February 2, 2011

Analog

Like most everyone, I made the switch to digital photography long ago. And why not? Picture albums can be shared online, the expense of development is gone, and even bad shots can be resurrected through some clever editing. Yet I still think I always took more interesting shots on 35mm film.

Why might that be? I'm sure it has a lot to do with patience. With film, I wanted to conserve my shots and choose the proper exposure. While many shots were sadly too dark or too light, the composition was generally better than what I've shot recently.

Rummaging through boxes packed in the basement, I came across my Olympus 35RC. It's a yard sale item that I actually never used. After some clean up, the little rangefinder didn't look too bad. Surprisingly, the battery still had some juice to power the light meter!


I've been inspired lately to try my hand at black & white film. Maybe it's a big waste of time, but I'm hoping this exercise will help teach me the patience for better composition. With all the ice and snow, it's the perfect season to find contrasting images.