I Found Out

Modern technology can be really great. Who would have ever thought that we would all be able to take photos on our phones one day, for example? And that we could take a million photos, only to delete them and start all over again?

There are arguments all the time amongst photographers about whether digital photography is better than analog (film). Many photographers who had been in the business for a long time gleefully sold any film cameras they owned and never looked back. For a lot of them, it was a business decision; clients now expect photographers to own a digital camera. It is, after all, much faster.

For those photographers who still shoot with film, the challenge is finding places who will process it. One can still have film developed at chain drug stores and camera stores, but black & white film must be shipped out somewhere or developed by the photographer. The typical consumer (if there is even such a thing) would bode well to buy a point & shoot camera for around $50-$100, or the latest Smartphone.

I can only speak for myself at this point when I say that film image quality is just better. I have several digital cameras which include one DSLR. I always felt like photography as an art form had gotten a lobotomy after I attempted to go digital. I was never really crazy about the pictures I was taking with my DSLR. At first I thought this was because I wasn't used to digital media. Now, though, it's been nearly two years and, while I've gotten more used to it, photography still feels muted rather than vibrant. Part of this is due to the fact that digital images are waaaaay taken for granted. If we can just delete them all and start over, where is the real challenge of getting light and location right?

I realize that everyone is different and am not about telling anyone what to (or not to) do with their art. But I am declaring that I will only shoot with film from now on unless the situation specifically calls for a digital camera, such as shooting live music in a darkened venue. When it comes to photography as a medium, there is still a lot of experimenting to do for someone who made the discovery later in the game.

--DR

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”--Steve Jobs