After trying the expired FujiColor C200, I didn’t quite like the outcome, the next film I tried was Kodak Portra 400. I read a lot of reviews about this film and I feel very positive that my photos will have the look and colour that I anticipated. *cross fingers*
Also, after reviewing the settings that I used for the previous shoot, I felt silly. I feel that I am so accustomed to shooting in dSLR that I have not paid close attention about ISO, aperture and shutter speed. Although I also shoot manual in dSLR, I simply just set a fixed ISO and aperture I want (depth of field), point at the subject, look at the metering, and turn the dial for adjusting shutter speed until the meter says it is neutral or slightly over-exposed.
Then I moved on to shoot the next thing and the next and the next.
In this way, I don’t pay attention to the settings. If it is not the desired exposure, I will just lighten it up in the Lightroom. Furthermore, I am not good in post-processing, sometimes the colour, etc from the dSLR just doesn’t/cannot achieve the effect that I want, I feel very disheartened. On top of this, photography to me is to create a nicely composed and nicely exposed shot without going through (at least not too much) post-processing.
Hence, to distract myself from Lightroom and the disheartened feeling, I decided to shoot film. The effect is basically decided by the film so I would have no control. The only control I have is exposure and composition. As each film costs about SGD 0.60 (for portra 400), I am more careful in pressing the shutter as I make sure the shot must be worthwhile.
Since I don’t spend a lot of time looking and choosing the multiple shots of the same subject while shooting in film, and also I don’t need to do post-processing, I have a lot more time to read.
I read about photography techniques, camera, and also analysing how other famous film photographers in the olden days take their shots. The current read is The Camera by Ansel Adams. and I have gained a few insights which I hope to share on this blog some days 🙂
