Dealing With Failure | Film Photography
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- Опубликовано: 30 июл 2024
- My book "Stolen Moments" and limited edition print set available here...
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Songs used this episode...
Genetic Waves - Joseph Beg
Revealing The Unreal - Ave Air
#filmphotography #hasselblad #ilfordpanf
I hear you, Paul. I think what you talked about here resonates with every single person who enjoys taking photos. Whether analogue or film, you feel like you sometimes just can't get it right. It's difficult to sometimes get out of the rut, but perseverance and failure are the roads that lead to the special ones - the photos that you look at with pride. And they're the ones that keep us coming back for more. Keep up the great work 👍
That's why we love film because it's not easy. I love shooting film, and I shoot digital to just picked up a ricoh gr 2 for walking around the streets, at the end of the day a good photo is a good photo doesn't matter what you use. Always nice vids Paul keep up the good work.
It keeps you humble!!! And occasionally I’ve found even the mistakes - light leaks and development errors - can be better than the original intended image! Keep up the great work, failures and all, it’s all inspiring stuff!
So glad you showed your failures. We all have been there.
I think you hit it right on the head...the successful shots made on film...makes enduring losses or mistakes a little less difficult. Although truth be told...it still hurts. Thanks for keeping a positive attitude and setting a good example!
Right on! This has been on my mind as it relates to my film photography. Failure is a wonderful teacher if one is open to learning what it has to teach.
Film is for the adventurous not the fainthearted nor the impatient! Keepa dancing Maria!
My digital friends ask me why would I go back to film? They can't understand it at all. It's the challenge and the satisfaction of success after the long wait.
Film photography can be so testing after many years of going down Cornwall, i would say 80% of the time shooting film and many many failures blown out highlights, blocked out shadows , mid tones etc I’ve altered developing times it goes on but the last few times I’ve been down I’ve started to settle down using this procedure it’s nothing new but I’ve had more hits than failures , my go to filter was the orange filter which we know increases contrast and replaced it with the yellow filter and spot metered the highlights , mid tones and shadows i always expose so I’ve got detail for the shadows then use an ND grad to hold back highlights and develop as normal and what I’ve found has given me more consistently in my film photography, hope this helps and really enjoy seeing your videos Paul and looking forward to seeing more .
Cheers David thanks for the tip
I have had lots of failures, from shooting a role of film and not one image to show for it, to having them under or over exposed. One time I had a camera failure, the shutter would not fire. I took the bottom off and found out the capacitor was bad and leaking, I had to order a new one and solder it in. It took me several week to to find the part and fix it, but I did get out and shoot the other half of the role of film. I have also got a lot of fantastic film images over the years. The funny thing is, I stared shooing with a digital camera and had lots of failures long before I shot film and got good with a DSLR... I think that helped me to deal with all my failures with film. Much thanks for sharing your experiences!
Thanks John
Thoroughly enjoy those images. I can say with certainty from experience that; consistency of film stock and process is vital but... that films great asset IS the imperfection and possibilities for serendipity to show herself. Embracing it is magic and opens the door for wonderful creativity possibilities found etched in the negative and not manipulated in post . A thousand crossings by Sally Mann come to mind when I see this set of images. Thank you for the candor and inspiration as always Paul!
Cheers Seth
Paul you are absolutely correct. I just bought a Hasselblad SWC. Even I questioned my decesion. After watching your video I realize film is unique and challenging. But at the end that one photo makes it all worth while. Thanks for your videos, Stay safe...
Yes, failure... I shot a roll of film on my OM2N earlier this year with a Zuiko 35 - 105, thinking that this would be the ideal combination for the range of focal lengths I needed. Not a single shot of worth. It made me wonder why I was shooting film in this age of digital cameras. Thankfully the feeling didn't last and I continue to enjoy both. Keep it up Paul. Good stuff!
@@alistermccallum Absolutely! We've all been there.
And I thought it was only me! Thank you for this frank and honest video it made me feel a lot better about my own failures and I have had quiet a few.
Dude! Don't be so hard on yourself! But seriously, your striving is what takes your image-making to the next level. Just found your channel and have enjoyed your photography tremendously. Thanks very much mate! Kia ora
The road to success is called failure. Keep learning and you'll never fail.
