This is Deise. This is film.






Canon 1v | Kodak Tri-X | Miami Beach, FL
Currently listening to: The latest Grey’s Anatomy episode on hulu.com
Love, e
This is Deise. This is film.






Canon 1v | Kodak Tri-X | Miami Beach, FL
Currently listening to: The latest Grey’s Anatomy episode on hulu.com
Love, e
“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac

1.4.2012 / 6:05 pm / Miami, FL
Currently Listening to: Whatever Happend? by The Strokes
Love, e
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I’m absolutely in love with film. Like, I-want-to-sky-write-it in love. I’ve decided that while I hone my film skills, I’m going to shoot all of my personal work on film either with my Canon 1V or my Mamiya C220. While I love both cameras, I have a school girl crush on my Mamiya. It’s a conversation starter, for sure, but mostly it forces me to slow down (that in itself is a difficult task.) I see the world differently with this camera and it makes me happy.
Here are some shots I got while in North Carolina over Thanksgiving and New York over Christmas.


Double-exposure on the right. So much fun to do.










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Super, duper awesome. Really loving the film work.
It should be noted that I’m a teacher. Yes, I’m a photographer and an ever-evolving one at that, but denying that I’m a teacher is like denying that I’m a Cuban or prone to emotional decisions. It’s just who I am. As a teacher, I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge that has spilled over into my photography career. Put simply, I love to learn. And I love to learn from the best. Though I’m usually the one to seek new experiences out, I’m always wary of how I’m going to be taught. Not everyone can teach. Some people are just not capable of helping others discover their own knowledge. They don’t show, they tell and their students struggle accordingly.
So it’s with some authority that I say Jonathan Canlas is a teacher. Sure, he’s a photographer—an amazingly talented, you-would-be-lucky-to-have-an-ounce-of-his-vision photographer—but he’s a teacher in every sense of the word.
Film has always been the final frontier for me. It’s ironic, given that people normally learn how to shoot film first then abandon that to go to digital. To me, film was a mythical being, a far off land that this self-taught photographer would never reach. I wasn’t a photographer, at least not in my eyes, until I learned how to shoot film. When I read that the Film Is Not Dead workshop would be heading to Miami, my hometown, I jumped at the opportunity not because it was a film workshop, but it was Jonathan’s workshop. If I was going to learn film, I was going to learn it from the best.
What I discovered in three days in that beautiful mansion by the water went beyond anything that I could have ever imagined. Yes, I learned all the technical aspects of film and more efficient ways to run my business. Yes, we shot some of the best families and couples I’ve had the pleasure of photographing all the while learning from Jon, Joe, Catherine and our fellow attendees. All of this is important, yet it was what I was expecting out of this workshop. What I didn’t expect were all the non-tangible things that I would learn. I didn’t expect the friendships that I made or the FINDers community I’m so fortunate to be a part of now—an open, supportive community that only a person like Jon could create. Least of all, I didn’t expect Jonathan the teacher.
It’s rare in a business that is so incredibly competitive, to find someone as open with his knowledge as Jon. His humor, his confidence and his innate ability to show, not tell make him a true teacher. There is no denying his incredible talent as a photographer, but I believe that his true calling is helping other photographers find their voice and giving them the tools they will need to become better. It is just who he is. I was not afraid to ask Jon questions I’m sure he has heard a hundred times or fearful when he gave me his opinion on my photography. With the help of Jon I’m no longer afraid of film. He taught me to be brave and that has made all the difference.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t send a virtual hug to all of the wonderful photographers that I met during this workshop: Jon, Joe, Catherine, Kristen, Stacey, Ozzy, Ken, Dustin, Bunn, Kristin, Jaq, Randy, Matthew, Ingrid, Shipra & Brian.
I’m especially grateful to the models who were so incredibly patient even with 15 cameras in their face: Ozzy, Linda & Faith, Jessica & Dave, Jimmy and Shelly, Todd & Kristy & their amazing kids, Finley & Jeanette, Orialys & Cristal, Deise, and Gilcelia & Edilson.
These pictures are not in any particular order. Memories aren’t linear, at least not in my mind. My memories are not chronological. This is FIND Miami, through my eyes.
































































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Elaine, I LOVE the images you chose to post, especially after seeing them all
Keep shooting film girl, you are definitely good at it and I think “film looks good on you.” I am so blessed that we both attended the same FIND workshop and even though everyone else thought it was lame, I still like our matching tattoos an “PHOTOGRAPHY!” Love you friend and I’ll see you in a week
Elaine, these images are wonderful…..shooting film is such an art that i respect on a whole other level and these captures are stellar! thank you so much, they’re beautiful!
Really amazing work. I kept scrolling through finding new favorites!
I’m insanely jealous that you were able to attend FIND. I live mere blocks from Jonathan Canlas, but I can’t afford FIND this year. Hopefully I’ll be able to scrape the funds together by next year.
Beautiful images. You got some excellent emotion out of them, and were able to capture truly beautiful body language. I don’t know if you instructed them or posed them, or just got them to be themselves through building a report, but either way, great job! I can’t wait to see where you go from here.
I’m in love with this blog post. Not just with our AMAZING images. With all of them! They felt just like you described… memories. So fortunete to have been a part of FIND Miami… and grateful for the stunning images everyone has been posting.
Glad to have met you, such a talented and cool Miami girl. Hard to come by. You made us feel super comfortable and that is rare. You captured beauty that we didn’t know existed… thank you.
The pictures of our favorite people in the world Shelly and Jimmy, are breath taking. So hot!!
You see beautifully… we are fans!
awesomeness elaine! i wish my butt was as small as joe’s. xoxo
What an amazing set of images and wonderfully written testimonial! I want Dustin to do his magic on my scans
I have so many things I have to say about this workshop. Even now, weeks later, it’s all a jumble of memories, lessons learned, laughs shared and some of the best learning I’ve ever experienced. I can’t say enough about Jonathan Canlas or the amazing people I met during the FIND Miami workshop. So I won’t for now. I’ll save that for when I post my color pictures later this week.
I decided to share these first because, well, I’ve always been partial to black and white photography. When I was itching to learn how to shoot film, one of the things that I was most looking forward to was shooting with black and white film. For me, it’s all about the deliberate choice to see the world in black and white. I think both the medium (film) and the black and white film itself marries perfectly. I made a choice to slow down by picking up my film camera. I made an even more deliberate choice to strip away things even further. I like the stories I tell this way.
So here is my story, of FIND Miami as seen through black and white followed soon by my full-color review of the awesomeness that was this workshop.















Our models were out-of-control amazing. I would love to hear your thoughts as these are part of my first-ever rolls of film shot of people other than my husband.
Love, e
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These are amazing! I love seeing it through b+w only! I wish I had the guts to shoot more b+w, and I vow to more as I move forward in 2012. So classic and gorgeous. Amazing job finding such cool compositions too!
They are so beautiful!! Thank you so much… it was such a pleasure being photographed by you. So good…
Really nice work. B+W film works for you, these shots are awesome.
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Lexi - oh man! i love these so much! i really really love the second one down of her floating on her back. & the last photo? AMAZING.
Jeanette - Really love the last one
shipra - and…this is so so good! Gorgeous, my friend.
Oscar Trevino - Great B&W’s !
Dustin Francis - These are beautiful
Great eye my friend.