wall abstract -- burbank

I still love film, and like I said a while back, I was going to shoot a roll through my old Agfa Silette and post any that I liked. So here’s the first one — I couldn’t pass up this concrete wall in Burbank.

The Silette is about fifty years old already, and it’s about as simple as a camera can get and still give you some control. It has a good range of f-stops, three shutter speeds plus B, and you focus by guessing how far from the subject you are. I carry a small Sekonic Auto-Lumi meter, though for most of this roll I relied on the trusty old ‘sunny 16′ rule. In case you’re not familiar with it, sunny 16 simply means that in bright sunlight you set your f-stop to f16 and your shutter speed to the reciprocal of the film speed, or any equivalent. I used ISO 200 film, so the shutter speed in this case would have been 1/250. The Silette only has a top shutter speed of 1/125, so 1/125 at f22 it was. If you’re not in bright sunlight you have to tweak the exposure a bit, but all in all it’s remarkably accurate.

My digital camera is going to stay on the shelf for awhile and I’m going to shoot some more film. Seeing as the Silette only has a direct viewfinder, accurate framing can be a little funky. I have an old Nikkormat with four lenses that I’m going to run the next couple of rolls through, so stay tuned… more film photography to come.

two pipes

I walked into Freestyle Photographic Supply here in LA a while back for the first time. My first question was “are you guys hiring any help?” The woman just grinned and said… “Nope. Nobody ever leaves here.” They’ve all been there a long time. It’s a cool place.

I spent some time looking around, and other than the darkroom supplies, and digital printing supplies, and photos on the walls, the first thing I noticed was the selection of Holga cameras, accessories and supplies, as well  as several other so called toy cameras and pinhole cameras. There is a huge subculture growing around these cameras, a backlash to the near total dominance that digital technology has assumed in recent years. There is a great and growing number of photographers turning to these inexpensive film cameras and the unpredictable expressive qualities you can get from them.

Film is considered dead by many, but I don’t think so. Many photographers are still staying with film and working with vintage cameras. Many more are turning to the Holga and the Diana, and other toy cameras as their instruments of expression. Others are still working with large and medium format film cameras. Working pros have largely abandoned their 35mm SLR’s for newer digital equipment, which isn’t a bad thing, but many artists are exploring the possibilities of these other cameras and are keeping the traditions of film photography alive and vibrant. That’s not a bad thing either.

I had started a blog some time back about photographing with an old Silette film camera my wife at the time found for me at a yard sale years ago. I’ve since decided to let that one go.  It’s a bit redundant  —  I can devote some time to it here when I want to. In fact, I’m going to do that right now…

For the rest of this month I’m putting my digital camera on the shelf, and I’m going to play around with my two-dollar Silette. I’m going to put one roll of film in it, and shoot it over the next four weeks. If I get any keepers on that roll, I’ll post a series of Silette photos during April.

Why am I doing this? For the best reason in the world… I want to. Be sure to check the results next month. It might be kinda fun…