FilmKevin GustafsonDecember 22, 2015filmComment

Film Photography: How I Got Started

FilmKevin GustafsonDecember 22, 2015filmComment

From fine art wedding photography to street photography; film photography has made a comeback.

A few years ago I was given a cheap Nikon and a Yeshiva. I loaded them up with some cheap fuji-film from Walgreens. I shot two rolls over the course of a year, not wanting to waste shots. When I got them back I found that most of the frames were unusable due to a faulty shutter curtain in one camera, and a slow mirror in the other. But the process was exciting. I didn't know what I was going to get and it was a nice change from constantly checking the back of the digital screen.

I went to my grandparents house and found two AE-1s that worked perfectly. I loaded those up with Tri-X and brought them with me on a trip from California to Yellowstone National Park and back.

I learned how to develop the film from youtube and kodak documents online. I bought some D76 from the local camera store and a Patterson developing tank and threw these rolls in. What I found from this experience was that I loved the process. It added an element of risk to the photographs that made me really think about what I was photographing. It made my composition, exposure, and timing better. These aren't the greatest images by any means, but they are leagues ahead of what I was doing at the time.

So for me, film photography has been a great exercise in getting it right in the camera. I have found myself cropping less, doing less exposure adjustment in photoshop, and spending a lot more time doing my research before heading out. I have started to shoot primarily film for personal projects. It just adds another level to the work that I really enjoy.

Another part of this is that the equipment for film photography is extremely inexpensive. For example for the price of a single lens for a DSLR, you can get a full kit of primes and a 35mm camera body. This gives you a little flexibility to try out different focal lengths you might not be able to with a digital camera for the same price. They also spent a lot of time refining this equipment. A new film camera didn't come out every year like the digital cameras do. This made for much higher quality pieces of equipment, ones that continue to work. It's either a really good way to get rid of gear acquisition syndrome, or a bad way to get it. Either way, you have a lot of options if you want to get started.

If you decide to go out and shoot film, I suggest getting a solid mechanical body, don't get a full electric camera. In my opinion that defeats the purpose. The body should have a working light meter, although I know people who have shot without one. If you can get one lens get a 35 or 50mm. All the images above are on a 50. And for film, black and white seems to have that glorious film quality to it, I use Kodak Tri-X but I've had good results with Ilfords films as well. KEH.com has been my best bet for getting used cameras and lenses. Their "bargain" quality is actually pretty good, but I try to get "excellent" quality. Amazon and BH are good for film, BH has a larger selection at better prices but you end up paying for shipping so it can even out. As for developing, you can either learn to do it yourself (I'm working on a tutorial for that) or you can send it out to a lab, or take it to a local one. If you enjoy it, I recommend learning to do it yourself, it'll save you money in the long run.

These are just my thoughts, take them as you will. If you already shoot film let me know how you got started. Thanks for reading!