Late to the Film Party
Shooting my first roll of film at 31.
Drum Roll
Yes, it’s true, I’ve been a professional photographer for 8 years now (including major clients like Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, and 1859 Oregon’s Magazine) … but August 2023 was the first month I’ve ever shot film.
Photography wasn’t a huge part of my life growing up. My family didn’t have the disposable income for film cameras or fancy trips. I was also born at a time in history where consumer digital cameras became prominent in my youth, and then were quickly replaced by smartphones.
I knew a few friends, the really “artsy” ones who had cameras, and a smaller subset shot film (albeit rarely).
My patience wasn’t exactly tuned for the learning curve or the development time either. I’ve often fallen into the “machine gun” camp of photographers, where I would burst fire a million photos and then pick the best handful later. I don’t discourage that approach, nor do I subscribe to the snobbery that “intentional” film guys sometimes fall into. It just wasn’t my speed.
Point being, it is a bit odd that I’ve never shot film before until this year, but it also makes a bit of sense when you consider the above.
