Roll #255
Film: Kodak AeroColor IV 2460, cross-processed (E-6)
Developed & scanned: Ilford Taiwan Lab, 2025/4/29
Camera: Olympus Mju I 35mm f3.5
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Sometimes you have to deliberately lower your standards just to get something done. That's a lesson I never learned growing up.
My education was strict, as far back as I can remember. Both at home and at school, doing things halfway was never an option. Homework had to be done properly. Art projects had to be done properly. Even in sports, you pushed through to the end — giving up early wasn't something that was tolerated. Ever.
That upbringing served me well as a kid. My abilities were solid compared to my peers, and things generally went smoothly. But it planted something in me that's been hard to shake ever since — a curse of perfectionism that followed me into adulthood.
Stopping work before it reaches the standard I think it deserves feels, to me, like doing it carelessly. I know it could be better. Choosing not to make it better goes against everything I was raised to believe. That value runs so deep that it caused real problems once I entered the workforce — because companies don't want perfectionists. My standards weren't the company's standards. The perfectionism I was chasing in good faith was, from the company's perspective, a nightmare. I was spending too much time and energy on things that didn't need it, and that kills turnaround time.
Once I recognized it as a problem, I started working on it. I tried adjusting my values, and I also changed my environment — I left. I wanted to find a situation where who I am and what's expected of me could actually line up.
The curse hasn't gone away. But as a freelance web designer working independently, I can pour myself fully into the things I think deserve that attention — because I control my own time now.
Good web design, I think, requires a certain obsessiveness. Clients might not be able to articulate what makes something feel right, but they feel it. The difference between good and bad design often lives in details that are almost impossible to put into words — like the reading order of text on a page, which most designers overlook because most designers became designers precisely because they're better with images than words.
I'm glad that's not a problem I have.
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The camera for this roll was my other Olympus Mju I 35mm f3.5 — the flash is broken on this one too, but with an added problem: in low light, the camera detects that the flash hasn't charged and simply refuses to fire the shutter. No fooling it. My other broken-flash Mju I doesn't have this issue — low light, no flash charge, shutter fires anyway.
Beyond the flash problem, this one also has a focus reliability issue. Out of 38 frames on this roll, 18 came back out of focus. Bright daylight, indoors, dusk — didn't matter. Nearly a 50% miss rate.
I'm not posting the out-of-focus ones. The perfectionist's curse.
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#1
The rolls piling up and waiting at Li-lai Photo for developing — probably all black and white.
#2
A fresh batch of Reflx Lab 200T — that's the Kodak Vision3 200T/5213 with remjet removed — five rolls. Cinema film and auto-advance point-and-shoots don't mix, so the Mju doesn't get to touch these.
#3
My go-to canned iced coffee from the convenience store. We were driving straight from Taipei to Pingtung today — heading down to catch the ferry to Liuqiu Island. This was shot at the Guanmiao rest stop in Tainan.
#4
Just arrived in Donggang, Pingtung. First stop: sashimi at Donggang Overseas Chinese Market. A friend recommended Wang Jiang.
#5
Genuinely some of the freshest sashimi I've had. Impressive.
#6
After the meal I asked the owner if I could take a photo. Of course, he said.
#7
Leaving the market, heading to the guesthouse. It was a Friday — we'd stay the night in Donggang and catch the Saturday morning ferry over.
#8
Pulled over to grab a snack.
#9
Saturday morning. Waiting at Yanpu Harbor for the ferry.
#10
First thing on the island: rent a scooter. There's something about exploring a place on a scooter that a car just can't replicate. A car puts you in a sealed box — it's a transport tool. A scooter is an exploration tool.
#11
On our first day, we joined a guided intertidal zone ecology tour. Closer than you'd expect to get.
#12
The guide holding up a collector urchin.
#13
The tour ran right into sunset. We stayed until the light was gone.
#14
The only shot of light on water in this whole roll. Out of focus.
That's the full roll — Olympus Mju I 35mm f3.5 with Kodak AeroColor IV 2460, cross-processed. Thanks for reading.
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Next up: EP256 | April on Liuqiu Island — Asahi Pentax MX with Kodak Vision3 200T/5213 (Remjet Removed). We got lucky — sea turtles on the beach.
