Comments on: Film in a Digital Age. Yay Lomo!

By: Kenji

Kenji — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:05:24 +0000

love the fact that every photo you take with a LOMO looks like you’ve taken it 30 years ago. Think the whol LOMO movement itself is a bit overrated though…

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:24:24 +0000

where do you go to develop your 120 film?

By: kristarella

kristarella — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:50:55 +0000

Absolutely, there’s still a place for film. I wish people would recognise that digital photography and film photography are different practices.

I hate it when purists tell me how much they love film and about all their old school cameras, because they always say it with a “film is traditional, more difficult and therefore better” attitude.
I love film too. I have a sweet old school camera too. Then I lost access to a darkroom and it became boring. Processing the photo is half the fun. I loved playing with the contrast with filters, and dodging and burning, and cropping, and blowing up to ridiculously large prints.

Taking it to K-mart just isn’t the same. Thus, digital photography became more accessible to me.

Just as there was boring photography happening with film P&S, there’s boring photography with digital too. It still takes practice and learning to be a great digital photographer.

Oops, didn’t mean to get so ranty. That was the first time I’ve said/written any of that stuff. I’m glad it’s off my chest. :P

By: Jin

Jin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:46:34 +0000

SOME film still has more resolution/contrast/etc. then the most of the best digital camera chips out there. And then theres the stuff that everybody above mentioned :)

By: Moe

Moe — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:36:51 +0000

I love my holga, wish i used it a lot more, but have had great results ( those that came out ) and will keep playing with it … hell I even popped my PW’s ontop while on a shoot a while back …

http://flickr.com/photos/sfmoe/2488804988

and

http://flickr.com/photos/sfmoe/2487978075/

just because i could ! :D

By: Hules

Hules — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:23:42 +0000

To me, shooting with film is a romantic pastime with photography, and one that I will never let slip away. There is something so powerful in shooting with film and waiting to see what the end result is once the film is developed. Even better yet is developing the film yourself. I always felt more in tune with my subject shooting with film.

I don’t see film going anywhere. The result often are photographs that cannot even be touched by digital format. There just is no comparison, in my opinion.

Saying that, I am happy shooting with either….as long as I am shooting, learning and enjoying.

By: Spike

Spike — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:09:58 +0000

I remember chatting with a fellow photographer while waiting for sunrise at Maroon Bells in Aspen several years ago. He was shooting with an 8×10 large-format view camera, and he told me how it enforced discipline. Not just because of the time it took to unload and reload a sheet of film, but because every shot cost $25 in film and processing. I try to remember that conversation when I catch myself just blasting away with my DSLR and force myself to slow down and think.

By: Harish

Harish — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:06:26 +0000

Film definitely has it’s place. It forces you to pay more attention and apply more care to your shots. Past shooting, it gives you this amazingly restless high as you await/develop your negatives, hoping and praying that perfect shot comes out, only to find something amazing in another shot. Of course, the process isn’t all a gamble, film does give you a bunch of natural creative controls that just aren’t the same in Photoshop.

In the end, even if you can more easily assess and re-communicate your expression in the digital age, film is all about the journey and the inspiration it provides.

By: Ed Lau

Ed Lau — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:30:26 +0000

Don’t forget you can replicate “film looks” with certain software. I know of one that lets you select settings for various types of popular film like Fuji Velvia 50, etc.

There’s something to shooting with film though. The idea that you don’t get an unlimited number of shots and that you can’t preview them right away makes it feel like more of an accomplishment in the end.

By: Mathew Ballard

Mathew Ballard — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:31:54 +0000

@ Christopher Blunck

Sure you may be able to that with photoshop or something. But come on! Its so much more fun to do with the camera instead. Its not about the effect, its about how you get it.

Don’t take all the fun out of it.