I use Leica gear and enjoy my digital M9 but, there have been instances when I have shot the same picture with film and it very often blows the digital away. So, you may ask, why do you need to shoot black & white film anyway? Well, first of all, film still looks better (in my book at least) and second, you may start enjoying photography again in all its glory. I personally have become a better photographer by shooting film because again, when I do, I pay more attention to details, and, since time is money I donʼt want to waste either by developing and scanning too many duds.
Would you have taken a picture of your toes with film just because you can? I sincerely doubt it. This is a valuable exercise in restraint and it brings us to actually THINK before we shoot. When shooting film, you immediately accept the fact that it may be a little while before you see the fruits of your work and, by living with this, you will become more disciplined which will in turn carry on to your digital shooting as well It also means that shooting everything in sight without any thought into basics like light and composition is out of the question since you only have 24-36 shots in a roll of 35mm and it makes no sense in spending time/money developing thoughtless junk. While this is the norm these days, patience and parsimony are virtues to be cultivated and nourished. It sucks…well, letʼs take another one, and another, and another. If we take a picture, we want to see it NOW on the back of our camera, on the LCD screen. We have become the society of NOW, where waiting for something just doesnʼt seem acceptable.
Before I go on, let me extrapolate a bit on this point: instant gratification. This article is for those who may be interested in discovering (or re-discovering) the simplicity and beauty of black and white film and are willing to spend a little time engaging in something that will not give instant gratification. I have written this article for those who want to take some time away from digital photography or simply want to get back to basics for a bit and have never considered or experienced shooting black & white film.įor many who have grown up with nothing but digital photography and files, the notion of black & white film feels like some foreign relic which may be nice to look at but have no idea on how it was produced and if it can be replicated today. Again, thank you Steve for putting so much time and effort into this. Photography is fun and weʼre here to enjoy it and get inspired without worrying about chromatic aberrations and lens sharpness. First of all, I want to pile on and say that Steve is doing a great job here and we should offer our support for such informative, no bull site.
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