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—and I was much too excited to back-order a roll.
However, it soon became apparent that my Yashicaflex supports a maximum film speed setting of 200, which is fine usually, because as of late, I have committed myself to 80 and 100 ASA films, but for now, it meant that my photos were going to be inherently overexposed, and I would need to adjust my exposure calculations to account for that, but that’s okay—I don’t expect the world of a test roll.
My sister asked me the other day, “What is your camera’s name?”. I’ve been calling my cameras “My Minolta” and “My Yashicaflex”, so after a few days of deliberation, I decided on the name Keiko.
The subject of my first photograph ended up being the orange tree in my back garden, which appeared so beautifully through the viewfinder. From there, the excitement took over—I couldn’t help taking a shot. It’s a bit of a busy composition, so I’m not sure how well it will turn out, but it was very satisfying.
From then, I bought a strap and I took Keiko out onto the street intent on finishing my roll all in one day. I wasn’t too focused on getting a good shot; I wanted to get a feel for my camera.
“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
