The thing I miss most about film photography is time spent in the darkroom. I have to admit that when it came to darkroom technique, there were others in my class a lot more talented than I was, but I didn’t care.
I still remember rushing to get my film developed so I could jump into the revolving door to the darkroom and start printing my pictures. The darkroom was a great escape from the rush of the school day. We typically had a few amber safe-lights turned on so we could make our way around the darkroom and the music of choice came from the radio… either X-103 or the school’s radio station.
The darkroom was always fun for me because it was a place of discovery. Typically I had a vague picture in my mind of the pictures I had taken and the negatives helped reinforce that image in my mind… but it just wasn’t the same as seeing it on paper.
I’d take a negative out of the sleeve, hold it up to the safe-light to figure out which image I’d want to print, and then I’d place it in the enlarger. For those of you who don’t know, an enlarger is kind of like a projector. Except instead of projecting onto a wall, it would project the image onto an easel where the photographer would then place a piece of photo paper.
It was fun putting the negative in the enlarger, setting it to the appropriate size (4×6, 5×7, 8×10), and then using a focus finder to adjust the enlarger so that it was projecting a clear and crisp image. Perhaps the hardest part was finding the right exposure time. Photo paper is coated with chemicals that are made to react to light. As the negative is exposed to the photo paper, the photo paper reacts to the light. In order to get the right amount of brightness and contrast, the photographer has to adjust the timer that’s connected to the enlarger. Sometimes you only have to expose the negative to the photo paper for 4.5 seconds, other times it can take more or less.
The photographer never really knows how it’s going to turn out until they throw that sheet of photo paper into the developer tray which is typically one part developer chemicals and one part water. This is the coolest part of film photography because as the photograph is agitated in the developer tray, the photographer begins to see their picture appear in front of their eyes.
Sometimes the photographer will look at the image and realized that he or she didn’t expose it to enough light or may they shone the enlarger light on the paper for too long, creating a dark image.
Here’s a short video that shows you how a print is made in the darkroom:
Just watching that video makes me miss working in the darkroom. There’s just something about getting away from the world, even for a little while, to spend some time with photographs. I still miss just taking my time to print my pictures while listening to some sweet tunes.
Some of you may be wondering if I prefer film photography to digital. To be quite honest? I LOVE digital photography. Here are just some of the reasons:
I can change the the film speed without having to switch out film rolls. So for example, I can go from shooting outside at ISO 200 to shooting inside at ISO 800 with the click of a button. With a film camera, I would’ve had to have two rolls of film and/or two separate cameras.
I can see results instantly. This is an awesome advantage because I get a chance to proof my picture right on the spot and make adjustments to film speed and exposure times immediately. With film, I would’ve had to take several shots using several different settings, wasting precious room on my film roll.
I can switch between color and b&w. When I shoot with my digital camera, I always shoot in color knowing that I always make the image b&w later. With a film camera, I would’ve had to have been carrying a color roll of film and a b&w roll of film.
I can share my pictures quicker. With a film camera, I’d have to scan my images in and risk having dust spots and imperfections appear. With my digital camera, I shoot RAW which allows to me adjust several of the shot’s settings, just like I would if I were using a darkroom enlarger.
STORAGE! The only limit to my digital photography is the size of my memory card. With film photography, I had to carry several rolls of film for different speeds and colors. I’m also able to archive my digital photos so much easier. I have been tempted to use a service like Scan Cafe to digitize my negatives from high school and some of my Grandma’s photos.
Well friends, that’s all I have for you know. I hope the past couple of posts have shed some light on my love for film photography. Below are some pictures I took during my time at North Central, I hope you enjoy!
Can I just say that I miss old school photography?
As I sit and write this, I realize that I have grown up during the transition from film photography to digital photography. My senior year of high school was the last year we used the darkroom for the newspaper, magazine, and yearbook. It was replaced the next year by a negative scanner, which was quickly replaced by the digital camera.
Even with the benefits of the digital camera, I can’t help but reminisce about the "good ol’ days" of photography. I remember my first camera, it was my Dad’s Minolta XG-M 35 mm camera. It was a pretty decent camera and my Dad had three lenses: the one that came with it, a wide angle lens, and a telephoto zoom lens. I was very lucky to have it.
I remember my first photography class at North Central High School with Jenny. Even on our first day, she had us put a fresh roll of Ilford film in our cameras and took us outside to take pictures. Little did I know just how much photography would become a part of my life.
A lot of work goes into film photography. Back in high school I was rushed with deadlines for the school magazine and became pretty efficient at shooting a roll of film, developing the roll, and printing the pictures in a pretty efficient fashion. That was work. But what I loved were the times when I was able to take my time, really work on my photography, and come up with truly awesome images. I must also remind you that unlike today’s digital cameras which can store hundreds of images on a single memory card, I was limited by 24 or 36 frames, depending on the roll I was shooting.
Film photography truly is an art and a science. The shooting of pictures was the art, while the chemicals and timing was the science. I still remember room J201 where I had to take the time to mix chemicals: developer, stop bath, and fixer… just to name a few.
