Hello Steemit Followers!
Who couldn't forget film?
Having watched the imaging landscape over the last 15 years I noticed there has been a resurgence in the old traditional medium.
Film, for those who don't know is made in a variety of formats, 35mm being the most popular. You use to be able to get a roll of film in 12, 24 and 36 exposures and there was always an extra shot on every roll.
I used to enjoy the rush whenever I opened the canister and physically loaded the film in the back on the camera. The sound of manually winding the film to the first frame will always be with me. Hearing each click of the shutter and watching the counter move made me feel I was actually capturing 'moments'.
I started my career in a mini lab where I got to process everyone's photos. Each day I got to travel the world, go to a wedding or see a newborns first smile - all through people's photos. I would literally see and process around 2000 photos a day. It was a lot and it certainly has left an impact on what I consider to be a 'good' photo based on lighting, composition and emotion.
I think the art of film photography has lost its way a bit. Developing film in a mix of chemicals through a C41 process and manually slicing negatives is a rarity left to a few specialised businesses in Australia. However saying this there is a new hope. I'm starting to see a resurrection of film pop up in garages and side street shops as the new generation are taking a liking to 'the old world'.
Typically branded a hipster, these characters source retro film cameras and request out of date lomo style films. They call light fogging a technique, whereas we saw it as a problem. Their motto - 'Films not dead'. It's these people I have to thank and say well done for keeping film alive. My hope is in 50 years time, film will still be around.
I get excited when people ask me about film and share their memories. Photos do bring people together and I wonder if there are any other people in this growing community who know what I'm taking about?
My question to you is this:
Did you ever use film and what was your favourite moment you captured?
Mine was a photograph of a dead tree over a still lake. I remember being outdoors feeling calm and the picture totally reflected my mood. I don't know what happened to the photo as I've moved over 14 times, but one day I hope to find it!
All photos by me - @myday
