Returning To Film

Digital cameras have grown huge in the last few years and the process of film photography and the darkroom has quickly faded away, yet there is something nostalgic about learning the ways of the darkroom and keeping these techniques alive. I am young enough that I am part of the first generation to learn photography on a digital camera, and after five years I returned to the origins of photography in order to relearn everything I know about photography through a film camera.

A film camera itself is similar to most DSLRs, the biggest difference being you have to load it with film instead of an SD card, and remember to reel it after every shot. However, the fact that you have a limited number of shots and are stuck with the ISO of the loaded film makes one slow down, and think about every aspect of the photograph. The framing, the exposure, the depth of field, forcing you to pre-visualize the photograph before you click the shutter. Of course, the biggest change from digital to analog photography is post-processing. In digital you go through the photos on a computer, see them all instantly, and can edit them extensively through multiple programs such as Lightroom and Photoshop. With film there is no instant gratification, you must load the film into a light-sealed canister then develop it with the use of specific chemicals. Once developed you can see the negative of the photographs you produced, but to see the positive you must go into the darkroom, and print it with the use of an enlarger.

The printing process is extensive, starting with a contact sheet, this gives you a small positive of each of the photographs from that roll of film. From there you can choose which ones are worth enlarging and printing. Once chosen, find the negative that corresponds and place it in the enlarger, turn the focusing light on and focus the projected image. Next, you must make a test print to figure out the best time and contrast, for a full print. Finally, it’s time to make your first full print, you double-check the focus and the time, start the timer, then slip the light-exposed piece of paper into the developer; you watch as your photograph appears out of nowhere like magic, projected onto that piece of paper forever.