Film photography is my new obsession.  Two-three years ago, my inspiration photographer and friend  Julie Paisley started shooting film.  I fell in love with her work all over again but I didn’t realize it was because of film.  I really thought it was a new way she was editing so I decided to try it with my digital images.  No matter what I did, my images weren’t having the same tone as hers (I could never achieve her awesomeness).  And then in October of 2014, Julie shot my daughter’s wedding in film and I got to watch her in action with film (never mind that I have attended at least 5 workshops of hers and seen her in action every time).  So when she offered a film workshop at her cottage in July 2015, I was all over it because to put it simply, I just LOVE her inside and out!

When I first started shooting my kids, I was shooting 35mm film so I figured this would be a no brainer.  Boy was I in for an awakening!  I mean, when I shot film several years ago, I just shot on automatic.  How hard could it be to learn something old again?!?!

I had to borrow one of Julie’s camera’s and film when I got to the workshop because clearly I wasn’t as prepared as I thought.  We started out shooting at her cottage and all I had was some black and white film.  But I don’t think these images would have been as stunning any other way.  Learning how to manually control a film camera and not being able to push the button 2-3 times in a row was something that took some getting use to!  And did you know, there isn’t a playback button on film! LOL  But understanding my settings and lighting again made me feel like a legit photographer!

So after purchasing a couple of 35mm cameras and a medium format camera, I have decided to start shooting hybrid.  This means I will be using both digital and film images for all of my sessions.  I am not quite ready to go this route for weddings but don’t be surprised if you see me at a wedding with my double holdfast holster loaded with a digital camera on one side and a film camera on the other.

The over all look of film makes me what to shoot it all the time!  So get ready for 2016, because I am going to master this!