Chinatown in twenty minutes

What could one possibly do in Chinatown on a grey July morning when there's nowhere to park and the only metered space to be found was $3/hour and there were only 20 minutes worth of quarters in the camera bag?

Quite a bit actually. I purchased two new parasols, grabbed some postcards to send to friends out of town (3 for $1!), and took the photographs below. Guānshǎng!

the start of the roll (black + white edition)

Remember how strange it was picking up a roll of film from the pharmacy or camera shop and seeing that first print, mostly fine but a little fried on one side? Sometimes when loading a new film cartridge into the camera the frame that would be counted as "1" was exposed to light, guaranteeing uneven and unintentional exposure and, to most, ruining the picture. Labs would usually consider it a waste and wouldn't make a print of this first frame, but when they did... 

A couple years ago my friend Steve and I thought there should be a group on Flickr to celebrate these often beautiful oddities. We started uploading more and more of them, and the group The Start (or End) of the Roll was born. I got into the habit of loading my 35mm cameras sans lens cap to essentially insure the start of the roll would be something unique. Rarely focused and poorly exposed, there's a place in my heart for these accidental creations, lovely in their own way.

From my backyard to the lobby of a historic movie palace to not one but two Los Angeles cemeteries, you never know where the roll will start.

a Disneyland slideshow

Question: What is better than shooting slide film at Disneyland on Dapper Day and then sharing your photographs with friends during a Kodak slide projector living room slideshow?

Answer: Nothing!

For those unable to travel back in time to experience said slideshow, here's the next best thing -- a selection of my slides from the Disney parks in February 2014. Enjoy.