(all images in this post were captured on film)

my own photo history began with film; given that i first held a camera in the early 1970s! but i could never afford as much film as i needed to practice my art. also, i was never big on patience, and the wait between shooting a roll of film and actually being able to see the pictures was just killer. so for me, the advent of accessible digital imagemaking this century has literally been a childhood dream come true. however… that is just me, my story. and it won’t be everyone’s.

for a little while there it looked like digital might eventually totally eclipse film, due to constant improvements in digital technology & the lack of film interest among younger shooters; and once popular films such as Kodachrome have now gone out of production altogether, causing widespread dismay.

however film is currently enjoying an upsurge in mainstream popularity – thanks in no small part to committed film shooters such as the iconic Jonathan Canlas, whose work is very much admired (and for excellent reason). the Film Is Not Dead movement has attracted a significant following worldwide, and many digital shooters (and former film shooters), are either adding film to their regular bag or making the switch completely and (re)turning to a more traditional workflow.

i think this is wonderful! the creative world can only benefit from passionate people expressing & sharing their art in such a variety of ways. except… when some individuals get SO passionate, that they start to expect everyone to be like them. i have lost count of the number of articles i have read in recent weeks from born-again film shooters* who insist that the only true way to achieve photography nirvana is through 100% dedication to shooting film. (possibly this is karmic revenge for all the years of digital shooters calling film photographers ‘obsolete’ or ‘stuck in the past’… which is also highly disrespectful & unproductive.)

i hope this exclusive attitude is just a phase brought on by their delight in (re)discovering a new creative outlet, and that deep down they still believe that the work is more important than the tools. a photographer with vision can create beauty using a cameraphone or a Hasselblad, pixels or emulsion, Lightroom or a darkroom… (even with Canon or Nikon! but that’s a different rant LOL)

so let’s keep perspective, photographers! love and share what you do – but please do it respectfully, with the awareness that not everyone wants to make your story their own 🙂

*disclaimer: just to be clear, i am not including Mr Canlas in this group; he actually expresses that film is what HE does, and if you do it too, great, and if not, great. which is the perfect attitude IMO.

since tonight has seen another total lunar eclipse for our corner of the world to watch (between cloud banks) i thought i’d share a couple of similar sequences i took a few years back.

first, the total lunar eclipse of 28 aug 2007. this sequence begins (bottom right) at 8:30pm NZ standard time and ends at 10:30pm. equipment used: DSLR camera, remote shutter release, tripod, 500mm lens. of course a lot less light was coming from the moon near totality, so i had to adjust my exposure to capture the red disc – hence the white rim in later shots.

second, the partial solar eclipse of 7 february 2008. this sequence begins (top right) at 4:48pm NZ daylight saving time and ends at 5:52pm. equipment used: DSLR camera, 24-105mm lens at 105mm, homemade ND filter (crossed polars) with almost total blackout ability. no tripod needed. i really like in this sequence how you can see (except in the first overexposed image) the edge of the sun disc has a cooler red tinge, and the middle (including where the moon chops in) is yellow. the blue sky was added in post, but the colour of the sun has not been enhanced. (of course you must be very conscious of observing all eye-safety precautions when photographing the sun especially during an eclipse!)