My analogue experimentation, revisiting the format I used to use exclusively, is going rather well. It has revitalised my photography, both to improve individual shots and to give me areas for future experimentation. In particular, the massive size and obvious nature of the F5 has enabled me to get into an area of photography I never tried before: portraits. Carrying that beast of an F5 around is a great way to start conversations, which easily leads to asking if I can take a shot. It’s not as powerful a conversation starter as carrying a couple of kittens, but it is certainly effective.
I’ve taken ten–ish rolls now, and I’m proud to say that for one roll (only), I didn’t waste a single shot. This even includes a couple of decent fillers at the end to finish off the film. Mind you, that was just one roll.
It’s also proving expensive, and I’m going to have to retrain myself to control that, although luckily I currently have the resources to permit this learning. Part of the solution will be to transfer what I learn to digital photography, so saving myself film costs. I will still have to use analogue, if only to show that my abstract photos are not digital creations.
I’ve noticed I’ve improved in two ways since my old analogue days. First of all, I only now need to take one shot to capture something. I used to take two. This is really due to better technology: the F5 has auto focus, whereas the Me Super did not. Secondly, I’ve found that one roll of film is all I need for a day’s careful snapping. It’s not just the one shot thing, it’s also the extra decades of experience of shot selection.
I’d forgotten about the need to take a few extra shots to finish off a film. At the moment, I’m effectively wasting them; wandering around the locality to take some shots I wouldn’t normally take. I think I need to find something that allows me to take useful shots, not wasting film. It’s going to have to be something based here at home. It can’t be portraits; my wife doesn’t want me to take photographs of her at any time. It can’t be self–portraits: I tried that once when I was first exploring photography (because I wanted to explore portraiture even then) and it just felt wrong. I think it’s going to have to be objects, photographing special or interesting things. Luckily for my bank balance, I bought the necessary kit for that (wee lights and a tabletop tent) on a special offer a long time ago.
Another thing to explore is recreating the feel of the various interesting films (mostly, so far, from lomography), and, in particular, understanding why and how they work. This could revitalise my digital photography too, which is an underlying goal. I have the tools to do this, what I don’t have is that understanding. I’m not sure how to explore this beyond sitting down and playing with processing software, and I’m not convinced that this will be successful unless it’s directed.
My digital photography is not stuck, but is not moving as fast as the analogue. With the latter, I’m catching up on thirty years. With the former, I need to spend a weekend in Frankfurt: that’s my next target for some reflections à la défense. In fact, I just returned from la défense itself, carting a bloody great tripod and 1000mm lens about, having wasted my time because the weather wouldn’t coöperate. Still, such setbacks aren’t nearly strong enough to curb my current enthusiasm: I have a lot more shots to take.