When digital photography first came on the scene it was believed that film photography would wither and die.
However, over the past several years, the photography industry has seen a renewed interest in this classic medium. Some of the world’s top photographers swear by it. And more and more photographers are trading in their digital gear in favor of film. There is just something magical about shooting film!
If you are curious and wanting to give it a try, here are few things you need to know before shooting your first roll.
1. Film is easier to shoot than you think.
I know that many photographers who are curious about shooting film are intimidated to give it a try. It seems hard. You are at a fixed ISO (the film’s speed) and you can’t look at the back of your camera to make sure you’re doing it right.
Scary!
But shooting film is much easier than you think. Part of the reason why it’s so easy is that film reads light differently than a digital sensor… you have MUCH more wiggle room with film! Which leads us to our next point.
2. Film, especially color film, is very forgiving!
We all know that when shooting with a digital camera, you do not want to overexpose your image too much for fear of blowing your highlights and losing detail. That is not the case with film.
In fact, film, especially color film, prefers to be overexposed by one or two stops! I’ve even overexposed some of my color stocks by up to five stops (yes, you read that right) just to see what would happen, and my images came back beautiful!
So if you ere on the side of overexposing, it’s very hard to mess up a roll of film.
3. Not all film stocks are created equal.
There is no universal standard for film. Each film stock is slightly different. Each has it’s own color profile. Each has it’s own level of contrast.
I call this the film stock’s personality and once you know it’s personality, you can choose stocks based on their profile. In this way, your film stock becomes your creative partner and can help you create a unique style and look that is specific to your work!
The two most popular color film stocks are Portra 400 and Fuji 400h. While these are both 400 speed color films, they are very different. Portra has a warm, rich tone, while Fuji 400h is cool. I say try them both to see what you like best!
4. Film is easy to find.
When I tell people I shoot film, the first question I’m asked is where I buy it! The truth is, there are still a ton of places to get film.
I live in Seattle, and we have several camera shops that sell professional grade film stocks. If you are not in a city or your city does not have a good camera store, you can order your film online through Amazon or other online resources like Film Supply Club!
If you do order it online, just make sure you store it in your refrigerator once it arrives. Film does not like to be hot!
5. There are tons of great labs that can develop your film for you.
I said the first question I get when I tell people I shoot film is where I buy my film. The second question I get is where I get it developed.
Luckily, there are many great labs to choose from. I personally use Richard Photo Lab as I find them to be consistent and easy to talk to when I have questions about my film.
When you send your film into a professional lab, the lab will develop your film and then scan your negatives so that you’ll have a digital copy. I love this for many reasons, one of them being that having the negatives and the digital copy is like have an automatic back up plan! If something were to happen to my hard drive and I were to lose my digital images, I still have the negative and I can always print or re-scan from the negative!
And just because you shoot film doesn’t mean you can’t edit your photos. People edit and tweak their film scans all the time. I’ll go in and remove baby zits and flakey skin for example, but even with doing that my editing time is a fraction of what it was when I was shooting digitally… it literally takes me about 5 minutes to edit an entire newborn session! #awesome
6. Film cameras are still available.
Another question I’m often asked is what the best camera to start with is. There are many film cameras still on the market. Everything from large and medium format to 35mm SLRs to toy cameras like Holgas and Diannas.
If you are new to film photography, I suggest starting with a 35mm SLR. It will look and feel similar to your DSLR and if you get one in the same family (i.e. Canon or Nikon) you may even be able to use the lenses you already have!
If you want to learn more about shooting film, join me on June 12th in my online workshop, Getting Started With Film, where I’ll teach you everything you need to know to start shooting film with confidence!
“I call this the film stock’s personality and once you know it’s personality…”
* its
…but a super article!!!