quite so bad. Next time I buy 100’, I’ll probably get something more professional such as Ilford’s HP5 Plus or Kodak’s 400TX.

   • Here’s where I picked up my film.

2. Bulk film loader.

   • There are a number of different models out there at varying price points. Some of the common models are the Lloyd’s roller (and various copies of it) and the Western Model No. 100, which is what I purchased. I picked up my Western Model No. 100 for $25 on eBay. Considering that some loaders are going for more than $50, I thought that was a pretty good deal. Also, I picked the Western Model No. 100 because it’s very simple and easy to use.

   • Note: Make sure if you purchase a bulk film loader that you have a daylight version. You want to be able to use the roller in normal lighting conditions after you load the 100’ roll inside it. This will make rolling much easier.

3. Dark bag.

   • This is nothing more than a portable dark room. Because the 100’ roll of film must be loaded in COMPLETE darkness (not even a red safe light is OK), the dark bag provides a way to do so without the need for a dark room. These bags often have multiple layers of light-protective material and two holes in the side for your arms to enter and handle your film. They come in varying sizes and the larger you pick up, the easier it is to maneuver.

   • Here’s where I picked up my dark bag.

4. Empty film canisters.

   • These are simply the metal or plastic canisters into which you will roll your film. You can purchase empty canisters, which will require you to tape your bulk roll to the spindle inside. Or, you can purchase used canisters that have a small leader of film to which you can tape your bulk film and then roll it into the cartridge. (See tutorial video for demonstration.)

   • I went with a 10-pack of used canisters that I purchased from the Film Photography Project. They weren’t particularly pricy, and I hope to ask my local lab to return the canisters to me after I get them developed so I can reuse them. Otherwise, you can pick up bulk lots of these on eBay for not a lot of money.

5. Scissors and tape.

   • Tape is needed so that you can secure the bulk roll to the canister and then roll it inside. People recommend artist’s tape. I used scotch and did not have a problem. The only thing you want to make sure is that the film is nice and secure because nothing would be worse than shooting an entire roll of film, only to have it detach from the spindle and then you can’t rewind it inside your camera.

   • Scissors are needed to cut your bulk film and free the canister after you’ve rolled it.

All-in with tax and shipping for the supplies I needed, I spent $152.29 (film included).

Tutorial video

After you have the supplies you need to roll your film, watch the video above to see a step-by-step tutorial on how the process is done.

It’s really quite easy and you can get a roll of film completed in a matter of minutes!

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Caveats

There are a few things to think about before jumping into rolling your own film:

Not a good option for color film

If you like shooting color film, this is probably not the route to take. There are very, very few bulk options out there to purchase. In fact, I’m not aware of any dedicated 35mm color photography film sold in 100’ rolls.

Instead, the bulk color film market is comprised of motion picture film that can be repurposed for still photography. But note — often motion picture 35mm film requires specialized development processes, so before you purchase make sure either you or your local lab can handle it.

Given this, bulk loading film is really relegated to those of us who shoot black-and-white. That said, I would encourage you to try shooting black-and-white for a number of reasons: It’s a different creative method than shooting color film in that you have to think differently about subjects and composition; you have more exposure latitude, meaning you don’t always have to nail exposure to end up with a good shot — great for beginners; and black-and-white photographs naturally have a timeless look to them, which many photographers are after simply by shooting on this medium.

Economies of scale

This second thing to consider is whether you shoot enough to make this worth while. That’s because the savings you’ll see from bulk rolling your film come with time.

If we assume 100’ of film will yield 18 rolls (conventional wisdom), then my first 18 rolls of Kentmere Pan 400 actually cost me $27 more than if I had bought 18 rolls of it at retail cost. This is because of the initial startup costs required to bulk roll your film.

I’ll begin saving money by my second roll of 100’ and you can see the savings continue to climb with each subsequent bulk roll.

Now, to be realistic, 54 rolls is a lot of shooting. It’s going to take some time for the equipment to pay itself off and for the savings to be realized.

As mentioned, I went with Kentmere Pan 400 because of how cheap it is. It kept my startup costs low and if I messed something up I wouldn’t be out as much money as if I had purchased a more professional film, such as Kodak 400-TX.

But wow! Look at the cost savings if I had started with Kodak 400-TX, which retails at my local film lab for $14.95/roll. If I purchased 100’ of this film for $168.95 and substitute that for the $74.99 I spent on Kentmere Pan 400:

I’d be on my way to paying back my equipment costs on the very first bulk roll and save hundreds over subsequent rolls!

So depending on how much you shoot and what type of film you select, your savings milage may vary.

