Ditching Digital

Comfort Zone

2011-08-05T19:19:00.001-04:00

I have been falling back on my 35mm and digital lately. As much as I adore my Mamiya and the feel of medium format, its not easy to grab ordinary activities in the day with this camera, especially if its not pre-loaded. Trying to get better at metering and trusting my instincts and moving outside my comfort zone. Im not learning fast enough with the financial aspect of developing and scanning which I know is forcing me to develop patience. So today I'm discouraged and posting, because this is all a part of the journey and I need to be able to look back at this. No one said it would be easy.

Mamiya 645 | 70mm 2.8 | Fuji pro400H | metered shadows +2 stops

Lessons Learned:

1. Need to write down my exposures more often and keep a written journal with me

2. Really need to purchase a hand held meter

3. Looking for subjects other than my kids might help with my rut

4. Really need to shoot with the Mamiya more often

5. Finding I like b&w film over color, especially ilford. Maybe because it hides all my mistakes

6. Should probably pick 1 film and 1 camera and stick with it for a few months

7. This is a journey, not a race

3 Frames In

2011-07-24T18:41:00.000-04:00

My 42 year old mamiya c220 is putting me in my place. she has a couple of years on me plus she cannot be bullied. she works the way she works and that is THAT. so simple it is hard, so unlike digital it's mysterious, so fun it's intoxicating. i shot three frames and didn't even know it. HA! since we are documenting our journey from digital to film, i need to type this out, so i can look back in three months and see how far i have come. here are a few tidbits from the first three frames:
-these are straight scans. no post-processing whatsoever, except for sizing down and adding a watermark.
-i hate photoshop and processing, so this is a really big deal for me.
-holding a rectangular box-style camera at waist level really makes me look cool. ;) so much cooler than -with the battery grip on my canon. just sayin....
-the camera has yet to have a name. need to get to know her better.
-we argued while loading my first roll. she won.
-it took me 5-10 minutes longer to compose and focus ONE image.
-what i see in the viewfinder is reversed. made me a bit dizzy going back and forth. (one reason it took so long to compose and focus.)
-i metered with a sekonic L-508. should have set it for incident, but it was on spot. oh well......
-i winged it with the first roll. literally just metered and shot. didn't think about what i was doing. just took what i already know and did it.
-i am addicted to the discipline, patience, trust, and mystery.
-i love medium format.
-i am better than i thought. which isn't saying much, but for me to say it is a big grown up step for me.
if these were processed at 1200, like ilford 3200 should be, they would probably look a lot better. lesson learned if i ever shoot this film again. i read that in a couple places, so it must be true.
my daughter is sick of me using her for target practice. all the years of digital have taken a toll on her too.
these were shot with a mamiya c220 twin lens reflex, ilford delta 3200 processed at 3200. f 2.8 with an 85mm lens.

thanks for reading!

Finding Film

2011-05-01T21:23:00.027-04:00

Its time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap
~Stephen Schwartz

Film forces you to rely on all your knowledge and put it to the test. It frees you up to shoot the moment, put down the camera and walk away. Brings simplicity as you are thoughtful of the limited number of frames at your disposal.

My first 3 rolls:

Fuji 35mm 400 (walmarts only film choice) straight (dirty) scans

Fuji pro 4ooh - 120 Medium Format straight scans

ilford delta pro 100 - 120 Medium Format straight scans

Lessons learned:
1. So I do know how to meter. Who knew?
2. Film renders amazing skin tones, better than I could ever achieve in hours of photoshopping.
3. Dirty scans make more work. The whole point here is less photoshop. I think the lab that processed my 35mm film was run out of the back of some guys trunk. Finding a great lab is key.
4. While shooting medium format, ignore the strange looks from people as you manually crank your film.
5. I cannot wait to shoot more.
6. This is going to get really expensive. But that is ok, time is money.