Il Duca di Milano

Milan is a city that is stuffed with colorful street life. When I am there, if I am not in a museum, in bed and asleep or having a scrumptious meal, I find myself endlessly walking the streets and soaking in all the wonderful personalities Milan offers. It does not matter whether you are strolling the fashion district or prowling about in the canal section of town or wondering off into the nether regions of the city, there is always wonderful street life unfolding before your eyes.

On my second day in Milan, I decided to place my digital camera in my bag and devote the remainder of my days there exclusively to film shot with an elderly range-finder camera using only one 50mm lens. I had never before in my life shot a rangefinder camera and I am a person that is often wed to my zoom lenses. And, I am a "chimper" to no-end, constantly relying on the LCD screen on my Nikon for instant feedback that feeds into perspective and setting adjustments. So, devoting my time to a strange camera and the mystery of film was an incredibly engaging adventure. Allowing myself a maximum of 50 images per day and not being able to instantly see the results of my shots felt incredibly uncomfortable even though it was the norm when I first started taking images when I was a kid.

The magic of the whole experiment came to life over the past several weeks as the images were processed at a leisurely pace. This film only experiment and devotion to the street has me fully engaged. It was a wonderful process from beginning to end and I feel that my journey back into film has only just begun. Surely, digital will remain central to me for its cost effectiveness, convenience and the predictable and stunning results it can render when correctly captured and manipulated. But there is a magic to film that has my mind racing and my heart thumping with joy, anticipation and intrigue.

Yes, I am finally stumbling across the 365-day finish line . But please hold your "attaboy" salutations for it has taken me nearly 16 months to reach a point most of you have reached in one year. Seriously, think about it: This milestone really should be reserved for people whom have posted 365 consecutive photos. Yet I know when I hit send it will recognize this as a special achievement. It really is just another of my sporadic blips.

Shot with Tri-X 400 film pushed to 1600 ISO (at 1/125 and f4, if I remember correctly). I will be posting other images from my trip over the course of this weekend. This shot is also part of my Up in Smoke series.