You better like what you buy

Finally, the last thing to consider is whether you want to be shooting the same film all the time.

When you buy bulk film, unless you have the money and freezer space to buy and store multiple bulk rolls at a time, you’ll probably be shooting one type of film for a while.

That might not be a big deal if you have a stock you like shooting. For me, however, I know that Kentmere Pan 400 is a fine film, but it’s not my favorite. It’s a little grainy and not as sharp as other higher-end black-and-white films.

But, I think it’s good enough for my purposes right now so I think I’ll be able to work through the 18 rolls in a reasonable amount of time and not feel constrained.

Either way, there really isn’t much reason to rush. My box of Kentmere Pan 400 doesn’t expire until May 2029, and film can be useable for years after its expiration if stored properly. So even if I do buy a different type of film and use that for a while, I can always switch back and forth at any time.

Conclusion

As you can see, bulk rolling film is a great way to save money, invest in your photography, and add to your skill set.

The start up costs are relatively low and depending on the type of film you buy, you can see savings quite quickly. That’s money that can go toward development, scanning, and printing costs.

If you think bulk rolling might be a good option for you, then I would recommend giving it a try!

Any questions? Do you bulk roll your film? Has it been worth it?

Please leave a comment and let me know!

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I don’t often have time to take the entire day to walk the streets looking for opportunities. I mostly just try to go about my day and when I see things that strike me, I want to be in a position to shoot them.

That means having my camera with me most of the time. I might not take it when I go to the gym or run a quick errand, but most days I’ve got it slung around my shoulder.

But being ready to shoot also means setting a zone focus and adjusting exposure as I move through different scenes. My primary camera is a Konica IIIA, which is fully manual and has no light meter, so in order to shoot I need to be manually adjusting the settings as the light changes. I’m constantly estimating what I think my exposure should be, that way if I see something there’s no fumbling with the camera — I’m simply ready to shoot.

But most days, nothing really shouts at me. Maybe I take a shot here or there of some small moment, but it’s not often I want to cut my roll short and head straight to the lab.

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Sometimes you’re just not feeling it

Today, though, I was a bit lazy. I had my camera with me on my commute home, but I just had it on the strap, lens cap on, and the settings at whatever they were from my last shot. I couldn’t be bothered to keep updating my exposure in anticipation.

And wouldn’t you know it, I saw at least four good moments I would have absolutely shot had I been in a position to.

They weren’t one right after the other. There were intervals. I missed one and thought, Oh well … it is what it is. Then another eventually came by and I thought the same thing. By the third or fourth, I was kicking myself a bit for still neglecting to get ready to shoot. 🤦‍♂️

What I learned

It got me thinking a bit, though, about how it’s easy to become a bit overeager or even obsessive about capturing moments.

When you start shooting street, you start looking for unique moments that tell a story. Most people are not doing this. They’re looking at their phone and minding their own business. You, however … you’re a keen observer of the human condition, watching life happening right in front of you and your trigger finger is itching to document it!

But special moments are not finite and that’s my takeaway from today.

If you live in a big city like I do — moments are all around us at all hours of the day: There are tender moments, violent moments, funny moments, brutal moments — you name it. The whole catalogue of human emotions and experiences are happening each day right in front of us.

Maybe a specific moment is fleeting, but there’s no difference if you attempted to take the picture and missed the shot, or if you didn’t shoot it at all. The end result is the same: You didn’t get the moment.

And instead of becoming more obsessive and vigilant, it’s important to recognize that if you missed or didn’t get the shot today, that’s all right. You’ll get one tomorrow. Street photography, and photography in general, is a marathon not a sprint.

So, give yourself some leeway if you’re feeling lazy, not up for shooting, or if you simply tried and failed to capture the moment. It’s all right and there will be more moments to catch next time you go to shoot.

That said, I’m still going to have my camera with me as much as I can, and I’m still going to do my best to be ready when those special moments do come along.

Thanks for reading!

Do you ever feel obsessive with your shooting? Do you ever feel lazy about it? How do you deal with it? Leave a comment and let me know!

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• The shine of new technology and particularly social media is wearing off. I’ve grown concerned with how addictive platforms like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts have become.

• Part of me wants to forego all modern technology and live in the pre-Internet world I grew up in: Use a dumb phone, listen to records, write letters, etc.

• But the reality is, it’s impractical to live that way in today’s society, and there are aspects of modern technology I don’t want to surrender.

• So what do I do? I’ve taken some steps to reduce the temptation of social media on my devices. But I’m also shrinking my social media universe and that’s why I’m here on Substack, which I hope to make my Internet homepage.

