shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
I never realized how little I really knew about photography until I put down my dSLR and picked up a film camera and did my own developing. I feel like I've learned more in the past year (with film) than in the past 10 years with my digital camera.
Mine was 7 years.
Wait until you begin printing in the darkroom. You'll learn (and hopefully enjoy) a lot more.
dave lackey
Veteran
Damn. As a Harley rider up and down the East coast for years, some people just could not understand when I told them I rode for the ride, not the destination.
As a film and digital photographer, I am mystified that the same lack of understanding is still there with some people who do not understand that the process is more important than the final image.
In fact, the process of film photography yields the final (and different) image. If you have not experienced the process and enjoyed it, fine, but we do.:angel:
Inconvenient? No. Not anymore than my MGTD ever was. If all I want to do is just get there as fast as possible, any crap car will do, preferably with a/c. Otherwise, give me the TD any day!
As a film and digital photographer, I am mystified that the same lack of understanding is still there with some people who do not understand that the process is more important than the final image.
In fact, the process of film photography yields the final (and different) image. If you have not experienced the process and enjoyed it, fine, but we do.:angel:
Inconvenient? No. Not anymore than my MGTD ever was. If all I want to do is just get there as fast as possible, any crap car will do, preferably with a/c. Otherwise, give me the TD any day!
_larky
Well-known
As a rider myself, I undertand you totally. I love riding in the rain, feeling the back end squirling about as it spins up and you're going slightly sideways, then the back grips a little and the front lifts with the rear still spinning. No matter how great the destination, it will never compare with that feeling.
Film is the same, but with the added bonus that you sometimes, every 100 films or so, get that magical moment when the image is good, if not great. Loading the film, feeling it wind on, listening to the shutter, you can't beat it. I love rewinding the film and dropping it into my bag wondering what's on it. Then the wait makes you a better editor.
As a trained physicist I could go on and on about it, much of what I'd say would be equally correct with a sensor, but it 'feels' correct when adding that discussion to one about film.
I'm going to order more film now.
That's another thing, ordering it, it being delivered. Putting a brick of film into the freezer, it's tangible. Digital is so very instant, it's like no chase before getting the girl.
Film is the same, but with the added bonus that you sometimes, every 100 films or so, get that magical moment when the image is good, if not great. Loading the film, feeling it wind on, listening to the shutter, you can't beat it. I love rewinding the film and dropping it into my bag wondering what's on it. Then the wait makes you a better editor.
As a trained physicist I could go on and on about it, much of what I'd say would be equally correct with a sensor, but it 'feels' correct when adding that discussion to one about film.
I'm going to order more film now.
That's another thing, ordering it, it being delivered. Putting a brick of film into the freezer, it's tangible. Digital is so very instant, it's like no chase before getting the girl.
lorriman
Established
I do agree with Dave that process can be a lot of the experience. In my case I'm really a bogus photographer as I don't do it for the image at all. I do it for the pleasure it gives the parents of my nieces and nephews and my Dad and my stepmother (another 7 kids on top of my Dad's oldest 3). Getting a good photo gives me a lot of satisfaction from both the victory of getting it and the admiration of my relatives. But the other side of it is the pleasure of handling older cameras and the fun of using them, and then the enjoyment of developing and postprocessing. There's a lot of enjoyment in hunting lenses also. So for me it is definitely the ride.
If I were blasting away with a digi cam much of the pleasure and satisfaction would be undermined and I probably wouldn't bother; at least not as much. I've even resisted my brother's offer to get me a Canon dSLR as I believe it would be the end of my hobby.
If I were blasting away with a digi cam much of the pleasure and satisfaction would be undermined and I probably wouldn't bother; at least not as much. I've even resisted my brother's offer to get me a Canon dSLR as I believe it would be the end of my hobby.
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
Damn. As a Harley rider up and down the East coast for years, some people just could not understand when I told them I rode for the ride, not the destination.
As a film and digital photographer, I am mystified that the same lack of understanding is still there with some people who do not understand that the process is more important than the final image.
In fact, the process of film photography yields the final (and different) image. If you have not experienced the process and enjoyed it, fine, but we do.:angel:
Wow, there!
Dave. Well said, you put the emphasis on what I've been trying to convey for some time.
Except I would say that the process is just as important as the result, not necessarily more important.
Now watch for the "It's *all* about the final image" -brigade coming in .... anytime now
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shaunmlavery
Member
Damn. As a Harley rider up and down the East coast for years, some people just could not understand when I told them I rode for the ride, not the destination.
As a film and digital photographer, I am mystified that the same lack of understanding is still there with some people who do not understand that the process is more important than the final image.
In fact, the process of film photography yields the final (and different) image. If you have not experienced the process and enjoyed it, fine, but we do.:angel:
Inconvenient? No. Not anymore than my MGTD ever was. If all I want to do is just get there as fast as possible, any crap car will do, preferably with a/c. Otherwise, give me the TD any day!
I shouldn't have started a new topic about streamlining a film workflow in a digital age. I feel the same way, hate film but I can't stay away from it. From the smell opening the package, to loading my leica, to advancing the next shot....There is something about it.
It is just like riding a bike, driving an old car, etc. My first car was a '67 camaro. I just sold it a week ago and it messed me up a little. It did that because it was more than a car, the same with film. It is more than an image. The same with a harley, bobber, classic car...A straight razor shave.
None of them are necessary in todays modern world but it helps to remind us were we came from. Walden Pond anyone?
If you have never seen a print made in the darkroom, you must! It is magic. Developing your own film is magic but printing is magic in front of your eyes.
If film didn't require so much baggage, I would definitely shoot nothing but film, regardless.
LTN
Member
you
just
cant
smell
digital.
Indeed! Glacial Acetic acid....smells like art!
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