(Regarding the 35mm Point and Shoot  Camera)

I write this today, on what happens to be my wedding anniversary. On this day seven years ago, Natalia and I went downtown to the courthouse and got hitched in front of a half dozen people and a judge. Then we went back to our new house, had lunch with our folks and went back to settling into the place; I think we slept on a mattress in the living room that night, smothered by paint fumes.

This year, for whatever reason, everyone is getting married. I don’t really know what is behind this “wave of marriage,” other than the fact that maybe everyone I know is getting older, that thought of “either shit or get off the pot” in their heads.

Recently, I stepped it up and wound up officiating one of these things for a couple of friends of ours. In QC, anyone can do it, provided you haven’t been to jail in the last three years. For my friends, it was either “rent a priest” or me, who volunteered. Minus the administration fee, a little bureaucracy, it costs next to nothing.

It was my first time officiating and some say it might be my last time since apparently you’re only allowed to do it once. Anyway, I don’t think I’ve been that nervous in a very very long time. My mouth was dry and my heart was beating so fast. I just didn’t want to fuck up this very special moment in these people’s lives in front of about 150 people. Sounds simple enough but, of course, I kind of did by almost forgetting the bloody rings. In my mind, I will never live that down. 

Regarding the P+S: I picked up a Pentax PC35AF at an antique shop in Perth, ON. This thing was in serious need of TLC. The battery compartment was majorly corroded, covered in crud. There is a thumbwheel  and winder — you have to manually advance the film and rewind when you’re done which is totally fine with me. On the upside, the 5 element lens is an f2.8 (which is lightning fast compared to the f 3.9 Espio) and renders a decent image. There is also an indicator for when the light is too low. You could chance it and not flip up the flash or you could pop one off with flash. It’s up to you. With a 2.8, that’s kind of cool. The whole thing is housed in black metal and kind of resembles a poor man’s Olympus XA.

I have had so much trouble with this thing. It would jam up on me after about 12 exposures out of 36 on a couple of rolls. Seems it wasn’t winding properly. But I just couldn’t give up on her. The morning of the wedding, I think I finally got the thing in line. So I picked up some Color Plus 200 (3 rolls for 7 bucks) to give it a proper test. I had the thing in my back pocket during the ceremony. I shot 2 whole rolls on it that night, without incident.

Above: Tim and Lorraine, literally right after I pronounced them. Congrats.

Pentax PC35AF, Kodak Color Plus, Tetenal Color Kit DIY