I somehow acquired a bug recently. You know, the kind of bug that is non-lethal and attacks only photographers from the "old school"? The bug is called "back-to-filmitis".
Tonight I break out my old Pentax K-1000 and get it ready for service this coming weekend. I will take my DSLR along too, but I really want my energies directed at images via film. The funny thing is, I am not 100% sure why I have contracted this bug.
Part of it may be born from a form a frustration I have been experiencing lately. That frustration is having one in twenty images (approximately) turn out with my subject in focus. This failure has really "gotten my goat".
My thought on returning to film probably has more to do with revisiting the manual function of a SLR camera than anything else. When shooting with my Pentax the images I created were almost always in sharp focus. That is not to say that every film photograph I made was great, fantastic, or perfect. Far from it.
It seems, however, that the auto-focus (AF) on my DSLR has become the bane of my photographic existence and an unhealthy dependence. Maybe by visiting my old manual SLR I will be able to recapture that focusing ability that seems lost to me right now.
We will see how this "re-testing" of my abilities to manually focus works out. For now, I have turned the auto-focus feature off on all my lenses. I will take up my Pentax Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and see what results come. Provided all goes well, I will be able to produce some wonderful straight out of the camera photographs that are in focus. This, not because of some mechanical feature on my camera, but because of my skills with the craft.
June 17th, 2010 at 3:23 PM
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by fryeme and fryeme, Syd Weedon. Syd Weedon said: R @fryeme: "Back to Manual Mode" on PhotoCapM: http://ht.ly/1ZPjN ~ Focus… focus… FOCUS! #photography #photo #blog #Pentax << excellent [...]
June 17th, 2010 at 10:06 AM
I certainly understand your frustration and I share your same bug. As much as I like the instant gratification of the DSLR, I missed the focus and concentration I used to do before every shot when using manual. I find the need to shoot more shots in order to get a focused image. I’m sure having the right equipment and experience might help the problem. However, I think it’s because the ease of use with DSLR and not having to worry about running out of film like in the old days that has made me lazy. While I don’t have a SLR anymore, I’ve been trying to use my DSLR like the old school. I turned off the auto focus and try to use my manual abilities when possible. Good luck on your re-testing…
June 17th, 2010 at 10:09 AM
Thanks Emily for the encouragement. Ah…. “laziness”. That’s the term I should have used about myself in the article
. It’s just so easy. I’m looking forward to sharing the outcome with you. Thanks so much for commenting.
Mike