My first time shooting film with an SLR.
Gear used: Practika BCA Electronic, 50mm F/1.8 & Kodak Portra 800
I have always shot photos with a digital camera. Either a point-and-shoot, DSLR or a mirrorless camera. Even though digital cameras have gotten so good the last couple of years, I've always had a hidden admiration for film photography. Not too long ago I discovered Vuhlandes’ Instagram and YouTube channel. He's a very talented film photographer. He like… inspired me to give film photography a try.
The whole process from loading the film into the camera, to taking a photo, to developing the film is a very interesting and different experience. Especially for someone who normally shoots digital. Getting the focus right took longer than usual and it's something I really struggled with. Besides that I kept looking at the back of the camera after every shot like it was going to show me the results right away. face palm
While shooting this first roll I realized that I was choosing my shots more carefully. I didn't have a 64 gig memory card, but a roll of 36 shots. So I couldn't go on a shooting spree. I found myself paying more attention to details. Is the lighting actually good? How's the background? Am I nailing the focus or not? What is the light meter saying about the exposure? Those were some of the questions I was asking myself before pressing the shutter button. It truly forced me to think about the fundamentals instead thinking those famous five words: “We’ll fix it in post".
One of the advantages of shooting with film is that you get the “film look” already in camera. The only things I had to do in post was fix the white balance and some of the colors. Some of the photos came out with this greenish tint so I had to add some magenta. Others had more magenta so I added some green tint to balance it out. The photo below, for example, had a green tint. So I added some magenta, played with the hue of the leaves a little bit and gave it a bit more contrast.
Was this my first and last roll? Absolutely-freaking-not! I picked up two rolls of Portra 400 when I went to pick up my developed roll. So keep an eye out for more!
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