film

Friday Fives: Five Reasons I Shoot Film

If you’ve followed me on social media for any amount of time, you know that I love to talk about film. Today, I’m excited to share the reasons that I love shooting film and the benefit to you, my client, when I do!

[r e a s o n 1] The Colors
Film has a unique ability to capture colors in the world in a beautiful, timeless way. Throughout the years that I have worked as a photographer, I have seen so many trends come and go, from selectively colored black and whites, a sepia period, over-saturated colors, and too much or too little contrast. Styles are something that everyone has and everyone changes over time, but one thing that has remained constant through the years is that film captures colors that never go out of style. I use my film scans to adjust my tones on my digital images to make sure you have a gorgeous, timeless, cohesive collection.

[r e a s o n 2] The Texture
I think we have all experienced it. We see something in the world and when we try to take a photo of it, we lose something in the taking. A photo of the moon often looks like a tiny dot, even though it seems to loom larger than life on the horizon. Even the best trained photographer can loose something in the taking of certain photos, and I have noticed that the texture that film captures offers a certain intimacy. It feels like you could breathe it, touch it, and experience it, not just see it.

[r e a s o n 3] The Touchability
Most people I know are kinesthetic learners; that is, we learn by doing and touching. By experience. Film shots lends a touchability to your images. It adds a feeling of a product, of something you can feel, experience, and hold in your hands. It is not just an electronic capture (though those are wonderful too; there’s a reason I do the bulk of my shooting on my digital cameras), but an actual moment in time that made an imprint on a piece of film. In some way, it seems more real, and much more like an heirloom.

[r e a s o n 4] The Proficiency
Film is far less forgiving than digital images. Digital images allow for the photographer to check things, to ensure that they get things right, whereas with film, the photographer has to be incredibly competent in their technical abilities to get the perfect shots. When I shoot in film, I’m communicating that I understand my camera, the light, and my subject well enough to capture the images on film that you see on my instagram or website.

[r e a s o n 5] The Compression and Light Quality
This reason gets pretty technical, but bear with me a bit while I explain. Most of my lenses are able to open to a certain degree to let light in. Most of the time, I prefer to shoot with my lenses more open than not. This also allows my images to have a very shallow depth of field. This makes for a more emotive image that truly speaks to the fine art aesthetic. My film images have an even shallower depth of field when shot at the same open-ness as my digital images. They make your background more compressed and “blurry” (or, as photographers describe it, better bokeh). The way that light captures on film is still unique when compared to images caught on digital cameras.

I am what is called a hybrid shooter. I shoot on both film and digital cameras. There are benefits to both types of photography, and I don’t want to give up on the benefits of either. Digital photography is faster to turn around, it costs less to process, and offers the ability to take several more frames than you can on film, which is especially helpful for group images and ceremony captures. Digital photography can be easier in low light and have more plasticity in those environments, as well. I’ve included some recent shoots that I’ve captured on my medium format film camera to illustrate the differences that I described.