Taking a photo is the easiest thing to do and takes only seconds! Pull out your phone, swipe to the camera app and then *click* you created a digital photo instantly. Having a camera at the palm of your hand can be very convenient and useful, but sometimes it can lose the meaning of what the power of a photo can have.
Photography has always been a hobby of mine, and most recently I’ve gotten into using film. Picking up film cameras for years, they ended up sitting on my shelf as decoration, as I was too scared that I wouldn’t be successful shooting with film. One day, I made the decision to take the risk to experiment with the cameras in hopes to capture moments that a phone could not.
The main reason that makes me appreciate film more is that it is a completely raw, unfiltered photo. There is no way to know what it is going to look like until you get it developed, which is something I look forward to. With taking a picture on your phone, you can instantly view it and alter it specifically to how you want it to look. It isn’t genuine and some can get carried away with the editing process and change the photo too much to the point where it doesn’t even look relatively the same way as to how it started.
Something else that makes film photography more exciting is that I end up capturing moments and memories that I wouldn’t have been able to achieve digitally. When I’m taking a picture on my phone, I am constantly focused on the screen and seeing how to make it the best it can be. It has become a more effortless process for me to take film photos because I know that I don’t have a lot of control over how the photo is going to turn out. I am only able to look at the viewfinder and hope that the final process will work out. With that, it has become a more fun way to take photos and create those moments that your phone wouldn’t necessarily get.
Overall, shooting with film has taught me that not everything has to be perfect, and embracing those imperfections is what makes capturing moments and memories worth it. Although it can be weeks before I see the final product, the anticipation is a great feeling to have and leaves for a more fulfilling process at the end of the day. If you are a photography enthusiast and haven’t explored the world of film photography, I strongly suggest to find a cheap camera and some film and create those memories that an iPhone just simply can’t achieve.