Wine Country in 120 Roll 3: Kodak Portra 800
November 2, 2026
Yashica D · Kodak Portra 800 · 120 · 6×6 · Bricoleur Vineyards, Windsor, CA · May 3, 2026
I tend to hang onto film for quite a while, and even though it lives in the fridge I do sometimes shoot it well past its prime. I don't honestly remember how expired this was, but it definitely looks to me a bit like expired film. The colors are not what I normally love from Portra 800 on medium format, and feel more muted overall. I still like the photos, but this roll just felt a bit different than I expected.
I wish I took more photos like this. I don't claim to be anything like Grainydays, but this is the type of photo that reminds me of his work. A simple setting that feels set apart, without many distractions or things going on. Add a visible light fixture and it's a win.
I'd never tried the self timer on my Yashica D, but having a group of friends together felt like a good chance to try. The internet is full of stories of people bricking their Yashica TLR when using the self timer, but I did enough research to feel confident that it is more an issue of not using the correct settings. Good news, I didn't brick the camera. Bad news, I found that the timer sticks about halfway through. While I was fixing the lever, the shutter went off and snapped an accidental close up of me, and then I doubled down by forgetting to wind on before trying again. The result is a double exposure, with my head in the foreground and all of us layered in behind. We got a good photo right after, but I love the silliness of this one.
This photo captures what to me is so magical about 120 film. The way that it combines the "feeling" of film with the clarity and crispness that you never get with 35mm is wonderful. This photo isn't anything special, but the depth and layers (vines in the distance, lights criss-crossing overhead and trees flanking the sides) just highlights why I love this medium.