Your Film Produced No Images

Last month, I decided to bring my film camera with us on our trip to Montana. I was really looking forward to seeing what I could capture using the film camera.

I was kind of surprised that I did not take near as many photos as I thought I would with the film camera though. I believe it is because you do not have an instant image show up on an LCD screen of a DSLR or one on my iPhone. Instead of shooting off a bunch of images of the same thing with digital, a little more thought goes into shooting an image with film.

Since I did not take a full roll of 36 images in Montana, I made a day trip to Yosemite last week to finish up the roll of film.

I sent the roll of to be processed and have been waiting for the email to tell me that the images were ready to be viewed. The message came through this morning, but it was not what I was expecting…

I believe I loaded the film incorrectly. When I was rewinding the film, it seemed to rewind a little too quickly. But I didn’t really think too much about it at the time, and just sent to roll off the be processed.

Well, at least I had my DSLR and my iPhone with me to capture photos in Montana as well! This morning, my husband suggested that we could always go back. Now that is a very tempting offer!

But I did capture some memorable shots with the other cameras I had with me…

This is one I captured with my DSLR from the top of Logan Pass looking down at Going to the Sun Road.

And here is one I capture with my iPhone out the car window on the drive up Going to the Sun Road…

Right now, I have four rolls of black & white film sitting on the shelf. I am determined to shoot a roll of film with one of those rolls and get back a successful set of prints.

Stay tuned!

An Unsuccessful Photography Experiment

So, I decided to give something a try.

I thought..oh, I have a Nikon DSLR with a few lenses. Let me see if any of them fit my Nikon FE2.

I decided to see if my 35mm lens would fit, since the ‘only’ lens I have for the FE2 is a 50mm lens.

The opening was the right size.

The lens snapped into place it seemed.

So, I loaded up the camera with a roll of black and white film. Took a few photos around the house before taking the camera with me on a day trip to Yosemite.

The first thing I noticed is that I had no idea what the aperture was. I would just rotate the lens to try to focus each picture as I was taking them.

I didn’t think this was going to be an issue at all.

I just figured that the lens fit, I was able to get images into focus, so I just happily snapped the whole rest of the roll while riding my bike around Yosemite.

Sent the roll off to be developed and was super excited when I got the email that my pictures were ready to be viewed and downloaded.

But…most of the photos did not turn out at all!

So, this was an unsuccessful photography experiment where I learned that just because the lens fits, doesn’t mean that it will actually work on that camera.

Have you ever had a completely unsuccessful photography experiment?

Have you discovered 'A Year With My Camera'?

Today, I did a quick search for a photography challenge and found out that A Year With My Camera was starting a new yearlong workshop today!

This course is a free, yearlong beginner’s photography workshop with weekly homework.

I really don’t consider myself a beginner photographer, but I have been lacking inspiration of what to take pictures of with my DSLR.

The first thing I discovered on the website is this Make 30 Photos list.

I loved that this list did not start with a self-portrait!

After reading the list, I picked up my camera and took a few pictures that matched the first prompt: fill the frame with color.

It felt good to pick up my camera and take some creative shots with things I already have around my home. Maybe this will be the encouragement I need to pick up my camera every day, instead of letting it collect dust.

Have you discovered something new to do this year?