So my first Bikkuri film case from Japan Camera Hunter (JCH) has arrived in the mail. In it were 10 rolls of Black and White films of different formulations from various manufacturers, including Rollei (400RPX, 400s Retro), Fujifilm, and JCH’s very own Streetpan 400. As I reviewed the contents of the box I had my own bag of mixed feelings; excitement at the prospect of shooting such a varied collection of film while worrying about the development process. I also worried about the possible lack of consistency between my photos, after all (while wonderful) film is a means to an end. –Thoughts of as Aug 7 2016.
After several months of shooting film, and 30-something rolls of B&W development, I can safely say that the my journey with film is not a passing fad and is here to stay. The first lesson learnt was that B&W film is extremely forgiving; despite numerous rookie mistakes while both shooting and developing, I was almost always extract an image from the negative during the post-process after scanning. Now granted auto-exposure modes on modern digital cameras have pretty much eliminated this problem, but extracting an image from an almost non-existent negative is almost as fun as prowling the streets! Second takeaway is that shooting film trains the photographer to be more economical with shutter-tripping. It costs more than money per shot; developing a roll for every 36 photos, followed by scanning and post-processing is, while satisfying, tedious. I have reduced the number of photos to be review while increasing the number of keepers!
The last advantage is slightly insidious, a film camera is the perfect disguise for a street photographer, after all there’s no way “this silly hipster” could be a serious photographer!
This blog will serve as a literary reflection to my urban reflections, and I’m optimistic that it will be clear, concise, yet entertaining.
DbMonochrome
DARYL BOEY PHOTOGRAPHY 