The Outer Hebrides on Film | My Journey to Analogue Film Photography

Joe Hall

In mid 2024 I felt a natural shift in my thought process with photography. Having spent the majority of the year working on various commercial shoots, as well as having a busy wedding season, I began looking for a new creative outlet for my personal photography. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that analogue film isn’t something new, actually you could argue it’s the complete opposite, but as someone who had pretty much only focused on digital photography since I started taking photos, this was completely alien to me. But that is probably why it appealed to me so much.

For two years my focus had heavily centred on photo and video content for commercial work. Over this period my digital set up evolved into a toolbox which suited my every need and requirement, yet only once was it was complete did I realise something was missing. The fun. I had lost the enjoyment of getting out my kit, the excitement had gone. I toyed with a couple of ideas, none of them stuck, so I decided to venture to my local camera shop for some inspiration. After a good look around I spotted an Olympus MJU-ii which I thought would be perfect as an entry point-and-shoot for 35mm film.

Having spent the summer taking my new piece of kit on shoots, my interest and love for film photography had only grown so I knew it was time to expand my gear. With a trip to the Outer Hebrides coming up, I knew that this would be the perfect time to choose something new, something with a little more than the Olympus. I settled on a Canon EOS 3 with a 50mm, and with a few rolls of Kodak Gold 200 in my bag, ventured North to the Isle of Harris and Lewis.

I’ve been very fortunate to have visited the Outer Hebrides before. So whilst I took the opportunity to revisit some of my favourite spots I also made time to visit some new locations with my new gear. My love for film photography had given me the opportunity to slow down, focus on the pictures I was taking and enjoy the moment. Whereas before, I had been guilty of rushing around in an attempt to collect as much content as physically possible and sorting through it all later. Film photography really brought me back into the moment.

I know it’s cliche to say that film photography ‘slows your approach’ but after years of simply shooting as much photo and video content as possible, I found myself taking in all the scenery, picking out the parts of it that I felt most personally drawn to. That meant something to me creatively. As someone who has often fallen into the trap of prioritising content from my trips, rather than trying to enjoy the process, film really allowed me to see and experience the Outer Hebrides in a completely different light this time.

I’ve put some of my favourite photos from the trip below, so I hope you enjoy them. For the gear people, these images were shot on the Canon EOS 3 with a 50mm f/1.8 and the Olympus MJU-ii, on both Kodak Gold 200 and Kodak Ultramax 400. The film was scanned and developed by Take it Easy Lab.