For many years now, I have loved having the latest technology. I would upgrade my phone at most every two years, I have multiple desktop computers, an iPad Pro, and I switch out laptops well before it’s needed.

Yet, at the same time, my wife calls me “old man Mark” because of my hipsterish tendencies to enjoy, purchase, and collect vintage things. I currently own three typewriters (down from five or six at my peak), I have hundreds of vinyl records, I recently gave away my reel-to-reel tape machine, and most significantly — I use a 35mm film camera every day.

But while I’ve always enjoyed retro technology, my interest in it has taken on new importance of late.

Modern technology’s cons often outweigh its pros

In recent months, the shine of modern technology has really worn off.

I’ve become mindful of how many hours I waste scrolling Reels or YouTube shorts — often at times when I can least afford to be wasting time. I’ve found myself substituting my own creative and intelligent thoughts in favor of what ChatGPT spits out. I’ve found myself putting on movies or YouTube videos in the background during almost every waking minute of the day, regardless of what I’m doing. No joke — I had a YouTube video playing in the background while I wrote the first two paragraphs of this post before I turned it off.

The pervasive and sometime insidious impact that algorithms, A.I., and other technologies have on my life — and society at large — has had me rethinking my relationship with technology in recent months.

There’s a part of me that wants to sell my 36” flat-screen T.V. and buy an old CRT T.V. again. Who cares if the quality is worse? At least it won’t track my viewing history and serve me targeted ads every time I turn it on.

I want to cancel my streaming subscriptions and buy VHS tapes. Sure, the quality isn’t as good, but there’s no subscription fee, I own it forever, and there’s no chance of my favorite shows disappearing at the whims of some licensing agreement.

I want to sell my iPhone for a dumb phone — or even a landline — that doesn’t bother me during all waking hours with notifications, the majority of which are meant to suck me in and waste my time.

I want to cancel my digital news subscriptions that hysterically push “breaking news” at me as if every story is a 5-alarm fire, and instead read a print newspaper that, by its physical limitations, has to leave less important stories on the cutting room floor. I’d read it in the morning and then go about my day.

I want to buy things from my local retail stores (the ones that still exist). Sure, it’s less convenient and often more expensive than Amazon, but my money stays local and doesn’t end up in an oligarch’s pocket.

Stop complaining and do it then

So why don’t I put my money where my mouth is? you ask. What’s stopping you?

Well, as I’ve been thinking about how and whether it’s really possible to reject modern technologies in favor of those from yesteryear, I realized a few hard truths.

First, there are times that living with past technologies is simply impractical in today’s world. I’m currently in law school and will be working at a firm this summer. Something tells me that my new job won’t love it if I tell them I only have a landline and can’t be reached when I’m not at home. In modern professional jobs, I think there’s an expectation that you can, at minimum, be reached easily by phone or email.

This is, of course, a bit crushing as I reflect on what I want my relationship with technology to be. That’s because it’s a sign that bygone eras are just that: bygone. Society and its expectation of those who live within it have simply changed and there’s nothing you can really do about that.

Second, some technologies of yesteryear just don’t work anymore.

There’s a plethora of wonderful, vintage mechanical things that do still work — and they can work brilliantly. My primary camera is a Konica IIIA from 1958. It’s beautifully engineered and entirely manual — no battery required. It still works just as good as it did nearly 70 years ago and it’s one of my most favorite possessions. My Penncrest Caravelle 10 typewriter is the same. There’s not much that can go wrong (or that cannot be fixed) when something is literally made of metal switches and levers.

But not all things are like this. Just last week I came across a video on YouTube of a tech reviewer looking the state of portable cassette players. The reality is bleak.

If you wanted to get back into the portable cassette game there are really only two options: 1) buy a newly manufactured cassette player, or 2) go vintage.

In the new market, there are the cheap, plastic Chinese-made products available on Amazon, or players made by niche companies that have designed beautiful cassette players with modern touches, such as Bluetooth connection. However, despite vast price differences, the mechanics of the players are virtually the same in all of them. Why? Because in the years since the big boys like Sony stopped making cassette players, the machines and the literal capabilities to design and fabricate new cassette mechanisms just doesn’t exist anymore. You’d basically have to start from the ground up. The technology is so old, we’ve essentially lost it.

Third and most sobering to me however, is that there are times when modern technology is simply amazing and I don’t want to avoid it.

A.I. is so powerful and useful in so many ways. Blockchain technology has the power to liberate monetary systems and reshape industries. Communication has never been easier: I can literally speak with someone across the globe via high-resolution video at any time with virtually no delay.

