Week 37, September 9, 2013
Back to Black & White
In the “prehistoric days” before digital, back to 1970 when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was 16 and in high school. I bought my first real camera, a 35mm Hanimex Practica Nova 1B. (See photo at left) It was an East German camera built in Dresden and imported to the U.S. The Oreston 1.8/50 Meyer Optik Görlitz lens was fast and sharp (though I didn’t know much about such things at the time). It was typically loaded it with Kodak Plus-X film (ISO 125 though at the time that was called ASA) or sometimes Kodak Tri-X (ISO 400).
I learned how to process both the film and later make black and white prints in a little darkroom in a corner of the garage. Working under the dim glow of a safelight and watching the image magically appear as the photographic paper bathed in a tray of Dektol is something young photographers today have likely not experienced.
I can’t say I miss it. Today’s cameras are so far superior and the ease of working at a computer using Lightroom where dodging and burning can be done with the click of a mouse instead of with actual physical tools give so much more creative freedom. I also don’t have a wastebasket full of failed paper prints, money spent trying to master the art.
I thought this week however I’d get back as close to that in the digital realm as possible. I mounted my 50mm Canon f/2.8 prime (the “nifty 50”) on my Canon 50D camera and set the Picture Mode to “monochrome.” Though I was shooting in Raw mode and color was being captured, the images displayed on the back of the camera in black and white. (Of course in the film days, one never saw the captured image until much later, long after the moment of capture. That to me is the real power of digital –instant feedback).
I headed into downtown Meridian where in the course of about an hour I shot 93 images. (Another advantage of digital – a larger roll of Plus-X would have been 36 exposures so this shoot would have taken almost 3 rolls of film!)
The lack of ability to zoom with the 50mm prime was also one of my limitations when I shot with the Practika, it was for many years the only lens I had. Mounting the 50mm Canon lens and having to physically move to compose images took me back to that day. (Though with the crop sensor on the Canon digital, 50mm felt “longer” and I missed the wider field of view).
Here are the 19 shots I liked best from the shoot. Of course not only does the modern equipment, the power of Lightroom, and having shot 3-times as many shots as I might have had I shot film make for better shots, I’d have to think that 40+ years of photo experience helps just a bit!
I’m glad my photo history goes back to the film days. Not only does it give me a sense of photography basics, but a real appreciation of what we have now. This is a great time in which to be a photographer! Enjoy these shots, a throwback to bygone days in Meridian, Idaho and to a monochrome view of the world.
In the “prehistoric days” before digital, back to 1970 when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was 16 and in high school. I bought my first real camera, a 35mm Hanimex Practica Nova 1B. (See photo at left) It was an East German camera built in Dresden and imported to the U.S. The Oreston 1.8/50 Meyer Optik Görlitz lens was fast and sharp (though I didn’t know much about such things at the time). It was typically loaded it with Kodak Plus-X film (ISO 125 though at the time that was called ASA) or sometimes Kodak Tri-X (ISO 400).
I learned how to process both the film and later make black and white prints in a little darkroom in a corner of the garage. Working under the dim glow of a safelight and watching the image magically appear as the photographic paper bathed in a tray of Dektol is something young photographers today have likely not experienced.
I can’t say I miss it. Today’s cameras are so far superior and the ease of working at a computer using Lightroom where dodging and burning can be done with the click of a mouse instead of with actual physical tools give so much more creative freedom. I also don’t have a wastebasket full of failed paper prints, money spent trying to master the art.
I thought this week however I’d get back as close to that in the digital realm as possible. I mounted my 50mm Canon f/2.8 prime (the “nifty 50”) on my Canon 50D camera and set the Picture Mode to “monochrome.” Though I was shooting in Raw mode and color was being captured, the images displayed on the back of the camera in black and white. (Of course in the film days, one never saw the captured image until much later, long after the moment of capture. That to me is the real power of digital –instant feedback).
I headed into downtown Meridian where in the course of about an hour I shot 93 images. (Another advantage of digital – a larger roll of Plus-X would have been 36 exposures so this shoot would have taken almost 3 rolls of film!)
The lack of ability to zoom with the 50mm prime was also one of my limitations when I shot with the Practika, it was for many years the only lens I had. Mounting the 50mm Canon lens and having to physically move to compose images took me back to that day. (Though with the crop sensor on the Canon digital, 50mm felt “longer” and I missed the wider field of view).
Here are the 19 shots I liked best from the shoot. Of course not only does the modern equipment, the power of Lightroom, and having shot 3-times as many shots as I might have had I shot film make for better shots, I’d have to think that 40+ years of photo experience helps just a bit!
I’m glad my photo history goes back to the film days. Not only does it give me a sense of photography basics, but a real appreciation of what we have now. This is a great time in which to be a photographer! Enjoy these shots, a throwback to bygone days in Meridian, Idaho and to a monochrome view of the world.