I have a secret relationship with film. Sometimes I can't decide if I love it or I hate it, but it's a relationship nonetheless. Unlike digital where it can be easy to rattle off thousands of images by the hour, film makes me stop and think, recompose, and really analzye all components of the image I hope to convey. There are also certain unique characteristics of film that can't completely be replicated with digital - the grain, color palette and dynamic range to name a few. Film is especially fun in that it takes time for processing and can't be immediately reviewed on an LCD screen. There's an anticipation, not knowing exactly how an image might turn out. When a roll gets returned and it's one fantastic photo after another - love. But when I've made one simple mistake or even the camera has malfunctioned and the entire roll might as well be scrapped - hate. It doesn't take much to ruin a roll of film, but that makes the reward that much greater.
One particular example was my trip to Daytona last year. I brought along my Canon AE-1 and a few rolls of Ilford HP5+ to capture historic racers in period correct media. I ended up only shooting two rolls but I probably should have shot more. After finshing out the 32ish exposures of my first roll, I hastily swapped it out for a new one, but I didn't take my time or pay enough attention to what I was doing and it never completely caught on the winding spindles. I ended shooting an entire day's worth of images over one frame. What a waste. I'm still disappointed about that to this day, but at least I have these images to remember the good of my trip.
Canon AE-1P, 50mm f/1.8
Ilford HP5+
Processed by Film Box Lab, Nashville, TN