I have been posting about shooting film lately and I realized when someone asked me "where do I get it?" that it isn't as easy to just go buy a roll anymore. So I thought I better post some resources for you to be able to find a camera, film and processing stuff if you need any. For a camera you may only have to go as far as your closet to find one. But if you need to buy one you can always go the ebay. The place I love to buy from is KEH.com. All of my images are made with cameras I bought from them. Another place to check out is freestylephoto.biz, what a great photo retailer. They are in L.A. and have a great selection of film, chemicals, and paper. Just about everything you need you can get from them at great prices. The image below was shot on their legacy pro film, and all of my black and white portfolio uses supplies I have gotten from them. You may even want to explore the toy cameras like the holga. Those are so simple and so fun to use. They make those really artsy images that look sort of dreamy and funky.

Pentax *ist 35mm, 50mm f2.0, 1/60th sec @ f2.0, Freestyle legacy pro 100 film

Now for some lab advice. I encourage anyone who wants to shoot film to develop their own film. I know it can be a bother but it is so much fun to pull the film off the real. To develop your own film you will need:

• A dark closet or changing bag.
• A developing tank and reels.
• Chemical. I would start with a liquid developer and fixer. That way your not having to mix powders and such.
• Extra plastic bottles and a way to measure your chemicals. Glass measuring cups work but don't use them for cooking too!
• A thermometer.
  
• A place to hang your film dry. I use the shower stall in the extra bathroom.
• A scanner is good to have so you can scan the negs when you're done.
  

A great place to go to get info on how to develop your own film is apug.org or you could always search youtube. If you don't want to do it yourself then you will most likely have to have your black and white film sent to a "pro" lab. Mini labs don't do traditional black and white film. Check your area for a pro lab or you can use mail order services if you want. For color negative film I recommend using a pro lab but be careful. Some labs call themselves pro but they are so far from pro it's laughable. To be honest, places like Costco can give a pro lab a run for their money with 35mm color film. I mean Costco can give you a developed roll scanned to an 8-9 megapixel resolution file for under $2 a roll. The pro lab will run you almost $20. Make sure your getting more from your pro lab than you could get at Costco.

Well, I hope that helps you get your feet wet in the world of film photography. It's a blast.