The Joy of Discovering Un-deveolped Film [a video]

From my early childhood I have a memory of my parents shooting a couple photos during the holiday season, a couple more during my birthday party, maybe ten or twenty on the family vacation and then–when the roll of 24 exposures was used up–they’d pop the film outta the back of the camera and throw it in the drawer. Usually after about another month or two they’d re-discover the roll. And they’d run it down to the local drugstore, retrieve it a week or two later and voila! We’d be looking at pictures that were already a year old or more. We of course, didn’t care. This is the way photography just ‘was’. And i suspect that if you’re in your late 20’s or 30’s or older that you may have had similar memories.

While I’m talking of these things like they’re a hundred years ago, funny thing that a similar thing happened to me just recently. It’s a little different in that we’re talking moving pictures. I’ve got this waaay cool, old Bolex 8mm movie camera that I bought at a used camera about 15 years ago. Sometime last year I was plowing through old gear and I stumbled on that great old camera and….lo and behold…there were a handful of undeveloped film cartridges. I zipped them across country to one of the only places left that was developing this old Kodak stock and what I got back brought a huge smile to my face. Me and a couple of buddies–Scott who you know well and another buddy Glen–from more than a DECADE AGO with long skateboards, baggy shorts and pants, cruising down long, rolling hills… during the summertime in the nearby Cascade Mountains. We sewed that footage together just recently and I’m happy to share it with you here today for fun.

And as a reminder. If by chance you occasionally shoot film (or you always shoot it?) and if you’ve got undeveloped rolls laying around. Go develop them. I’m banking the results will be worth your time.