i've decided to call february film february. i'm only shooting film this month, unless i have a client obligation, and will only be posting film images on my personal social media account(s).
while most, if not all of the images offered for sale here were taken with digital cameras, i really love photographing with analog film cameras. i have a few analog cameras, and a few different formats: 35mm, medium format and a 4x5 large format camera. i develop all the black and white film at home. sometimes i'll develop color film at home as well, but i find i shoot so little of it that it's not worthwhile. i have an enlarger to make black and white prints at home, and i've been experimenting with handmade alternative process printing methods for film or digital images. but most of the time i digitize my negatives by photographing them with a macro lens on a light table. it's a pain in the butt to be honest, so why do i do it? because i love film.
i love the look of film - it's completely different than digital. there's a softness to it - the gradation of tones is different, the darks are different and the incredible detail and clarity in digital just isn't there in film - at least not the way I typically shoot it.
but the real reason i love film is workflow. i slow down when i photograph with film. i become more contemplative about what it is i'm photographing and how best to express what i'm feeling. i don't feel like i'm having a quickie with a woman whose phone number i've gotten off a card on the sidewalk in vegas (not that i've ever called a phone number i've gotten off a card on the sidewalk in vegas).
shooting on film limits the number of photographs I can take (be it 36, 24, 12, 10 or a sheet or three). there's no viewfinder to see the image i just photographed - no display of a histogram to check the exposure for the image just taken. you have to get these things right in camera, the moment you press the shutter button. so i double check, and i triple check, and when i have the chance i actually put the camera down and pull out a light meter to check what shutter speed i need (or aperture - depending on what my priority is). and while i'm checking, i'm still considering the photograph i'm about to take and asking myself questions.
the big lebowski at the boulder theatre in boulder, co
why am i taking this photo?
what is it about this photo i'm about to take that makes it different?
what is this place or subject about?
will the light be better if i hold off for a while?
what if i move over there?
how can i make my expression of the scene better?
i don't know why, but when i have my digital camera, i still take it out, take the photo from whatever vantage point i saw the subject with very little consideration to some of the questions above. i'm getting better mind you, but habits are hard to break for old people like me.
so i'm finding film february to be particularly fun as it's a complete change in how i photograph. shooting with film cameras has made me a better photographer when shooting with digital cameras. and i'm going to go out on a limb and guess that as i continue shooting with film, the slowing down process and the questioning process will become more ingrained in my pea-sized brain, and i'll continue to take better and better images period.
and that - is why i love shooting with film.
eastern colorado sunset