Of the many things that I do, one of them is shooting lots of photographs. Usually just of those things which are important to me or of interest at the moment….at other times, a photographer of that which I was being paid to photograph (mostly aerial work)
I do not generally bill myself as a “photographer” (even though it was my job title on the business card of the place I worked for years ago) as it is one of those things that everyone claims to be and yet few are actually any good at (a quick glance across the internet will prove this point better than any words I could type) ….and while some have told me I have a good eye for it, I am my own harshest critic and set the bar far above where I believe my talent for photography to be. I do it because I enjoy it, sometimes someone compliments the result and even pays for it, other times not. Nonetheless, I like to think that I know a few bits about the subject and I know for certain that many cameras have had thousands of shutter firings at my command. I always carry at least two cameras with me, and many times I have three. A smartphone, whose camera is surprisingly good and of course is excellent for quickly sharing something. (like the images on this blog site) The other two are a 1955 Minox III “spy camera” (remember the old James Bond movies?) and a medium format Hasselblad that I’ve had since moving to Alaska. (the epitome of medium format cameras and still the only camera I would keep if forced to get rid of all but one) Sometimes I bring other gear with me depending upon the expected needs.
One conclusion that I have come to over the years, both from my own experience with using a wide range of camera gear and from observing the practices of others, is that those who learned on film tend to be better –or at least more careful, photographers than those who learned with digital. The reasons should be obvious. With film, you are limited in the number of exposures you can make before you must reload the camera. Film photographers must also exude a level of patience that the digital crowd lacks…..because you must wait to process the film before you can view the results. As a result of this, most of those who shoot with film (or learned that way) tend to be careful to set up the shot they want, make sure lighting is the way they want, focus, aperture, etc all set up…then they take the picture. Those who learned on digital tend to simply point the camera and fire off 20 or 30 frames….sometimes more. I even once overheard two people with digital cameras on a boat tour discussing how they had shot about 1000 to 1100 pictures that day. But….how many of them were good?…..how many could be used as they were vs the number that had to be altered in a software program to make them “right?” My guess is the percentage of good ones was probably pretty low. I’ve seen this played out in other situations as well. In almost every instance, the ones being more careful and getting better results were those who got started with a film camera and later transitioned to digital–or sometimes kept with film entirely!
I would challenge anyone (especially those who have never used a film camera) to give it a try. Pick up a good used 35mm SLR, a few rolls of Tri-X, and take a class if one is available in your area, it will be fun. And it will make you a better photographer. It may even awaken a whole new level of interest for you.