NEW RELEASE: 50/50

Early in 2021 I was going through a period of creative burnout and was looking for ways to work through it. I appreciate many of the advantages of creating images with a digital camera over the past eight years. Being able to experiment freely with various techniques has truly allowed me to grown quite quickly over the past eight years.

I decided to take on project

I knew I loved my digital workflow and couldn’t see myself completely abandoning it for film as it didn’t make sense. For my life, digital is more practical from both a financial and logistical standpoints. The costs of film, processing and additional accessories are simply hard to justify. Some of these costs could be tempered by me (home film processing and scanning, bulk buying and loading film, etc.) but that would impact our living space and lifestyle. We have been trying to simplify our lifestyle, declutter our home so introducing a home darkroom lab was taking a step backward. Couple that with an already crowded workspace area as we continue to work from home, it was an easy “no” to any thoughts of a home lab.

In my continued efforts to grow creatively, I wanted to go down the journey of revisiting film photography and it’s slower and more mindful process. Originally, I set on this journey simply to have fun and slow down. I was also eager to explore local non-nature areas to see what caught my eye. This would be a big change that I was eagerly wanting. For the past few years I predominantly photographed the natural areas in the southwest. And while I enjoyed that experience, I felt like it was time to take a break. This would give me an opportunity to see new things as well as mix up the photography experience. Maybe this would experience would benefit my nature photography in the coming years. Maybe it would give me some perspective as I experience nature on future trips.

So I decided to make the leap. After some research on film stocks, cameras, etc. , I went to my local shop and picked up a Canon AE-1 and a fews rolls of film. Over the next few days, I was off into my neighborhood on a new-ish journey. I was truly excited…and a little nervous.

I was having so much fun and felt refreshed. It was nice re-visiting some areas by foot. Right out of the gate, it was freeing to only have my small camera. No massive backpack, army of lenses, slue of accessories or a tripod…it was heaven. I blended right into the environment and could quietly make images without drawing any attention to myself. This was a nice change.

After a few months and processing a healthy amount of film already. I quickly realized that 1.) I absolutely enjoy the experience of shooting film, 2.) the financial impact of film photography is very real and 3.) This isn’t sustainable for me long term. I couldn’t completely abandon either film or digital photography completely. Creatively, I had been having the best of times shooting film. It was exciting again. I enjoyed the speed, the process and simplified workflow. I would have to shoot film a little more sparingly and strategically. A hybrid model of 50% digital and 50% film seemed like a more realistic approach moving forward.

After replaying everything from the past few months, I came up with the idea of a project called “50/50”. The project would include 50 of my favorite images made from 50 rolls of film, 1 image from each roll. This project would end once I processed my 50th roll of film.

Over the next few months, I continued on with my 50/50 project. Below are my favorite 50 images from my first 50 rolls of film.

Project takeaways:

Digital or film, they’re just tools
Experience is king
I am terrible at metering for light
I have too much gear and will be selling pieces.
Less time in post production makes me a lot happier

It’s about balance and going too far over in either direction strains me. A buddy of mine named David Thompson embraces “going with the flow” and now that I think more about it, it makes more sense. I’ve noticed as well that it makes photography experience a lot more enjoyable. I didn’t think I would say this but i’ve realized that it is possible for me to go too slow for my own experiences. I’m learning that finding that healthy balance between both feels right for me. I’ve noticed a few times where the process goes too slow to where I miss the light or other parts of the scene, wind, people, things move, etc.

David and I had a quick chat on IG about his recent article on Nikons site and in it he had “enjoy the journey”. He said he goes with the flow and this couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m down to the last 5 rolls of film for this project. Go with the flow and let it happen. It really resonated with me as I neared the end.