I Built A Digital Notebook For Analog Photographers, And It All Started With My Dad’s Canon Ae-1

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by my father’s Canon AE-1. It wasn’t just the sound of the shutter or the weight of the metal body that stuck with me. It was the deliberate pace of shooting. Every frame mattered. There was no screen to check, no endless stream of images to scroll through. Just a roll of film, a bit of light, and your memory doing most of the work.

Years later, I found myself coming back to film photography, chasing that same feeling. But this time, I realized something frustrating. As much as I loved shooting on film, I hated forgetting the details. What aperture did I use? Was that roll pushed? Which lens was on the camera? I tried notebooks, voice memos, random screenshots of weather apps. Nothing felt right. Nothing really fit into my workflow without getting in the way.

That’s when I decided to build something that could. Something simple and designed specifically for this world. I called it Frames.

Frames is a digital notebook made just for analog photographers. It lets them log their camera settings while they shoot, organize everything by roll and frame, and later match those notes with their scanned images on their computer. It's a bridge between the tactile process of shooting on film and the modern digital workflows and softwares we all use once the roll is developed.

What makes Frames different is the attention to detail. You can autofill your favorite gear, tag shots with film stocks, locations, even tiny notes about the light or your thoughts in the moment. And when the scans come back from the lab, you can drag them into Frames and attach them to each frame, complete with the metadata you wrote. It’s like your own mini EXIF, but for film.

I didn’t build this to be another app. I built it because I needed it, and because I figured others might need it too. If you love film photography and you’ve ever wished you had a better memory, Frames is for you.

You can learn more or try it at https://withframes.com

Thank you for reading :)

More info: withframes.com