If it was too easy, the successes would be less satisfying, I guess. Nice video and some good results too.
I think a tick list is in order!!! I'm finding them more and more helpful at work as well as other important things such as my photography too.
You’ve just described my experience perfectly. I’ll give you one unique way I screw up, when I use my GW690II I have to wind twice to advance one frame so when I go back to using my Kiev 6C I sometimes wind twice and burn a frame in the process. Also I think shooting film is a bit like golf. It’s that one sweet shot that keeps bringing us back despite the high error rate.
an interesting reflection.. been through this at times with film too.
You hit the nail on the head.........Failure is all part of the learning curve.......If you get it right every time you would loose interest..........
Like with digital.
I think a lot of what you talk about in the video is true of photography in general, I am always making those stupid mistakes and it gets very frustrating, but it makes the successes even more enjoyable. Love your videos Paul and One of these days I will dig out the old 35mm and shoot some film. Thanks for sharing.
You are a good man and excellent photographer 👍..you have a big heart and an animal lover..all and all great human..keep up the great job..good bless.
Again very profound content. Tank you very much!
Failure is inevitable for learning and learning is a lifelong process. Every failure is a chance to learn and get better in everything we do as long as we accept this fact. Even if we sometimes do stupid things like leaving the lens cap on ;-) Repetition leads to enhancement. This is the path to perfection.
I love the way you vocalise and then reassure those of us who love but also get frustrated with photography. Photography to me is a hobby and it is a support knowing that it isn't bad to make mistakes, that even accomplished photographic artists go through the same process. Thanks for your videos - keep them coming!
Thanks Ken
I liked the video, got me thinking-sometimes I think that my satisfaction with my photos depends more on my mindset than on the picture itself, as well as with other things I get upset about thinking of them as failures
Paul
We are getting rains and fog now. NW Pacific Coast. I liked some of the shots from the old concrete dock, also the one where you caught the water crisp but liquid. That tonality is beautiful. True, even with vintage lenses you cannot get the sharp but soft netherworld quality of film. Have you tried the Orange and Red filters to pull down the skies ? I will be getting those in future. Christopher ~
Oh the birds were great. Nice, peaceful.
Hey Paul. Lovely honest Vlog and great pace. Love the honesty wih this - showing the film feed issue as well as the lens cap on. Loved image number 3 mate - that is so strong! Visualisation, as you say is key huh! I got he book in the mail too. Awesome job. on the coffee table! = ) Speak soon. Ewan
Cheers mate
Great work, I had no choice but shoot film as I'm 66 now. I started shooting film at about 12 years old.
Believe it or not 4X5 at age 13 for the local newspaper.......with a pocket full of flash bulbs.
35mm till 1974, 6.45 till 1980 when I turned full Hasselblad. My favorite b&w film was plusX in microdol.
Just one pointer, a bellows lens shade will change your world.......it will improve contrast and do away with lens flair.
The Hassey shades are pretty cheap on e-bay last time I looked. Make sure to get the correct adaptors for your lens.They cam new with them......but I would think most lost them?
I NEVER shoot without a shade, thats how you get the contrast the Zeiss optics are famous for.
They came with a 52 bayonet adapter and a 77 screw adapter......and two masks.
And work on all hassey optics from 38mm through 250mm.
They are as we speak on ebay in the US from $25-$50 US dollars.
The newer one fold up.
Keep the faith........it really is I think intuitive and simple.
The roller coaster of life! If we got it right every time we wouldn’t be worth knowing. Determination, resilience and persistence make us what we are.
I shoot both 35mm and 120 with a variety of cameras; you’re absolutely right Paul, it can be a total let down at the end of the day, however that one image that you want hang on your wall makes it all worth while. I’ve gone through the exact range of emotions, made the same mistakes (continue to do so) and wonder why I just don’t go back to digital, but at the end of the day, you can’t beat the process of shooting and developing film.
Additionally, there is a spool you can buy with plastic guides on that mitigate all those film leading mishaps/problems, it’s called the AP Compact , Multi-format self-fed spiral. Saves so much time and grief
Thanks brian I might go and check that spool out
I sculpt. Also build military models. When things ain’t working out, I put it alway and work on it another day. Advice: put away ur Film camera, take out ur iPhone if u have one, and take photos. Edited them, even print them. Have fun. Then get back to ur film camera. Like a mini vacation.
