An argument for home developing

I’ve been on the fence for a while now about developing my film at home. For me, it’s about being able to control my work. Over the past few months I’ve slowly started to collect the things I need to do it. I’m still not quite there but I’m close to having what I need to do it.

On the 28th of January, I sent a roll of film to Gene’s Camera in South Bend via the USPS. I always pick Priority Mail so it arrives quicker. South Bend is probably 40 miles from my house so it should have been there in two days. As of today, February 9, it is still stuck in the USPS Indy facility. It’s maddening because it is probably lost which sucks. This roll contained interior shots of Gary Roosevelt High School which was been closed since December of 2019. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to take those photos. I‘m afraid they are gone forever.

This is the dilemma, we trust that our systems will work. Usually they do but when they fail, they fail miserably. I have always had the fear that one day a roll of film would get lost in our postal system. I think it’s finally happened…..

This singular situation has pushed me to speed up by ability of develop my film at home.