I Tried Film Street Photography and It Went Badly
Gary Norman Photo (GaryNormanPhoto)
916 views
Today I take a very honest swing at film street photography with a Minolta X-300 and Ilford HP5 Plus 400 in Cambridge, UK. No safety net. Just 36 exposures, manual focus, manual exposure, and all the pressure that comes with shooting black and white 35mm on a busy city day.
This video documents the full experience, from the nerves of first frames to the very real mistakes, including a rewind error that fogged part of the roll. You will see what worked, what failed, and how the light leaks actually added character to a few frames. I talk through each image, my intent, timing, and composition, and what I would change next time.
If you are curious about film vs digital for street photography, hit rates, metering, and the mental shift that comes with having only one try per scene, you will find this useful. We cover contact sheets, exposure decisions, manual focusing, and why failure is a powerful teacher. Massive thanks to Marcus McAdam for the loan of the camera and for processing and scanning.
Whether you are a beginner to film or a seasoned analog shooter, I hope this encourages you to get out, embrace imperfection, and learn from the results.
Chapters include: gear overview, on-street workflow, mistakes and fixes, full image review, and takeaway lessons. If you want more behind the scenes and bonus frames, check my Patreon.
20 Comments
You shouldn't be too hard on yourself and it's not easy.
Considering what happened to the film, i didn't think they turned out too bad as its been a long time since you did film photography.
Look forward to the next one.
I can relate to this video. I have an old Nikon film point 'n' shoot from when I was a kid. Still works! So I decided to use that as a jumping-off point for 'serious' film photography. I even have a roll of Ilford B&W waiting to go into it, although I forgot I had film already in the camera when I dusted it off months ago, and opened it up to the light. 😂
Also, I have a bunch of vintage glass adapted to my mirrorless cameras, so it might not be a big jump to pick up a decent Canon AE-1 or something on ebay. Although, again: I can relate to the pressure of suddenly having only 36 shots! For some reason that sense increases when I even think about a proper SLR, compared to the P&S. Though I feel it's throwing me into the deep end of learning and seeing compositions, which is a bit exciting.
There's a meme I saw recently, though I can't find the image: 120 film, 12 exposures, 6 keepers; 35mm film, 36 exposures, 6 keepers; SD card, 2000+ exposures, 6 keepers. Seemed appropriate to bring it up here. 😂 Like a warning, but also an encouragement, somehow...
Don't worry about it. Have a good look at the light generally and set the f number and shutter speed and forget it as long as there's no big change in lighting. It looked from the video like a f16/125 day. It's 400 film so you could easily go to 200, although b&w film copes well with overexposure better than under.
Then all you have to worry about is composition and focus, focus isn't even a issue as long as you read the 'in focus' zone off your lens, old lenses are easier than new ones as it's printed on the lens for you. Then just compose with your feet. Easy Peezy 😊
Every roll of film is a new adventure ... although it can feel like a long trudge to Mordor when you add development and darkroom printing into the equation.
Relax, Enjoy ... if you cock it up ... it's ART !
Your film was inspiring as I've got a few old film cameras that I'd like to put a film through. So I'd like to see you have another go, but this time stop winding when you feel a restriction 🤦🏼👌🏼
I Tried Film Street Photography and It Went Badly
Gary Norman Photo (GaryNormanPhoto)
916 views
Today I take a very honest swing at film street photography with a Minolta X-300 and Ilford HP5 Plus 400 in Cambridge, UK. No safety net. Just 36 exposures, manual focus, manual exposure, and all the pressure that comes with shooting black and white 35mm on a busy city day.
This video documents the full experience, from the nerves of first frames to the very real mistakes, including a rewind error that fogged part of the roll. You will see what worked, what failed, and how the light leaks actually added character to a few frames. I talk through each image, my intent, timing, and composition, and what I would change next time.
If you are curious about film vs digital for street photography, hit rates, metering, and the mental shift that comes with having only one try per scene, you will find this useful. We cover contact sheets, exposure decisions, manual focusing, and why failure is a powerful teacher. Massive thanks to Marcus McAdam for the loan of the camera and for processing and scanning.
Whether you are a beginner to film or a seasoned analog shooter, I hope this encourages you to get out, embrace imperfection, and learn from the results.
Chapters include: gear overview, on-street workflow, mistakes and fixes, full image review, and takeaway lessons. If you want more behind the scenes and bonus frames, check my Patreon.