THE PROCESS

The process of shooting film requires a present mind and total focus. It’s a meditative process that demands patience and rewards you with images that you feel more connected to. From the moment you pick up an analog camera you begin to tune into the present moment and engage your senses. From the feel of the metal body to the click sound when you pop open the back to chuck in a roll of fresh film.

As you begin shooting, you are forced to pre-visualise what you wish to capture and become critical of what is unworthy of a shot. As there is no screen to review your exposure, you are forced to learn how a light meter interprets a scene. Once the roll is shot, you wind it back up and start getting excited to see what you’ve created. As the days pass by waiting for your roll to be developed, the anticipation and excitement heightens over what you’ve captured. You tend to forgot what you’ve actually photographed which adds to the excitement even more. Even to this day I still get excited and a little nervous looking at my scans for the first times. For some reason looking at your scans makes you feel a sense of sentiment. You are looking at moments in time that are now permanently stored in your negatives forever.

LEARNING TO EMBRACE MISTAKES

I think in digital photography there is an underlying desire for perfection in an image. To create a perfectly polished image with no mistakes. Hence why digital photographers will be looking at their playback screen to see how they can improve the next shot. When shooting analog there is no screen at the back to review your images. You take a shot, hope for the best and move on. Seldom do I take multiple exposures of the same shot as a backup. Otherwise you go with your gut and hope you got the shot. When you finally get your negatives back and review your images, you tend to be more accepting of minor mistakes. Mistakes are human and gives a sense of character and personality to your shots. There’s no better way to embrace mistakes than to play around with double exposures on a film roll. The best way to do it is to shoot a roll and then reload that film again and shoot it again. You have no idea what you’re blending together, but sometimes you create something beautiful that you never intended to create.

VISUALISATION

Shooting analog forces you to critically assess whether a shot is worthy of an exposure and how the shot should be composed. Instead of snapping away and progressively improving your shot through trial and error, you can afford to take your time. Walking around looking for the best composition allows you to assess the scene in greater detail and take an exposure you feel more passionate about. Over time you don’t worry so much about needing to review your images straight after capture. Don’t get me wrong you’ll still take some terrible shots, but over time your eye becomes more attune to seeing what the camera is seeing.

THE SMELL OF FIXER IN THE MORNING

The feeling you get when you pull a roll of film out of the tank and take a look at the negatives for the first time makes you feel like an alchemist. Developing film is a super rewarding experience that makes you feel a greater appreciation for your final images. You are in total control and can alter things like developing times, temperatures, chemicals, concentrations and many other factors to create your own desired look. Being in control of every factor can be overwhelming to begin with, you’ll make mistakes in the process which should be embraced. It means you’re growing and learning. Over time you’ll have an arsenal of knowledge up your sleeve you can use to create a look thats unique to you.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

A typical roll of 35mm film will give you approximately 36 exposures. This seems like a drastic reduction compared to digital where you can shoot 1000+ photos without having to worry about running out of storage. The beauty of film is that when you shoot with greater intent those 36 exposures will yield more keepers than a trigger happy shooting style. A better strike rate means less sifting through countless of the same photos trying to work out which one is the best. Less editing is always a good thing.

THE LOOK

Isn’t it interesting that so many of us photographers shoot digital and then throw on a film look preset when editing…

IMAGE SIZE

As a landscape photographer, I want the biggest image files possible so I can make massive prints with high pixel density. When you shoot 120 film or larger the negative is large enough to scan a massive amount of detail which can leave you with a file size of 100MP+. This means you can produce high quality images with amazing detail worth printing to cover to a wall.

Now go grab an old film camera, a couple of rolls of film and get out there and see what you can create!