Every Photographer Should Shoot Film
May 4, 2020 10:13:39 #
rehess wrote:
https://www.keh.com/blog/every-photographer-should-shoot-film/?utm_source=emarsys&utm_medium=email&sc_src=email_763561&sc_lid=48992577&sc_uid=dNd9eiO2nz&sc_llid=105744&sc_eh=05b8ed3a0acdeb5e1&utm_campaign=Content+Roundup+%285%2F3%2F20%29&utm_term=Content
Incidentally, I noticed this article because I owner a Canon QL19 shown at the top of the article
Incidentally, I noticed this article because I owner a Canon QL19 shown at the top of the article
IMHO. What I find with going back to film as a break from digital is I slow down and pay more attention to the composition of the shot instead of spray and pray. You have 12-24 or 36 shots vice 1000’s. Ansel Adams would hike out with heavy large format camera and gear for a 3-4 day shoot and might only bring 10-11 film holders and might come back with less than half not exposed. He seen the picture before he shot, most see after the shot. Now we shoot 100-1000 and spend hours going through tossing bad ones and spending hours trying to salvage ok ones even making photos unreal by adding a new sky removing buildings or adding things that weren’t there. The Masters are going away.
May 4, 2020 11:22:39 #
May 4, 2020 12:58:30 #
May 4, 2020 13:12:15 #
St.Mary's wrote:
I shot film. I shoot digital. Digital is better.
The question is not whether digital is better - an artistic matter which I agree with you on.
This article says there are lessons you can learn better from using film - which I also agree with.
We toured the swamp where LaFitte hung out, and was appalled by the point and burst shooting used by another guy on the tour.
May 4, 2020 13:18:09 #
Yeah, I shot film starting in about 1954. I remember my first attempt to load a role of 620 into a tank in a closet under the basement steps; it seemed very difficult to me, and it was, because I'd loaded the protective paper, and left the film on the floor, as I discovered upon turning on the light! I did learn to load the tank, but I don't believe I was ever really happy with a print. Then I discovered Kodachrome, and the enlarger began to collect dust. Then I discovered Cibachrome, and a printer that would do it for me, giving me absolutely exquisite prints to die for. Then I discovered digital and Photoshop, and flickr, and I don't think I'd go back even if you offered me millions of dollars.
May 4, 2020 13:48:36 #
I don't appear to be taking any more shots with digital as I did with film (always took insurance shots in film). However, I love that you can have many speeds available at all times. No more necessity of two cameras if taking low light and normal light shots in the same shoot.
May 4, 2020 14:46:24 #
rehess begs another question(s). What is the individual taking all the swamp photos going to do with them? Sit in front of the computer monitor and look at them? Print and frame them and hang them on a wall? Have a computer present the picture in a million different colors or shapes? Add a few clouds? Show the pictures to friends and tell them all about this swamp and how it is different from other swamps? Have them displayed on the UHH?
Some advice I gave myself years ago, especially in a situation like this, is that pictures are for recording events and people, minimal flora and fauna. Put the camera away and enjoy the moment. I recall the occasion that I was standing in front of the Grand Tetons, taking in the beauty of my surroundings. I asked a gentlemen nearby who was taking pictures, if he wanted me to take a picture of him with his camera with the mountains in the background. (my wife had already taken my picture with the mountains behind me) His reply was "no that would spoil the view" (meaning the photo I guess). My reply was, "Okay."
Now, unless he had some magic camera, or he was going to photo shop the hell out of it (although this was film days) his picture of those mountains were to be little or no different than the trillion that had been taken before and he could buy some post cards in the gift shoppe that would more than satisfy most if not all photo requirements. And for that matter by ignoring my suggestion no one would even know he was there.
Frankly, I have pretty much quit looking at pictures in the Photo Gallery section of the UHH. It should be re-named the "Redundancy Gallery."
I would suggest to the readers and viewers of the UHH, the next time you are out and about, (oot and aboot,for Canadian UHHoggers) enjoy the moment. Lay the camera down.
Oh yes, have I said something wrong? In the words of Jon Lovitz, "I just want to be loved."
Some advice I gave myself years ago, especially in a situation like this, is that pictures are for recording events and people, minimal flora and fauna. Put the camera away and enjoy the moment. I recall the occasion that I was standing in front of the Grand Tetons, taking in the beauty of my surroundings. I asked a gentlemen nearby who was taking pictures, if he wanted me to take a picture of him with his camera with the mountains in the background. (my wife had already taken my picture with the mountains behind me) His reply was "no that would spoil the view" (meaning the photo I guess). My reply was, "Okay."
Now, unless he had some magic camera, or he was going to photo shop the hell out of it (although this was film days) his picture of those mountains were to be little or no different than the trillion that had been taken before and he could buy some post cards in the gift shoppe that would more than satisfy most if not all photo requirements. And for that matter by ignoring my suggestion no one would even know he was there.
Frankly, I have pretty much quit looking at pictures in the Photo Gallery section of the UHH. It should be re-named the "Redundancy Gallery."
