I have been shooting film in Germany in high school. Many, many moons ago. We had a summer project class, which I remember was a lot of fun. Around that time I bought a Minolta X-300 and my glass was a 35mm-70mm all around/macro lens and a 70-200 tele zoom lens. We were allowed to use the dark room after school for our projects. I remember, I enjoyed the artistic side of photography and learning the craft in the darkroom. This was in the mid 1980’s. Much of it is forgotten, not unlike the french language, Zeroth law of thermodynamcis or the molecular weight of air.
Then school was out. Life happened. 18 month of German army, 3 years of college, my first ob in Germany. My second job in Switzerland, my third job and ever since in the US. Family, children … it was busy. It was focused on the career and family. And vice versa .. family and career. Then studying for an MBA. There was no time at all for hobbies – at least I didn’t take the time. My beloved Minolta was pushed aside by some more convenient means. Point and Shoot Film, Point and Shoot digital. At some point in time in the early 2000’s a Nikon D50 DSLR entered my life again.
At that time I forgot all about my school years and the appreciation for photography. My photography has been pedestrian in those years. Snapshots. In-camera jpeg, modified in Google Picasa a bit where needed. Results still pedestrian. It wasn’t a form of art. It was a form of documenting places I went to, things I have seen and the kids growing up. It served its purpose, but I did it because “that’s what you do” as a good citizen.
Fast forward. My life is still busy. The job is still demanding, but I realized that a creative side of my life had been missing for a long time. I remembered my photography days. My Nikon D50 broke in one of my career related moves from one city to the next . Bummer! Or maybe the best thing ever happened, because I researched what style of photography I really wanted to do and what equipment I needed for it. At the same time I realized that Facebook was a real drag on time (the answer to the question of what my hobbies were, might as well have been “keeping up with Facebook and other social media”). I was about ready to call it quits on Facebook, Google+ and the others. But then, when I researched equipment and photography, I learned about all these interest groups on Facebook and other social media. I was hooked again. The creativity, the things that could be done with digital imagery, post processing and all the methods of altering what you captured digitally captivated me.
Consequently, I went out – after extensive research – and bought the best camera I wanted to afford for my new found old hobby. Olympus OMD-EM5 mirrorless digital it was. A great machine. I bought all kinds of glass for it – and am still not done with that. I love the camera. Lightroom entered my portfolio of tools and like for many others, presets and sliders became my best friends. I enjoy the creativity of post processing a photo as much as I do taking it. I joined local photography meetup groups. I setup a website for my art work on Smugmug and I keep learning about exposure, white balance, shutter speeds aperture and the like. The camera allows for ad-hoc learning by looking at its LCD screen. Then Lightroom post processing. Preset, or maybe none. Saturation, Vibrancy, Clarity, … . Great. Enjoyable. Creative and fulfilling. It still is to this date.
But it wasn’t enough anymore. So many are doing it. Everyone is, it seems. Lightroom appears to be a commodity among photographers, like Google Chrome and other flavors of web browsers are to all of us browsing the internet. In addition, the modern cameras make it so easy. Live view of a long exposure on the LCD screen. In a way it’s a skill to learn to operate your tool; it’s a challenge, but technology makes it real easy. Many pictures out there today are over saturated, over processed, HDR’d. They are pretty and I enjoy them a lot for the most part. After all it is the composition that makes the picture and if not too distractive and over-the-top, the digital enhancements work. (Although some over-the-top work looks great as well of course – it’s art after all).
But what else is there, I wondered. My journey (back) into film started with the purchase of a Minolta Rokkor 50mm f1.4 prime lens and an adapter to use on my Oly. I wanted to take that M-Mode shooting to the next level and I really didn’t want to pay the big dollars for a fast digital lens. I love that lens. Wonderful bokeh and fast. A challenging DoF sliver at f/1.4.
I forgot all about my Minolta X-300, which was stored somewhere in a moving box. Wait a moment! I just bought a super nice lens and I bought one that fits my old high school Minolta system. In no time I was hooked on film again. At first slowly, testing it out, then more and more. I joined interest groups on Facebook, researched the intertubes and found out that there is a whole subculture still devoted to film photography. And I am part of it now.
A couple of months ago, I even started to develop again. Who knows, maybe a darkroom is next. What got me hooked?
- The more deliberate act of taking pictures. No rapid fire to get the best shot. Film is expensive and you use the resource more carefully. No sifting through hundreds of pictures after a day of shooting.
- In fact no pictures at all at the day of shooting. Suspense. Somewhat emotional detachment from the shot. It was the greatest moment when you took it – it may not have been the greatest outcome. When you see the picture the next time – maybe a day or maybe a couple of weeks later – you don’t have that exact memory of the situation any longer. You look at your work more objectively.
- The craft of learning photography without immediate feedback. Learn the settings of aperture and shutter speed. The characteristics of different films in combination with different developers. Taking notes along the way, mental or in a notebook. Rinse. Repeat.
- The speed. If you preset your aperture, zone focal length, shutter speed, there is no auto-focus camera fast enough to keep up. The camera is immediately ready. Always.
- The geek factor. I am an engineer. I can appreciate all the development going into a processor, sensor, software development of the UI and the CAD designed, CNC processed, mass produced camera bodies, miniaturized motors in lenses and the 5 axis stabilized camera sensor. All that for less money than the Starbucks customer spends in a year for their daily caffeine dose.
But there is nothing more exciting than doing the same thing totally manual, without software. With gear driven levers and hinges and solid mechanics and stamped metal cases and and forever running. Without batteries. - The process of developing film. Carefully rinsing some well measured and tempered fluids around your work. The excitement when the process is done to see some resemblance of pictures on your film. It’s magical in a way. Speaking of Caffeine: You can develop film with Coffee, Vitamin C and washing soda? I have to try!
- The reward of a nicely exposed, well balanced picture that doesn’t need any adjustment in post processing is – next to the act of taking the shot in the first place – one of the most exciting experiences to me in photography.
It’s a bit like taking an ocean liner across the Atlantic ocean. You could take the commercial air liner, but it just ain’t the same. It’s a memorable journey. That said, I still fly often.
Amen, brother!