I’ll never forget going to my junior prom. Ok, maybe I have forgotten what year of high school I was in and what I wore. I guess I could tell what I wore by the process of elimination. I have pictures of two of the three proms I attended and I have three dresses.
I remember handing someone in my family my Yashica camera and standing in the front yard. The prom itself is sort of a blur as proms usually are. The next day I couldn’t wait to drop off the film and see the results.
Then the big disappointment came. After paying the standard developing fee as well the price of making probably 24 prints, all I had was a pile of unexposed photos. The roll of film had never advanced in the camera. It was then I learned the lesson to watch the small handle used to rewind the film to be sure it was turning.
Today my film photography is also long gone. There are so many advantages to digital photography.
No more film and no more processing costs! I’m sure I spent nearly $20 for the pictures of nothing.
I want to see the image – now. I would have known immediately something was wrong.
Try again. I could have fixed the problem and continued shooting fine images of 1970 style prom dress.
Everyone could have seen them. Of course there was no Facebook or Flickr back in 1970 but you get my point. In the case of film I would have to print copies for my family and friends.
The images will last forever if stored properly. Prints and negatives fade. In the case of my unexposed images, who cares? I’d like to say the moment is in my memory but at my age, I’m lucky to remember to put gas in my tank.
Digital is very green! Think of all of the processing chemicals needed to make my nothing film prints. I’m sure they have found there way to the ocean by now. And no more plastics film containers.
Digital photography is fun. I’m not saying shooting film isn’t fun but there are so many features that make digital photography fun. Plus now it is so easy even a child (or a caveman) can do it.
Still, some lessons in photography must be learned the hard way, even with digital. If I don’t remember to reset all of my settings to default when I am finished I could be shooting in a very sunny environment and the ISO is still set at 1600. I may have awesome shots but in the end they will be grainier than hell.
I still have so much to learn. But with digital I am loving the learning process.