I used to fight light leaks with gaffer tape, now I lean into them on purpose

For years I was obsessed with getting perfectly clean negatives. Every scratch, every foggy corner, I saw it as a failure and I'd spend hours in Photoshop trying to fix it. That changed last March when I shot a roll of Portra 400 on an old Canonet that had a rotting light seal, and the whole bottom half of every shot came out with this wild orange and pink glow. My first reaction was anger, but then my buddy Jake at the camera shop in Portland said "dude, that looks like a sunset on acid, why are you mad?" He convinced me to print two of them straight without any corrections, and they were honestly the most interesting photos I'd taken in months. Now I've got a beat up Yashica that leaks like a sieve, and I only load it when I'm shooting alleys or neon signs at night. The unpredictability is half the fun, though I still keep a roll of cheap Fomapan for when I actually need clean shots for paying clients. Has anyone else made the switch from hating light leaks to chasing them, or am I just the weird one here?

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