10/26/2026
Shu + Cameron, Part II. Documented entirely on film and scanned in house with so much love 🎞️⭐️💕 • Remember back in June when I made that big, dramatic post about breaking up with my lab, and lab scans altogether, to bring scanning in house? Remember when I said one session pushed me over the edge? Consider this the redemption. Meet Shu and Cameron.
The film from their June session came back badly fogged, color shifted, and spotted with water marks, because the lab’s chemistry was off and the negatives were never properly washed. Less than a third of the scans were usable, and only five or six met my own standard for a good image. This wasn’t bad exposures or an off day on my end. It happened in someone else’s darkroom, after the film had already left my hands.
And honestly? That doesn’t matter. My name is on every gallery I deliver, so it makes no difference who fu**ed up. It was still a royal f**k up.
Two days after those scans came back, we ended things with the lab and built the system we use now. But for weeks after, I lived in full “I can fix this” delusion, editing frame after frame as if enough hours could bring them back. They couldn’t.
When I sent their gallery, I told them myself it wasn’t up to my standards before anyone could say a word, and I offered what I quietly hoped they’d accept: a redo. Partly because they deserved better, and partly because some irrational part of me needed proof that this wasn’t me.
So we built a session entirely around them, where every detail was intentional, from the house we rented to the gorgeous florals my girl Roxy • Roxy Rodriguez | Boston Wedding Florist created for them. I rarely get to say everything was exactly as I imagined it. This time, it was.
The lesson I keep learning the hard way: sometimes it isn’t your fault, and it’s still your responsibility. You can’t control everything, but you can control what you do next. For me, that meant ending a partnership, scanning my own film, and learning to trust my gut again.
Shu and Cameron, thank you for your grace and for letting me right the wrong. I love these, and I love you two even more 💕 Javi and I can’t wait for your wedding next year 💕⭐️🎞️
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Film Development: Hunt's Photo & Video
