I was a better photographer back when.....

[pinholecam]

Ha.. ha.. not that far back, but I get the feeling that back in the days of flim (prob 6yrs ago for me), I felt that I was a slower, thinking photographer. I planned to compose my shots, thought of exposure (where to meter from, what to compensate for).

When I switched to digital abt 2 yrs back, I simply threw all that away. Just snap and check review screen and adj exposure to compensate. Yeah, I ended with better picts, but my overall yield dropped (had to delete as many bad ones). I'd become a worse photographer (not that I was real good when using flim), just that I seem to have lost that thought process for photo taking, trading my grey matter for a LCD review screen.

How many of you have similar experiences?

[michhy]

it is the same as when i was using a type-writer instead of a computer.
had to think and arrange words and sentences carefully before typing, else waste ribbon and paper, and have to re-type entire document!

[flowerpot]

As the saying goes, old school is still the best school...

Anyway, to me its the contents that matters, whether we started from film or digital, what determine us good or bad is the quality of the pics regardless of what tools we used. Awards are not given to the one with best equipment but to the one with the best picture.

[P3ntx]

The Solution is simple, just switch off your LCD preview .... or cover it... processed your thought before looking at it and understand why it appear to be so...

The other side is to understand the character of your Camera, my first week with my K2OD after being with K100D for 3 years, is horrible ..., I felt like I can't take good picture ,, but now I hardly touch my K100D ...

The third is to read books about digital SLR,

The fouth is to practice,

The fifth is to believe, mindset ....what you have preprogammed to be .. will appear to manifest itself.

The Sixth is to achieve and keep the ball rolling.

I learned quite abit about mindset and the angles of approach to things from photography, that is why I love it...

[seefei]

cannot switch off the lcd. i find that i compose better with the lcd. but i am not talking about the lcd on my camera. overall, i find that my composition is better with my iphone. the light weight, convenient and off-centre lens position allow a lot of option in photo taking. i can even take photo in the toilet and still come out interesting.

[billitone]

For many including me who did not know what film days are like...or never tried films, photography is nothing but a learning process with nothing to compare to.
It is awkward to use manual mode when auto-everything is available.

Faster auto-focus, higher frame rates, better high-ISO, faster cards....all are meant for speed. Though not entirely true, but anyone picking up photography will tend to think and do everything with "speed".

[ngck12]

for those who just started photography, go shoot film 1st to appreciate digital. Not everybody likes speed, im sure there are many film lovers out there still. Be patient.

[darrrrrrrrrr]

hahah or buy a K100D, will surely slow down your photography!

[fengwei]

I guess the best cure is to go back to film once in a while and see how you'd like it It's not like film is dead already, we can still get them developed and scanned easily.

But I do shoot digital mostly nowadays because I can see the results right away, the best way to take family photos I guess.

[seafone]

Originally Posted by pinholecam Ha.. ha.. not that far back, but I get the feeling that back in the days of flim (prob 6yrs ago for me), I felt that I was a slower, thinking photographer. I planned to compose my shots, thought of exposure (where to meter from, what to compensate for). When I switched to digital abt 2 yrs back, I simply threw all that away. Just snap and check review screen and adj exposure to compensate. Yeah, I ended with better picts, but my overall yield dropped (had to delete as many bad ones). I'd become a worse photographer (not that I was real good when using flim), just that I seem to have lost that thought process for photo taking, trading my grey matter for a LCD review screen. How many of you have similar experiences?

I share similar thought like you.. With film, I tends to compose better with many more keeper. And now with digitial, there are just so many shots to be discard. Its like one shot, one kill back on the film. Even when the negative is not process yet, I already more or less know how its going to be turn out upon squeezing the shutter release. And of coz, the viewfinder on film SLR like my MX is so bright and clear... on digitalSLR, its just a different experience altogether.

cheerss..

[hamustar]

Yeah i guess everyone should shoot film once in a while, be it PnS or SLR or Rangefinder....need not be an expensive one.

It's like taking a break from office and automation, and spending a weekend by the countryside. It's refreshing, and one can derive some basic joy and satisfaction in snapping pictures the old fashion way.

[ahitophel]

Well, the last time I shot with film I did not have much interest in photography. So I did not do any metering or framing, no rule of thirds or whatever. I was covering a school camp so I set the SLR settings to auto and just point and shoot at anything I found interesting.

Reading your post made me look at those photos once again after a long long time. I found film more forgiving than digital, maybe my standard is really low. Those shots of people with bright backgrounds look dark but you can still see the faces, and noise and banding was not an issue at the size that I printed them. I also like the colours of film, so nostalgic. I'm not sure whether the printing centre did any post processing but the images looked more contrasty than my K10D photos.

Definately I was not a better photographer then, I was a Boy With Camera. Though I think I should shoot more friends and families like last time instead of flowers, fireworks and total strangers like now lol.
Thanks for the post pinholecam, you made me rethink of my own photography.

[bLuRbEnG]

I think one reason of y u take time to compose ur shots when using film is becoz 4 film, u cant c the results immediately...
U gotta go develop the film 1st and oso there's cost involves so u wont jz take ur shot without thinking n composing it properly...
Now wif digital, u can shoot n c the results on the spot...

[aselley]

Try going out for a walkabout shoot as if you only had one roll of film...that means at shot 36 you stop and don't take anymore.

It's at that point when some 'must have' scene flashes in front of you, that you will just break the idea of 36 and give thanks to Digital and increasingly larger memory cards.

[jdredd]

i think i have definitley improved since the advent of the digital age.. because you can instantly see and improve on your shots etc..

but i think, it did help that i started with film, because you did have to take more time with your ocmpositoins exposures etc..

[bigbird17]

i started out digital but mid way thru i was awe by BnW photography and switch to film. yeah i do agree with film if the subject composure all not swee swee no go for the shutter click :P

but now i am back to digital and snapping away, i think i need to try the approach when shooting film!! you know why? because film is NOT cheap haha

[le petit prince]

Sounds strange, but the most fun lens I have is the fully manual M50 1.7.

My DA lenses are much more convenient and less work to use, but also less.. fun.

Am I a better photog with the M lens? Not sure, maybe not, but it sure forces me to slow down and think of the settings!

[night86mare]

like it or not, only the end results count in the long run.

that said, there are photographers, and there are photographers. and good photographers are more likely to exploit moments and light well, compared to bad ones.

[dnaxe]

Originally Posted by pinholecam Ha.. ha.. not that far back, but I get the feeling that back in the days of flim (prob 6yrs ago for me), I felt that I was a slower, thinking photographer. I planned to compose my shots, thought of exposure (where to meter from, what to compensate for). When I switched to digital abt 2 yrs back, I simply threw all that away. Just snap and check review screen and adj exposure to compensate. Yeah, I ended with better picts, but my overall yield dropped (had to delete as many bad ones). I'd become a worse photographer (not that I was real good when using flim), just that I seem to have lost that thought process for photo taking, trading my grey matter for a LCD review screen. How many of you have similar experiences?

Why is "slower, thinking" better?

Surely the absolute number of better photos per event/holiday/shoot is what is important.

[pinholecam]

Originally Posted by dnaxe Why is "slower, thinking" better? Surely the absolute number of better photos per event/holiday/shoot is what is important.

Kinda like rolling a car over an ant to kill it

Yes, can't deny that end of the day, I have more better picts. Just like to think that I was "smarter" when getting them.