Film Infusion

Film infusion is mentioned on my site a few times, but what exactly does that mean? It’s the process of cooking or soaking the film with other objects in order to infuse it with some of their essence. Technically, this process is known as film souping, but while souping will produce novelty effects no matter what ingredients you use, I prefer to think of it as infusion because I like to be very intentional about connecting the ingredients with the subject matter on the film, which results in extra magical effects and even more layers of connection and meaning in the final images.

I like to think of film infusion a bit as creating a magickal spell; I’m not just creating some interesting effects, but we’re collecting very specific ingredients that either directly relate to something special to you or can represent something. Maybe you want some dreamy portraits to celebrate moving to a new space or starting a new chapter in your life, but you want something to represent where you’ve been AND where you are now; we can use something from your old space as an ingredient in the infusion while shooting in your new space, plus maybe adding some herbs for protection and peace, a favorite food or drink for comfort and celebration, and anything else you feel might really be important to you. The intentions and energies we put into choosing ingredients have just as much of an impact on the final photo outcome as the ingredients themselves.

 Erika and Jason wanted some photos to capture their love (and I LOVE capturing love) so we went out into the forest and had a sweet little walk through the woods with lots of laughs and sweet, tender moments. At the end of our time together shooting, I asked if they had thought about the film infusion ingredients. They told me how most nights when they sit together Erika likes to have a nice glass of wine and Jason has his PBR and that’s their thing; I loved it, the idea of adding their nightly ritual to film containing photos celebrating two partners and the energy they share was so sweet, and the photos did turn out incredibly lovely and dreamy.

We spent a few hours and a few rolls of film for Mo & Karl’s engagement photos in their sweet home, sorting through their favorite records and putting them on, drinking coffee on the couch while eating gluten free donuts, and dancing around in their kitchen. Plus cuddles and kisses, lots of cuddles and kisses were happening and it was so dang precious and I felt honored to be able to capture such special intimacy and love. For their infusion we added a bunch of dried flowers from their last anniversary, plus dried sage, as well as a few secret and VERY magical ingredients. This infusion clearly turned out so very passionate in the colors and textures, of which I have absolutely no control; the ingredients and the energy shapes as it needs to on the film and I just try to let the magick do as it will.

So, in the end, I like to think film infusion is mostly magick with a little science in there probably, but ultimately I really believe in the energy we attribute and can easily put towards certain things and then I use that to create incredibly unique and powerful photos. This process is something I’ve studied and refined for years and I love how intimate and sacred it has become because I’m putting so much into each roll of film as well as handling precious artifacts and energy from other folks as well. Every roll of film is infused by me and takes time, then eventually I hand process the film in my home and scan it all in myself; this is not a fast process and that’s just how I like it because I can really focus on each roll and intuit what it needs from me to achieve the final images.
If this resonates with you, let’s make some magick together. ✨