Its' good to slow down. As a rule I don't rush things, but sometimes I find I get so comfortable with a particular habit of working that I find I'm not taking the time to pay close attention to what I'm doing. There are times I think that habit is a detriment to my work. So occasionally I try to shake things up a bit, challenge the usual routines.
The other day I bought some silver based B&W film. The stuff I shot for twenty years before switching to a chromogenic B&W film. Just loading it into my forty year old Nikon F had a completely different feel. I dug out a #10 orange filter and my hand held light meter and went out for a walk. For a few minutes it was as if I was rediscovering photography all over again. It was fresh.
I messed up some frames when I didn't read the meter properly. It took some remembering and getting used to, but it didn't take long to get into the groove.
No auto modes, no auto advance, no perfectly, computer calculated exposures. It was just me thinking through the steps, making decisions, deciding just how I was going to put that light to that silver.
It was a good feeling…taking my time.
Photo: ©David W. Sumner
1 comment:
Nice post.
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