Who would have thought that I would have gone back in time to shoot film using two of the most – least technical – out of date cameras still in modern production.
It was fun. I made all the mistakes of an amateur. I forgot to wind the film. I forgot to focus (remember auto-focus?) I even set the exposure wrong. I kicked myself many many times to remember all those things we “used to” do by habit in the old days.
The results are nowhere near what comes out of the 5D or D300s. but what there is a charm, a sense of nostalgia and a sense of accomplishment when I actually got something good.
We need to challenge ourselves from time to time. We need to step out of the comfort zone we are in and force our selves to preform and think about our actions and abilities. I forgot how to look at the light. Shooting with the Diana forced me to pay more attention to the angle of light and back-lighting. Diana does not come close to the fill-flash capabilities that the Nikon has in the D300s. But when I soot Diana I am looking for the more nature setting, no fill flash, nothing extraneous that would effect the picture. I admit, I ruined film. Who hasn’t. I have to say it was fun and thrilling waiting for the film to be developed, and the sense of anticipation was more than I ge twith the digital. Just plain more fun!
Major thankies for the article. Will read on…
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