Remember The Days Of Film?
By Michael Simpson
5 Aug 2008
Remember the days of film? The days when a volcano would erupt right in front of you and you questioned taking a photo because it was your last frame in the roll. Today, we have obviously reached the age of digital, however is that really a good thing? Of coarse it is. Knowing that you can take a photo with knowledge that if it's bad you can simply delete it is a great achievement, however I see one issue with the idea. We, as in photographers, take all of it for granted.
Today you find so many people who go to these photography hot spots and shoot 300 photos of an area, while at the same time not really knowing or even caring what exactly they are shooting. The only thing on there mind is the hope that at least one, maybe even two, of those photos are somewhat good. I can understand if a shark just hurled itself out of the water in pursuit of a seal, you might want to hold down the shutter, and use the 8 frames per second on your nifty camera. However a Landscape? Come on...
So I present you with this simple theory. The next time you go out to shoot, walk off the trail. Locate an area you want to make it to and start the journey. When you finally get to the area that you picked. Breathe in the pride that has come to you after the long trek. Then take time to examine the place. Look at the area and visualize the photo before you even look through the viewfinder. Once all respect has been given to your surroundings, you may start capturing.
The main idea of this technique is to take a few steps backwards and treat your camera like film. Savor every frame, and use your brain while taking photos, add your own creativity into each and every one. For one, you'll realize that you will spend not nearly as much time editing. For me at least, I used to spend hours just weeding out all the bad or sightly worse photos from a huge event. Now, I find that I like almost all of the shots I take. That gives me much more time to edit them, organize them and share them. Two, there is nothing more rewarding than looking at the picture that you just took and seeing exactly what you imagined would come out. It doesn't happen very often (for me anyway) but when it does, I feel awesome.
So I'll leave you on this final note; Remember the days of film? They allowed us to take a deep breath before our capturing began. They gave us a moment take in and learn about our surroundings, so when we're asked about our venture off the beaten trail, we have many story's to tell. The days of film were legendary, which is why I attempt to relive them one photo at a time.
1 response
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Tip Crowley gave props (10 Nov 2008):
Some beautiful shots.
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