Remembering Film...

Steve Sandvoss photographed by Tom Clark in Desert Hot Springs, California

Film

It seems strange to think back on film with any nostalgia, but after almost five years of working with digital I'm seeing film getting smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror.

For me personally, B&W digital is still a a world away from B&W film. So if I want to shoot B&W with any seriousness I still pick up my F3 and my Nikkor 105 1.8. For everything else the ease, immediacy and affordability of digital have made it a defacto part of my life.

This image of Steve Sandvoss was taken during a shoot one weekend in Palm Springs where I was dipping my toe ever so cautiously into the world of digital photography. I did most of the work on film and occasionally grabbed a digital camera just to see.

See what?

I don't know. I had a certain amount of disdain for all things digital then but I couldn't deny that a few of the digis I shot that weekend were working for me. From there on out I began to shed a little of my reluctance and little by little made my way out into the deeper waters of digital photography. This image of Steve however was shot on film in the shade of a veranda. I don't even remember for sure what kind but it was likely Tri-x from the look of the grain. It's not even so much the grain that I love but the broad spectrum of tones that B&W digital seems so hard-pressed to see and record.

Evolution is a tough mistress...