Photos for Siena - Monomad Challenge - B&W on Film

Film always brings me back into focus (pun intended). It slows my pace. Forces me to consider each shot. The light meter and composition takes time. Makes me think through the framing, the lighting. Then of course...manual focus....which modern digital has spoiled us with barely even having to consider.

Couple that with the sounds of a mechanical camera. No batteries...just you and a machine together. That click of the shutter, all crisp like a trigger. Snap. It's immortalized...but not yet.

You don't get the instant gratification of viewing your image immediately on a screen right there on your camera....you must wait. For the film to be processed...another mechanical process with chemicals and time. You can do it yourself, but many do not. I opt to send to a professional lab...as these are for paying clients. I don't wish to risk my lack of knowledge and experience on film which is so important.

And then of course we must convert this physical medium of developed film into something viewable. Will it be prints? Will it be digital? Perhaps both? Many opt for digital, which to some seems ridiculous. Why use film if you are just going to convert to digital?

It's the process. The look. The intention. The texture. Yes you can feel and see it....but you can almost taste it. Weird to say, yes?

The smells and sounds come back to me. The moments are realized in my mind as if it was happening right now. I can smell the coffee of this shop in my mind. Moments immortalized forever. Forced to be present.

Strange? Probably. But I cannot deny that film teaches me. I can only imagine how the painter feels with their brush in hand. I'm not painter...but creating does touch the soul.