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Sunday, December 26, 2010

Filmy fun

It is the day after Christmas. It looks like a Christmas tornado came through here. Totally ransacked. Bows, torn paper, bags, boxes, twistie ties, candy wrappers. All. over. the. place. We for sure look like crazies. I should be picking up, but what fun is that? Nope. I am here to say Merry Christmas again and to show you my film pics. :) Yes, film.
So, Christmas Eve, I got my film camera. I know, I know. I have a nice dslr set up, so why would I buy a film camera, right? Well, I am constantly looking at pro blogs for inspiration. Lately, I have been looking at film photography blogs. Yes, there are people out there that still shoot film. I have fallen in love with the look. The black and whites...so much depth and contrast. And the grain...oh the grain...filmy grain is goood grain. It is different than high iso dslr grain(bad grain). Film grain is good...it adds a nice texture, and unlike high iso dslr grain, you still get good focus. Filmy colors are so fresh and cool and crisp. They are not over saturated or muddy. And, they can be soft and pastel although giving a good punch of color. I guess I have given you enough adjectives to explain my interest in film. Anyhow, at Clickinmoms, a film photographer that I have come to admire (Jaclyn Michele) gave us a challenge...she asked us to load up those film cameras we use as props, shoot it, develop it, just for kicks. So, after admiring the look of film, I said, hey, why not. Film cameras and film is pretty cheap now. So, I got a canon 35mm film slr, and I got some Kodak BW film. It took me all of a day and a half to shoot 24 frames. HA! The fact that I went to CVS on December 26 for 1 hour developing should indicate how giddy I was to see the results. Now, I will say that my expectations were really low. I thought that maybe getting 2 decent pics would be a big success. I half expected the whole roll of film to be black. No, I actually expected this to happen. Not having that LCD screen seriously plays with your head. I rely on it for exposure(I take test shots and adjust exposure based on histogram). I rely on it to let me know if I got the shot(or if that crazy toddler blinked, etc.). I rely on it to check my focus. I rely on it...too much I think. Anyhow, I figured I would have exposure and focus issues. This first roll would be a 'test' roll to figure out what I needed to work on before I used good film and a better lab. When I pulled into the parking lot, I felt a little flutter in my belly. I was seriously nervous they would tell me the film was all blacked out. lol When I was checking out, the lady was all mum. I thought, oh great. She does not have the heart to tell me that the film was in fact all blacked out. Yes, every picture must be black. Dangit! Then, she says, "they came out nice." I think I shocked her a bit when I over enthusiastically said yelled, "OH! Thank you so much. Thank you!" lol. Well, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. For my first roll of film, I think I did okay. I got 23 pics that are okay! :)  After seeing that I could actually take pictures with out the help of an LCD screen, well, I think I have laid to rest my 'blacked out film' pics fears. lol. Now, I will warn you...there are some serious color casts on these CVS b&w's, lol. 
Here is my first roll of film. :)


 Merry Christmas!


4 comments:

  1. Great job! And wtg taking the plunge into film! Where do you find the time? You have FOUR boys, correct? Lol

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  2. Yes, 4! :) I snap pics instead of cleaning, lol! ;)

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  3. Oh I love this! I've been feeling nostalgic over my old Nikon SLR this week and want to pull it out this weekend. I love the beautiful, crisp pictures of a DSLR...and then the photoshop fun...but I miss that 'you better catch it' then darkroom fun of an SLR.

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  4. Gorgeous work. I love shooting film, and I love hearing about other photographers experimenting/going back to it!

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