How I ended up shooting and loving film again after 30 years away.
The picture above of my beloved dog from earlier this year is the first film picture I have taken in 30 years. I used my old Nikon FTN Photomic that I’ve had for 50+ years to take it. I haven’t used it since 1990.
I always loved photography. So, at age 20, I enrolled in photography school and learned all that I could about film photography that was available at the time. After graduating, I worked in a custom photo lab using the knowledge and skills I had learned in school.
In school, we only used medium and large format cameras since they were the primary cameras used in commercial photography of the day. Years later, as digital photography began to emerge and grow over time, I immersed myself in that world. I eventually returned to school where I took online classes in a visual communications program. There, I learned more about the digital world I was moving into. As a consequence, I left film photography behind.
Digital and Analog coexistence.
I love technology. For all the virtues and convenience the digital world offers, I feel there is ample room for it to coexist with, rather than replace, an analog foundation that has been enjoyed by so many for years. For me, that is the case for adding film back into my photography again after 30 years away.
It started as a whim that I couldn’t get out of my head. I saw how film never died out as many expected. Instead, it became increasingly popular over recent years. This change was initially driven by younger generations. They did not grow up with analog photography but were learning and living it deliberately instead. As I took notice, I began saying that I might get out my 50+ year old Nikon FTN. I wanted to throw some Tri-X film in it, and see what happens. After saying that too often, I finally backed up those words and took the plunge early this year, 2025. I did not know if my old Nikon camera would work and if so, how well. All that would be lost by trying if it didn’t work out would be a roll of film.
It was odd at first. The Nikon FTN Photomic that felt so natural in my hands in my 20s and 30s now felt strange, heavy, and cumbersome. There were many profound differences between this camera and all the digital cameras I had used over the last 25 years. This included my current Nikon D750. That said, after some cleaning and dusting it off as best I could, I haltingly loaded a roll of Ilford HP5 Plus into it from memory (muscle or other), and away I went. I discovered that the Kodak Tri-X I knew and loved in the 70s had been “changed.” As a result, I went with the other film I remembered from old film days, Ilford. To my delight, it did not disappoint.
Diving In
As I dove in, I knew the shutter worked from playing with it at different shutter speeds and apertures with the back open so I felt I would be okay. I stepped out onto the covered back patio looking around for something to shoot. Then, I looked down at my side and saw our beloved puppy looking up at me with curiosity.
Using the light meter on my Android phone, (since the batteries and light meter on my old camera were defunct), I saw there was not much ambient light. I had to adjust accordingly. Shooting handheld at 1/125 to help ensure no motion blur left me with only one option. With film, the ISO is fixed. To get a good exposure, I had to stop down to f 1.4, the lowest aperture on my 50mm lens. That left me a razor thin DOF to get her eyes in focus. I swayed back and forth, with her eyes going in and out of focus. Then, I held my breath, steadied, hit the shutter and let it fly.
I practiced shooting outdoors in daylight with the rest of the 24 exposure roll. I only bought a 24 exposure roll instead of 36 in case none of the pictures on this test roll came out, there would be less waste. As I finished, it was off to the lab and wait. I seriously thought if anything came out that this might just be a one and done experiment for the novelty of it and I would go back to my digital world. I never expected what happened instead.
Shooting film catches fire with me.
After a few days, the scanned pictures came back. After seeing the aesthetic of that first film picture I had shot in 30 years (of our puppy looking at the camera), I was immediately hooked. Since that moment, shooting film has caught fire with me. I have lost count of how many different films and number of rolls I’ve shot this year. Even more exciting is that 2025 is not over yet. I even bought two more old film cameras to go with my old Nikon. I have been playing with them as well.
So, I finally “got” the “why” so many people shoot film in our digital world these days. For someone who cut his teeth on film photography back in the day, my new foray into the world of analog photography felt like a warm welcome home. Shooting film has taken me back to the essence of what I learned and loved in my youth about photography.
I now slow down and treasure every frame when I set it up and shoot, whether digital or film, as if it was my last. It has brought the joy back in photography for me. This is just a beginning for me. I am looking forward to what is yet to come.