I was always excited to get my roll of film back to school and develop it, because unlike digital photography, I didn’t get to see instantaneously what the image looked like. Sometimes I’d wonder if I overexposed a shot, or didn’t have enough light. I’d throw the film canister, can opener, film reel, and a film developing tank into a changing bag and zip it up. For those of you who don’t know, a changing bag is a bag with sleeves so that the photographer can open the film canister, put it on a film reel, and seal it in the developer tank. This is all done in complete darkness so that the film isn’t exposed to light.
Developing the roll isn’t too special, it’s a process of pouring in chemicals that will develop the image on the negative, another chemical stops the developing process, and another chemical makes the image permanent.
This was always my favorite part because looking at the negatives, I had a pretty good idea of how my pictures turned out. If frames in the negative were too light, I could tell that I had underexposed and the image would be too dark. If frames in the negative were too dark, I knew that resulting image would be too light. The best way to find out if I shot a good roll would be to cut the film, put it in a negative sleeve, and take it into the darkroom. Once I did that, I could put the negatives against a sheet of photo paper, expose it to light for a few seconds, and have a contact sheet to look at. And that was when the fun was getting started…
Do you ever have moments when you feel like time stops for a while and you just don’t have a care in the world? Maybe that comes when you’re on vacation or on a lazy Saturday afternoon. One of those moments came for me today as I photographed St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Tipton, Indiana.
I took a couple days off from work and woke up this morning needing something to look forward to. Sure, I appreciate sleeping in just as much as the next guy, but I really wanted something to do. I had talked to my Grandma the night before and as we were talking about my Uncle Leroy, I realized that I hadn’t seen him since Christmas. Well, that was that… I decided to drive up to Tipton today to see my uncle. My uncle is the priest of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and has been for more than seven years (if not more). I had a good time catching up with him, seeing the remodeling being done on the rectory, and meeting his new dog, Mack.
It’s not everyday that I’m up in Tipton visiting my uncle and usually when I do, it’s to attend Mass. Every time I’ve visited his church, I’m amazed by its beauty: from the stone exterior, to the marble floors, wooden pews, pipe organ, and the stained glass windows.
As I finished up visiting with Uncle Leroy and his sidekick Mack, I decided it was time to head over to the church. It was so nice and refreshing to walk into the church with nobody there and to have the sound of silence. One of the first things I wanted to photograph was the pipe organ. It was built in 1906 by the Marshall-Bennett Company out of Moline, Illinois. For those of you who are organ aficionados, it is an Opus 181, has two manuals, pneumatic chests, tubular pneumatic key action, and pneumatic stop action. It really is a beautiful organ.
The organ is at the rear of the church in a loft overlooking the rest of the sanctuary. When playing, the organist has his/her back to the altar and has a mirror above so that he/she can look down at the church and see what’s going on.
After photographing the organ, I walked downstairs and stopped to take a look at the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. For those of you non-Catholics, Our Lady of Perpetual Help is another name for the Virgin Mary. Catholics will often pray to Mary and ask her to intercede on their behalf with Christ. In front of the picture of the Blessed Virgin is a notebook where many have written short, one-line prayers.
As I finished photographing the church, I looked out at the empty wooden pews and thought about all the prayers that have been lifted up to heaven from this place. I also looked around at the beauty of the church and realized how much of a refuge this place is for the people who worship here.
Hopefully they will have a moment like I experienced, a moment where time seemed to stand still and there wasn’t a care in the world.
For the past several years, I have taken IN-32 to visit my family in Lebanon. It’s not always the quickest option and sometimes I get stuck behind really slow people. But I love it because for the most part, it’s country and rows upon rows of corn. There’s even a spot that I used to pull off to the side and just look at the stars.
Perhaps my favorite part of driving this road is the artwork I see on the drive home near S 1100 E and IN-32. This family has created so many works of art and it just stands out among the fields, I love it!
On the way home one day I decided to take some pictures of it, I hope you enjoy!
Today was a good day. I had been wanting to visit Trader’s Point Creamery for a couple years and finally realized that most of the summer has already flown by without me going there. So I hopped in the car and drove on over.
While I enjoyed myself, there are a few things you should know. First, the restaurant is too expensive for what you get. I appreciate the fact that everything is locally grown and organic, but I’m still a little suspicious that you’re not getting your money’s worth.
Second, take the self-guided tour. For $2, you can walk around the farm and check out the animals, and have a nice little stroll. Finally, try the dairy bar after your little tour. I had a banana-mango smoothie, but really wished I would’ve tried some ice cream. Oh well, maybe next time!
I’ll leave you with a handful of pictures I took, I hope you enjoy!
For the past several years, I have taken IN-32 to visit my family in Lebanon. It’s not always the quickest option and sometimes I get stuck behind really slow people. But I love it because for the most part, it’s country and rows upon rows of corn. There’s even a spot that I used to pull off to the side and just look at the stars.
