Thursday, July 22, 2010

Hell, It's About Time

No, this post has nothing to do with the launch of a game called StarCraft 2. This post is rather a reference to my previous post about wanting to shoot film. I finally found a good deal on a film camera. An old range finder, actually.

No, I did not magically come across a yard sale as I intended to (not that I was expecting one). A friend of mine actually had one he wasn't using and decided to sell it to me for a good price. I bought films later on and was ready to rock. Or wind the film to get the shutter ready.


My new baby's name is Yashica Electro 35. Runs on F-stop priority with a fixed 45mm f/1.7 lens. I've been actually using it for about a week now and realized the huge difference between how I shoot with the film and digital. With digital, I tend to take at least 3-4 shots of the subject, at different angles, and don't really care about the photo's value. It doesn't matter if it's a good shot or not, I take it.

When I have my Yashica out with me, I carefully think about the importance, or the "value" of the shot before taking it. "How important is this shot to me?" A question, after a brief moment of being drowned in motion of thought, I either take the shot or don't depending on my answer. What comes after that is the most exciting part. There is no screen on the camera (obviously) due to the whole thing being.. well, film. I have been asked by a few friends to see if they can see how the photo turned out, only to stare at the back of my yashica with the reflection of their own facial expression: blank. Anyway, back to the exciting part. I don't know if the shot was over/under exposed or even focused properly. This curiosity mixed with a hint of fear is rather exciting.

I haven't had any roll of films developed yet. I think I will end up developing them either this weekend or the next. This will be interesting.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Film VS Digital

It has always been there; traditionalists vs revolutionists; acoustic guitarists vs electric guitarists; and pretty much anything mechanical vs electrical. Film and Digital photography is no exception.

I have been using a digital camera (somewhat seriously) for the last 3 years or so and have never really tried to learn much about film photography or get into it. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, back in the dark ages, people have used film- yes, film with cameras that take said film to take photographs, got the negatives developed, which were then printed. No? You don't remember? Maybe you saw it in a movie somewhere, think harder.

I was always interested in film, and no, film isn't dead... yet. I studied some history about film, but I never got to experience it first-hand. This could possibly be one of those things I regret in my life and I don't normally have regrets. I mean the closest I got to working with film was actually shooting an already-developed roll of film as my subject last year (which ended terribly, so no photos of that).

Even though we're in a age of digital now (where we take $%^& load of %^&$ photos and paste them on facebook or we never see it again as it gets buried in the hard drive somewhere), I still want to shoot film. Just once or twice to say that, "Yes, I remember when I shot film." Maybe I'll come across a yard sale and buy an old Minolta for cheap. However, I haven't ran into a yard sale for 5 years. I have bad luck with them. I should seek alternatives. People might say I'm wasting my time and money or some might even tell me not to dare hold a film camera with my digital-infested hands (is that even possible?).

But I'll do it, should the chance rise.

Because I for one, don't really give a damn about this Film Vs Digital nonsense. Nor will I care to change the way people think about it. Getting people out of this troll war isn't going to make my photos look any better, either so I'll leave them be. I just have a feeling time will be better spent if I beat a dead horse instead. Or take a picture of it... using film.