Bad Habits When Shooting Film!

Shooting film is one of the most nostalgic & physical ways to take photos but comes with some difficult challenges. In this video, I'll tell you about some bad habits that I had when first shooting film and how avoiding these same mistakes can save you from ruined photos and blank rolls. From simple beginner film camera mistakes, to errors made when digitalizing your photos, I definitely encountered these problems when I was a beginner shooting film, and are easily avoidable once you understand how each bad habit is kicked to the curb.

Keaton:

#filmphotography #35mm #filmcamera

[fries]

The half shot roll of Delta 3200 that's been sitting in my camera for a months is my tell-tale heart.

[KNURKonesur]

Great advice! I stand for all of it! Some more I can add from my experience:
1) not learning how to develop your own film to a) save money, b) have more fun and connection to your craft
2) buying only the most popular (and therefore expensive) cameras and/or lenses and not thinking about getting equipment that suits your specific style. I always find some obscure exotic lenses and then get a camera to fit the lens, not the other way around. A lot of people don't have a super specific look that they go for, so there are usually cheaper camera/lens combinations that they could find with a little research
3) investing too much money and time into cameras and lenses but skimping out on developing equipment, film, a decent scanner, photography books, reading about the greats and their craft
4) not learning about the mechanics of old equipment, how it works physically, chemically, what cameras used to be used in the past, so you understand the process better and have some knowledge to experiment with and/or fix your equipment

[maximilianogasconrodas]

I would say that one bad habit that film photogers have is the fact that we feel like we only must take photos of old stuff, like 80s or 90s inspired photos when we can shoot on film a modern building or modern car.

[StepsAndStoness]

Needed to hear this after focusing mostly on Black & White this week. Great video!

[ReimannPembroke]

This was a great vid dude! I feel a strong black and white phase coming for me

[jbaxter]

Had to laugh at the beginning of this video, when you open up the back of your compact camera to realise you`ve still got a roll of fillm in the camera. Priceless.

[markgoostree]

Loved the look when you opened that camera and saw the roll of film! Been there, done that!! Also, your position of "shoot enough frames while at location" . I have also come home with those last few shots left in camera. Last week I was like so many others... eclipsing . I had a film camera and a digital. Jumping back and forth film/ digital/ film until I finished the roll. Then I finished the day with digital. Worked out great.

[jaunman]

What is a bad habit is ‘film photographers ‘ making up a set of rules. Just shoot and be happy. Who cares if we do not finish a roll, should be no pressure. That’s why shooting film is a unique Time Capsule. Not all of us strive to be a perfect photographer or want to post on social media. Maybe we just like the whole process at our own pace? There are no bad habits. Oh and also maybe people just like collecting cameras? Not everyone thinks that gear will improve their picture taking. Peace #shootfilmstaybroke 😊

[renemies]

Great video and advice. Guilty of one of the topics listed. I need to take more pictures of a scene or coverage and finish a roll on time and not just take crappy pictures at the end to finish up the roll. Good advice.

[mrgregpappas]

Some of the ones I've learned over the last 20 years of film photography:

1. Echos what you said already. I heard this on the Matt Day podcast once "Just because you have Shakespeare's pen, it doesn't mean you're going to write like Shakespeare." Sometimes gear matters. Film is very limited with low light, for example, and faster lenses make a huge difference. I don't like pushing film nor shooting with flash, so for ambient light shooting, fast glass is worthwhile. But, for for the most part, gear has little to do with making great images.
2. Ansel Adams said something to the effect of "the negative is the score, and the print is the composer's performance." meaning, an image isn't fully realized until it's printed. Having just started darkroom printing in the last 3 years, I now look at a scene and think to myself "would I want to spend time in my darkroom printing this? Would I hang this on the wall?" And it's helped me fine tune and edit.
3. Learn to read light by eye. I keep a light meter with me all the time and spent months just guessing light and practicing reading it. I can usually guess any light within 1-1.5 stops. It makes you fully aware of light in a way that you hadn't noticed before.

[Drobium]

i seem to be bucking the trend and getting more and more old, cheap cameras. I love the going back to basics thing, so I started on cameras from the 80s, then the 60s, then the 50s, 40's, 30s, 20s and now i've just bought a Kodak Folding Brownie from 1909 😄.

I aspire to get shots as good as the original people who used these cameras more than 100 years ago, I find that truly inspiring and magical.

I think I'll eventually go down the rabbit hole of plate, full frame, photography, but that's way off

[Nuka_Gaming]

Not finishing a roll is a reason why ive been buying 24 exposure ilford rolls. I simoly have no need or a desire to shoot that many frames. Another benefit is saving time scanning my films

[bwizzlethemc]

I saw the thumbnail and was about to blast you if you hated on mirror self portraits haha. But for real though great points made!

[garrettmain]

I am purposefully shooting only shooting color this year. I am currently of the opinion that it is easier to shoot black and white film because of the timelessness.

The great thing here is this opinion will change. I’ll learn what I wanted to while shooting color and may only shoot delta 400 next year. It’s good either way.

[jbaxter]

Totally agree, if your shooting Black and White and you do your own developing, bang out the last few frames and get it developed. Why wait ?

[marike]

Can relate to all of these. For some reason I’ve been getting a few bangers just trying to finish off a roll so I can develop and scan them that evening. Gear lust, as my growing collection of 35mm SLRs do get used (especially my “new” Pentax Spotmatic and growing collection of Super Takumars) what I really want and need is a medium format camera (my TRLs, Mamiya 645 and Pentax 67 are long gone sadly). But looking back at my older images, those bigger negatives, yep that what I need. Influencers lol never cross my mind once, it’s the huge, sharp seemingly grain free negatives. ;)

[andychandler]

I went the other way and just shoot black and white. I hardly ever shoot color because I can develop b and w at home.

I shoot with a Barnack leica IIIa. So clearly I wasn't thinking gear upgrades.

[andrewbarnum]

Upgrade your lens, not your camera. A better lens can make all the difference. Since all film cameras are basically the same and the film and lens are what makes or breaks the photo, get an awesome lens, get a good used camera you feel comfortable with.

[_guillermo]

What binders and pages are you using to store your negatives?

[jonathanhotopf]

My tip would be not to bring too much gear for a trip. By the way I notice you follow James Hoffman 👍