12 days

That's what the man told me at the counter when I handed over 2 rolls of 120 Velvia on Sunday. The delay is like my birthday and I'm 9 all over again. I can't wait, and it's just long enough to enter the outskirts of eternity, where hope is like that whiff of ozone after a lightening strike, sweet and already dissipated.

But I'm not expecting much, I'll tell you that right now. No, medium format is a constant and definite source of disappointment, and precisely because of the delay between shutter release and returns from the lab. That's the biggest difference between digital and analog, the instantaneous (and sometimes erroneous) feedback of digital, which lets you know at the very least you have the image, and that it's been exposed properly. So why do it at all? Because I want to someday be as good as this guy. An image worth capturing deserves the [extended] permanence and resolution of medium format, or large format for that matter. Shit, If I could shoot 4x5 film, or even 8x10??? But I'm getting ahead of myself. 6x6cm is proving heartbreaking/ego crushing enough.

One thing I am looking forward to is getting pro scanned negs back. That'll be huge! Results soon.