Shoot Digital Like It's Film
I love my digital camera, but there is magic to shooting film. It is an art form that has consequences. The consequence could be that your shot simply sucks. But, you won't know until you get the film developed.
Given that the price of film and film development is so high, it seems increasingly risky to blow a roll of film on a random Tuesday. Even if you know what you're doing, it's a gamble. And while I am a fan of this particular kind of gambling, I have to limit my bets.
That being said, I've decided to start shooting with my digital camera as if it were a film camera loaded with a magical roll that has unlimited exposures.
How
My everyday camera is a micro 4/3 digital, the Olympus PEN-F. This camera has an electronic viewfinder, which allows you to frame your picture without needing the screen on the back.
The screen also closes, so you have the option to either flip the screen out, have it flush to the body for touch focusing, or you can close it making the back of the camera just look like a film camera body.
To make shooting with the PEN-F a bit more like film, I decided to shoot with the screen completely hidden.
I have pretty decent self-control when it comes to not viewing my images immediately after I take them, but I will admit that I have flipped the screen out just to look at a photo to make sure I got exactly what I needed before.
This is a luxury that shooting with film does not afford you, which is part of the reason why it's so exciting to shoot for film. You're just hoping. And, I am hoping that flipping the screen down and committing to not looking at my images until I get home will make my digital photography feel more authentic and like film.
Centennial Park, Nashville Tennessee
It's summer in Nashville, and that means is at once blistering, hot, and humid. Meaning, that every time you leave your home, you risk boiling in your own skin. With that in mind, I went to Centennial Park before 10 AM to test my theory.
It took a lot of personal discipline, but I left my house with only two cameras: my Olympus PEN-F and my Ilford Sprite 35mm.
I always like to leave the house with at least one camera that does not require a battery. While I always bring a backup battery for my everyday carry, which is my Olympus, I like the security of having a camera on me that doesn't require anything except easily accessible 35 mm film.
Only a few minutes into my one-person photo walk did I cross the path of another photographer. I complimented his Contax camera, and he complimented my Olympus asking what kind of film I had loaded. When I explained that it was digital, we got into a long conversation about film versus digital.
I told him about my experiment to try to capture the spontaneity and anticipation of film with my digital camera. While he was a little dubious of the outcome, he wished me all the luck.
I'm still a little rusty when it comes to street photography and Street portraiture, so I didn't take all the shots I wanted to do today. I saw a fisherman digging around in a tacklebox that I really wish I had captured. I saw another fisherman walk past me with a cigarette in his mouth and a fishing pole in hand. At one point, he stopped, and just took a long, slow drag off of his cigarette, and I've just watched him. I should've taken the shot.
After I walked around for a few minutes and took some pictures of the birds and the bridge, I started to feel a little bit more confident in what I was doing. I didn't feel fully comfortable, though, until I offered to take a photo of a couple who was there on vacation.
It's always nice to offer to take pictures of couples when they're trying to get a picture together. I guess they trusted me because of my fancy camera.
The Photos
I had hoped to get 30 to 36 shots while I was in the park, but I ended up only shooting 15 as the summer heat came on pretty quickly after my conversation with the other photographer.
I was really excited to get back home and see if I had any successful shots. The excitement and anticipation that I felt were very similar to what I experience when I send film away to be developed. But, there was also relief in that I didn't have to wait to see my images.
Out of those 15 shots, 13 were keepers and one portfolio shot. Here are a couple of my favorites -
And, here is the one portfolio shot -
Overall, I think I have found a way to make shooting digital photography more fun for me.
The delayed gratification of seeing the images made me more present while I was shooting, and I think over time it will make me a more deliberate photographer again.
📷 Important Links and Resources
Olympus PEN-F Body - https://amzn.to/3rhEhKq
Micro 4/3 45mm Lens - https://amzn.to/3O4rGTH
Ilford Sprite 35mm - https://amzn.to/44difXC
Ilford 35mm Monochrome Film - https://amzn.to/3pEdG9U
Centennial Park - https://www.nashville.gov/departments/parks/parks/centennial-park
Gift Shop - https://www.redbubble.com/people/b-takemypicture/shop?asc=u
Fine Art Prints - https://barbaratakemypicture.darkroom.com/