This is Brett, the other half of studio3z, writing my first, hopefully not last, blog entry.  Hello all!

So, we’ve decided to start shooting film again and I took my first roll of medium format film a couple of weeks ago.  I’m calling this my first “film experiment in light.”  There is something about film that draws us in to the images…something I can’t amply describe, but I like to call it “The Van Gogh Effect” because film grain and blur reminds me of his amazing textures and I love how it seems so much more pure, raw, and organic than digital.  And, I am an organic purist at heart.  There is  something deeply emotional about film in that it requires more time, effort, and patience.  Film also requires us to have a deeper connection with the subject that is elsewise absent.  This is what I love.

Well, I decided a few months back that I wanted to get back full circle to where this all began, but was dragging my heels on it.  When Jessica and I first started shooting together, I shot a lot of film.  Some of those photographs are still some of my favorites to date, but I could never get past the ease and convenience of digital.  This all met with a crescendo upon attending the WPPI conference this year.  This is where I became friends with a kindred spirit, Gabe McClintock, the incredibly talented man behind the camera of Perspectiveye Photography. Gabe was instrumental in my decision to start shooting film again and he was very helpful and graciously in lending me his ear on this venture.  If you haven’t checked out his work before, then indulge your senses and visit his blog here.  He shoots a lot of film these days and was one of my biggest inspirations for this endeavor…thank you Gabe!  I was also privileged to hear a couple of excellent and inspiring film artists speak at WPPI this year, Elizabeth Messina of Kiss The Groom Photography and Jose Villa.

Looking back, here is one of my 35mm film shots from the first wedding Jessica and I ever photographed:

Now, coming full circle, I’m shooting with my new (old) Contax 645 medium format camera.  This frame below is one of my favorites from the first roll I ever shot a couple weeks ago:

The water and light were so wondrous that I couldn’t stop shooting, so here are a few others…

That same day, the kids and I hung out with Grandma “Nanny” Beth, my mom, at Waffle House.  The vintage Waffle House feel and the beautiful light pouring through the windows all added up to what I felt was “film ready”…well, I’m actually getting addicted to it and now everything is seeming “film ready” these days:

We look forward to sharing more of our film experiments in light with you in the upcoming weeks.

brett & jess

I have to apologize for my absence as of late. Our life has been going through some changes/shifts and I thought it was just going to last a couple weeks, but it appears that it may be our “theme” for the moment.  I don’t mean to sound allusive, but suffice it to say that for a person who struggles with veering from the routine, I am growing in my patience and spontaneity. Growth for me in this area is a good thing. We are jumping into major renovations around our house which are requiring many decisions and much research, we are working on a *HUGE* biz re-brand (WOW, it’s gonna be soooo great!!!), tax season appeared out of the blue (always FUN), as well as other big shifts. Much more to come….and no, I’m not pregnant. Sorry folks who are rooting for Z-5. ;)

As we’ve been cleaning up around here and moving into our regular season of shooting again (yay!!) I have gathered together our personal photos from 2010.  Yes, I realize it is April and that 1/3 of our year is already gone (HOW CRAZY IS THAT??!), but we had SUCH a fun year in 2010 that I just had to compile it into a slideshow. Our blog also serves as a “family journal” of sorts, so having this to look back on is really special to us.

Last year we traveled to California, New York, New Mexico…..we had family dance parties, rode bikes and read lots of books. We celebrated birthdays and dear friendships. I saw my baby sister marry her true love. We cooked new foods and explored fantastic restaurants. We feel wonderfully blessed to share our lives with so many beautiful people. Here is a (very tiny) sampling of our 2010 year. Thanks for taking the time to view it and share in our lives.