Fabulous Film Fridays, June 4, 2011 — The Medium is the Message
One thing this project has taught me is that what materials you use to make your art greatly influence the outcome. This is of course obvious with other art forms: the clarinet sounds vastly different than the xylophone even if you are playing the same melody of notes. Oils return a distinct look in contrast to watercolours even if you are painting the same person. But in photography we forget sometimes how much creative control we have with our ‘materials’ of ISO, aperture and shutter speed. When shooting film, you are a bit more constrained in the moment with your materials, but of course you still have many options. Black ‘n white for this shoot or colour? The Brownie or the 4×5? Out of curiosity, I snapped some comparison shots with my Nikon D300s and Holga, Beep. The results are in that order, below. Same subject, different material. It’s also amazing how the choice of camera influences product as well! Both sets of images have minimal processing.
Sam's Rant 
[…] you head out this weekend, make sure you stop over at Samantha’s blog as it is her turn to host the Fabulous Film Fridays project. Being a lawyer, she’s a very […]
Hi, Sam.
What I will write may be different from your point. Digital allows us limitless controls but It was difficult part for me when I started digital about 2.5 years ago. It was like voyage without a map. On the other hand, the OPTIONS give certain directions and plans ahead. For example .. today is rainy day so let’s load T-max, or my camera still has frames of E100VS (or Velvia) so I should look for colorful flowers, or I have a square format camera today so I have to reset composition method. It is kind of conceptual approach and it helps developing own tone and style, I believe. I still do not know if I have developed my own tone with digital. Until then I do not want to try painterly/grunge HDR.
I like both #3 and #4. They have different tastes but both are great shots.
Hi Hiro,
I agree with what you have to say about procedure and method being much more critical when working with film. I’ve always felt a bit lazy when shooting digital because if I make a mistake, who cares? Delete! But with film, you may not even know you made a mistake until later, and without relying on some rules of thumb or habitual method, you can really wreck a picture. I like that though as it makes me slow down and focus more, as you describe.