Last summer, my friend Blaine Siesser lent me his Mamiya RB67 and said: "go forth and shoot film." (Not really, but the gesture essentially boiled down to that.) With a roll of Ektar 100 in hand, I set off - and had no idea what to do.

By the time I got around to taking pictures, the digital revolution was firmly underway. My exposure to film (ha) was limited to a few disposable cameras, my dad's old Olympus OM-1, and some prints my dad had made sitting around the house. Film was scary, because it was unfamiliar. Each exposure with a 6x7 format camera costs about $1, and that doesn't include developing, scanning, and the camera itself. And now I had to take a picture without the security of checking it on a screen after, or working on it in Lightroom.

Today, I got my scans back after finally sending in a couple of rolls for developing. I have to say: I don't know why I was so worried. Even with Ektar, which is more finicky with exposure than other color negatives like 400H and Portra, the scans look wonderful.

I plan to shoot a lot more film this year. Most of it will probably be 6x6 or 645 format, but I really hope to shoot 6x7 again soon. There's something about 6x7 that speaks to me - the detail, the way focus falls off, the beautiful rendering on a large negative - it's very alluring.

All of these pictures were taken last summer, on Silver Beach in Saint Joseph Michigan.