How-to Take a Picture on a Canon AE-1

Although I've alluded to the process of taking a photograph on a film camera in a few of my previous posts, I have yet to discuss the technicalities of the process. Although it is relatively simple, and becomes natural with time, there are a handful of key steps in order to get your image contacted onto the film itself.

1. Load your film. For amateur photographers, this is sometimes easier said than done. Although the process of loading film varies slightly from camera to camera, you can find a comprehensive tutorial video below that pertains to the Canon AE-1 here, as that's the main camera in discussion on this blog.
2. Make sure your film rewind knob turns when you press the shutter release button. On the Canon AE-1, you have to press the shutter release button twice before it actually begins taking photos. When doing this, be sure that your film rewind knob is turning, indicating that the film is moving inside your camera onto the spool. If this does not happen, you have loaded your film incorrectly, and you won't actually be taking photographs. 
3. Double check your ISO. Sometimes called the ASA, the ISO/ASA is typically indicated on the roll of film you are using, and tends to be either 200 or 400 when using cheaper kinds of film. Be sure this is set on your camera, or change it if you feel the light is too bright. In this case, you can switch your ISO to 200. However, you need to keep your entire roll at the same ISO in order to develop all of the photos properly. 
4. Set your shutter speed. You're now ready to take a photo, but there are still a few things to consider. You need to choose your shutter speed, which can change from photo to photo. When shooting the everyday, I tend to stay at a 250 shutter speed, or sometimes 500, depending on the light. However, if you're shooting on a moderately sunny day, 250 is a good choice. 
5. Set your aperture. Thankfully, the Canon AE-1 has a light meter that indicates what aperture to set your camera to when you hold down on the shutter button. As a general rule of thumb, it's always smart to point the center of your lens at the shadow in your image, set your aperture, and then take the photograph. This will ensure that you capture everything in the image, as you can develop for highlights in the darkroom. 
6. Set your depth of field. This is basically your focal point, or where you decide you want your image to be focused. This feels the most "digital" when taking the photo, as even DSLRs need to be focused if you are not shooting on auto-focus mode.
7. Take your picture! Congratulations, you've done it. Take your photograph, and repeat steps 4 through 6 until you've taken all of the shots on your roll of film. 

Although this might seem like a daunting task, it becomes natural in no time at all. Not only do you learn an interesting skill, but you learn how to have the utmost control of photographs you're taking. 

Happy shooting! 

Editing Analog Work

As I discussed last month in my post "Why Digital Photography Promotes Creative Laziness in Amateur Photographers",  one of my main issues with digital photography is that the DSLR allows an amateur photographer to take as many photos as their memory card will hold while shooting on Automatic. In essence, the DSLR allows anyone to take a photo of just about anything, with very little effort.

Just as the DSLR allows you to seamlessly take photos without thinking about any kind of setting, it also grants you instant gratification. The second you've taken your photo, you can see it, as long as you're nearby a computer. After you've loaded all of your photographs onto the computer, you're then able to sift through them, one by one, selecting the ones you deem edit-worthy. Then, you get to upload those into any photo editing software of your choice, and adjust the settings to your heart's content. This, at times, can leave you with a photograph that looks nothing like the original shot.

Conversely, the "editing" process of analog work begins before you've even taken a photograph. The film photographer is generally hyper-aware of the number of photographs they will be able to take, contingent on the number of rolls of film in their pockets. Fast forward many rolls of film shot, you find yourself in the darkroom, mixing chemicals and timing out how long you want to develop, based on the ISO you shot at. You're forced to "edit" your work before you even get to see the negatives.

After you've developed, you're face-to-face with your negatives, and then take to an enlarger to begin making prints, where the closest thing to modern day photo editing takes place. When making prints, you're able to experiment with exposure time and even light filters, changing brightness and contrast through a process of trial and error. However, you will never get to simply toggle your mouse back and forth in order to see what your photo looks like darker or lighter, with more contrast or less.

The true editing of your analog work comes after you've made multiple prints of one image, and you compare them back-to-back until you decide the perfect "recipe" for the perfect print. This takes a great amount of time and effort, but the return is far more rewarding than simply printing out, or posting on your Instagram page, a photograph you took an hour before. Editing analog work is a process of trial and error, but a process that allows you to truly grasp who you are as a photographer, as you're unable to hide behind the façade of editing softwares and filters.

Why Digital Photography Promotes Creative Laziness in Amateur Photographers

Don't get me wrong, I think digital photography is great. There are few things more rewarding in everyday photography than connecting your memory card to Lightroom and, in a matter of seconds, seeing the magic you just created. From that moment, it seems the options and opportunities are infinite. And some would argue that this is where the magic begins.

In fact, it was a friend who was trying to convince me that film photography promotes laziness in photographers that made me realize how passionate I have become about film photography. As a person who has extensively dabbled in both digital and film photography, I have come to believe that digital photography promotes creative laziness in amateur photographers, especially when it comes to photographing the everyday.

Aside from instant gratification, the only aesthetic difference between film and digital photography is the difference in the quality of the image. And, of course, if your goal is to produce a crystal clear shot of a skyline or create content for an advertisement on the side of a highway, digital is the way to go. But in that case, you'd be a professional, who has hopefully set up camera settings an infinite number of times.

You'd be a professional who has most likely experienced every aspect of both film and digital photography. You've experimented with different types of film, camera lenses, types of cameras. You've spent hours upon hours in a darkroom, mixing chemicals, crossing your fingers that, despite the fact you think you did everything right, the chemistry didn't fool you and ruin your artwork. You have your spot in the darkroom, you have your enlarger, and you know which filter you'll need after a single test print.

Taking a step further back, you know how to use a camera. In today's world, it's easy to put everything on automatic, and it's easy to use things that we didn't even know were automatic (think: iPhone). While not everyone needs to know how to use a camera on manual, it sure is easy to hide behind the "Automatic" setting on your camera that we all know and sometimes love (I would know). While automatic shooting is great when it's coming from a place of utter necessity, it allows amateur photographers to shoot hundreds upon hundreds of photos in a single setting, as they know that they will be able to sit down at a computer within hours, scroll through every photo, and toggle the brightness, contrast, and angles as they deem necessary. And don't get me started on the editing "presets" that have reached peak popularity in recent times.

On the contrary, I believe there is a true artistry that begins with the act of loading a roll of 36 black and white exposures into your camera, all the way to developing it and making prints on your own. You are given true ownership over your photos, and the means of editing are minimal. Not only are they minimal, but they are just as intentional as all of the work that went into creating the single image on the roll of film itself.

I believe that we should always aim for quality over quantity, but shoot for quantity too. But at the very least, get to know your camera. If you don't have a film camera, switch your DSLR on manual, and watch a YouTube video on how to shoot that way. Get familiar with f/stops and shutter speeds. Wait a day or two before the instant gratification of plugging in your memory card hits, or perhaps delete the filters you were suckered into downloading. Either way, let your image shine on its own, without layers of digital information stacked atop.