These are incredible and unthinkable blessings just a few decades ago.

And it’s these blessing that deep down, I have a hard time wanting to give up.

There are times when I think about going old school but the thought of not having AirPods for my subway commute makes me want to barf. What am I going to do? Sit there and have to reflect about something? That sounds tiresome and boring.

Could I do it? Could I make those sacrifices? Sure. It’s not impossible to reject modern living for a more humble and nostalgic life. But, I think in mine and most people’s cases, it would require radical changes we’re not willing to make.

But it’s not just the changes that stop us. It’s also that I really like YouTube; I like sharing Instagram Reels with my wife; I like watching streaming shows on any device at any time.

I want the good parts of technology without the bad.

What can be done?

So, instead of a complete teleportation into some earlier decade and living only with the humble and simple pleasures of the past, here’s what I’ve done instead:

Turned off almost all notifications on my phone. This was priority number one because it was the primary way my phone had become a burden rather than an asset. The amount of push notifications for “breaking” news, Instagram interactions, Uber Eats deals, and a million other random apps that constantly hijack my attention was simply unacceptable. Turning off notifications for every social media app that I decided to keep on my phone was empowering. I now chose when Instagram or YouTube will get my attention, not the other way around.

Cleaned up phone’s homepage. I have a single page of apps with a weather widget and that’s it. The apps I’ve chosen to keep are essentials like email, messages, and phone, as well as a few others that I don’t mind keeping top of mind, like music and photos. All the other apps, I can swipe down and search for when I need them.

Deleted unused and unwanted apps. I deleted every app I don’t use regularly and even some that I do. Why do I still need that random alternative clock app I downloaded 10 years ago? Some apps are harmless and just sit there, but others sometimes still send push notifications even if I haven’t used them in years. No more!

And for that matter — why do I need apps like Amazon? I use Amazon all the time, but you know what? It works just as well as in a browser while delivering no notifications. I also spend less time mindlessly browsing stuff I don’t need, and there’s likely less data tracking since I (assume) there is greater privacy through Safari and iCloud Private Relay than through Amazon’s app.

Reddit? Also gone. Too much time wasted. Instead, I access it through the browser and you know what? It sucks. It’s a pretty terrible experience for the most part, which prevents me from mindlessly scrolling. It’s just usable enough for me to see what I want and then move on.

The ones I struggle with the most are YouTube and Instagram.

I get so much value out of YouTube. I primarily watch educational things. I learn about technology, film photography, fashion, engineering, cooking, history, and so much more. The best parts of YouTube are truly the best parts of all social media, in my opinion. But YouTube Shorts is cancer. There are some creators whom I enjoy (mostly short cooking videos), but Shorts as a whole are simply too addicting. Before I know it, hours can go by mindlessly scrolling and once again my evening was entirely controlled by an algorithm.

This is the same problem I have with Instagram but it’s even worse. Reels can be so great yet at the same time simply awful. There’s so much funny content on Reels it’s hard to stay away. In fact, one of my favorite activities at the end of the day with my wife is to sit down and watch all the Reels we’ve sent each other that day.

But when I log into the app now, there’s a 4x4 grid of Reels in a 1-second loop designed to suck you in. These are often A.I. generated videos that are extremely click-baity and meant to get you wondering: what happens next? Few things anger me on social media more than this. It’s manipulative and predatory.

I think about deleting Instagram, but for some reason I have yet to do it. Maybe it’s just FOMO?

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What’s my point in all this?

Part of this has been to express the helpless feeling I have toward technology at times. There’s a bit of a can’t live with it; can’t live without it feeling.

The other part has been to arrive at the broader purpose for writing this post, which if you’re still here reading — thank you!

I think Substack might be a better place for most or all of my social media consumption and expression.

This is generally a more thoughtful and less click-baity platform. I’m also more in control of the content I see and there isn’t a Reels-like function yet (hopefully never).

As for creation and sharing content, it’s all-in-one unlike other platforms that largely specialize in one medium. I can write, upload video, share my photography, drop short-form blog posts, etc. There’s not many features missing from this place.

Unfortunately, most of my family and friends are not on here so I won’t be deleting my other social media accounts anytime soon, but I do think I’ll delete the apps from my phone.

If I want to view Instagram, it’ll be through a browser where I chose the time and place, and I’m far less likely to be sucked into a Reels-rabbit hole.

For the time being, I’ll plan on using this place as my primarily platform for sharing my photography, thoughts, and other content.

If you’ve read this far: what captivated you? How do you feel about modern technology’s impact on your life? Let me know.

Thanks for reading!