I would suggest to the readers and viewers of the UHH, the next time you are out and about, (oot and aboot,for Canadian UHHoggers) enjoy the moment. Lay the camera down.
Oh yes, have I said something wrong? In the words of Jon Lovitz, "I just want to be loved."
May 4, 2020 15:31:07 #
Quite a divergence of views here... I s'pose we all take photographs for our own individual purposes, and sometimes for multiple purposes.
I take photos at work and family snapshots to record people, places, and things. I can document construction progress and prepare advertising materials, including presentations in half the time and with half the effort of film days. When I'm shooting my grandson at bat, the digital speed allows me to (maybe) capture the impact between bat and ball when he hits his first home run, or the smile on his face as he's rounding third. Those are images I could not have captured in the past without thousands of dollars worth of pro level gear and a little luck. I can record Christmas morning or my wife making goofy faces on a trip with ease, and without worrying about missing the exposure or focus of one-time events and happenings. If I screw things up a little, I can generally save the image with cheap and easy-to-use software.
But that's not why I'm a photographer. I take photos as an effort at being creative - capturing an artistic vision and sharing it with a select few. Yes, I can do it with digital gear, but the sheer pleasure of working with mechanical equipment made of metal, glass, and leather is a big part of the creative process for me. Metering the scene, picking a lens and viewpoint, winding the shutter and taking the shot are all a part of the ritual and process. I don't shoot film because it's easier, but because it's more difficult. I can't paint, sculpt, draw, or play an instrument, but, like all of us, I have a creative urge.
Those tactile and visual pleasures are, I think, a big part of the appeal that the film process has with younger photographers. Like many hand processes and artisanal undertakings, it's more about the journey than the destination for them. The DLSR/MILC demographic is trending older, in part, I think, because of the exponentially higher cost of top end gear. I couldn't afford top shelf kit when I was in my twenties, and neither can they.
I share very little here - I'm not shooting or making images for anyone but myself, my family, and my friends, and I don't generally need the attaboys for middling shots found in the Photo Gallery section. The advanced critique sections are nice, and inhabited by some talented regulars.
Chacun a son gout....
Andy
I take photos at work and family snapshots to record people, places, and things. I can document construction progress and prepare advertising materials, including presentations in half the time and with half the effort of film days. When I'm shooting my grandson at bat, the digital speed allows me to (maybe) capture the impact between bat and ball when he hits his first home run, or the smile on his face as he's rounding third. Those are images I could not have captured in the past without thousands of dollars worth of pro level gear and a little luck. I can record Christmas morning or my wife making goofy faces on a trip with ease, and without worrying about missing the exposure or focus of one-time events and happenings. If I screw things up a little, I can generally save the image with cheap and easy-to-use software.
But that's not why I'm a photographer. I take photos as an effort at being creative - capturing an artistic vision and sharing it with a select few. Yes, I can do it with digital gear, but the sheer pleasure of working with mechanical equipment made of metal, glass, and leather is a big part of the creative process for me. Metering the scene, picking a lens and viewpoint, winding the shutter and taking the shot are all a part of the ritual and process. I don't shoot film because it's easier, but because it's more difficult. I can't paint, sculpt, draw, or play an instrument, but, like all of us, I have a creative urge.
Those tactile and visual pleasures are, I think, a big part of the appeal that the film process has with younger photographers. Like many hand processes and artisanal undertakings, it's more about the journey than the destination for them. The DLSR/MILC demographic is trending older, in part, I think, because of the exponentially higher cost of top end gear. I couldn't afford top shelf kit when I was in my twenties, and neither can they.
I share very little here - I'm not shooting or making images for anyone but myself, my family, and my friends, and I don't generally need the attaboys for middling shots found in the Photo Gallery section. The advanced critique sections are nice, and inhabited by some talented regulars.
Chacun a son gout....
Andy
May 4, 2020 15:34:52 #
When digital cameras companies started producing cameras with 24 pixels, that's when most photographers stopped shooting film and started shooting digital.
It took digital long enough but they finally caught up to film, but I agree with people that say, "shooting film makes you a better photographer".
It took digital long enough but they finally caught up to film, but I agree with people that say, "shooting film makes you a better photographer".
May 4, 2020 15:48:08 #
St.Mary's wrote:
rehess begs another question(s). What is the individual taking all the swamp photos going to do with them? Sit in front of the computer monitor and look at them? Print and frame them and hang them on a wall? Have a computer present the picture in a million different colors or shapes? Add a few clouds? Show the pictures to friends and tell them all about this swamp and how it is different from other swamps? Have them displayed on the UHH?
That's the challenge, isn't it? To make a photo that presents a unique viewpoint, especially of a subject that has been photographed endlessly, and for a long time. First to "see" something that's unique to you, and then to turn that into an image that expresses that thought. It's hard, maybe the hardest kind of art. Ansel Adams once observed that twelve decent photos in a year (and he was a full time professional) was a good crop. If I get a couple with my available time and effort, I consider that I've had a good year. It's not the number of photos, it's the quality of the images that please you and the enjoyment you have trying to make them.
Andy
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