PhotoMemo Books – from Mike Padua’s ShootFilmCo

By Hamish Gill

Sometimes in life you come across something so simple and yet at the same time such a great solution to a problem that it almost makes you wonder why you didn’t think of it first. To my mind, Mike’s PhotoMemo books are a perfect example of this.

For those who’ve been living under a rock (or perhaps only recently stumbled their way into the film photography community), Mike Padua runs an online shop called ShootFilmCo. It’s purpose is spreading the word of film photography through often amusing stickers, patches, and other film photography paraphernalia.

My first bit of advice would be to just go straight there and buy something that makes you smile. Whilst you’re there though, make sure you add a few PhotoMemo books to the cart…

PhotoMemo books

Mike recently got in touch so say he was sending me something for some feedback. When they arrived and I opened the packet to find two of these PhotoMemo books. PhotoMemo books, as described on the ShootFilmCo website are “a versatile, easy to use, and inexpensive way to keep organized notes and technical data for your film exposures.” They are quite simply 48 page notebooks that are designed around the notation requirements of the film photographer.

PhotoMemo Vs Field Notes

Of course, these aren’t the only books that have been doing the rounds on social media as used by photographers. I was given a couple of those ‘Field Notes’ books a little while ago, and whilst they’re lovely things, I’ve not used them, not even once. The issue was, simply by merit of their name, the Field Notes books had led me mentally down a path of usefulness that I didn’t really feel applied to me. If you’re a regular large format shooter, making notes when you’re out shooting about exposure and intended development etc is pretty much part of the deal. Out in the field with a roll of 35mm, I personally don’t find myself ever needing to make notes.

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As such, I must admit when I first opened the packet from Mike, I was initially a little underwhelmed. On face value at least, I expected Mike’s books to see the same fate… That was until I took them out of their polythene packaging and turned to an inner page. Unlike the plain pages of the Field Notes books, these books contain headings, and these headings made me realise just how useful these books were going to be to me.

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Plain unused pages of field notes vs. Mike PhotoMemo underneath

The big difference with the PhotoMemo book is that its purpose – whilst still a little open to individual interpretation – is considerably more defined. It’s also arguably geared more specifically toward people who shoot roll film, which as mentioned, I shoot a lot more than sheet. But, what really made them work for me is the instant realisation that the more defined purpose of these books had the ability to solve a problem that I had never otherwise got around to trying to fix. That problem being, the one where I repeatedly forget what film I’ve loaded into the vast array of cameras I have kicking around.

My problem…

I am my own worst enemy when it comes to this sort of nonsense. My camera collection has honestly never been as big as it is now. Taking into account the box of point & shoots I have it’s probably approaching 100 cameras. Of course not all of them have film loaded in them, but in the last year I’ve seen the loaded camera rate go from a couple to sometimes as many as ten.

Shooting only HP5 and Portra has seen my issues with this reduced through a system of just setting the film reminder on the camera to 1600 for HP5 and 400 for Portra. But of course, that system is very much open to failure, mainly through me forgetting, or worse not trusting I’ve remembered to stick to it. The system completely falls apart when I pick up a camera loaded with film, the ISO reminder is set to 400, yet I’m convinced I loaded it with HP5. This had happened on a number of occasions and as a result I have taken to such extremes as taking a roll of film back out of a camera just to check what it is, before reloading it and shooting it back to a frame of so past where is was previously shot to. The maddening thing is, all this has ever proven is that sometimes I do forget to set the ISO reminder.

PhotoMemo to the rescue

Opening a PhotoMemo book and seeing the information headings on each page made me realise those days were over. All I need to do is make a note of the film I put in a camera each time I load one. Then, even if I only shoot a shot or two before putting the camera back on the shelf, I shall know where I’m at next time fancy takes that camera. Simple.

This probably sounds blindingly obvious, and something I or anyone else could do on my iPhone notes app or in any old notebook. Well that is true, but what these books provide above and beyond a normal notebook is the formatting. Each double page spread is dedicated to a single roll of film, this creates just that bit of discipline needed to help keep the notes well formatted, logical and easy to refer back to.

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Unexpected gains

Since using these books, I’ve also found a couple of unexpected gains. The first is that I now have a note reminding me which films I have sent off to be developed and which I haven’t – it might seem daft, but I’ve been known to lose track of this sort of thing, and sometimes it plagues on my mind.

I also have a clearer idea of what I’ve shot with each roll through a habit I’m forcing myself into of writing down subject matter in the big space below the headings. I’ve not yet got to the stage doing this religiously, but am working on it, as I already find myself reaping the benefits of doing so. First and foremost, I’ve found this great for just being able to look back at what images to expect from the roll, but more than that it’s triggered a desire in me to get more organised.

My intention is to use the books to help catalogue/index my negs. Time will tell as to whether or not I follow through with this, there are some serious bad habits that need breaking here… but hopefully this whole process of becoming a little more organised will provide me with the encouragement and the step in the right direction that I need to break them.

So what’s missing?

