Film Friday – April 24, 2015

For this Film Friday I’m highlighting a portrait of myself, shot by Lisa O’Dwyer Photography during a one-on-one mentorship in early March.

I desperately needed an introduction to medium format film and medium format cameras, as its an area of film photography that I have absolutely no experience with, but which I find myself eyeing on a daily basis (thank you Jose Villa, Erich McVey, Melissa Jill, Kirk Mastin and other fabulous wedding photographers who shoot film).  As a local film wedding photographer herself, Lisa was the perfect person to get me up to speed on all things Medium Format.

There are certainly aspects of film that I am falling in love with–and then there are aspects that I have yet to completely nail.  But I know from reading forums and boards and facebook groups that there is a lot of patience involved in learning a new medium and then learning to kick its ass.

So this photo represents a new part of my film journey.  Up until now I’ve been experimenting with a couple of old 35mm cameras, with mixed results.  I’ve found that when I’m deliberate and intentional (and shooting only film) my results are much better.  When I try to shoot alongside digital, my film results suffer (incorrect exposure, not in focus, etc).  A few weeks ago I found a great deal on a Pentax medium format camera and, after my lessons on loading film and actually using a medium format camera, I will be playing around with it over this coming season.

Here goes!