It’s no well-kept secret that cell phone cameras have made digital photography ubiquitous. Over the last few years, film has regained popularity. In her video, Madison Beach shares a few reasons why you should be shooting film!
Digital imagery is relatively cheap to make. The investment is in the gear; once you have the gear, you’re more or less good to go, with the main expense, of course, being the deterioration of the gear with use, until you have to replace or repair your gear. In contrast, film isn’t as cheap. You have to invest in the gear, but also into each image you take by getting the film developed and scanned. Entry to film photography is usually with 35mm, which isn’t worth the effort of developing and scanning it yourself (believe me, I’ve done it)!
So, why bother with film? Film offers constraints that can be amazing to work with. When you load a roll of film into the camera, you have to shoot that entire roll of film with that particular camera until it runs out. So, you develop a way of seeing.
The regret of shooting black and white when you see a bright red balloon floating across the street
Conversely, if you load your film into the camera and then don’t use it for a while, it’s a nice little surprise of memories that you may have forgotten when you finally do shoot the entire roll and get it developed.
Madison recounts many reasons in her video of why she prefers film photography. She does shoot digital but prefers the materiality and pace of film. In saying that, like with any photography, there isn’t necessarily a right or wrong way to do it, but rather figuring out what works for you. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it! So, if you have only ever shot digital and are looking to make the jump to film, why not give your first camera and roll a try today?
