Who knows where it’s going?
When I started with this whole film thing, I had no idea where it would lead. I certainly had no expectations that it would magically make me a better photographer. As a matter of fact, I had no expectations other than it would be different and fun and it has been exactly that.
As I scanned the last few images from the last roll that I developed, I looked at my photo count and see that I’ve scanned 656 negatives. Certainly the bulk of them have been 35 mm scans as they are easy to do. I can do 12 at a time. With 120, it’s one at a time, so I tend to not scan the entire roll. I pick and choose. As near as I can tell, I’ve shot about 18 rolls of 120 film, or about 270 images, of which I’ve scanned 196. I’ve shot 13 rolls of 36 exposure 35 mm film and scanned 460 of those images, giving me 656.
I’ve (re)learned a lot about film and have developed likes and dislikes. More than likely I’ll stay in the middle of the range with Ilford films. Though I like really small grain, and Ilford Pan F suits the bill, I don’t like its really high contrast all that much. I prefer FP4′s tonal range as well as HP-5′s speed and tonal range. I shot a roll of Ilford Delta 3200 and, IMHO, it should be Delta 1000. It’s cool in a pinch and I have another roll of it to shoot that I’ll probably shoot at 1000 ISO. My go-to developer is still Rodinal. I hear that my mad scientist friend, Tom, is mixing up a home brew batch for himself!
I’ve found that I really like medium format film. It’s beautiful and I don’t have to break the bank to have a full frame camera, 35 mm or medium format.
Of course, my D300, slighted though she may have been, is still my go-to camera for color, low light, and sports. It just cannot be beat. On the streets, it’s the Olympus and the Leica, and for B&W landscapes, the Mamiya 645e. I want to try a roll or two of color slide film, but also want to keep costs to a minimum and not have any outside development costs.
Thanks to Tom, I have some old school 120 film that I’m going to shoot. Some of it is 10 years old! I’m not quite sure what the developing times will be, but I’ll do some research and figure it out. It’s all about the fun anyway.
Although I make jokes about digital being “The Dark Side”, of course, you know that I don’t mean it. No one’s going to pry my D300 from hands!
It has indeed been fun and I still look forward to those evenings of developing film while watching a movie. Hopefully, you’ve found this interesting, too. Perhaps it may have even sparked your interest a bit … maybe you’ll try some film one day. It’s great to have choices!
Related Posts :
Ilford Delta 400 - Rodinal 1:50 - Mamiya 645e It has been a slow week around the blog. I've no ...
There are days when I feel that I am simply a gatherer of images whose sole mission is to run ...
TMax 100 The last time that I was in a darkroom was right before I left home to begin my life ...
10 Responses to “656 and going strong”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Those scan counts add up fast don’t they? Paul, as i read your post I wondered if being in Charleston on your own each week with evening time to develop and scan has made your usage of film easier or more enjoyable? If you were home in Charlotte would finding time for film be harder to come by?
Something tells me, no one is going to pry any of your cameras from your hands. In fact it could be a bloody scene. After reading your post my mind wondered how awkward I would be trying to load a roll of film again or how often I would try and chimp my histogram but only see my exposure counter box.
A facet of my life over the past 20 years is the awareness of where life is taking me. It sure is not where I imagined when I was 18. The same is true of this journey with digital photography. I feel I’ve learned so much while at the same time have so much to still learn. I’m loving this journey and feel the same as you, “… where’s it going?”
That’s a good picture to accompany this post subject.
I have certainly enjoyed your exploration to the film world. Since it was so long ago I worked with film myself it has been great learning, as well. And, you and Chris have made me remember my own days in that dreadful and cold darkroom I hang out in during the eighties.
For now, I’m completely drained fund-wise, but I do for sure have a film camera in mind for the future. Time will tell when.
@Earl: You’ve hit on something there! Sounds like a post to me.
@Monte: Life sure is an interesting journey, to be sure. I can say that my life looks nothing like I had pictured it.
@Ove: Thanks, Ove. The photo just seemed to fit. My darkroom of the early eighties was cool, dusty, and old. It was in our basement. Though the conditions were not ideal, to say the least, it was a great time consumer and loads of fun!
I’m just sitting here with my mouth hanging open…
Now I’m smiling REALLY wide.
Great photo Paul. It is for your decent into the darkroom – or your assent in discovering new mediums and images?
I’ll hand it to you, you sure have stuck it out with this. No doubt a sign of dedication and passion for exploring.
Whenever you are ready to come back upstairs or downstairs – I am sure there will be just as much left to discover.
@Mark: I’m not sure which direction is which. Perhaps I just traverse the stairs in either direction going from film to digital and back. If I were to take it from my younger days, I’d have to say that down would be going to the darkroom.
That leading image is really strong – I like the diagonals her, the formal, strict, planned lines of the construction, well balanced with the traces of rust and running water. That definitely works for me.
For me, living in both worlds has advantages. It might just be my lack of knowledge (probably is, but I sure can’t get the same image and color quality (not ‘quality’ as in good or bad but just tones and attributes) when I use Ektar as when I shoot in digital color. But I, too, love both sides.
[...] on November 23, 2009, I wrote this post talking about how many film shots I had taken to date. In that post, Earl made the following [...]