{"id":66223,"date":"2017-09-25T01:04:48","date_gmt":"2017-09-25T08:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=66223"},"modified":"2017-09-25T01:09:28","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T08:09:28","slug":"the-zen-of-shooting-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/25\/the-zen-of-shooting-film\/","title":{"rendered":"The Zen of Shooting Film"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SHOOT FILM<\/a> Original Artwork by ANNETTE KIM<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Everyone knows that digital is more convenient than film photography. But a lot of people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that film is more relaxing, zen, and pure bliss.<\/p>\n

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1. Therapy of shooting film<\/h2>\n
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SHOOT FILM ARTWEAR<\/a> by ANNETTE KIM<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One thing that a lot of people haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t talked about is the therapeutic effects of shooting photography, especially film.<\/p>\n

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Man with red tape. Venice, 2013<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I shoot film, I enjoy the process of making pictures more than (frantic) digital photography. Each film shot is more considered, calm, yet precise. I liken shooting film (on a mechanical film camera, like a Leica MP) akin to grinding your own coffee by hand (inconvenient, but zen-meditative, and calming).<\/p>\n

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I remember when I started to shoot a lot with the film Hasselblad. It was big, heavy, and a pain to lug around. But the upside: the calm relaxing feeling of shooting through the waist-finder, disappearing into the frame, and disappearing into the act of making the picture. I really think everyone should try to shoot with a film TLR (Rolleiflex, Ricohflex, Yaschicamat) or a Hasselblad\/Bronica at least once. Not for the image quality…but the zen-like process of shooting with it.<\/p>\n

2. Benefits of shooting film<\/h2>\n

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a. Focus on the process of shooting<\/h3>\n
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Cindy flexing. Wedding, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With film, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re less detached to the results of the pictures. You are focused on making each picture (because you cannot review the pictures you just shot on an LCD screen). Shooting film, you are forced to SLOW DOWN, and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not in a rush to quickly rush home, and upload and share your pictures to social media. You let your film sit and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153marinate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d the last big batch of film I processed over 100+ rolls of film<\/a>, after one year of waiting.<\/p>\n

b. The benefit of film costing money<\/h3>\n
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Woman with fur and crossed arms. London, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is a GOOD THING that film costs money. Why? You end up with less crap to look through, I generally have a higher \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hit rate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153batting average\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with film.<\/p>\n

c. Film ages better, like a nice wine.<\/h3>\n

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Also, my film pictures age better than my digital ones. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m always screwing around with digital pictures, using different presets and processing styles, sometimes shooting RAW, other times JPEG<\/a> (often shooting both). My digital pictures do NOT look consistent over the last 10 years.<\/p>\n

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With film, my pictures are consistent in the look and aesthetic, which makes the pictures more pleasant to look at, especially when shot over a long period of time, for a certain project. I love all the color Kodak Portra 400 film<\/a> I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve shot, for my SUITS<\/a> project, ONLY IN AMERICA<\/a>, and CINDY PROJECT CHROMA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My monochrome black and white images shot on Kodak Tri-X are also blissful classic-looking to me.<\/p>\n

3. Try out film and have fun!<\/h2>\n