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IndyPhotoCoach.com says:

I was recently reunited with my first love, a Nikon FE film SLR. The camera is about as old as I am. The only assistance it offers is a simple light meter and a split screen focusing aid. Once you put film in the camera, there are a grand total of two technical adjustments available to you while shooting:

1) Shutter Speed
2) Depth of Field (DOF)

Lent to me by my father, the camera is what I used for my very first photography course. In the class the instructor focused almost entirely on image composition, creativity and style using black and white film. While at first many of us were confused how something as abstract as "creativity" could be graded, we quickly saw how forethought and planning translated into "impact" in students photographs (without being art critics).

Some of the recurring patterns of pictures were distracting objects in the background, uninteresting DOF and lack of contrast. Such imperfections didn't always make a photograph unappealing, but every unappealing photograph did have at least one of those problems.

With film, worse than simply ending up with bland photographs, not enough attention to those fundamentals often resulted with images that were ruined altogether. Time and resources were limited making planning and judgment critical to success. Attention to the environment and proper settings were also crucial in order to complete projects with just the 24 frames on our allotted rolls of film.

Today's digital cameras do a lot to prevent us from completely blowing a photo and the sheer volume of images we can take allows us a many more opportunities to get things right. A camera's Auto Mode further takes the amount of attention needed off our shoulders by handling the shutter speed, aperture, ISO plus a lot more for us. The process of correcting our images however causes the camera to choose exposure over color and detail in the final product.

Even today if you want to create compelling photographs, the formula has not changed much over the years and employing the discipline of a film photographer can greatly improve your digital photography.

Assignment:

1) Set your camera to Manual (M) mode and set the metering mode to "Spot" which will get it it's reading directly from the center of the view finder rather than averaging the entire scene (allowing you to selectively meter different portions of what will become the final image).

2) Use the cameras built-in light meter to determine the shutter speed and aperture settings.



3) Then use your style and creativity to think of ways to create a compelling image with your chosen subject. Execute your plan and post the results below.

Guidelines:
• You are limited to a total of 24 captures
• You cannot preview images while shooting
• You cannot alter the appearance of the image with software (aside from cropping and resizing)
• In-camera creative modes are okay as they are similar to choosing different types of film, once you select one though you must stick with it.

Tips:
• Visualize the final image before picking up your camera and try to use the right mix of settings and light to achieve that. You may try a mix of settings to hedge your bets. Just remember you only have 24 captures to work with!

Written by Trevor Warren
Originally posted at 8:48PM, 23 March 2010 PDT (permalink)
IndyPhotoCoach.com edited this topic 26 months ago.