Film is NOT Dead!

Hello!  I have been absent for awhile which is of course my way!  Almost a month ago I got to attend Jonathan Canlas‘ Film is Not Dead (FIND) workshop and it was an amazing experience.  I have been wanting to blog it, instaproofs it and shout it from the roof tops ever since, but have been busy as usual!  We have had family at our house from the time the workshop ended and I am just now starting to unburden myself from the piles of laundry.  Getting my film out for the world to see is top on my priority list as I return to normal life.

The workshop was such a refreshing and enlightening experience.  I am so grateful to Jon for not only sharing his talents, but also for creating a workspace that is so open and inviting for us all.  I did not realize how much I have missed just being around other photographers.  I was lucky enough to go to school for Photography and loved the experience of sharing my art with all the artists around me and learning from them.  I have not been in that environment in like 6 years and it was much needed.  I learned so much from Jon as well, one of the biggest things I learned was that really he is just like me.  I put photographers up on these pedestals and think they are so untouchable, but really he has had the same insecurities and problems I have had.  I am working on my personal vision.  I want to be who I am.  I have a unique vision to share through my photography and other artistic ventures.  Thank you thank you thank you to FIND for these realizations!

I started out photography many moons ago shooting film.  I had one bad experience with a wedding about 5 years ago (everything I absolutely needed was there, but some stuff got lost and it scared me to death) and I switched to digital.  I have told myself that I was more willing to take risks with digital and therefore that I was getting better results.  I went into the workshop thinking I would shoot all digital even while attending a workshop called Film is Not Dead.  But when I realized film was included in the price and I knew I still had all my film cameras sitting in my closet collecting dust I knew I should just pull em out and try it.  IT WAS AMAZING!

Not only am I IN LOVE with my images (that are all straight from the camera, scanned at Richard’s Photo Lab, all I did was resize them and put them up!) *You read that right – NO COMPUTER TIME* But I feel more real again.  I feel free!  I feel like I am creating.  I cannot really put into words why it is different for me.  Why when I am looking through the basic same lens I feel different, all I know is that I do.  I am free from checking the back, I am free to trust my own technical abilities (which have always been hidden in my brain) and I am free to spend time with my three young very active sons.  I think that my time on the computer editing is what had killed my love of photography, I would sit here and feel guilty that I was not with them, capturing them, playing with them.  No more my friends.

The digital world has made us all believe we can and should capture every moment, but how much of real life are we missing out on?  Even with my own personal family images I am going to cut back.  Film makes and allows you to zero in on one moment, frame it perfectly and then have it forever.  It also makes it easier to end up with an actual photograph.  That is right I am talking about a piece of paper you can hold and generations can look at, not 100 images in a folder entitled Disneyland on your computer somewhere.  I am on fire with the simplicity of it all.

You might still be able to get digital out of me right now, I cannot say I have sold all my digi gear.  But it is my goal that as much as I possibly can it will be film that I post on here, so get ready.  I am going to be posting my images from the various shoots at the workshop throughout the next couple weeks, so take a look and leave me your comments.  This post includes my fellow attendees in action.  A little touching strangers too….

Technical Info : Images 1 & 8 – Ektar 100, Image 2 – Portra 800, Images 3-7, 9-16 -BW400CN, images 17-21 – Kodak P3200