Unfortunately very few things in life are entierly perfect for everyone, and since Mike did ask for feedback, I thought I’d highlight what seems to me to be an obviously missing feature of these books. To my mind there is a lack of index page at the front.

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My bodged index page

I guess you could make the argument that as it is it leaves the page to be used as anyone who buys one of these books sees fit, I just can’t think of anything else I’d personally use the opening page for. If the pages were numbered, and there was a list of those page numbers at the beginning of the book with a space next to each number to make a quick note, to my mind it would just bring an extra level of organisation to them. And if there really is need for some completely blank pages, maybe the first double page spread could be left blank..? That said, I do feel this is me nitpicking a little bit!

To conclude

In summary, I’d fully congratulate Mike (and those who helped him on the way) in what he’s brought to market. I really do think that if you’re anything like me, on first glance you might not see the whole point in these, but get yourself a couple and I’d be almost certain you’d feel like you’ve found the missing piece of a puzzle in your film photography process! I feel quite strongly that not only do I want to keep using these PhotoMemo books, but actually for my own sanity I need to!

Get yours here (and don’t forget to add a sticker or patch to your basket whilst your at it! 😉 )

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About The Author

By Hamish Gill
I started taking photos at the age of 9. Since then I've taken photos for a hobby, sold cameras for a living, and for a little more than decade I've been a professional photographer and, of course, weekly contributor to 35mmc.
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Comments

George Appletree on PhotoMemo Books – from Mike Padua’s ShootFilmCo

Comment posted: 04/11/2016

I'm not the one being very keen in remembering things like what aperture was used in some shot, Hamish. That's very useful, but it brings to mind another book it could be perhaps a suggestion:
Whenever organizing some thousands film negatives stored in plastic sleeves there a few alternatives... Many times looking for a picture you have in mind makes you simply getting nuts.
Perhaps it's scanned in the computer, but even computerized organization of photographs can easily become a big mess while having more than a few.
So, one of these books designed for that purpose would be the salvation.
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Mike replied:

Comment posted: 04/11/2016

Hi George! I'm interested in talking to you about your suggestion a bit more--would you mind e-mailing me at [email protected]?

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Eddy on PhotoMemo Books – from Mike Padua’s ShootFilmCo

Comment posted: 04/11/2016

I agree with everything in this review Hamish. Mine arrived a couple of weeks ago just before some particularly intense film shooting on holiday and as part of a little project I'm doing. These little memo books have been super-useful. Mike's patches are really fun as well. Well done Mike for another excellent and unique product.
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Mitch Zeissler on PhotoMemo Books – from Mike Padua’s ShootFilmCo

Comment posted: 04/11/2016

I use a small A6-sized Leuchtturm1917 Pocket Notebook (black, with the dot grid) for the same purpose. You can find them here: https://www.leuchtturm1917.us/notebook-pocket-a6-hardcover-185-numbered-pages.html

I like them better because I can modify and hack them to my heart's content. I record not only photo info, but observations about the shoot that can include weather and other conditions. I also note all of my daily expenses and anything I feel pertinent to add to the narrative that I write in it.

Better yet, my entries can be as short or as long as I want -- they aren't dictated by the page design.
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 04/11/2016

This is one of those times where different strokes feel better for different folks

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Mike replied:

Comment posted: 04/11/2016

Much respect, Mitch, those are spectacular notebooks--I'm always an advocate of using what works best for you! I used Moleskines in a similar manner for a while--but I always just wished I could fit them in my back pocket without being so precious with them, so this little memo book basically started as a solution for myself :)

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rollbahn on PhotoMemo Books – from Mike Padua’s ShootFilmCo

Comment posted: 04/11/2016

I love the idea of notebooks and have bought a few (my favourite being a Japanese brand called Rollbahn) but I always keep going back to using Simplenote on my mac and iPhone. It's synced and backed up across all my devices, available in any browser if need be and I use that with TextExpander to enter all my notes with little fuss and always searchable by camera, lens or any tag I put in.

If I type in amy shortcut 'flmz' for example TextExpander on the mac pulls up a popup for the Zeiss Ikon with dropdowns for all data, flm4 does the same for my Leica M4-2 etc. Once setup (maybe 10 minutes work), it is very simple to make notes and I am by no means good at keeping trackign fo things. But when you look back at your notes it is amazing how much you forget and also how it becomes almost a diary of your life along the way.

Here's an example - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/bbc5j022vlqay6n/2016-11-05 at 7.58 AM.png

Anyway I know this is 180 degrees off-topic but it may help those who prefer a digital option.
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Mike replied:

Comment posted: 04/11/2016

Great suggestion! The digital/app options are certainly viable tools!

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Surviving 365 Days on Film - Guest post by Ken Hindle-May - 35mmc on PhotoMemo Books – from Mike Padua’s ShootFilmCo

Comment posted: 01/01/2018

[…]  If I were doing it again, I’d be tempted to use Shoot Film Co.’s charming and useful PhotoMemo books instead, or maybe a dedicated app like Exif […]
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