Digital photography is a wonderful thing. Extremely high resolution photographs can be taken
and immediately reviewed. Thousands of pictures can be saved on one card. The modern
digital camera takes most of the technical thought out of photography. With the click of the
shutter release, the camera focuses, meters, and makes all of the adjustments for you, (if you
prefer.) However, with all of this, (which is marvelous,) something is lost. What’s lost is not
necessarily tangible, but more of a feeling or sensation.
For the past decade, I have been shooting entirely with digital cameras. I take a shot then look
at the screen. I take the camera home and transfer the files to my computer. Sometimes there
are a few Photoshop adjustments and the photographs are uploaded to the website. If the
photographs are for a job such as a wedding or portrait session, I seldom ever see a physical
paper print of the work.
A while back I began to realize that I was missing something. I have been fortunate enough to
acquire a couple of really nice old film cameras; a Rolleiflex TLR and a Leica M3, both from the
1950s. I sat them on my shelf and enjoyed looking at them but then began to want to use them.
I sent them off to Camtron Camera repair in Cincinnati for a clean and test, and picked them up
a few weeks later, good as new!!!
It wasn’t long until I had the Rollei loaded up with some ISO 100 T-Max. Over the next few days I
very carefully picked out some good places to take some photographs. I set the camera up on
my tripod, took the stainless lens cap off the camera exposing the twin lenses, and set up my
shot through the ground glass viewfinder, all backwards of course. I took out the light meter and
metered the shot. I advanced the film, held my breath, and delicately squeezed the trigger.
“Click.” There was no instant review of the shot. I didn’t take 15 pictures to make sure I got it
right, (there is no way I could afford to do that.) I carefully placed the lens cap back on the body
and put it back in its case. After that, I’d move to the next location, and repeat the process.
After all 12 exposures were completed. I finished winding the film and took it out of the camera.
The film got wrapped in foil and send to the lab. Some would say that this experience is not
complete without a darkroom, but there are some things I’m just not all that good at… After a
while, the negatives came back with the prints!!!
It was after that that I felt culmination of the best collection a feelings a photographer can
experience: the apprehension of the metering, the feel of the manual controls, the sensation of
the faint shutter click, the progression of the analog frame counter, and the excitement of
seeing that white envelope in the mail containing prints and negatives.
I realized that these were the feeling that the convenience of digital photography had taken
away from me. I had forgotten how much I missed them and how easily they can be simply
written off as unwanted hassle. I hope you enjoy looking at these examples of my film
photography. If you have an old film camera lying around, I suggest taking it out and seeing
what you don’t even know you’re missing.
and immediately reviewed. Thousands of pictures can be saved on one card. The modern
digital camera takes most of the technical thought out of photography. With the click of the
shutter release, the camera focuses, meters, and makes all of the adjustments for you, (if you
prefer.) However, with all of this, (which is marvelous,) something is lost. What’s lost is not
necessarily tangible, but more of a feeling or sensation.
For the past decade, I have been shooting entirely with digital cameras. I take a shot then look
at the screen. I take the camera home and transfer the files to my computer. Sometimes there
are a few Photoshop adjustments and the photographs are uploaded to the website. If the
photographs are for a job such as a wedding or portrait session, I seldom ever see a physical
paper print of the work.
A while back I began to realize that I was missing something. I have been fortunate enough to
acquire a couple of really nice old film cameras; a Rolleiflex TLR and a Leica M3, both from the
1950s. I sat them on my shelf and enjoyed looking at them but then began to want to use them.
I sent them off to Camtron Camera repair in Cincinnati for a clean and test, and picked them up
a few weeks later, good as new!!!
It wasn’t long until I had the Rollei loaded up with some ISO 100 T-Max. Over the next few days I
very carefully picked out some good places to take some photographs. I set the camera up on
my tripod, took the stainless lens cap off the camera exposing the twin lenses, and set up my
shot through the ground glass viewfinder, all backwards of course. I took out the light meter and
metered the shot. I advanced the film, held my breath, and delicately squeezed the trigger.
“Click.” There was no instant review of the shot. I didn’t take 15 pictures to make sure I got it
right, (there is no way I could afford to do that.) I carefully placed the lens cap back on the body
and put it back in its case. After that, I’d move to the next location, and repeat the process.
After all 12 exposures were completed. I finished winding the film and took it out of the camera.
The film got wrapped in foil and send to the lab. Some would say that this experience is not
complete without a darkroom, but there are some things I’m just not all that good at… After a
while, the negatives came back with the prints!!!
It was after that that I felt culmination of the best collection a feelings a photographer can
experience: the apprehension of the metering, the feel of the manual controls, the sensation of
the faint shutter click, the progression of the analog frame counter, and the excitement of
seeing that white envelope in the mail containing prints and negatives.
I realized that these were the feeling that the convenience of digital photography had taken
away from me. I had forgotten how much I missed them and how easily they can be simply
written off as unwanted hassle. I hope you enjoy looking at these examples of my film
photography. If you have an old film camera lying around, I suggest taking it out and seeing
what you don’t even know you’re missing.
Please click HERE to visit my Rollei gallery