Film sucks! Or does it? Digital sucks! Does it? I’ve been shooting long enough to have worked with both extensively. Back when I started a roll of 35mm Tri-X was $1.50. Holy fuck, I’m old. 🙂 I really do love digital more, but I do miss Polaroid 665 for my Polaroid 110b camera! That is the only film I miss. It was a great process and to this day can NOT be duplicated with digital.
The best part of film was that it there were all kinds to choose from and play with. Since I spent half my life in the darkroom it was always fun to experiment. I use to try all sorts of combinations with paper, chemicals and film. Some of my best results were by accident. Sometimes the process of just trying something new was the best part. Being creative with the process of photography was the best. Different films gave me different results and was always an adventure!
Now we are working and creating in a digital world. Everything is digital in one way or another. Even when you look back 10 years the digital world has grown leaps and bounds. The iPhone alone is better than most cameras from 10 years ago. I bought my first Phase One Digital Back 15 years ago and it cost 28k and now its worth 3k. Its amazing to see how fast everything is growing and how fast it changes. Its hard to tell you to buy something today knowing that by next week it will be obsolete!
I’m a BIG fan of digital and will not lie… I love it way more than film. I enjoy the process with digital. My camera, the capture, the computer and the post production is way better. I’m a big fan of digital retouching and digital printing. My whole living room is a digital lab. Sometimes I just make prints just for the fun of it and feel a photo is not a photo until its a print. That is the one thing I wish more people would do, make prints!
In the end there is NO going back. Why would I? Just like film… Experiment, learn and just have fun. You might be surprised with the results.
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