CATHER/NE GAO: old film (July/August 2014)

One of my most frequently recurring challenges in Chicago is finding a place to get my film processed. I know how to develop and print B&W film, but I no longer have access to a darkroom in which to do so, and color film development is an entirely different beast that I never took the time to tame. My biggest lament regarding film is how long the turnaround time is - if I take a photo on day 1, I can actually see the photo on day 7 at the very earliest. And that's assuming I finish the rest of the roll that day and make it to my photo lab the same day (read: very unlikely). I'm seriously considering buying my own film scanner - for some reason I was under the impression that they're large and owned only by professionals/labs that process a lot of film, but it turns out you can get a desktop scanner for under $200. It wouldn't reduce the turnaround time by much, but at least I wouldn't be paying $14 a roll for development and scanning (hell, it'd pay for itself after 10-20 rolls). Until then, though, thankfully my old photo lab opened a new location near-ish to my apartment (though most others have closed down within the year so I don't have very high hopes despite that I really hope they stick around) so I can finally see and show you all film photos I took literally six months ago, everywhere from Chicago to the Badlands of South Dakota. This is roll one of two; photos are in chronological order, spanning July and August 2014, all taken on 35mm Fuji 400H film using a Canon AE-1 Program. Almost all are SOOC (unedited) except for one or two on which I did a little dust retouching and nothing else. Hope you enjoy!