Fort Collins Family Film Photographer

For the entire story of our day, along with digital photos, read Monday’s blog post about the S family’s documentary session at Lee Martinez Park in Fort Collins, Colorado. After we moved to the Farm at Lee Martinez Park, I started swapping between my DSLR and my 35 mm Yashica film camera. Everything shown was shot on Kodak Portra 400, developed by The FIND Lab.

girl playing with water pump

My lens is manual focus, which can make things tricky, especially with moving subjects and quickly changing light conditions. I try and set my aperture to allow for a somewhat larger depth of field, but even then, I’ll fully admit that I miss focus. But you know what? I still love these. Film has such a different feel for me. Rather than a digital capture of light, this is a physical capture of the light in that moment, with a somewhat raw, real feeling to it.

girl holding dad's hand

All photos have a tendency to put me in the moment, but these are different. They truly put me there. It may very well be because I’m the one behind the camera, trying to get everything in focus and not underexposed, looking for the right composition, then having my subject move *right* as I press the button to trigger the shutter. But it’s those little imperfections that I love, just like the ones I love in myself and my own family.

kids looking at animals at the farm at lee martinez park

dad petting horse

I promise it’s not a line when I try to get across that I capture life as it happens. The little moments. Slow it all down for a nanosecond. I’m just as guilty as anyone else about looking forward to the next thing, the new information, the notification. I won’t even try and say that I’m “going to better”, because I probably won’t. But what I will do? When I do see these moments, I will pause. Take a minute to think about light and life, color and family.

family looking at turkey

A huge thank you to Liz and her family for driving up from Denver to hang out for the morning. I had a fantastic time with you and your family! We really do need to make a beer in downtown Fort Collins happen. Maybe next year’s session? Beer and ponies?


I’m still looking for families wanting to add film to their family session. I’m not currently offering it as a standalone package, but would be more than willing to add it to almost any session I currently offer. Head to my family sessions page for more info, and to get in touch about your own family session!

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