My Favorite Film Photos Of 2024

In 2023 I found the fun of making film photos. In 2024 I tried to find a place for it in my workflow. It was a fun way to go out and just try something. It also helps teach me patience. I really have fun trying new things with film. It lets me go into a project with an idea and try and see it through. Below are a few of my favorite film photos from last year.

We start things out with a film photo from the old time baseball game at Prophetstown. I didn’t cover any of the action with my film camera, but I really liked this moment from before the game when the teams were going over the rules. You have the players in the foreground with the awesome barn as a backdrop. Here I was using the Fuji AX3 with Lomo 800 in it. I probably didn’t need 800 speed film here, but it is what was in the camera. I still like this photo.

One draw to using film was to try and see what it was like for people that I admire. One of those photographers was Saul Leiter. I spent a lot of time walking downtown trying to find interesting things that he might have found. He lived in New York though, and I live in the Lafayette area. The amount of people is far less here, but every now and then you capture a moment. I really like this photo for that reason. This was made with my Fuji AX3 and Portra 400.

After a softball tournament in Covington, Indiana I drove out to a nearby covered bridge to make photos of it. On the way there I spotted this barn, and I knew that it would be a perfect subject for a photo. Here I was using the Fuji AX3 and Ektar 100 speed film. I have a few favorite kinds of film, but on a sunny day Ektar always looks amazing.

This was kind of a happy accident. Somewhere in the process this film was damaged. Most of the roll was no good. Here though I think that it added something to this photo. A snowy day feels a little dreamier. Here I am using the Sears TLS camera with Santa Gold 200 loaded into it. I am trying another roll of Santa Gold around the holidays this year hopefully with better results.

The Fuji AX3 and Portra 800 bring you this photo of the Lions Club ice cream truck downtown. This is one of my favorite subjects downtown in the summer because of the colors on the trailer and the ivy on the wall behind it.

I had some fun with the Devon Theatre in Attica, Indiana. I think that I used every film camera that I own to make a photo of it. My favorite photo of it though came with the Fuji AX3 and Ektar 100. Part of the fun of trying different cameras and films is to see what suits your taste. Ektar wins that battle quite often.

One of my favorite subjects on campus is the Loeb Fountain. It is not always running so I have limited time during the year to make photos of it. Here the Canon AE-1 and Kodak Color Plus 200 film make it look good.

One fun thing about film is that you have a lot of leeway with most films. It makes things like shooting right into the sun not so scary. In fact as I have played around with film I have found that it can give me some very pleasing results. I have used some tricks in Lightroom to try and get some similar results on my digital photos. I made this photo with the Minolta SRT 101. It was a great camera that I got two rolls of film through before something broke inside of it. Here on first run with the camera I was using some expired Kodak Color Plus 200. I really liked this camera in my limited use so I may try and find another at a reasonable price.

One fun camera that I bought this year was the sprocket rocket from Lomography. Here I loaded it with Portra 400 and went out to make images with it. I didn’t know exactly what I would need to do so it was kind of a test run. Here I liked how this photo turned out. I have another roll in the camera as I write this hoping for more blue sky days.

Another great example of the dynamic range of some of these films. The reflecting sun and the building in the shade both can look good. This is a concept that I need to work with more this coming year. I made this with my Canon AE-1 and Kodak Color Plus 200 film. I have not always had the best results with this camera, but here things came together for an image that I really liked.

I rarely get a chance to photograph this Coke mural without a car in front of it. On this day I lucked out, and had a chance to do so. Once again using the Fuji AX3 here with an expired roll of Fuji Superia Xtra 400 in it. I had a great time downtown having some fun with this expired roll of film.

Another photo from the old time baseball game at Propehtstown. I really like this simple photo. Once again this was made with the Fuji AX3 and Lomo 800 in it. The colors on that Lomo film are amazing.

While in Thorntown, Indiana to view the eclipse I had some fun making photos. I am not going to lie. When I saw this old service station while looking for towns it may have played a roll in why that is where we saw the eclipse. I am starting to sound like a broken record on this post. This was made with the Fuji AX3 and Ektar 100.

We will end things with this photo of Neil Armstrong made with the Minolta SRT 101 and a roll of Tri-x 400 speed film. This was my initial test of the camera to check for light leaks. I really liked how easy the camera was to use. As I said above something went wrong while finishing a roll of film so I need to get the camera looked at. I hope that I can get it back in service soon.

This was a fun year trying different things with film. As with last year film has taught me patience. It is not something that I am good with, but it really is needed with film. This year I want to try and do my own scans a bit to be able to control that part of the process more. Looking at my favorite photos of the year it looks like the Fuji was the camera that I leaned on the most. It has been my most reliable camera for a while now. This is still a new hobby for me so I hope that this list looks even better next year. This has been a fun way to spark creativity in my photography.