Real Film

Many moons ago, in order to do 6th form photography, my father bought me a lovely SLR camera. A real one, with real film.

Now, due to artistic differences between me and the 'judges' for Bursary Photography I didn't actually pass 7th form Photography (luckily I didn't need it for my future endeavours) and after a while the camera was left behind, replaced by both digital cameras and camera phones.

Until now.

For his birthday last year I bought Graham a roll of film for him to use in my camera on our adventures over Easter. We didn't quite manage to take the whole roll (as when its a real photo you tend to think more about the subject than you do when it is a digital camera) on our first adventure, so the camera has travelled with us for other adventures we have had.

Finally, over New Years we finished the roll (only 8 months later) and had it developed. Below are most of the photos we took. Sometimes Graham is behind the camera, sometimes me, sometimes a tripod. There is just something a bit special about photos taken on film, even if they have also been put on a disk. I loved listening to Graham relay how he felt while he opened up the envelope of prints. The excitement and surprise of going through the photos having never seen them before and remembering each memory that accompanied the image. Whether it was Graham's first visit to my mother's farm and looking out over the hills, our trip to Samoa, sitting at the top of the Durie Hill tower or our fabulous friends posing for class photos over New Years, there is just something about touching and holding those photos as a real print that just beats digital photos hands down.

G and I have already decided that there will be more film in our future. Making us slow down and look at our surroundings, choosing that perfect frame and capturing those moments. The total cliche of taking time to stop and smell the roses is no longer lost on me, however I will be taking time to stop and perfect the focus instead.