Reasons Why You Should Give Film Photography a Shot
Reasons Why You Should Give Film Photography a Shot
Daily, social media users upload over 300 million photos, the majority of which they take using phone cameras. Something as simple as owning a smartphone with a camera can turn you into a casual photographer. If what you want, however, is to be a serious photographer, consider film photography. Many things about it are far more exciting and rewarding than taking snapshots with a phone camera. Arming yourself with an analog camera, loading it with a roll of film, and marveling at your photographic masterpieces when you are done with the film developing are indeed the moments that smartphones cannot offer.
Phone cameras officially took digital cameras out of the picture. Proof to this is the plummet in the sales of compact, bridge, mirror-less, and digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras in the last decade. While there was a sudden spike in demand for digital cameras back in 2010, things went downhill from then.
What smartphones with cameras could not kill, however, are analog cameras. These days, a lot of professional as well as leisurely photographers still do film photography now and then. Some did not even stop using their analog cameras at all.
No matter if you have been into photography for a long time already or just recently, it's a great idea for you to give analog photography a try. The majority of its proponents confirm that it offers an experience that is entirely different from using a digital camera and a phone camera.
Imperfections That Add Character
Various photo editing apps for smartphones come with an assortment of filters. Many of them try to add imperfections such as dust, scratches, and light leaks. With the use of an analog camera, especially one that's old, you can expect to see natural imperfections on your pictures once the film developing is done.
Some film photographers use expired film rolls to get surprises that help make their snapshots one of a kind and more interesting to look at.
Accurate and Vibrant Colors
Images taken with phone cameras tend to look extensively processed. It's the product of an attempt to make photos look lifelike and vibrant. With an analog camera, images tend to look realistic and convincing because of their lively and true-to-life colors. After scanning them, very little to no editing is necessary before uploading.
There are various film types available. When choosing one, figure out how you want your photos to look like — warm, cool, vibrant, red scale, monochromatic, etc.
Plenty of Room for Creativity
One of the nicest things about using an analog camera is that there are various settings that you can tweak. What's more, you can load it with a wide variety of film types. It only means that you have full control over how you would like your snapshots to look. Once you have mastered the art of film photography, post-processing is rarely necessary.
It may take a while before you feel entirely comfortable using an analog camera. However, this is what makes film photography a fantastic creativity vehicle.
The Takeaway
Phone cameras get more and more sophisticated. On the other hand, analog cameras stay the same. Since they aren't broken, they don't need fixing; this is why many professionals and leisurely photographers alike cannot say goodbye to film photography in this digital age.
