One Roll of Film #2 ft. Ashley Shelton

a sunny autumn afternoon with actress and filmmaker Ashley Shelton in the Old City of Knoxville Tennessee

On one unseasonably warm afternoon, i was able to catch up with Ashley Shelton in The Old City for coffee and a quick shoot. We talked briefly about the new Ryan Bliss film she starred in this year called Alice Fades Away. Which I’ve seen now and loved immensely. It’s got William Sadler (Bill and Ted, Shawshank Redemption) who is wonderful as always, and Shelton plays the lead character, Alice, beautifully. It’s short and suspenseful, so I don’t want to give away too much about it but it’s a great online rental if you’re looking for an on-the-run kind of story!

In addition, we also spoke about her upcoming film, Best Clowns, which she wrote, directed, and stared in! We have a little bit of shared upbringing in that we both have had family members in clown ministry (church clowns), and reminiscing about those shared experiences with her was wonderful. The promotional photos used for the marketing for this new film were taken at an honest-to-goodness department store family portrait studio. When she revealed that to me, it immediately brought back all sorts of childhood memories, and I think, really fits the overall vibe for a movie about clowns.

While there’s no release date for Best Clowns, Shelton has been in lots of other features and shorts, many of which I’ve now gotten to watch and very much enjoyed. The Evening Hour in particular is a great film, with some amazing cinematography. With three films in post right now and another announced, it safe to say Shelton is someone to be on the lookout for. Don’t forget to check her out on IMDB.

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Lastly, I just want to jump in really quick to say what a joy it has been shooting with my still recently acquired Yashica 124G. All the photos in this article were taken with it and a roll of Fuji Pro 400H.

I have not been able to shoot as much as I would have liked with it over the past year, and I’m still learning a lot about it, but each time is a joy. Dipping my toes in medium format again after years of not touching it really has me itching to go as big as possible (6x7), but I’m more than content with this camera, and I love the square format so much.

Many long time readers will know that in 2011/2012 I switched to the micro four-thirds system specifically because it was closer to square format (as well as it’s adaptability), and I stuck with it for a long time, though now I use mostly Canon cameras again. Lately there’s been a trend in movies back to the Academy Aspect Ratio, (4x3) for films, and I hope that trend extends to photography too, especially portraits. I’ve been saying this since I got into photography, but one of these camera companies needs to make a square digital format.

It’s been a blast shooting on medium format once again, and I’ve already got another roll developed to show you guys very soon.

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Thanks so much to Ashley Shelton, make sure you check her out on IMDB, her website, and Instagram. And as always, if you have any questions or comments you can get at me here or here or leave a comment below this post. If you haven’t subscribed to this newsletter yet (it’s free) please think about doing so.

See you soon.

—Forrest