beginner to film

[ja nie]

SO i want to start on photography and I own a canon eos elan 7ne. Now when asking for how to start some people recommended me to read the ansel adams photography series. I'm already half-way through the first book. But I'm wondering, should i go through all the books before starting to use my camera? REading only gets quite boring and I'm eager to go take some pictures, so some basic guidelines and tips on film and photography would be helpful too.

thanks in advance and hello again

 

[::trainwreck::]

keeping reading them, but go ahead and start playing around with taking some pictures. you can read all you want, but it is nice to start getting some hands on experience at the same time. look at others photos and try to get an idea of what you want to shoot. start to learn how to compose your shots, expose them properly, and if you're doing you're own printing in a darkroom, all the steps it takes to make prints.

the two main functions you'll want to start learning right away on your camera is how to set the shutter speed and aperture. also, another thing you'll want to know is how to set the ISO in relation to the ISO film you get. I would suggest starting with ISO 400. Kodak Tmax is also a pretty good starter film.

Keep reading, start shooting, and have fun

 

[ann]

The Adams series is a fine reference, but not an easy read IMHO for a beginner,

you might try Henry Horenstein book on Basic Photograhy.

Also i agree with the above ; except for the film recommendation. Tmax is a fine film, but it is very touchie; i would suggest trix or hp5 plus which are more forgiving films for a beginner.

 

[Torus34]

I do not know to what degree you wish to involve yourself in film photography. If you are considering color prints, jump right into taking pictures with any easily available color negative film and local 'drugstore' processing. That's all you need for a base to practice [and improve] your understanding of light and composition.

Do get hold of a copy [local library] of 'The Photographer's Eye' by Michael Freeman. Photography is part technology [camera, exposure, settings, film, developer, etc.] and part artistic understanding [light and composition]. Neither part should be neglected.

There's a series of articles on this site covering basic b&w photography, btw. It's free, and I have some small acquaintance with its author. I can answer questions you might have about it.

Regards,

Jim

 

[ja nie]

The Adams series is a fine reference, but not an easy read IMHO for a beginner,

you might try Henry Horenstein book on Basic Photograhy.

Also i agree with the above ; except for the film recommendation. Tmax is a fine film, but it is very touchie; i would suggest trix or hp5 plus which are more forgiving films for a beginner.

I know. I find his writing to technical for a complete beginner, so often times it's hard to read it without getting too distracted.

I do not know to what degree you wish to involve yourself in film photography. If you are considering color prints, jump right into taking pictures with any easily available color negative film and local 'drugstore' processing. That's all you need for a base to practice [and improve] your understanding of light and composition.

well i am using what i have, i will be taking films until i can get a DSLR (it could take a while). but i want to get far into it. I do not have access to a dark room si i will be relying on the drugstore processing.


thanks for the replies so far

 

[Mendoza]

All you really need to start is two main things:
1) An understanding of the basics of photography, from the technical* to the aesthetic**.
*Learn: Shutter speed; Exposure, Aperture/F-Stop; ISO
**Learn: Lighting; Contrast; Depth-of-field (a function of aperture); Composition
2) Experience. Once you understand the basic technical aspects of photography, you must take pictures. More important, you must be able to give and receive critique on your own work. Why do some photographs "work"? Why don't others? As you develop the ability to answer these questions, your skills will improve.

Also, I have to recommend beginning in black-and-white. Of course you can begin in color, but black-and-white tunes your eye to the fundamentals (light) in a way color cannot.
IMO, it's quite good to learn on a film camera. There are many advantages to digital but when you're limited to a certain number of shots, that part of your brain devoted to previsualization receives a boost. buona fortuna

 

[beala]

well i am using what i have, i will be taking films until i can get a DSLR (it could take a while). but i want to get far into it. I do not have access to a dark room si i will be relying on the drugstore processing.

One more tip: Don't even bother getting prints. Just ask for the film to be developed, scanned, and put on the photo CD. This can be done for about $2-$3 a roll.

And don't spend too much time lusting after DSLRs. They're not all they're cracked up to be Ken Rockwell has written some great film vs digital articles. Digital definitely isn't the be-all end-all of photography:
Why We Love Film
Film vs. Digital

Good luck and have fun!

 

[christopher walrath]

And if you are relying on drug store processing I would recommend Kodak's BW400CN. It's color process so they don't have to send out. It's 400 speed, fairly fast so low light hand holding is possible. And if you ever get your own darkroom you can print the negs on VC papers so the basic black and white setup would be sufficient. Not to mention it's a great film.

Basics, Shutter speed/Aperture as listed above. I would recommend CiM. We have recently run through a beginner's series and it's an easy read. Follow the link in the sig and download the magazines from our Lulu.com storefront. The exposure article is in the June issue I beleive.

 

[Early]

Just read the instruction book and start shooting. You can do all that other reading later.

 

[Sangetsu]

I've pretty much stopped using my DSLR and have been shooting almost exclusively with film.

If you feel the need to jump in with both feet, you should try practicing with black and white photography. What's more, you should try developing it yourself.

Black and white film is pretty cheap, $3 or less per roll, and the equipment you need to develop it can be had for $50 or so (including chemicals). You can look on youtube for tutorials. You don't need a darkroom, just a dark place to load your film into a developing tank or canister.

I first started developing my own film a few months ago, and scanning it with a thriftstore scanner that I bought for less than $5.

Here's a photo shot on black and white film and developed in my kitchen.