In 2022, I made an insomnia-driven buy, a used Olympus camera on Poshmark for about USD 15.
At first, I was conservative with my usage. I told myself that film is expensive and only shot for “special moments.” While that is true, I regretted not having my camera more often than not. I missed capturing moments I wanted to preserve.
Every day above ground is a special moment and now I carry my camera everywhere.
I developed my “test” roll of film & loved the quality of the pictures.
The test roll captured a spontaneous Gyalentines trip to NOLA. We became potatoes and beach bums over the holidays. We gathered to eat & give thanks for making it to a new year.
With a film camera, there are no filters and no do-overs. Just real moments, frozen in time.
You hope and pray the lighting is right and all eyes are open.
Shooting film encourages me slow down and see people. It makes me more intentional with each click. And I love that.
Looking through these images, a year later, I caught myself smiling.
Film captures the everyday magic that happens when people are just being themselves.
During Easter of 2025, we took a family trip to Bimini.
I pulled out my Olympus camera and heard something jingling, sadly it was damaged.
Something inside the lens slipped out of place. I took a chance and captured this image.
Because my Olympus is second hand, it just made more sense to make another Poshmark buy and I did. With a little bargaining, I purchased my first Canon camera, a Canon EOS 10s 35mm SLR film camera.
One of my film goals is to capture an engagement proposal and a wedding.I want to capture not just the posed photos but also the stuff in between. The soft & quiet moments behind the scenes. The loud and joyful ones. The things you feel but can’t explain.
If you have a special day coming up, I would love to capture it for you.
Thank you Thacker’s Film Lab) for developing my rolls of film.
Chafeeza 
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