Episode 01 - Roll 001 - The First Roll

Hey friend,

So the first roll of the year lasted 5 days. I loaded up a super expired roll of Kodak’s T-Max P3200. This black and white film has nice grain and flexible tonal range that renders inky black tones. This roll was over 10 years expired which resulted in a few under-exposed frames and a little more grain than normal but I’m alright with all of the above. I rated the film at 1600 iso, but after looking at these scans I feel like I could’ve given the film a little more light had I rated the film at 1250 or even 800 iso.

Day 001 - The Diver

It’s only a matter of time before people find out the first of my many character flaws. I’m not a pet or animal person.¹ I don’t hate animals. I like corgi memes as much as the next guy but the thought of having to care for one for the rest of its natural life is no joke, literally the very last thing I would rather do in my lifetime. If that makes me a weird, then so be it.

I do love my kids. So that’s why we’ve had memberships to the Phoenix Zoo and Odysea Aquarium ever since living out here. This guy cleaning the tank was the most exciting thing I saw that day.

Day 002 - The Letter E

Next month will mark one year of working from home. I love sneaking downstairs to see my boy learning his letters or doing art projects with Cinthia. I always knew she’d be an incredible mom but seeing it in real life lights me up and I’m so happy I’ve been able to watch this happen in real time.

Day 003 - Toys Everywhere

Oliver reminds me quite frequently about the day we built this race track and it’s really interesting to me that he does. Kids will remember the tiniest of gestures. When I was about 4 or 5, I was in my dad’s truck. He handed me a small teddy bear with a t-shirt that read “Best Friend”. He told me that I was his best friend. I’ve been calling my dad my best friend ever since. I’m 38 years old.

Day 004 - Brothers

Sometimes learning new things is hard for all of us. And, sharing the attention is still something Baby O is getting used. There’s no doubt in my mind that Oliver loves his brother and now that Ben is crawling all over the place it fills me with so much joy to see my two favorite little humans get along like this.² 

Day 005 - A Basketball Hoop

Do you even shoot film if you don’t at least have one frame of a basketball hoop, or a gas station, or a classic car? I don’t know why we do it, but we do.

An Observation

It’s been about a week since the last entry and I’ve had a handful of conversations about this project and a few other chats, unrelated to photography, that all stemmed from publishing my previous episode. One conversation that really hangs at the top of the pile was with a person that ended up asking me, “Do you not sell art?” after I passed on his offer to collaborate on a project. The question really made me think, but not about me selling art. It made me think about how I’m seeing more and more creatives making content about the things they’re passionate about. Some inevitably draw a following as they share their journey, and arrive at a tipping point when the passion for creating the content about the thing is greater the thing itself.

Why is keeping an eye on this sort of thing so important to me? I’m still figuring that out. What I know for certain is that I want to be able to create for the simple love of creating³ and I want to see more people doing the same. Can you imagine what that would look like?

Talk soon,

. rm

(Note to self)

Create for the simple love of creating

1. ::Deep breath, it’s ok, this is a safe space::

2. Printed and it’s up on the wall next to my desk

3. Thats the #2 goal of this entire project