Why I Started to Document Life with 35mm Film (Again)

I grew up with 35mm film. That is literally all I knew, and how I got started in photography. From disposable cameras on family vacations, to my first DSLR that my Mom gifted to me for a darkroom class (that was broken when she gave it to me, AND of course, I fixed it myself).

Those trips to Walgreens to get my 1-hour photos, until I learned how to develop my own film in a Highschool class. My whole life was surrounded around film photography, and digital did not even exist. It was a different era, and it all went away really quickly when I wrapped my world around digital photography (and mostly documenting disc golf).

Digital photography was nice and convenient, it still is. The cost of file storage for that is only getting cheaper as the years go by.

Convenience is nice. But there is definitely something missing with that. Digital Photography lacks a soul in a way that you could never understand until you shoot that first roll of film, and you find out what worked and what didn’t weeks after you shot it (because those days of the 1-hour photo are long gone).

It is a breathtaking moment to see those prints, or scans. Nothing can prepare you for that. Because when you are living in the world of instant, there is nothing else like that wait that takes you back to those moments that have faded into memories.

It is the best feeling looking back at that. The grain, and those happy accidents are the best surprise too.

I started documenting more of my life’s moments on film because I wanted to live my life, and not look back at it instantly. You cannot compare it to anything else, and the feeling I get looking back at those moments is unlike anything else. It’s a humbling rush of emotions where I am just filled with this gratitude.

Film gives me perspective in a way that keeps me going. That is one thing throughout my career that has had to evolve, my perspective always needs to shift. I often come back to the same habits, especially out of subconscious knowledge. One thing I don’t want in my work is to feel stale, because burnout is real. Changing things up allows my mind to expand in a way that goes through the unknown.

If I don’t change my perspective, there is no mindset growth.

Creatively speaking I start to see things differently in terms of tone, and color and how those elements can extend further into the overall composition. Sometimes those differences are subtle and sometimes they are drastic.

I love to document nature on film too. There is something that is so surreal about seeing it this way. Especially in terms of light, contrast and color; there is so much more depth in these elements. I REALLY love to play into this effect of tone, color and contrast by changing up my aperture to help guide the eye to what I want you to see.

When I see a photograph, its always that gut reaction I go for. I know in an instant if the image works or doesn’t. It does not take me more than a second to decide that.

Intuition is something that I have learned to sink into overtime, versus second guessing. But what I love with film, that intuition feeling comes more from a distant memory that is layered in this grain and there’s an element of wonder in that, and how time has changed everything.

I know that I mention the distance of time between film and digital photography, and you might ask, why not just not look at the digital photos right away?

There’s so much truth in that, because the memory can hit you in a similar way. But with film, nothing can prepare you for the look of the image. It’s not anything like the RAW photo that you get from digital, and apply your preset/edits.

NOT EVEN CLOSE. It is an emotional connection that connects you to an analog moment, from a mechanical light capturing device with added grain and mystery.

Film just is what it is. It’s how it is that hits you so hard with a visceral memory. It makes me wonder, are you more likely to remember a photo shot on film because of this? I sure am.

I don’t know if that idea is rooted in my experience, which sure as heck could be.

But it just feels different, it changes my conscious creatively and it leaves me with some solid memories. That’s what I’m here for. That’s what this is about, and that’s why I shoot 35mm film.

It is all full circle, it is how I learned photography and it is what I come back to when I need to shift my perspective to grow. It is refreshing.