Category Archives: 4: Engagement Sessions

There is something to still be said about film, even in this digital world…

I have been a photographer for over thirteen years now and am lucky enough to have learned on film and in the darkroom. Unfortunately, this is something that not every photographer can say these days. Film still has certain elements to it that make it very much alive.

First off, film delivers exactly the color and aesthetic that I want. No post-processing, no photoshop, no nothing… I see photographers everywhere spending hours behind their computer trying to make their pictures look like they were shot on film. My question to them is: Why not shoot film then?

 
Shot on Kodak 400VC Film

Second, film makes you slow down. This is something digital has sort of caused us to take for granted. I can shoot 800+ images on a single memory card so is very easy to get shutter happy! With film, you remember to wait and only hit that shutter during that decisive moment.

Third, it saves time. With shooting slower I know that I was going that extra mile to take everything in consideration before capture. I also know that I wasn’t shutter happy and that my shots are not going to be like a flip book or duplicates. Most importantly, I have a life again to spend time with my family or out doing what I do best and being out on field shooting more.

Fourth, film still has amazing latitude. It captures a wide gamut of dynamic range while still preserving the highlights. It also has a great gradation between the highlight and shadows which can easily be lost in digital files. The result is an image that looks how we saw it and that just makes it that much easier to remissness about special time in your lives when the images were taken.

Fifth, film requires skill… Everyone and their mother can purchase an amazing digital SLR camera that is cheaper and has more features than my old digital cameras. If they just keep clicking then you better believe that they will have some lucky shots that look amazing. But give them a film camera and watch out! I would love to see what their lab bill would be for all those rolls of film for just a couple “keeper” images.

Sixth, film is hella’ fun for me! I swear that I am like a giddy little kid when I get the images back and look at them for the first time. This is something that I don’t get as much with digital because I can just look at the screen on the back.

Lastly, film is different especially in an industry where everyone is using the same photo editing software, buying the same photoshop actions and adding the same effects to their pictures. Everyone’s pictures just end up looking like everyone elses. Now I admit that I am guilty of this myself as well. Don’t get me wrong, the images look great when finished but it eats up time to do this to every picture and you can very easily lose your style and vision. With film, your are left with fresh, clean images that just work right from the start.

The best part of all this is that our photo lab, Richard Photo Lab, scans all our digital negatives for us so we end up with a high rez digital copy of all the shots. That means we can still make tweaks if need be, print enlargements online, throw the pics up on Facebook, Twitter or blog without any hassle… How cool is that???

We have a Nostalgia Collection which is shot entirely on film and is available for anyone who is interested in getting something “different” than the norm.