Mistakes I made when learning to shoot film

Shooting film is one of the most rewarding ways to take photos but it comes with some unique quirks. In this video, I want to tell you about the mistakes I made when getting into shooting 35mm film and how avoiding those same mistakes can save you from ruined photos and blank rolls.

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[lelnagwet]

"It did not look cool at all" *proceeds to show one of the coolest film photos*

[AdiusOmega]

Honestly there's nothing about film that looks bad to me even when you mess up, light leaks, dust etc. It all adds to it. Film is king every shot on film just feels like magic to me and it really is magic.

[dblgonzo]

I was a US Navy photographer in the 80's. We used filters to compensate for the wrong lighting. 85B for shooting in Tungston lighting and I believe FL-W for florescent lighting with daylight film.

[jacksonurenmusic]

I’m currently suffering the pain of winding my film wrong and not checking if it was actually advancing. I had some banger shots that are gone. But I’m now very cautious when loading my rolls.

[patbuono]

Idk! I think the second shot of your room does look super cool. Maybe not what you wanted out of the shot, but there's something to it that I like. Just getting into film here and your videos rock dude thanks for helping me along. Keep on keepin' on!

[julizakhorolnyh]

Great video! Never heard about overexposing film is better, that`s good to know because I get used to underexpose shots in digital. Thank you for the advice so much!

[RichardRodriguez-lzsw]

Is it just me or does anyone else love the muddy photos? Like if I wanted to get the most clear picture I would get a digital camera but it’s something about the dirty rawness of a film camera that makes me want one

[GabrieleGallagher]

I've learned to wind my films in total darkness (to take advantages of the before-zero-counter shots), so now I feel that the tremendous loading pain of my first rolls has literally gone.

[OwhShnaapp]

So refreshing to have someone who is so good at what they do, be so humble at it, currently trying to get into 35mm photography and your content is so refreshing and encouraging for tragic newbies like myself man

[Steinersgarage]

making mistakes on film is nice because the pictures that does come out nice are so much apreciated

[youtubeaccount]

Just starting to shoot film for the first time, will definitely keep coming back to this video to ensure my photos come out good. I've been worried about what settings to put my camera on so I don't shoot blanks, so glad you mentioned metering!

[rodrigogiorgi]

The white balance mistake was corrected with WB correcting filters in the old days. They were bluish or orangish filters that corrected this at cost of requiring a little bit more exposure to compensate the filtered light.

Great content! <3!

[SPTSuperSprinter]

Point number 2 is why I get a bit nervous using an automatic wind camera, even although in every other respect it's great - you never 100% know if the film really is winding. I also miss the half burnt first shot that you often get on manual wind cameras.

[decadezeromedia]

I rarely come away from ‘top tips’ videos feeling that I’ve gotten truly useful insights. This is certainly the exception. Practical, clear. Thanks!

[feedmetofu]

When you said you didn't get your film back - my jaw just dropped. WHAT!!! I'd be furious.
Lovely tips however. I only ever really shot b&w, but was interesting to listen to colour tips. My biggest tip for anyone starting out in film photography is if you are buying a second hand camera from someone or digging up old camera from your relatives, take it to the repair shop to get it CLA'd. Sure you can put a roll through it and test if it's fine, but it shouldn't cost much to get it checked out and will save you a lot of trouble in the future.

[davidmckenzie]

When I was shooting film years ago, and then digital photography came along I thought that shooting digital was so much easer. For one thing you get to see the results after you take the picture and its a lot easer to correct your mistakes just when you make them and then you can remember not to do that again. You are right when you got your film back from the lab it was like christmas to see how your pictures turned out. Just keep shooting and take a lot of notes. enjoyed your video.

[verablack]

I didn't get my first digital camera till I was in my 20s, and I always felt film was just simpler. When I am serious I use my Minolta AF lenses on either my Minolta SLR or Sony DSLR, but when I want simple I always pull out my Ricoh R-1. For a while I carried a digital super zoom in my purse, but it was way more fussy than I expected, always needing to be charged, taking forever to boot up and be ready to take a photo. With the R1, it turns on very quickly and the battery lasts for the whole year, and the 30mm f3.5/24mm f8 lens is sharp enough and that is all I really need.

[qsk-pronouncedkwisk]

got back into film with a fujifilm point and shoot, after using a zenit e from a flea market in greece for 2 rolls, almost sent it my first roll from the new camera to a walgreens, but thankfully was with a friend who told me all about the bad things, sent it to the dark room, and waiting on my scans now, extremely excited.

[Rogeramirez]

When exposing my rule of thumb was to use the palm of my hand, which is one stop over the middle gray. So I choose where to expose, then I put my hand in front of the lens and measure for it.

[BuzzLiteBeer]

Even professional film labs can really suck. Not every hipster lab hires passionate fellow photographers. I have tried multiple local labs in the cities I've lived in and they all suck (and no, they are not pharmacies). I ended up taking a chance and mailing my film to a lab recommended through reddit, which turned out amazing and have only used this lab since.