Anywhere I travel I try and pack the film camera, it’s become my go to for capturing memories in my personal life. I get pretty jaded with digital as I shoot so much that the digital photos from day to day seem almost throw away, film on the other hand seems more considered, unperfect, and precious.

I knew as soon as we booked my fiancé’s childhood dream trip to visit Disney World I’d be wanting to pack as much film as I could. My original plan was to take a ton of cameras, ranging from 35mm to medium format, and even an old Agfamatic 110 camera. Virgin Atlantic’s baggage weight allowance would put a nail in this plan, but looking back probably saved my back and shoulders.

In the end my packing list was as follows:

Cameras:

Olympus OM-1n + 35mm f2.8 - I love the shots this camera creates and the versatility of the 35mm focal length, plus it's small and light as well as being super fun to use.

Canon EOS 30 + 40mm f2.8 - Fast and accurate autofocus, super sharp images, and maybe my all-time favourite lens, this was meant to be my 'reliable set-up' but more on that later...

Olympus XA2 - Super small, you can literally just put it in your pocket, perfect for packing light and always having on you.

Film stocks:

1x Kodak Ektar 100

1xKodak Ultramax 400

1x Kodak ProImage 100

1x Kodak Vision 3 50D

2 Kodak Vision 3 250D

2x Kodak Vision 3 500T

2x Kodak Ektachrome E100

3x Kodak Gold 200

2x Ilford HP5

1x FlicFilm Elektra 100 (Kodak Aerocolor)

First Impressions: Disney World is big. Really big. And really warm.

We'd been to Disneyland Paris before and walked from park to park, and back and forth to the hotel, as we pleased throughout the day but the first thing that hit us in Florida was the sheer size of it. We’d be using the on site transport services to get around instead of hiring a car, and the parks themselves were huge. This meant whatever I wanted to shoot on, in daylight or after dark, I'd need to pack in from the morning as heading back to the hotel while park hopping really wouldn't be a time friendly option.

As you might expect, Florida is also super warm and humid, especially when you're from the north of England where 20ºC is considered sunbathing weather. I'd taken my Peak Design 20l Everyday Backpack but after 3 days of packing both film and digital gear my shoulders were absolutely destroyed. It was great being able to shoot anything all day long, but that wasn't something I could keep doing.

The solution lay in a $24 Coca-Cola branded fanny pack, which may inadvertently be the best camera sling I've ever owned. It's basic, small, and has absolutely no padding, but I could fit 1x SLR (film or digital) and the XA2 in there padded with a tote bag, plus a spare roll of film and a tin of mints for a bonus in the front.

This forced me to really consider what gear I was taking for the day, but I've always found my best creativity comes out of simplicity. The tripod, the GoPro gimbal, the shutter release cable would all be left in the hotel. But, as an added bonus, this reduced carry didn't always get flagged for a security check when passing through the metal detectors entering parks.

Picking which camera to take out with me also became far easier after completing the first roll of Kodak Gold 200 that had been loaded in the Canon. Just as when as I was thinking this was going to be my go-to travel camera for trips to come, the back door latch relieved itself of duty and promptly crumbled off the camera mid-Ektachrome load. My 'reliable' choice of ended up being the only breakage of the trip.

The Photos: Florida’s reputation for sunny days and hurricanes didn’t disappoint, we had a few days without a single cloud in the sky before the tail end of Hurricaine Helene rolled in and gave us some incredible skies, as well as wind so loud it made children cry.

These elements combined made Florida a joy to shoot, as you never quite knew what the next day would bring. The super bright days would be the days where I produced my favourite work, leaning in to the colours offered by the park scenery and slightly overexposing the images for a more pastel tone in the final frame.

I’d told myself I was going to aim for a more editorial style, shooting the ‘less seen’ aspects of the park with a focus on the architecture and infrastructure instead of taking classic tourist photos, but as you can probably tell from the below gallery this all went out the window by day 2. If you can walk around the parks and not fall into the classic tourist traps then you’re a stronger person than me!

Something that struct me when getting back was just how sharp the Olympus 35mm f2.8 lens is. This was the first time I’d put it up against the Canon EF lenses and it blew me away, and will definitely become my go to lens in future.

The Experience: Full disclaimer here, I had no interest in Disney, and had never watched the classic films, before being dragged to Disneyland Paris for the first time, and admittedly I was only happy to go to shoot photos, but that trip changed my views and I’ve since seen all the classics, so I’m a bit biased in my thoughts on this king of theme park vacation, but the whole trip was a blast

From a pure photography side of things, well it’s a location specifically designed with tourist photos in mind. This makes it really fun to shoot, but I did find myself shooting less as the trip went on as you see a lot of repeated things as you go to the same places over a few days, there’s also a ton of super photogenic spots but with a ton of other guests around them, so some shots I’d wait for then move on, they’re just not meant to be.

All in all if you’re a photographer who likes theme parks, likes Disney, or has a partner who wants to go and you’re not sure you’ll enjoy it, as long as you pack your camera you’re almost guaranteed to have fun. They don’t call it ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’ for nothing!

A full gallery of my favourite shots can be seen below.