It was completely by accident.

Photo by blueskyandhardrock

One sunny day in September on our way to the beach, I decided to stop by the West Hollywood Lomography Store, where I haven’t been in at least a year. I didn’t really think I was going to buy anything but I was already in the area and they had a sample sale going so it wasn’t going to hurt to stop by.

They had many items on sale that day but what really caught my attention was the blue Sprocket Rocket camera that they were selling at a bargain because of the damaged box it came with. Up until then, I never really gave the camera a second thought but that particular one looked so adorable and so lonely in its torn box that I decided to take it off their hands.

When I took it out of the box and held it for the very first time, it felt so perfectly light and fitting that I decided to test it out that day to see for myself what all the fuss was about. So I dug into the bag of goodies I had with me and tried to find a 35mm film with a 400 ISO since the manual had insisted that my best bet was to use a 400 ISO film with it.

The only 400 ISO films I had in the bag were a Kodak Tri-X and this old roll of Kodak EPL that my friend had given me a few years back. She told me that it was a special film and had warned me to only use it on a special occasion as the film was incredibly hard to find these days. I wanted to save it but I also wanted to test out my new camera at the beach. Since I was not in the mood to use a black and white film, I decided to take my chances and load up the EPL in my new shiny Sprocket Rocket as we drove to the coast.

It was an hour or two before sunset when we got to the beach. I had the loaded Sprocket Rocket in my hand and absolutely no idea how to shoot it except employ the basic point, shoot, wind, and pray-it-turns-out-well method. But because the beach scenes around me, bathed in golden light, effortlessly provided the setting, I just started shooting.

Once in a while, the universe inexplicably works in your favor and everything is just in perfect alignment for you – when you just happened to do the right thing in the right place at the right time.

Photo by blueskyandhardrock

As it turned out, that was one of those times for me…

Photos by blueskyandhardrock

Photos by blueskyandhardrock

Photos by blueskyandhardrock

Photo by blueskyandhardrock

…because for whatever reason, without my meaning to, that forgotten roll of EPL became one of the best rolls I’ve ever shot.

Photo by blueskyandhardrock

The Sprocket Rocket is the first wide-angle camera dedicated entirely to sprockets. And with dual winding knobs for easy multiple exposures, there is no limit to your analogue creativity with this panoramic wonder. See the Sprocket Rocket in our Shop!