Film is fun. It teaches you the basics of camera operation. It teaches you simplicity. It teaches you patience. It teaches you to find a reason to photograph a scene. It teaches you to be a better photographer.
Here's a collection from our GAP and C&O tour a few weeks back. I used a Pentax K1000 paired to a SMC F2 K-mount 50mm lens and Fujifilm Superia 400 film. Aside from cropping and light contrast, these photos are how I got them from the developer.
Do you still shoot film or is it really dead?
Do you still shoot film or is it really dead?
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| Adrian had to make sure her new jersey didn't rip if she hulks on accident. |
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| Amtrak trip from DC to Pittsburgh was ~8 hrs |
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| Creepy lady hanging out between cars on Amtrak |
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| Waiting for our bikes to be unloaded |
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| Flowers and pollen at a coffee shop in Pittsburgh |
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| See ya PGH |
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| First mile marker of the GAP |
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| Little waterfalls dotted the trails |
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| Adrian's steed |
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| Face |
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| Sunflowers |
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| A study in convergence |
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| Had to hop off and hike through downed trees to get here |
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| Leaving Paw Paw Tunnel. The way they cut and formed the slats around the natural features was really satisfying. |
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| Waterfall outside an old plant |
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| Big Savage Tunnel |
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| Overlook after the tunnel |
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| Flying downhill into Frostburg and Cumberland |
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| Great Falls just outside of DC |
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| I could really go for some paddling right now |
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| Bonus Stella |
Very nice pictures,of a very nice trip. As far as shooting film goes,I've had enough...I have shot miles and miles and miles of Kodacolor. Keep it up though,you do good work,and enjoy the ride!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, heartbreaking pictures!
ReplyDeleteMy fiancee and I were going to ride this trail in September, but medical issues are preventing us from going now.I was looking forward to shooting film on the way as well, I only shoot film.
Thank you for the wonderful images. Maybe we can get there in the spring.
I still use my K1000 and love it.
ReplyDeleteThese are terrific photos! You two are so talented! You should go on more bike trips so as to take lots of more photos...
ReplyDeleteA Pentax K1000! My first SLR, purchased when I was in college during 70s. A serviceable camera, which I used during my early years in newspapering. Mine had a nagging problem with static electricity marring the film when you rewound. Sometimes it looked like lightning bolts on the negatives. I graduated to Olympus, then Nikon. Haven't shot film in about 10 years.
ReplyDeleteMy nephew has started shooting film and loves it. Nice pictures!
Looks like you had a great trip!!You could say I aspire to keep shooting film but haven't done so in years. I actually haven't been shooting digital either. I've taken an extended hiatus from photography while focusing on other hobbies (including bikes)... but I still have an old Minolta x-700 camera and discovered an even older mechanical shutter rangefinder of my fathers that I look forward to getting back in service. But I more recently acquired a hand-me-down polaroid spectra camera so I'll probably start playing with that and order some of the "Impossible Film" before I ever begin getting back into 35mm film.
ReplyDeleteI think film is dead. It's basically something that people do for fun now, but digital has surpassed it. Film is great, but digital cameras can do everything film ones can do (it's about the camera and lens in my mind, not the film vs digital aspect), and so much more. Film is fun, but digital is too good, and getting better. If you enjoy film though, go for it!
ReplyDeleteGreat reminders of my trip on those trails 3 years ago. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteFrom my point of view film is most certainly not dead.
ReplyDeleteI'm a long time Leica shooter as well as Rollei and Hasselblad.
I shoot digital as well, currently-and probably for he rest of my life-with a Leica M240 so that I can use my 40+ years of Leica lenses. I also shoot medium format film with Hasselblads, Rolleis and Fujis.
I like mechanical cameras just as well as mechanical bicycles.
Film isn't dead for me or my friends. We shoot digital and film. It's a matter of horses for courses. I frequently shoot in the Southwest and nothing, film or digital, beats Fuji Velvia 50 there.
Phil Brown
Not dead yet. I don't know if it's coincidence or general attraction to retrogrouch types, but there seems to be a substantial intersection between the sets of those who like steel bikes and those who still shoot film. I haven't had the 4x5 out for a year or so, but still using the Rollei, along with the P&S digital that is, admittedly, easier to drop in a jersey pocket, but much less satisfying. In the end, the best camera at any time is… the one you have with you. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI have a special edition K1000 that had more metal parts, so it weighs a ton and still works like clockwork, though I don't use it anymore, steel bike notwithstanding. These days the attraction seems greater for those who didn't grow up with film. Those who did are so amazed by what is now digitally possible that the film question is shrug-worthy, except for when you try to push the film to its extremes with solar flares, blurring, and so on, which has its pleasures.
ReplyDeleteNow, PRINTING is another story. My kingdom for someone who knows how to print a proper photograph! (But don't get excited, because my kingdom is very, very small.)
Ah... that explains the weirdly saturated colors. My grandson is a talented photographer and enjoys working with film, but those of us who struggled with it for years really enjoy the instant gratification and high quality of digital.
ReplyDeleteriv was doing only black and white film developed in-house for years on their catalogs and homepage.... those old catalog covers are so classic
ReplyDelete