100 Websites
A collection of 100 websites of things that I like (companies, products, bands, etc.).
Foods I Discovered I Liked in 2007
Sushi
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Piri-Piri Seasoning
Meat Loaf
Goat Cheese
Pesto
Butter Beans
Broad Beans
Chick Peas
Carrot Cake
Update: Foods I discovered I like in 2008
Olives
Mushrooms
Jalapenos
Digital vs. Film
Apart from the odd film-based camera which I had when I was younger, I’ve always been a big advocate of digital cameras. For me, the “convenience vs. quality” tradeoff has always been heavily weighted towards convenience. Until now.
Since I bought my EOS 400D a few months ago, I’ve become far more creative with my shots and more conscious of the end result. I find myself wanting to shoot with different cameras, including film based ones to get better results. By “better”, I don’t necessarily mean sharper, or higher resolution. In fact it’s hard to describe what I mean by “better”. I suppose what I really want are more creative options.
Convenience is no longer a deciding factor. Not only am I prepared to put in the time to get the results, it’s actually becoming an enjoyable process to go through.
It’s funny though. When you have cheaper, more basic equipment, it’s easy to be fooled into thinking more expensive equipment always equals better results. While that’s often true, it’s not a hard and fast rule, particularly if your intentions are more creative than technical.
To emphasise the point, my Canon 400D cost me nearly £500 and my new Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim (the poor man’s Lomo) cost a mere £5. It may be very limited (f11, 1/125 shutter, 22mm lens, no flash - it’s about as basic as it gets), but limiting your options can sometimes increase the determination to get more creative results. It’s a phenomenon I’ve witnessed first-hand when forcing myself to leave my zoom lenses at home, and go out armed only with my 50mm prime.
I can honestly say, I don’t think I would have ever taken up photography seriously, if it weren’t for digital cameras. Digital affords me the freedom to learn as I go, without wasting valuable time and film on poor shots.
In some ways, though, my methodology itself is flawed. The vary nature of the complete digital process means there is less risk involved. I’m starting to agree with my friend Carl; with less risk comes more predictability, which can sometimes be seen in your end results. It’s very easy to become complacent & just shoot lots, hoping for the best, rather than taking the time to think about what you are doing. Well, for me, anyway.
I’m glad that I eventually managed to find my own little route into photography, but now that I’m here, I feel like I skipped my first year of school. I want to go back and learn some of the things that you only learn by using film.
The Vivitar is just a fun little way for me to explore film without any serious investment, but I can already feel the lure of far more professional film cameras that I’d like to play with.
Time to start saving.