In the dead of winter, up here in the northeast US, great color and indirect light can warm the mood to the point of being almost bearable. And when you are dreaming of Margaritaville and feeling like a mushroom, it’s great to have a visual reminder of how pretty, colorful and light filled the world is around us. Consider it a bit of visual hygge.
It’s no secret that I love old cameras and old, expired film. The grain and anomalies give me ‘warm and fuzzies.’ And the process of shooting with this great old gear, and the surprises you get after development, all make it a worthy pass time. Using the wide aperture of the f/1.8 lens, the focal plane is narrowed and that gives a dreamy, off-focus effect to much of the image. And life is, indeed, a bowl of freakin’ cherries.
About the Photo: The camera used to make this photo was the less-than-remarkable Nikon 2020 35mm SLR film camera. I purchased it for $25 at a camera show. After carving a huge pile of battery corrosion out of it, I got it working, loaded it up, and ran a few rolls through. I call the camera less-than-remarkable because it is not the best example of Nikon’s electronic capabilities, but still, it is perfectly competent for hobbyists who don’t need instant autofocus and can live with a few missed exposures per roll.
The film used is long expired Photoworks 200, which was never more than just OK when it was fresh. I’m not sure, but I suspect that this film stopped being fresh when Ronald Reagan was president. The lens was the underrated, compact, and delightful Nikkor 50mm AF. It’s slow to focus, but utterly competent in all other ways – an inexpensive, must-have lens for any Nikon film shooter on autofocus or manual cameras.