There are days when I feel that I am simply a gatherer of images whose sole mission is to run out and gather as many images as possible on a given day, come back, give a cursory look at some of them, judge them, show one or two, then on to the next crop. Never looking back. Never stopping to consider the ‘why’.
Anymore, I don’t ask why things happen. When I purchased this film camera, I had no intention of it being my sole-use camera for any period of time. Sure, I thought, it would be a nice trip to “back in the day”, nothing more. Yet, it has become more. Lately, there have been a few posts about film either directly or indirectly. Paul Butzi talked about why he wouldn’t use film to do his theater project, more specifically, large format. His points, of course, were all valid. The other day on T.O.P (The Online Photographer), Mike talked about shooting film and using Leica for a year to become a better photographer and to be able to ‘see’ better. I think that there is some merit in his idea, though not necessarily that you ‘need’ a Leica.
So far, I’ve shot 5 rolls of film, processed 4. The final finished roll I will process this evening. All told, 75 shots. In my bag sits another 6 rolls of film, ready to go. From what I can see, my success ratio seems to be a bit higher. To be sure, I am aware that there is cost involved with each exposure and I’m not prone to shooting, shooting, shooting … even though I advocate this approach. I think that, early on, the shoot/feedback loop is very important … if you take the time to analyze the feedback. It never looses its importance, but with the lower cost of digital, and higher shoot rates, the number of shots to analyze can be overwhelming. Now, I find myself moving, looking, moving, looking, waiting, and feeling things out before even taking a shot. It’s a relaxing way to shoot.
I’m rediscovering my ‘tone vision’, if you will. Not all things photograph well in B&W and, when shooting B&W film, one must make a choice. There is no shooting it in color, then converting to B&W to see which one you like best. You get what you get. Also, the digital perfection is gone. Film has its own characteristics, like grain and tonality, and I’m finding that I really like the grain on some of the film. It adds a beauty all of its own.
So! Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Am I more contemplative because I am shooting film or am I shooting film, because I am more contemplative. It is, I believe, the latter. The photography just followed, I think. When I shot film when I was younger, I ran through many rolls of film, to be sure. Back then, I bought expired film almost exclusively and developed it myself, so it was still relatively cheap.
Though I never fully intended to do the one camera, one lens, one film thing, I think that it is happening. Will I shun digital and run back into the arms of film? Doubtful. However, I am enjoying this medium format film and the developing. As with all things in life, we’ll just have to see where it leads. Thanks for riding along.
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