This blog has a long way to go before it’s useful, but — just like vintage film photography — you have to do it in order to make progress!
Here’s a few facts I’ve discovered over the years:
- packing your vintage film photography gear bag or case is a skill, where competency and expertise are aquired with practice.
- Preparing for a staged film shot (landscape, still-life, or a portrait) is a skill, which needs to be developed.
- Practice is, in my opinion, best performed as live, real-world film shooting. The experiential aspects of engaging in the activity in the actual environment captured visually on film, aka the scene, cements the memories of the strategies deployed for equipment selection and use, with the memories of the process of making the shot (and the actual events that unfolded).
- For sure, film is expensive and costly to develop and scan. “Dry runs” can save significant film costs, and can also be very productive as practice. BUT…. and this is a very big issue…. you never witness the same scene twice! A captured image is a relic of history – captis imago — so if you were there, you should make a photo. I’ll make a separate post about that — using digital cameras with vintage film photography gear, as effective film shoting practice.