If you are truly interested in photography and you have the chance to try black and white film, TAKE THAT CHANCE.
If you skip out on it, I will find you and I will smack you for being stupid.
Now, this will probably seem out of the blue because I haven’t used this blog in far too long. Photography is my passion, but at this point in my life, college comes first. Meaning I haven’t had much time to take photos as of late.
Anyways. The reason this post is happening is because one of my friends recently got a new camera. It’s a DSLR made by Canon and from what I can tell, it’s nice. She said she still needs to figure it out, so I gave her this tip: Never use automatic. I told her to start out with something like shutter priority, just to get the hang of using her camera. Once she figures that out, I told her to learn manual. Because as soon as you learn how to use all the settings on your camera manually, I guarantee you will know more about your camera than most people with the exact same equipment.
As for my comments about film, if you’re serious about photography, you will try film at some point. Taking photo classes in high school is one of the better things I’ve done. Granted, in high school, our film cameras were shutter-priority. Not manual, but it weaned me off of automatic. By taking another photo class in college, I was able to use an all-manual camera.
Using film, you really have to think about your photos. You’ve got a limited number on a roll of film, so you want them to count. Manual settings make it more difficult. You have to get everything right in order to get one shot. Hell, in a roll of 36, you’re lucky if you get two fantastic photos. Not having the instant gratification of seeing your photos right after you take them is, in my mind, a good thing. It means you’ll make those 36 photos count.
You’re going to grow as a photographer. I promise.
If you never have the chance to try film, that’s fine. It’s expensive and not everyone has access to a darkroom. Just learn how to use your manual settings. It may not make you the next Ansel Adams or Annie Leibovitz, but it will make you better. The more you know your equipment, the more you’ll be able to focus on the subject matter and the ideas.
And those are my photography thoughts of the day.
March 2012
Sometimes I pretend I’m a rock star, okay?
March 2012
I played dress-up this afternoon and this was the result.
Ohhey, I wonder what’s going to happen to this photo.
February 2012
This is blurry, but I actually kind of like it that way.
Oh, how I love those girls.
February 2012
I have a lot to get done for tomorrow.
But first, caffeine.
February 2012
Ooh, chai lattes. The only caffeine I will ever need.
January 2012
For my birthday, Allie got me a jewelry tree. It’s sitting in front of my window and this is a part of it.
Elizabeth May dispenses good advice.
2011: A Year in Review
For the past few years, I’d been doing a “Favorite photos from 20-whatever.” I’d put them in a set on flickr and post the link in a few different places to say, “This is how I’ve grown as a photographer and these are the photos that are significant to me.”
This year, though, I have a feeling quite a few of my favorite photos are from the photography class I took this fall. And those photos, unfortunately, aren’t scanned into my computer. Plus, it’s been awhile since I’ve used Flickr, so that’s a little pointless.
It’s seems a little strange to me, looking back at my year in photos. Maybe it’s because I’m still in school, but it always seems easier to track my progress along a September to August calendar versus a January to December calendar. I look back at my year in photos and some of them seem like they were taken so long ago simply because they were taken in the spring semester or the summer. School always seems to go by so quickly, but previous semesters always seem decades away.
Even so, I think it’s safe to say I’ve grown as both a person and a photographer. For instance, near the beginning of the year, I started experimenting with curves and that has probably been the biggest change to how I edit. And this semester, I found a tutorial on editing skin and once I experiment more with it, I have a feeling my process will change in a big way.
Also, the darkroom changes everything. When I took a couple photography classes in high school, we used shutter-priority cameras and I’ve been incredibly comfortable with that ever since. This fall, I used a fully manual camera. In fact, I used a Pentax K1000, which can probably be considered the mother of my current camera, a Pentax K100D.
Using film always seems to reassure myself as a photographer. It causes me to think more about my photos and the lighting and everything that goes into what makes a photo good. That, in turn, translates into my digital photos. Film always seems so much more complicated because, well, it kind of is. So to feel like it’s something I’m good at, that makes digital seem simple, like it’s something I can get the hang and it’s something I can be good at, too.
When it comes to photography in 2012, I hope I can continue experimenting with film. I won’t have access to a darkroom anymore, but there are always places who will develop my film for me. I’ve got a couple old rolls of color film, plus I will have a couple black and white rolls left. I also hope to go on photo adventures around campus, the arboretum, and of course, St. Joe. And maybe a couple photo adventures in Minneapolis over the summer? It’s stuff I always talk about doing, and yet it never happens. This is the year I want to make stuff happen.
And that, my friends, has been a year in review.
Good Morning, Here’s The News
September 2009
Good morning, here’s the news
And all of it is good
Good evening, here’s the news
And all of it is good
And the weather’s good
Remember that time when I had the house to myself and I stood on all the countertops? I miss the creativity involved in those types of photos.
This one time, I took a crappy cellphone picture of my final photo project on the wall of the art building because I forgot to take a camera with me.
One week with an art major.
Time spent in the darkroom this week: Aprox. 12 hours (Or, three hours a day since Monday. But probably more than that.)
Rolls of film developed: 4
Contact sheets created: 4
Time spent scouring contact sheets for possible prints: 30-60 min.
Time spent cleaning negatives: Too long
Total number of final prints created: 6
Number or reject prints and text strips: Oh, God, I don’t even want to know.
Number of ruined prints due to major dust problems: 4
Money spent on 25 sheets of drymount tissue and 25 sheets of 11x14 matboard: $53.69
Prints need for the final project: Oh, crap. 8-10. Why was I thinking 6? Shitshitshit.
A few lists.
Things I need to do today
- Develop my last two rolls of film
- Make contact sheets for four rolls of film
- Start on a few more prints
Things I have time for
- Probably only the first two items on the previous list
Alright. From left to right: The original photo, my normal editing style, and the results of following this tutorial.
This is basically the result of Saturday night. I’d spent some time editing the photo earlier in the day (or was it Friday?) and I got it to look like how I wanted and then… I found the tutorial and I had to try it out.
I think it’s interesting to see how different the results are and if I want to continue along with the new editing style, I definitely need practice.
SOOOOOO YEAH.
