Why film?

Sometimes I get asked why film? Surely digital is much easier, better, faster and although that is true, there is something special about film.

Digital is always consist, and always sharp sometimes to sharp.  Film can give you small inconsistencies and different film manufacturers, give different looks, Ilford Delta 400 is very different to Kodak T-Max 400, Lomography 100 to Portra 160 and this is one reason to shoot film. 

If you shoot 35mm the actual act of taking the image is the same whether digital or film, select your shutter speed and aperture, compose the shot, take the image but with film you have that waiting process to see whether the image is what you were looking for and this is half the fun of film the not knowing until the whole roll is developed.

And talking about developing, this is the part I enjoy the most. Mixing the chemicals, working on the timing for a the developed of a film and the process of turning it into images, I'm still amazed when I open up the tank and see the images for the first time.

Ondu Pinhole, FP4+ Negative 

Ondu Pinhole, FP4+

Another reason for film, is the different choices of not only film but cameras, from homemade pinhole cameras, 35mm, 6x6, 6x7, 6x9, 5x4 the list goes on. For most of the year I have been shooting with a Coronet Superflash, which is a pretty basic camera, made c.1955.  It takes 120 roll film, the negatives are 6x9 and only get 8 images from it but the 1/100 shutter speed and 75mm lens still produces great results.

6x9 Coronet Superflash, Foampan 200

Another fun camera is the Lomography Sprocket Rocket this camera shoots 35mm film but gives a negative of 72mm x 33mm, so panoramic but its allows you shot into the sprockets and adds a little twist to the images.  You can allow double expose on the film and have the ability to wind the film backwards and forward to create unusually images. 

Sprocket Rocket 72x33mm Kodak 200

Sprocket Rocket without sprockets, accidental double exposure, Kodak 200

So that's the reason I shoot film.

Keeping up to date

I really try to keep this blog up to date but life gets in the way.

Since the last post; I have managed to get a place on Photo24, so the end of June will see me tramping the streets of London.

Pop that spot

I made a trip to Dublin but didn't shoot a great deal, mainly because it was a family holiday and the weather wasn't that great.

I also had another try at 'Workshops', this time over on Google+.  There are a great many photographers on G+ and some have banded together to form what is called the The G+ mentorship program for photographers. The mentorship I was on was called finding your vision: street photography.

The way it works is that a community is set up and each week for a period of eight weeks, you are given assignments by the teacher who has experience of that particular genre. For each week you then post a selection of images and then receive feedback.

As we all know most people don't like to be critical of others images, so  feedback can be a bit skewed. I don't want to bash this like the other 'workshop' I did, as I did get something out of this one, and it was free and the people running it give up they time freely.

I just think I'm not cutout for doing workshops, I'm not even sure that street photographers need workshops, did Cartier-Besson, Winogrand, Erwitt, Friedlander, Leiter, Meyerowitz, Arbus, Levitt the list is endless, ever go on street photography workshops.

NOT a double exposure, reflections in a window

Also for a bit of fun I have joined in was a film challenge, its a double exposure challenge, there are about 14 people involved.  The idea is that you are paired up with another photographer and you both shoot on the same roll of film.  I have already shot my 36 exposures and have send the roll to my partner, I'm just waiting on him to shoot his and then get the roll developed.