How to Love Film and Avoid the Fanwars

Introduction

I have always prided myself on being a jack of all trades in my spare time, dabbling in music production, photography, videography and fine art. Needless to say that the COVID-19 quarantine has given me ample opportunities for introspection, to examine these diverse interests that I have, and to do some stocktaking of what really drives me and bring joy to my life. To my surprise, I have discovered that this film photography hobby that I have been cultivating since 2017 does bring quite a bit of joy to my life and continues to captivate and capture a large portion of my free time. Far from being a “phase”, this seems more like a journey. Where it leads, I am not quite sure. However, I am committed to enjoy the ride! In this article, I hope to provide some inspiration to aspiring film photographers, to lay out the pitfalls and the triumphs I have had as a film photographer.

Setting the right expectation

Right from the onset, I was careful not to fall into the trap of the film vs. digital fanboy warfare. I knew that both formats had their own merits and demerits. I had already tried digital with my Nikon D3100 DSLR, and I found very little connection with shooting digital. I also found myself not growing as a photographer, often relying on the camera to make an image look good. I wanted a bit more of a challenge, but did not want to dismiss digital as inferior to film. I was self aware enough to realize that although digital was not working for me personally, that others might find the format to be ideal for their needs. That took a lot of pressure off me, and gave me the room to be authentic with my self and with my quest. I was willing to please only myself in the journey, not to become just another fanboy.

The best part is that after a couple years of shooting film, I found shooting digital enjoyable again, because I understood better the principles of photography and felt more in control to use the camera as intended. Film is still my go to hobby, but shooting digital has become less of a spectator sport.

Setting the right expectations also implied that I knew what my priorities were. I resolved that I was not in film photography ultimately to make money or as professional venture. I just wanted a fun hobby to engage in, to take photos of my growing family and to improve my photography. Once I set these priorities, I never really strayed from them. Everything I did was to serve those priorities, and I did not allow myself to feel the pressure to stray from that path. Monetizing my hobby through this website and my YouTube Channel only came as a by-product of this passion, not as the objective.

I went all in…

Perhaps the best decision I made at the start of this journey was to go all in, and to not restrict myself to just shooting with film cameras. I wanted to try the different ranges of film cameras, so I started collecting film cameras, and amassed quite the collection!

I admit, not everyone has to follow my lead on starting a film camera collection. All you really need is one camera to get started with. The priority is to find the best camera to suit your needs. I personally wanted a collection, because that was part of MY objectives in MY journey. To save on money, I decided to learn how to develop my own film. Many tutorials later, I started developing C-41 color film (an ironic choice, considering it is much more complicated than developing black and white film). Black and and white color film came a bit later. Learning to develop film not only saved me a ton of money to make my new-found hobby much more financially feasible, it also gave me many countless introspective hours of fun memories in my basement. Developing film became a revered experience for me; a quiet time in the night when the neighborhood went to sleep, my time to think, clear my mind and be creative.

I also became so intrigued by darkroom prints that when the opportunity came to pick up an enlarger for free, I drove over 100kms to pick up a the massive Beseler enlarger to set up my own darkroom. I had come full circle with my photography; not only had I become a better photographer just by practicing my shots and learning the basics of good exposure. I also enjoyed greatly the surreal experience of crafting my images to appear in the darkroom, just the way I wanted them, through some chemical sorcery of sorts.

So when it comes to film, and my passion for it, it is all about me. I have made it a point to make sure that this passion is true and revolves around my personal fun and enjoyment. I basically have nothing to prove to anyone, no need to engage in wars with Fanboys, and I do not have a chip on my shoulders about something that truly brings me joy.

This then is my advice to you. As an enthusiast, be true to yourself. Whether you shoot film or digital, do it for you. Make sure that you are truly enjoying it first and foremost, otherwise you are probably in the wrong hobby.