Deepwood Mansion

This week I found myself and a friend's digital camera out in the unstable weather that Friday brought to Salem. The brewing storm clouds and intermittent sunshine made for some nice black and white photos of Deepwood Mansion.
© Lisa Miller-Brousil 2009 All rights reserved www.obsidianphotography.com

June 2009: Film or Digital, That Is The Question

Slowly, but surely, my small camera and lens collection is becoming something that would be a nice edition to the Smithsonian. My Canon AE-1, what was once the camera of choice for all SLR beginners, is older than myself and my Canon T-90, the former choice of professionals for its tough exterior and tank like integrity, has been replaced by the digital age. In addition, film and film processing has become scarce and/or expensive, unless you own a darkroom.

I have a small budget for my photography. On average I run through 10 rolls of film every six months and have them processed in small groups at mom & pop photo stores. Recently, I have switched from Fuji Velvia slide film to Fuji Reala negatives due to the demise of reliable in-house A-6 processing. Soon, I may have difficulty finding reliable negative processing stores as well.

On my last trip to a photography store, which happened to be in Virginia, I was told I either needed to give in and buy digital or learn to process the film myself. The guy's reasoning was that digital is cheaper. In a sense it is, but first you need to jump an hypothetical 100-foot-high hurdle, the equipment price. To purchase the camera equivalent to my Canon T-90 set up, I would have to shell out around $5000 dollars or more. Yes, there are used options, but no option as of 2009 which has the film speed equivalent of Fuji Velvia 50 and the correct size of imaging senor to equal 35mm film. I won't even get into the issues of lens quality, non-manual focus and other capabilities.

Digital has its perks. Its so easy to pick up a camera, take 100 pictures, delete 80, plug in your camera, and upload your favorites to the web. I find I steal my family's point and shoots or cheaper SLRs more than I pick up my own cameras these days. Its sad really. But the reality is, if I pick up my camera I will suddenly have film that needs developed and scanned. The longer I wait to pick up my highly technical cameras, the more out of practice I become. The more out of practice I become and the harder it is to get a good picture out of a roll of film. I use more film to get a good picture and it costs me more to process. Its a downward sprial that I can never seem to stop.

So here I am, at an impasse. My last 6 rolls of film have not been website worthy and my best picture this year was taken with a 5MP Canon point and shoot. Do I take the plunge and rely upon the ever-changing digital techonology? Or do I keep waiting until affordable digital reaches the point where it is equal or superior to film?

It will be hard to leave the manual focus and hand crank. Film is a quickly dieing art form that I hate to see vanish. I know the chemicals are not friendly to the environment and digital is much "greener". Still, its difficult...

I am an artist. The film is my canvas, the sunlight my paint and with my 20+ year old Canons camera as my brushes I know how to make art. Is this how painters felt when plastics and acrylics moved in? Did they feel as if the world was against them? I will join the digital age eventually, but I will not forget my love for film.

May 2009: A Well Needed Intro

Hello all! As you can see there is not much on this blog. Before, the website was the main attraction, but now I would like this to be a monthly photography blog, that just happens to be attached to a photography website. For those of you who don't know me, I am very passionate about photography. I am an Oregon native (please excuse the first year of my life where I lived in south west Washington). My travels have taken me all over the US, as well as many gorgeous places in our own state.

Since photography is a hobby (right now) I have the challenge of balancing time, funds, and energy with the rest of my real life. I hope to write about topics pertaining to those of us serious hobbyists with limited time and money as well as photography topics I find intriguing. I hope to make new like minded friends and have some fun along the way. Please join me in this exciting journey.