You can get a polaroid back for that Hasselblad, we used it in the day ( back in the 80's) to check light and composition before using film. Remember it only takes one photograph to make it all worthwhile. Beautiful photo's and excellent video.
Thankyou
Bummer about the failure, but I like the facr how you deal with it. It motivates me not to hang my head when I am on that path.
Paul, that one picture said "pictuTe" :)
This tells me that it is indeed a very challenging week for you. BUT, who doesn't experience this from time to time? This is part and parcel of any creative endeavour or anything worth doing in life. What I do appreciate is the honesty, sharing the journey and not just the destination. Make 99 images you're not happy with to end up with 1 amazing photo is a good day in my mind.
Keep doing what you're doing and we will be here in the highs and the lows.
I will be in NZ by this Sunday and I hope to see you photographing in Taupo.
Thanks for that James, as much as that annoys the shit out of me knowing that there is a spelling mistake in that video, it probably emphasizes my point I guess, so I will leave it there for the eagle eyed. Thanks James keep an eye out for me.
I always come back to the same places over and over again, and try to get a better shot than the last time. Never gonna stop doing that, I expect :-)
Mate wait until you have your dark room and start printing, that's where things can go wrong and you end up pulling your hair out.
I highly recommend to get a spot meter where you can average out the exposure. I have a 500cm for my landscape and the spot meter has been a god send.
As for forgetting to take the lens cap off or opening up the mirror etc I have check list before I release the shutter. Same applies to my 8X10 process. Thanks for sharing " your failure" we all have them.
Dominique.
Great honest vlog
I know exactly what you are talking about trying to get 120 film on the roll. Each film is different, I've had HP5+ go on with ease and FP4+ take 5 to 10 minutes just to get started.
Great honest video mate I recall vividly the almost panic back in my wedding photography days waiting for the film to be developed hoping like hell I’d got the exposures right one thing I always did was use a hand held meter I never trusted to camera meter might be worth looking into mate also in these digi days to help with composition grab a shot on the phone to see if the composition works. Loving your channel and your dedication and commitment to film I wish I could stick with it. 📷📷📷📷📷
I need a spot meter for sure MOT mate!
Failures are part of the learning process. First of course you're disappointed, then you move on and improve, in this way the gratification is even bigger I think.
Hey Paul, I received “Flowing Fields” in the post this morning, thank you. It’s a stunning image I’m very happy. Off to the framers tomorrow.
Jon.
Awesome John great news thanks for your support
When I'm off my game it usually means I'm tired or avoiding something on my mind. Looking at contact sheets from some of the greats with all their"failures" helps. Only human aye
You can get a bay 60/70 to threaded filter adapter for around $10 for your hasselblad lenses, the bay mount filters are few and expensive.
As for visualization, you would do yourself a great service to study and understand your chosen films spectral sensitivity chart. Understanding what colors it's sensitive to and not sensitive to as well as it's exposure latitude will tell you what filters will do and how to pair them with a given scene or emotion, color science it's integral to b&w film. I've learned more about color from shooting black and white. Grad/split filters are of great use especially in landscape photography. I can also highly recommend film tests that include bracket shots of no filter, filter A, filter B or the like, take detailed notes for scenes including emotional impact or desired emotional outcome of a shot. Study and execute with informed intent, this is the best advice I can give at this point in my skill set.
Cheers Kelvin, I have purchased 2 adapters now for the 50mm and both are a tad small hence the duck tape solution
Another excellent, thought provoking video Paul. Thanks for your honesty. I think the high risk of 'failure' in film photography is what keeps the challenge special and worthy of doing. I only shoot 36 exposure rolls of 35mm film, mainly black and white. Out of a typical roll I usually get 1-3 pictures that I am happy with (but sometimes none!), a handful that are complete 'failures' leading me to think "why did I bother" and the vast majority of the remainder of the roll are possibly "ok" at best. Not a stunningly high success rate! BUT - the pleasure I get is the process itself and trying to get better and learn the lessons from the photos that didn't work out. If it was easy there would be no value in doing it. Kind regards.
