Why do you still shoot film at times?

A Harsh Life

What do you think of that image?  Please consider that I have not taken any time to create a nice scan, I haven't even printed it yet actually.  It is just a quick and dirty scan of a negative while I'm loving my Artist in Residence position at Badlands National Park. Now again, really look at that picture, what do you think of it?  Ok, the horizon is a little off, easy correction.  But what is the story you get from it?  Would it be the same in color?

So why do I still shoot film at times? Honestly, I am not one of those who think film = art, digital = play or something else besides art.  The fact is, to get great final images it still takes an understanding of art.  Yes, there are many things you can do with software that isn't as easy, or possible even, than in the darkroom.  However, I'll be scanning in an image that was done strictly in the camera that has a second image superimposed over the background and the shot below was done strictly in the darkroom so there are things that can be done.

Ghost Eyes

So why do I still shoot film at times? Simply put, it makes me a better photographer!  Because of my experience with film in the past, and my playing with it still today, it makes me think more about my shot before I take it.  I'm not thinking "Oh, I can remove that person in software so why wait for them to move?" or anything else along those lines.  I'm thinking how can I get the best shot in 1-3 exposures (I still bracket because light doesn't always do what you think)  I don't want to waste precious activations of my mirror or sensor on the digital so I don't want to shoot 10,000 shots to get 1 good one.  Wait, did you just read that right?  Yes, there is a limited number of shots that a DSLR camera will take before the sensor or mirror will fail and that is a thought in my mind.  I also think that I don't want to cull through that many shots to find the good ones.  I want them right from the beginning!

There is another reason to get things right in the camera; it comes down to the quality of the final image, but that will be in another blog post.

I do hope you enjoy looking at some of my black and white film shots.  You can find them on my Facebook page that focuses on my art photography.  Make sure to like it as there will be an upcoming contest either on my way back from my Artist in Residence at Badlands National Park or after I return home. I can tell you that the contest will be regarding the pictures I took on this trip.