Friday 2 March 2012

My dilemma with Digital

I realised tonight that although I am incredibly frustrated at not having my favourite camera to use:
[Mamiya C330f for those who are interested - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamiya_C330 or http://bipmistry.wordpress.com/mamiya-c330/ for the more hardcore camera geeks]  ~  being forced to use my digital camera has turned out to be quite refreshing.

The thing is, I just adore my old film camera: the special & unique way it blurs when the image is going out of focus, the square format (I HATE 35mm format!), the weight of the camera in your hand & around your neck (a pretty hefty 1.7kg), the way you look down into the viewfinder, not forward like with a 35mm.  And just the fact it's film & the serendipitous nature of the beast.  There's nothing quite like waiting for a film to be developed, then taking a sneaky peek at the negatives and finally seeing them scanned in and big on your screen.  Or even better (but nowadays a rare and impractical treat) - to work with them in the darkroom.

The whole process is just magical, and a large part of the enjoyment of being a photographer.

So when I normally pick up my digital camera, it always seems so disappointing... its not particularly heavy, its a horrible rectangular format, I end up looking at the digital screen after every shot, ruining any element of surprise later on, I take shot after shot, rather than relishing and taking my time with individual shots.  And the photos are just so boring!!  I find it so hard to get any life and soul into these utterly "perfect", regular, predictable, clinical images.

Yet, having taken very few 'proper' photos since finishing my MA (my Mamiya broke 1 or 2 weeks before the final deadline & has been out of action ever since) as I've not been feeling inspired to use my digital SLR... my photographic spirit finally had enough and I've been gradually taking more photos again.   Its been a wonderful release, as well as a massive challenge to get what I want out of that damn digital camera!

I've had to force myself to slow down when taking photos and not just snap away willy-nilly.  Getting there I think - here are a few of my favourites so far.....


A walk round the reservoir that I often go on with my partner... a serene and beautiful spot:



 A close-up of a birds nest I found that had fallen out a tree:



But for me, they're still not a patch on my film work - you can't beat the softness and scrumptiousness of film photography...  I guess in the meantime I'd better keep practising with my D-SLR and try to save enough money to get my Mamiya back up and running (& to also pay for the film, processing & scanning - before I even think about printing)!!!  *Gulp*





Wish me luck!!

C x