I’m really excited to share this little tidbit from my time in Paris at The Signature Atelier workshop. I will definitely be doing a full recap of the workshop soon (it’s gonna be long one), but for now I’m going to share one of my favorite parts.

You guys! I shot film! And…It. Was. Amazing!

Abby has a real love for film and she told us she knew she absolutely wanted it to play at least a small part in the workshop. We had a short class on film basics where she covered some of the intricacies of choosing film that works with our photography style, scanning options so we can have our film photos digitally, and some different camera options.

We were each given two rolls of film and the option to shoot a roll at our styled shoot that day. There were two medium format cameras available for us to choose from and we had five minutes each to shoot a roll of 16 frames.

I almost didn’t do it. And it’s so stupid because for the first half of my life, digital cameras didn’t exist, at least in the affordable consumer sense that we have now, and so every photo I took growing up was on film! 35mm, 110 and advantix…so much film. Plus, I had used, rather extensively, a $30,000 medium format digital Mamiya in college, so I was familiar with that type of camera. But despite all this, I was so intimidated and kinda freaking out.

But about three minutes before it was my turn I had an epiphany. I was having a silent, internal meltdown (#insecurities) because way deep down inside I’ve always felt like because I don’t shoot film, I’m not a “real photographer” and if I was to shoot this roll and “mess up” or, in other words, fail, then it would be true. And then I heard my more reasonable self say…who gives a $#!t! If you mess it up, just do it again. No one tells a painter who uses acrylics that they aren’t a real painter because they don’t use oils or watercolors. You’re here to learn…so woman up!

So I freakin did it! And I got a few frames I love! Yeah sure I noticed a bunch of issues. For instance, on some of the photos my focus is soft and it’s not on purpose. LOL. But when you’re nervous as all get out, it takes more than five minutes to get used to a different camera. The moral of the story is, do what scares you. The outcome is probably going to be way better than you anticipated. We really do invent things out of nowhere that keep us from reaching our full potential. So my focus was soft. So what. I also wasn’t born knowing the rule of thirds.

Fast forward to today, and I’ve pulled out my old 35mm Canon for some future projects and luck of all luck, all the lenses I use on my digital Canons fit my film Canon. SCORE! I don’t know if I’ll be shooting film at sessions anytime soon, but I’ll certainly be practicing and experimenting for possible incorporation in the future.

I also just want to say a special thanks to Abby for helping me to see it’s really not as overwhelming as it seemed and for opening a new door for us creatively. I think pretty much every workshop attendee is now film obsessed. Also, special thank you to the FIND Lab for supplying us film and scanning!

EVENT VENDORS

Film / Fuji400H
Scans / The FIND Lab
Models / Christie and Trevor, the cutest, sweetest, most patient couple!
Wedding Gown / Katherine Bignon
Florals / Floresie
Ribbon / Ruffled Lane
Jewelry / Bekah Anne
Makeup / Trine Juel