Shot on Kodak Portra 160
Today's blog is brought to you by no one. No one at all. I don't have any sponsors for this blog. I don't even know how many people follow this blog. I actually do because squarespace has built in analytics, but i dont really look at them that often. Occasionally i'll take a peak and then cry for an hour. No but seriously. I've learned something i feel to be very valuable to me lately. I'm sure you know the saying "stop and smell the flowers" right? Well if you're that one person that has never heard of this saying. It basically means to take the time to enjoy the little things. This isn't something i was always accustomed to. I used to be very rambunctious even as a kid. I always had too much energy, I'd stay out late either biking or skating around with friends. I hated wasting the day or wasting time.
Shot on Kodak Portra 160
Now, before i go on let me just say. I still hate wasting time and wasting the day. I still try to take advantage of everyday i have on this earth. Although my lust for enjoying every min of my life to the fullest is still in tact, It wasn't until i came back to shooting film that i learned the art of slowing something down. Learning to take your time to see an image before clicking the shutter button.
There's always been a lot of talk with-in the community of film photographers as to why they still shoot film. One of the big misconceptions is that film has more dynamic range vs digital or that film has a certain look to it. While some of it is true. I do believe that digital is on par with dynamic range these days and there are a plethora of presets and people creating film like edits on their digital photos that are VERY CLOSE. So why am i still shooting film? Why dump so much money into a "Dying" medium in photography? Well simply put, It allows me to enjoy and connect better with the moments that pass.
Kodak portra 160
What do i you mean it allows you to enjoy and connect? I'm glad i asked myself that. Next time you're out and about, lets say maybe you're at a wedding or traveling and site seeing at some tourist spot where people are holding a DSLR. Heck pay attention to yourself if you're a taking a few photographs. There's a common term called Chimping. It's when you take a picture and immediately review the image on the back of the camera. I used to do this myself every time. It becomes an annoying habit in my opinion. Yes you can turn the image review off on your camera or even gaff tape the LCD to avoid this. Unfortunately i wasn't that disciplined and props to those who were.
You might have already figured this out, but film cameras dont have an LCD so that solved that problem for me at least. There is also the 12/24/36 frames per roll you have depending on the negative size you are using. This is probably the thing that has slowed me down the most. Every frame becomes precious, not because I'm a cheap ass (I am) but because I want to make each shot count. Knowing that I'm limited to a certain amount of frames per roll prevents me from burst shooting a scene and hoping one of them turns out well. It makes me think more about the content, composition and lighting of a shot before taking it.
Kodak Gold 400
I don't want anyone to think I'm bashing digital or that I'm against the advancement of the current technology. This is just my preferred method of photography. I enjoy analog photography and that is most important thing to me. If you don't like shooting film or are too deep invested into digital, you can still practice some of the techniques i've learned from film photography. Take your time. Perhaps try only shooting 36 frames and pretend that you don't have a 1 terabyte sd card or something. Turn your image review off and don't look at your images till you get home. Trust in your ability to make a photograph. Make a ton of mistakes but learn from them. Most importantly, Enjoy it. Enjoy the process!