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?

30 Day Photography Challenge

Years ago, I used to always take pictures with a 35mm film camera. I still have boxes and boxes of double prints and negatives from photos I took when our children were little.

Then, I slowly transitioned to a digital camera…a Kodak EasyShare was one of the first digital cameras I used. I even took two cameras on a big family vacation to Washington DC, shooting both film and digital. Just in case the digital camera didn’t do all that I expected it to do.

My current iPhone takes better pictures than that first digital camera I used.

Eventually, I took a photography course and learned how to use my digital camera in manual mode.

I know this is a scary thing for a lot of people, but I loved learning how to have more control over the settings of my camera and using Lightroom to make some simple edits to improve the final image I captured.

Last summer, my dad gave me his Nikon FE2, 35mm film camera with a 50mm lens. It has been interesting to see how my photo journey has brought me back to using a film camera. But this time, I know so much more about camera settings and photography in general.

So I decided to see how my newest digital camera compares to the images I can capture with the film camera. I found a 30 day photography challenge and have completed a couple of the days so far.

It is going to take a bit of time to complete this challenge, especially since I will have to send out the film to be processed. But I am looking forward to seeing the results!

What type of camera do you currently take pictures with?

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?

F-Stop Challenge

Do you know what an f-stop is?

If you are a photographer, I am sure you know what an f-stop does.

For those of you who don't know, basically, f-stop is the aperture setting which controls what is in focus when you capture a photo.

A small number like 1.8 means that only a small area of your photo will be in focus. Smaller numbers are great for shooting portraits and details. This is when you can achieve some cool bokeh1

A large number like 8 and above give you more areas of focus in your photo and work well in landscapes or portraits of large groups of people.

You can find better explanations of f-stop and aperture in many books, photography classes, and online articles. Just google f-stop or aperture if you are curious.

One of my goals earlier this year was to pick up my DSLR on a regular basis and shoot photos.

Well, I have done a terrible job of keeping up with that goal!

This week, I stumbled across a Facebook Live event on the B&H page about 'What to Shoot When There's Nothing to Shoot'. 

You see, the thing is, I am not a professional photographer. I am not even sure I want to be a professional photographer.

It is something I enjoy doing and would love to do it enough to get paid to do it!

So I thought, in order to push myself to pick up my camera on a regular basis, I should give myself some challenges.

This morning, I had my 35mm 1.8 lens on my Nikon and went in my backyard to see what I could shoot.

Here is what I found using f/1.8 only as my aperture setting:

Settings: 1/50 sec at 1.8/f, ISO 100

Settings: 1/320 sec at f/1.8, ISO 100

Settings: 1/500 sec at f/1.8, ISO 100

Settings: 1/125 sec at f/1.8, ISO 100

Settings: 1/250 sec at f/1.8, ISO 100

Ok, so I didn't just 'find' my 50mm lens in the backyard, but I thought it would make the best first photo for this challenge.

As I walked around my backyard, the only setting I had to change to capture all of these images was the shutter speed. At f/1.8, this setting lets in the most light available because the lens is open at its widest.

So what do you think? Which image is your favorite?

If you are a photographer, have you ever done an f-stop challenge?

I am thinking I should challenge myself each week with a different f-stop. What f-stop should I shoot at next week?