Starting over with grain
I like film stock that shows the marks of how it was made. Film forces a pause between seeing and pressing the shutter. I shot most of this series on a single roll, half of it in fading light. The trick, if there is one, is to leave plenty of room for slip-ups.
Second thoughts
I am still not sure I have it right, but it is closer. I print small first, then decide what deserves to be larger. Nothing here requires a medium format camera, though it does make things easier. I like light that shows the marks of how it was made.
A friend once described film stock as hushed work, and the phrase stuck. Most problems with contact sheets turn out to be problems with time. A friend once described shadows as hushed work, and the phrase stuck. The best frame on the sheet was the one I very nearly did not take.
The short version
For a long time I treated contact sheets as an afterthought. This began as a quick note and bit by bit turned into something longer. I like shadows that shows the marks of how it was made. Somewhere between the hills and home, the idea finally made sense.
Looking back, the soft approach was the right call. If something here is unclear, that is on me, not you. Thanks for reading, and for the generous observations that keep arriving. Most of the editing happens weeks later, when the memory has faded.
Looking back, the hushed approach was the right call.
A light meter is a good teacher if you let it disagree with you. If you only take one thing from this, make it the part about portraits.