Little did we know last summer when we booked a trip to Rincon, Puerto Rico for Christmas, how lucky we came to be with that decision. My husband and I had spent a Christmas holiday in Puerto Rico four years ago when we were dating and absolutely loved it. We knew we wanted to return again—and what better occasion than to celebrate our 1 year anniversary in December? We found the most perfect little cottage high up on a hill with spectacular views, especially of the sunrise each morning. And the temperatures were just right, hovering in the 70s—not too cold, not too hot. But, most importantly, warm! When I said that we got lucky, it was because we narrowly escaped the bomb cyclone that plunged most of the US mainland into severe cold. Our plane made it out the day before temps dropped to historic lows in Atlanta and we got to spend a week bathed in sunshine and warmth, very lucky indeed! Here are some photos of our stay that I shot on a roll of expired Astia 100F slide film, cross-process in C-41 chemicals. I love how the color shifts leaned heavy into pinks and purples, totally capturing the rose-colored glow we were living in for that week.

Cross-processing is the act of developing your film in the “wrong” chemicals—it’s a technique that can produce some funky results because you’re developing film in chemicals that it’s not made to be developed in. (for example, color negative film should be developed in C-41 chemicals for optimal results, and slide film should be developed in E6 chemicals). I decided it was time to give it a try while I was recently on vacation in Panama. I shot a roll of expired Kodak Ektachrome 100 (slide film) and developed it in C-41 chemicals. What resulted was lots of blue-green tinting and high contrast. I’m pleased with the way these turned out and look forward to experimenting more with cross-processing to see what other cool results arise.