Have you scrolled down instagram lately? Have you actually spent the time to look at someone’s captions or possibly the tags they’ve used? No? Just me. Well Let me go on this personal rant for a little bit. Just let me have it please. I know i know. I’m doing the old man bitching about this new generation thing. That’s fine. I recognize that I’m doing it but i wanted to say it. FILM DOES NOT MAKE A BETTER PHOTOGRAPH.
Just cause someone shoots film doesn’t mean they’re better than you. I have some SHIT photos made on film. Some that will never see the light of day. I can admit that to myself. My film photos are not better or worse than my digital work. My main goal of this blog is to maybe try and explain what does go into making photographs, Especially when it comes to using film as a medium.
Photo editing software and presets are so common today. There are a plethora of film emulating preset out there. Half of the pro photographers i follow have their own preset packs that they sell. In this world of 1-5 click photo editing out there It’s very easy for people to disregard the hard work that goes into being a professional photographer. Whether you use film or digital Both mediums have a lot of preconception behind them.
Film maybe more so than digital. Only for the mere fact that film prices are rising and the cost per images is increasing as well depending on the outcome on the finished product of your image. Print, digital scans, etc. all of this surrounding the world of film is an added cost to the medium. When you take that all into consideration. Every click of the shutter might sound like a cash register bell.
I wish i could really figure out where the conception of film photographers are better comes from. All i can really do is answer how i feel, perceive the medium and use it for myself. Film made me better not because of the costs involved, not because shooting film is better just by saying it. It helped me slow down my process. While the immediacy of digital allowed me to learn the technical aspect of photography fairly quickly. Film gave me that patience i needed. It allowed me to think about my intentionality that i needed at the time. receiving such quick feed back was great to learn lighting, how to look for light. How to hone the craft. To this day, You might see me with a digital camera around my neck. Always practicing techniques and different ways to photograph.
I’m not saying that you can’t have that intention with digital rather than I didn’t have it. This was all based of my own personal way of learning how to photograph or make better photographs. Digital gave me to ugh ease of pressing a button and not caring about what the outcome will be or what i was trying to say in an image. Honestly due to that fact i sometimes started thinking why not just shoot with my phone? It was small and always in my pocket. Some may think it lacks all the control of an SLR, but it also came with an added challenge photograph with the most basic of options.
We work with the tools we are either given or choose to use. A jackhammer might be easier for some to demolish a house but the feeling of using a sledge hammer might be more satisfactory to others. They both will get the job done. You need to figure out what’s right for you and not follow a path that’s not yours or jump on to trends just because. Try all the mediums of photography before you settle on anything. Try and experiment. At the end of the day. Film is the medium i chose because it suited me best, not because It made me better.