Good onya mate
Really enjoyed the insights - I recently was reminded by the film I was shooting to not get such a big head; went out to a very nice spot outside of Berkeley, California, and basically had 2 rolls of 36 exp. go to waste because I wasn't reading the light well on the landscape, causing things to be blown out, shadows completely black, etc. A shame really, because it was one of the few days this winter where it wasnt completely down-pouring rain but had significant cloud cover that just gave the sky an amazing composition to it.
Wouldn't change the process for the world though. Thanks for the content!
Im with you 100%
We can learn far more from failure than success. I see you found the mirror lock up button, that's the way to go. Cheers.
Yes indeed, I did. Thanks Wayne
Definitely can be a love/hate relationship. But, leave it for a while and I totally miss shooting film. Nice one Paul. (Edit: last frame, picture is misspelled ;-) )
Failure is part of the film photography process. Biggest failures I encountered was spending a whole day shooting with my 4x5" large format camera, adding 6 film sheets nicely on the MOD54 developer just to find out that my Xtol developer decayed (just a little yellow tint which I didn't think at the time was important) and after fixing all sheets came out blank. I was mostly annoyed that the time spent was just gone with nothing left other than experience and memory. The other bad experience was using a long expired Kodak P3200 film which I assumed would still work okay with 2 stops overexposure (one stop for each 10 years of age). Unfortunately this film was totally done - all my photos turned out fully underexposed. It had lost its sensitivity. Since then I am no longer using long expired films especially if they weren't stored well or given by someone to get rid of. Regarding taking photos especially with long exposure, applying the reciprocity factor for the exposure time is critical - even if it is estimated.
Thanks for that, failures you will never forget. I think that's one of the wonders of film and what its teaches us.
I am sure the work of great artists include a number of works some would consider average. Good days not so good days.
Regards
Nice video. First time watching your channel.
Thanks Mike
Well spoken mate ... i got a lot of sense out of that & even though i haven,t done film photography, i can relate to that in digital & camera accidents .... i have a wall of fame to remind me & learn from my camera grave yard. However, & touch wood, i haven't had any camera problems for a while & finally upgraded to the camera i was wanting almost 2 years ago ... so good things take time i guess. Had my eye out for a while , as you know & i suppose i could have afforded to buy one new, but i finally picked one up second hand with a lot of accessories included ... ex wedding videographer & visual media producer ... so it,s had a good run in ... Lol !! Theirs Something about second hand cameras that i like ... maybe they have good vibes for sure !
Good onya mate wish I had your patience for a deal, hope that drone of yours stays dry!
Im crossing my fingers on water flights mate .. Lol !!
It’s the art or craft part of the activity that can be vexing! You didn’t fail, imo, but perhaps the results weren’t quite up to your expectations(?). Brilliant vs okay vs “ooops!” is quite a range of expectations, and we all have our critical tendencies. I like viewing your work, locations, and the whole story! A few of the spots looked like excellent fishing sites for next visits! Your videos take my mind off the snow & subzero temps here in Wisconsin! Many thanks and no fails, in my view! 👀
Ta Jeff
Mate, if it was easy every fool would be doing it 😁 Really enjoyed this video, made me feel like a bit less of a doofus, so thanks!
The faliure is hard to deal with, especially when the more forgiving digital option is always tapping you on the shoulder.
I loved the honesty in your photos, Paul! Them being black and white, they could even work despite the faults. In particular the overexposed one. For some reason all of them were appealing to me. It has happened to me a couple of times that I shot someone in the face - with the damn lens cap on. There have been very few very awkward moments in my life that were so awkward that I could still feel the painfulness of them months or even years later... Cause you want to protect the bloody Summicron you paid so much for, but take off the lens cap before you actually need the lens fast? Nah... If I’m lucky, the person I’m shooting, realizing what I’ve just done, is a photographer and will understand :). At least a landscape won’t judge you, and you can keep your secret :). Thus, and for other reasons, I also love shooting landscape.
Another great video! I’m really curious about how you accidentally left the lens cap on for an SLR...
