Why would anyone want to take outdated film photos in the digital age? Simple: film photos are beautiful, it's fun, and it can be an extremely liberating experience. Maybe you feel like going back to film after a digital break, or maybe you are young enough to never have tried a film camera. Either way, you might want to pretend it's 1985, and need a few tips on how to get the most out of your camera.
Steps
Step 1. Get a camera
This is the simplest part; people give them away in this digital age. If you can't find one for free, and don't have the time or the desire to look for a particular camera, look for one with 35mm SLR film from one of the major brands (Nikon, Canon, Pentax, etc). Read the manual for the most basic operations, such as how to put in and remove the film, how to focus and so on.
Step 2. Get some film
There is no point in trying to save money to get cheap but substandard films (although you can get great results with these too if you know what you're doing). Take the luxury of buying professional films; if you feel guilty doing this, console yourself by calculating how many films you could buy and print for the cost of a professional digital SLR.
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Image Color negative films, like the Fujicolor C200 used here, can be developed and scanned almost anywhere. Get some film with color negatives if you are concerned about printing and scanning costs and availability. Even in the digital age, you can easily find a place to do this. Also with a film with color negatives there is a huge chance of overexposure.
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Image This was shot on Fuji Velvia, a film renowned for its vivid colors. Get some slide film if you want color, but you are not interested in the cost and availability of printing. Slide films are much better and more accurate (if only because there is only "one" accurate way to represent color in a particular slide). On the other hand, professional labs using the E-6 processes used for almost all slide films are not very common and tend to be very expensive. You'll find it's also much, much easier to get the exposure wrong on a slide.
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Image Black-and-white film, like this Tri-X 400, has a look all its own. Choose black and white if you like that effect. Traditional black and white films are much more difficult and expensive to print than color films (but easier to scan than slides). On the other hand, you can print the photos yourself if you like to play with chemical solutions.
There's a special subset of black-and-white films: those that can be developed in the same C-41 process used for color negatives. Ilford XP2 and Kodak BW400CN are two of them.
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Image Try as many films as you can until you find one that fits your style. Try as many different films as possible until you find one, or a couple that suit your style, and the type of photo you take. You may even find that you like budget films more than professional ones. And that's fine.
Step 3. Exit and start taking pictures
Taking pictures should be liberating; a break from playing with the machine, typing and continually checking what you have done by looking at the LCD screen. Don't chain yourself by taking a myriad of useless photos. This is the biggest deterrent from photographing freely, and a huge deterrent from moving around if you do. Reduce your kit to the bare essentials:
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Image A single, fast fixed 50mm lens like this 50mm f / 1.8 is about the only lens you'll need most of the time. Carry a single lens with you.
Even if you have more than one, it's best to practice with one lens and try to get the best out of it. It doesn't matter which lens you take, although a fixed 50mm lens is the only thing you'll need most of the time.
- Bring extra film with you. Or don't worry if you've just uploaded a new one. Think more about your shots instead of wasting the film as quickly as possible.
- Leave everything else at home. Don't worry about carrying useless stuff, like a bag (except for something to drink and eat), or a tripod, or a flash, or a reel, or a digital camera. If you can carry the essentials on your shoulder and in your pockets, it would be perfect.
Step 4. Take the photos
This is art, and no one can tell you what to do. You can, however, take some small steps to make your photos look less set and more like something people would like to look at. (for more details, research how to get better photos and how to develop a talent for photography.
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Image Shot with an Olympus Trip 35, a fully-automatic point-and shoot camera, loaded with Velvia. Put the camera on automatic setting, if there is one. Automate everything you can if there is no automatic feature. Automation exists for a reason: it makes you focus on what's important to your shots instead of focusing on all the technical details like exposure, and most of the time the camera is more accurate anyway.
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Image Move continuously
Don't take boring pictures at eye level. If you have to lie on the floor to make the photo more interesting, do it (washing machines were invented on purpose). Get as close "always" as possible to your subject.
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Image Simplify your shot as much as you can. Think before you shoot.
Ask yourself: What can I remove from this photo to make it easier? What am I communicating with this photo? (Think color, appearance, repetition, contrasts, etc). "Is this a boring picture of something no one else would want to photograph?"
- Don't think about it. Don't worry if the shot you just took is properly exposed or focused. If it looked decent from the lens, and the camera thought the exposure was right, move on to the next shot. You don't have a screen to haunt after every shot (although you'll likely find yourself consulting the back of the camera out of habit). Most likely "you got it right".
Step 5. Go home
Remove the foil and put it in the fridge, then relax. There is nothing else to do; that's another good thing about using film.
Step 6. Get the film printed and scanned
Most labs will create a CD with high-quality scans of your photos for a small additional cost. Just do it. There is no reason to scan them yourself. Not only will it require more effort (which is not good); it's also likely that their scans will be much better than what you might get unless you have a photo scanner.
Step 7. Choose the best photos and post them online
Thanks to the effort put into making each shot worth the printing costs, you will most likely have many more beautiful photos than a digital camera, so show them to the world!
Advice
- If you're taking pictures on slide film, and you're not planning on projecting them, you can still have them printed easily. Find a lab with a Noritsu 3001 or better printer. Have your slides printed, but don't have them cut and mounted. With a Noritsu you can scan film positives in a continuous roll, just like you would with negatives. Keep in mind that optical print shops (with machines that use a system of lenses and lights to take pictures) are very rare. Nowadays even negatives are scanned to take photos, compromising the overexposure of a film. In addition, any film can be scanned and printed in black and white, whether it is a color or a black and white film. One of the benefits of this is that negatives with little exposure (if not enough light has entered the camera) can make for decent photos.
- Be comfortable using both film and digital. Don't think this article was written to discredit digital. Both can be a lot of fun, and both can give you great results if you know what you're doing.
- Fuji Velvia 50 works well with purples and reds, not cold colors. Velvia is good for dark and underdeveloped photos. Not for people, portraits, or a wide range of light shades.
