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On December 25, 2025 I started a 365 Project where I take one photo every day for a year. Because I shoot a lot of film photos I ran into an organization problem because the day I take a photo and the day I can post the developed photo are often spread out pretty far. And while a Light Room Classic collection can sort by capture date, it's not easy to identify which photos were taken when and what day number of the challenge they belong to.

So with the help of Claude I built a little calendar view for Lightroom which not only shows you the gaps in the calendar where a photo needs to be placed, but also tells you what day of the challenge the photo belongs to.

I released it on GitHub and I hope you find it useful. Installation and usage instructions are in the project README.

🤖 Note, unlike my other AI-assisted software efforts this tool is 100% vibe coded and not human reviewed. I felt safe doing so because this is a read-only data viewing tool that performs no actions and works “good enough”. I did dogfood it by testing it against my own library and photos and making sure it doesn't “write” but that is the extent of my testing.

#usefultool #photography #announcement #release #software #plugin

The real kicker came with the arrival of the iPhone XR which took sharper photos (although at a lower resolution). I gave up on “real” camera photography for years due to making an amateur mistake of blaming sensor technology for my image quality problems. My assumption was that if my phone's tiny sensor could outperform my dedicated camera, my Panasonic must be outdated. Yet when I started film photography in January, I had a completely different mindset. I knew right away that the lens mattered more than the “sensor” (the film) did. I focused (pun intended) on purchasing the best lenses my budget could afford. For some reason, this fact didn't register for my digital setup until a few weeks ago.

What I failed to realize over four years of using the Panasonic was that gear mattered–but in my case it wasn't the camera body that mattered so much as it was the lens. Sensing my renewed interest in gear, the almighty YouTube algorithm suggested a 2018 review of a Panasonic Leica lens for Micro 4/3 cameras and I was intrigued. Was the cause of my dissatisfaction due to buying budget lenses? Needing the answer, I went to eBay to buy a used Panasonic Leica 15mm (30mm equivalent) and as soon as it arrived I took some test shots.

Wow! This is exactly what I've wanted from this camera since I bought it in 2016! Sure, I've taken some great photos with it but there have been times when I needed to crop or wanted to show some detailed textures and been frustrated with the soft results from the budget lenses.

I'm so grateful to have had the experience of shooting film because it has taught me so much about the basics of photography that digital can often cover up–particularly that new isn't always better–quality is. I never questioned that film photography was all about the lens, yet somehow convinced myself that digital photography was all about the sensor. Sometimes the best upgrade isn't replacing your digital camera with one that has 8 stops of IBIS and more megapixels; just like a good film camera, your old digital body simply requires a lens it deserves.

#technology #photography #reflection #gear

I've gotten to the point where I notice small things completely passively now. I no longer have to concentrate on looking at my surroundings–I just notice the small things automatically now. Speaking of which, there's some work that needs to be done on the house this spring...

I discovered Pyrocat-HD and I think it's my new favorite black and white film developer. My development costs are coming down now that I've developed 23 rolls of film by myself. I've gotten pretty good at the whole thing and have yet to make any developing mistakes. (If only that could be said for capturing the photo and loading the film correctly...)

Continuing the photography obsession in another genre—I've been playing around with some code for an app. I'm not sure if anything will come from it, but maybe in a few months I'll have something I can show off.

March was pretty much entirely work, cooking tons of lamb, loads of photography, and family life. I did manage to squeeze in a movie—something I rarely make time for any more.

#photography #exploration #film #darkroom

Just over a year ago, I bought a Chevy Bolt EV and have been taking it road tripping—which is, frankly, a terrible idea. It's a first-generation EV that charges slower than a glacier taking a coffee break. Unlike modern EVs, in the Bolt you drive for 2.5 hours, then charge for 20-45 minutes. It charges even slower in the winter, yet despite this limitation, I've covered several thousand miles over various road trips these past twelve months. Then, this month, after four years of “window shopping” on eBay, I finally took the plunge into medium format film cameras and bought a 1954 Yashicaflex A2 film camera.

Both the slow-charging EV and the camera pictured above reflect a concept I've been gradually embracing over the past 12 months—one I only recognized this week: I enjoy being more deliberate and more aware.

My last road trip was only about 160 miles away, but took almost four hours each way, thanks to winter temperatures and tires reducing my range and slowing my charge rate. My first twelve shots ever on the Yashicaflex were with black and white film and they each took me 5-10 minutes to calculate exposure, apply the settings to the camera, compose, and wait for the right moment to snap the shutter. I won't get the shots back from the film development lab for at least another week, and I have no idea if they turned out well.

It seems that even though I didn't pick a resolution or theme for 2025, my interests have chosen it for me. Here's to designing intentional slow downs in life, and paying attention to what is around us as we move through the arrow of time. 🥂

#travel #lifestyle #ev #mindfulness #newyear #photography