Film vs Digital
Capturing a photograph can be done in a variety of different ways and it has evolved over the course of many decades. While we are currently living in the digital era of photography, film was previously the prominent way that people captured a photograph. The digital age has made incredible improvements in photography over many years and has allowed more people to become photographers. It has also given people the ability to immediately see their photographs and shoot way more on a daily basis. Current digital sensor technology has also improved greatly, which has given photographers the ability to take much better low-light photographs. Digital photography has clearly been a huge leap forward in the advancement of photography as a whole, but I believe that it has also hurt the creative process of taking amazing photographs.
The art of capturing an amazing photograph requires patience. Meticulously waiting for the right time and moment to pull the trigger. Practicing patience and learning to be incredibly selective are traits a photographer can learn while using a digital camera, but these traits are somewhat forcefully practiced when using a film camera. Film is incredibly unforgiving. It allows you to capture.a moment in time without giving you immediate access to what the photograph looks like after you have taken it. Each roll of film has a limited number of photographs that you can capture before having to replace the roll. Unlike digital photography, each photo that you take is costly. This naturally creates hesitation when out on the field, which can really be a beneficial way to take more time to take the right shot.
Now that we have covered a little bit of both digital and film photography, the real question is: Should I use film or digital? In order to answer that question, you have to ask yourself what exactly you want to go out and photograph. If you’re looking to photograph things that are moving fast such as athletes, birds, or race cars, then I would definitely lean towards digital. This is because of the advancements digital cameras have made in shutter speed, auto focus, and continuous shooting. Apart from action photography, I would definitely lean more towards film photography. Being limited to a certain number of frames is a way to forcefully keep you from mindlessly shooting a hundred photos and really make you think twice before pressing the shutter release. This, in turn, will greatly improve the quality of your photography over a long period of time. Purchasing an older film camera is a great tool to have when you are a beginner, as it will not allow you to shoot in “auto”mode. Each photo that you take will be manually set by whatever you think the correct settings should be.
While there are major differences between digital and film photography, one thing to note is that the fundamentals remain the same - the balance between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. It is also important to note that with current modern technology, shooting on film does not prohibit an artist from manipulating their work on softwares such as photoshop or lightroom. Scanning yoir film still allows you to thoroughly edit your photographs. This is incredibly beneficial because it allows you to make mistakes when shooting on film and fix them in post-production.
I will reiterate once more that shooting on film is often times unforgiving. It is much harder to nail your exposures when shooting on film because you really don’t know how they will look until they have been processed. This, in turn, can discourage people from shooting on film because it is harder to get the results that they are looking for. I advise you to push through the failure. If you find yourself developing film and the roll is blank due to a mistake in loading your camera, or a majority of the photos are too dark or bright, use that failure as an opportunity to change something the next time you go out there and shoot. It is those dissapointing failures that lead to more patience which will ultimately mold you into a better photographer in the long run.
Ultimately, both film and digital photography have pro’s and con’s and one isn’t superior to the other. The most important thing to do is go out there and practice as much as you possibly can! The most important thing to remember is that the world that surrounds you is your canvas, and the camera is your paint brush. Regardless if you’ve got a film or digital camera, I encourage you to get out there early, take your time, and think twice before pressing that shutter release.
