Why Digital Photogs Should Shoot Film

This is not a post about Digital vs Film, it is not a post to claim one is better than the other, the intent of this post is to illicit a thought.

Reasons why every digital photog should shoot film, at least for a period of time. These are in no particular order

1) Shooting film slows your shooting process down. Unlike digital, where you can shoot and shoot and worry about processing later to correct errors and straighten images, etc., with film you have a limited number of frames per roll (24 or 36 in 35mm and between 10 and 15 for medium format, 120 film), this limited number of frames forces you to properly compose and meter. With film, every frame you expose comes at an expense, once the frame is exposed it cannot be deleted and it has to go through the development process. The need to be more meticulous, so as not to waste any frames, affords for the “training” of your photographer’s eye, this means you will improve your compositional and metering skills……making you a better photographer at the end of the day.

2) Shooting film requires patience. Unlike digital, when you expose a frame on film you cannot review the image on the back of the camera, you have to wait to process the film, if you process yourself, or wait for the developed film to be returned to you from the lab. This means you have to patiently wait before you can review what you have shot…….this make the above reason, proper composition and metering, more important because you may be unable to re-shoot the images.

3) Image quality. The use of film generally affords you a broader dynamic range. Films like Kodak Portra, for example, will allow you too over expose up to 5 or 6 stops and still retain the highlight details. Every the best and most expensive digital cameras will not afford you such leeway. Yes, some film stocks will produce grainy images but you can also control the grain through exposure and development. The below image of the straw bags was shot on Kodak TMax 400, a low grain B&W film, as you can see grain is nearly non-existent. However, grain in film is different from noise in digital, the grain, by many, including myself, view grain as part of the beauty of film photography…….ask yourself why there are so many digital editing presets looking to replicate film grain.

4) The here and now. How many times have you been shooting a subject and after even capture, or every few captures, do you stop to review the image(s)? This takes you out of the being present with your subject, it is a disconnect. This is important because if you are shooting a model the best images result from developing a photographic connection with the model, each time you stop to look at your screen you create a disconnect and depending how long you take to review and make adjustments the more time your model is waiting for you. Stopping to review could also result in missed photo opportunities. With film you don’t have this issue because you have nothing to review.

Again, this is not about one being better or worse but it is intended to help you to understand how shooting film, even casually, can improve your digital photography work and your workflow.

Happy, as always, to discuss this and any other photography subject.

B&W Film vs Colour Film

I am thoroughly enjoying my return to shooting and developing film. I have to be honest though, while I do like the more muted colours I am getting from shooting Portra, colour film, my preference is B&W film because B&W offers no distraction., which is what colour can sometimes bring. Often times the colour in an image is more noticeable than the image itself.

“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!”

Ted Grant

I agree with this.

Why do I love B&W

I love B&W principally because of what I said above, there is no colour to distract the eye. However, something that is right up there with that……..heavy contrast.

If you look at my B&W images, film or digital, you will see that my images are contrasty. With digital much if this comes in post processing because digital has less dynamic range than film. With film I get the contrast I want by using the Zone System:

https://www.alanrossphotography.com/ansel-adams-zone-system/

In short, the Zone System uses a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is pure black and 10 is pure white. Zone 5 is middle gray or 18% gray.

I use an old Pentax Digital Spot meter, which when pointed at something within the scene, typically the darkest shadow detail, gives me an exposure reading number. I put that reading into Zone 5, which is 18% gray. As I don't want my shadows to be 18% gray, depending on the scene and what image I have in my mind, I will place the shadows in Zone 3. In doing this I can retain some details in the shadows.

“Expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights “

Granted the Zone System was really developed for sheet film but I have been happy with the results i get from rolled film, 35mm or 120.

I typically shoot at box speed and develop normally.

Truth be told, where I have pushed the film, that is shooting ISO 400 film at say ISO 800 or ISO 1600, I do get more contrast but I also get more film grain. I love grain but as I primarily shoot Kodak Tri-X 400 I tend to get sufficient grain shooting at box speed, with normal development in Rodinal developer.

So, the bottomline is I am thoroughly enjoy going back to my roots in film and for 2019 I have only used my digital cameras twice, both times for sporting events.

Why I went back to shooting film

If you read my first blog post you will know that I started my time in photography nearly 40 years by shooting and developing B&W film.

Today I have gone full circle and have gone back to shooting and developing film.

Perhaps you are asking why I would want to go back to shooting film with the advancement of digital. It is not because I am some film snob thinking I am a better photographer than one who has never shot film. The answer is because I truly enjoy the process. When shooting film one must be deliberate in order to capture a good and usable image. This means that I am very deliberate in framing/composing of the shot, metering across the scene, with a focus on the shadows and where within the Zone, yes, I use the Zone System, I want the shadows. I set my exposure, check the composition again and only after all these steps do I press the shutter to capture the image.

NB// I am referring specifically to shooting B&W film. The process to shooting colour is a little different.

I tend to shoot only one image of a scene as my goal is to make every shot count. I am using a Pentax 6x7 Medium Format camera, which means I only get 10 images per roll of 120 film. My goal is also not to have to sort through a whole slew of images to pick the best one.

With digital we tend to shoot a large number of shots while out shooting, which means that every shot does not need to count. I too am guilty of this at times and then I end up with hundreds of images to sort through to determine the best one(s) of very similar images.

Film has simply caused me to really slow my process down and to truly see the image before I take it, if I look through the view finder and the image really does not enthuse me I will not take the shot, with digital I would likely take the shot an edit it later.

I will readily admit that shooting film is also nostalgic and I again get excited about pulling the developed negatives out of the development tank and hanging them to dry and having that anticipation of the quality of images I have captured.

The reality is that I am not using a full analogue process as Ii am scanning the negatives instead of printing is a dark room, I would image that to be true of most who have gone back to shooting film or have forayed into shooting film. So the process is really a hybrid between analogue and digital. Doing some dark room printing is, however, on my agenda.

The other thing I really like about film is that in order to capture a properly exposed imaged one must fully understand and be able to apply the Exposure Triangle. With film your ISO is preset by the film speed or the ISO you use to push or pull the film (will post about pushing and pulling film at a later date), therefore, the variables are Shutter Speed and Aperture. Under the Exposure Triangle is of paramount importance in film because unlike digital you cannot review the image on a screen at the back of the camera and then make adjustments. Film also loves light and has a high propensity to retain highlight detail, thus why we expose for the shadows and not the highlights. The worst thing you can do with film is under-expose it.

Just quickly, as I mentioned, I use the Zone System for metering film, principally B&W film. What is the Zone System?

”The Zone System assigns numbers from 0 through 10 to different brightness values, with 0 representing black, 5 middle gray, and 10 pure white; these values are known as zones. To make zones easily distinguishable from other quantities, Adams and Archer used Roman rather than Arabic numerals.”

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_System

My process, I meter off the darkest spot in the image and determine where I want that to fall on the 0-10 scale. I typically like my shadows to be darker instead of mid-gray, which is where the meter places them. So if my meter tells me that the Exposure Value for the shadow is 8 for Zone 5 I will likely place the shadows in Zone 3. This will give me shadows with some detail. All of this is dependent on the overall scene and the difference in Exposure Value between the shadows and the highlights. Ultimately though, it is an artistic decision based on your own preferences.

I will write addition posts about my film photography work.

Thank you again for taking the time to read.