Don't buy a negative scanner! This is how I scan negatives of all sizes at professional quality with a setup that costs less than $50USD. From the moment I started developing my own film, scanning negatives well has been routinely on my mind. While working exclusively with 135 film, I would use a dedicated 135 negative scanner for all of my scans, though once I began shooting 120, I needed to look into a scanner that supported medium format, and unfortunately, I quickly realised a scanner like that was way out of my immediate price range.

Unlatching the roll of film from my Yashicaflex, I'm more excited than ever to develop a roll. I'm crazy about the mechanics of this camera—everything is simple, yet complex. From the way the roll travels from one side of the camera, around the bend, to the other; to the solid, reassuring twist latch that seals the film door shut; to the counter window at the back that allows me to count each frame from the numbers on the film’s backing sheet while I wind the roll forward with the satisfyingly haptic film-advance knob—every part of this camera pleases my primitive, tactile brain.

"Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it" — Gautama Buddha Motivation, throughout a lot of my life, has been a fleeting force, pulling me toward one venture or another. Unsettled, I would gravitate toward a particular interest for a short period, before losing drive and moving my focus to the next.

From the first satisfying turn of the film advance knob, watching the film roll forward manually through the counter window at the back of my Yashicaflex, I was hooked on this new camera. My film was loaded and I was ready to adjust my camera's film speed setting. I had chosen Ilford HP5+ 400 for my first roll, as it was the only medium format film the camera store had in stock that day—

Since the beginning of my voyage into photography, I have been enamoured of waist-level reflex cameras—the large yet discrete viewfinder accessible from the top and the focus on often square format composition both piqued my imagination and creativity. Specifically, studying the works of the Hong Kong based photographer Ho Fan and Swiss photographer Werner Bischof introduced me to twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras.

In a city that breathes, Brisbane Artistiku seeks syncopation; the off-beat encounters between the movement that makes this city unique. Through these captured scenes, fleeting gestures and quiet d…

In a city that breathes rhythm, Brisbane Artistiku listens for the syncopation; the off-beat encounters between movement and meaning that make this city unique. Through these captured scenes, fleeting gestures and quiet details become meditations on the humanity we share in passing. An echo of time, among contemporary forms. This photograph depicts 19th-century architecture beautifully juxtaposed with modern-day rail infrastructure. Seen through a mid-20th-century lens, it subtly blending eras in a most timeless way.

Made in Brisbane Arcade, October 2025. For the past few months, I have been taking my rolls of film to the local photo lab for processing and scanning. It was convenient, and the advice I received from the staff there was always valuable, but it was starting to get expensive, and I wanted to connect more with the process to understand it on a practical level, knowing that I could introduce more creativity with my developing process.