Put the cap back on after I locked the mirror off and forgot to take it off again
Hey your supposed to be the one to cheer me up, not the other way around. (🙂) If it makes you feel better I've got lots of bad images too (and a few lucky ones). That's what keeps me coming back for more. Always love the scenery (NZ looks amazing) and I always enjoy the short escape. Thanks and keep on failing!
Paul, There is always another Day...
I suspect that most film photographers can identify with your honest reflection in this vlog; I know that I can. Much as I enjoy shooting with my digital cameras, it is film photography that keeps me grounded. One failure in particular that I can relate to is the difficulty loading medium format film into dev tank spirals. Too often the first frame ends up with little kinks that spoil the shot.
PS. you can get a wide film intake spool for 120 film off ebay, they come from England, it makes life a lot easier getting the film onto the spool: But don't, repeat, don't, try and use it for 35mm film. Strictly 120 only: You have been warned:
Hi Brian yea I have one, think I have had mixed success with it, maybe I tried using it for 35mm. I think you may have recommended it to me
@@PaulCSmithPhotographer I take sizzlers into the bag and cut back well behind the curl and you can snip the corners If there is still a curl I either snip more or fold back the film. Any way it may help if you haven't already tried it. Ordinary spools can drive you to tears when first starting out, the new spool just takes a couple of minutes to use now days.
I use quite a lot of 'point and shoots', no TTL...lens caps honestly, especially those 'decisive moments'. Click, great got the shot, take camera away from eye, look at camera, lenscap still on...again! Nothing makes you feel more like a complete amateur.
Okay, you still haven't answered, which part of the Midlands are you from?
West Midlands, Bloxwich
Great video again Paul. Thanks a lot. Failure can learn us a lot. And if I look at the number of reactions on this video, everybody recognises failure.
As you said, previsualization is a very important aspect of making analog images. Last year I did a 365 project and I learned how much can go wrong. Forgetting to put in the flash sync cable or forgetting to set the self timer are some other things that go wrong. During the year I developed a kind of routine/ checklist and this helped, mostly. Because there are times you get carried away or too to eager to make that one shot and something goes wrong again. The good thing is, some images that went wrong, ended op very beautiful. Although not the way I intended them to be.
I was wondering, after using your 50mm and 150mm for some time now. Can you please share your thoughts on these lenses? How do you think they compare? I thank you in advance. Best regards, from Holland
Hi Erik, thanks for your comment. Re the lenses, I've only shot landscapes with this camera but both lenses seem to compliment each other nicely. Really like what I'm getting with the 150mm as a focal length for landscapes has made me shoot differently.
@@PaulCSmithPhotographer I use my 150 most of the time for it is a great lens for portraiture. Starting to use 50mm now as well to include more of the environment/context, however, one needs to be very careful not to get strange distortions (hands etc) when near by.
@@PaulCSmithPhotographer And yes! They seem to complement each other well!
I've just had a few days in Wales. Shot half a roll thinking that I was in B on the Hasselblad, only to find that I'm still on 1/60. What a waste.
Hi,Paul in future I buy a positiv labour,i don t like the scans anymore!
Here is what my photo mentor told me many years ago: "You're going to make mistakes. Learn from them and never make the same mistake twice. Over time, you will become monotonously perfect!" ;)
and when two months after shooting several films you develop them and all the photos you have taken with the wide angle are blank because the iris has not worked .....(two rools totally).
I can imagine!
Hi Paul... I honestly am not being off here..... But were you shooting with the Hassy or your Rangefinder? It's impossible to not notice you have your lens cap on on a Hassy!!
Your over exposed image can be pulled in to make a decent image...... It's just been exposed a tad to the right of your histogram ;-)
Cracking vid by the way,. and loving your new location of work too :-)
It's a long story but consider I had a 10 stop ND filter on and had placed the lens cap on while I did other stuff to keep the filter dry
@@PaulCSmithPhotographer Oops :-D
Great Video and the photos. I feel your paid. Can I make a recommendation please Paul for your frustrations with light. If you don’t already have a decent spot meter, get yourself one. Check out some of my recent videos where I talk about metering the scene. Good luck.
Thanks stephen yes a spot meter is on my shopping list, will check out your video
@@PaulCSmithPhotographer If you can find a Pentax spotmeter , this is the one. Not too many around, and the batteries may be hard to locate.