When I started shooting

2016. That’s when I was bit by the photography bug in earnest. I can look back and see a desire to take good photos, but the talent was some what latent.

With a Canon T5i and a macro lens, I started to get some decent product photography for our new business, Rustic & Main. Although the camera was doing all of the work — I had everything set to auto — I was still impressed. Macros make it easy to get those dreamy, bokeh shots and I wanted to know how it was done.

Little by little I began to make changes. Increase or decrease the f stop, change the shutter speed and ISO. By being able to instantly see the changes these adjustments made, I was able to understand, intuitively, how cameras, lenses, and photography worked.

By 2019 I switched over to the Sony A7iii. I was feeling pretty good about digital photography and wanted to try my hand at film photography.

Film Photography - My True Passion

I began with a Pentax K1000, 50mm lens, and an expired roll of Fuji film all from eBay for $165.

I remember going out to find more film and realizing typical stores no longer sold it. It was only then that I realized how close film came to truly dying out.

I love film photography for the reasons you hear most from film photographers:

• It slows us down

• Keeps us in the moment

• Makes us more intentional

• The final shots have some kind of unique character that we can’t quite define

• Feels more tactile and analog

But I also love that film photography has such a long history with so many different cameras and film types.

A digital camera from 7 years ago is basically useless - although some of the older digital cameras are making a come back as retro. But, a film camera from 80 or 100 years ago can still take photos and provide a unique experience for the photographer.

I still use digital when I absolutely must get the shot, but prefer to shoot film whenever I can.