Last weekend I did something I haven’t done in eons. I took out one of my father’s Rollei TLRs and I photographed with film. It was both scary and thrilling at the same time but I’ve skipped ahead so let me rewind to the first frame.
As you know I was down in Washington State with some friends at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Out of the six of us, Mark is the only one who is consistently–and almost exclusively–photographing with film. He has inspired me to try it again. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be trying this if it weren’t for Mark’s enthusiasm not only for film but also for black and white. With his help, I settled on taking the Rolleiflex 2.8E and using Ilford HP5+ film. Mark loaded up the film and then we ran into a problem. Each time we advanced the film, the counter did not move from zero. Then I started to second guess myself and so Ray and I found a shaded corner to check the film. We had a good laugh when we saw that the entire roll had advanced! Before long we had another roll loaded in and I was ready to go.
There was a comfortable, familiar feeling to the Rollei hanging around my neck and looking down to compose my images. With only 12 exposures I had to slow down and really think about my compositions. I don’t know about anyone else but I did get a certain “rush” as I pressed the shutter and turned the crank to move to the next frame, all the time not knowing if I’d been successful or not.
In the end I think the success is not in the final product seen here but in trying out something new (or old) to fuel my photographic journey. It not only tests your abilities but also opens new doors to creativity and without a doubt contributes to learning more about who you want to be as a photographer.
This sounds lovely. Not just the part about you stretching yourself artistically (though you get two thumbs up for that), but the part about using your father’s camera… having it hang around your neck like it did his. I just love this image.
Thanks Erin. It certainly felt good. I know my Dad would get a kick out of how I’ve come full circle as I used to be his photo sherpa when I was a child.
OH cool it worked
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I love the fact that you brought it and tried it out. We’ll get it figured out yet!
Great post Sabrina.
Thanks Josh!
Oh, man, so jealous. I’ve been wanting to try a TLR for a long time. Did you feel, other than the hiccup, that it changed how you looked at the image? Is the image reversed in the viewfinder?
Definitely Chris. I thought I’d have more issues with the square frame but it felt very normal. I did find that handholding while trying to keep the horizon straight was not easy and I suppose that’s why people use a tripod with this camera. I had to straighten this image on the vertical plane in LR.
The image is reversed left to right and that takes getting used to but it is right side up.
The biggest thing that changed the way I looked at the image is the fact that I was using B&W film and trying to photograph tulips. Perhaps this is why I decided on this image instead. For me, I don’t photograph with B&W in mind and it’s something I should do more often.
I’m looking forward to trying it out again.
There is nothing quite like black and white film. Lovely shot! Glad you pulled out that camera! Boy, that would slow you down! haha.
Wonderful idea, Sabrina. Seeing things in reverse and then also have to think in black and white is definitely a challenge and really makes you think about how to compose your picture.