Ann shoots film

Why do you shoot film, Ann?

While most people over the past decade have exchanged their old film cameras with digital cameras, I've done the opposite: I started shooting digital and moved on to film. I bought my first DSLR about six years ago and learned pretty much everything there was to know about digital photography and image editing, but after a while I started to get bored and frustrated with my photos. They seemed a little flat and dull for my liking, and I realized that I had to move on to film in order to get the atmosphere, the texture, colors and tonality I wanted.

I bought a 40 year old Canon F-1 from a friend, and it's still my favorite camera, because it's reliable, simple to use and take great pictures.
After five years of shooting film, I still have so much to learn. Every camera has its own quirkiness. Every type of film has its own look and quality. Film is wonderfully perfect and imperfect at the same time. It can be messy and difficult to control, compared to shooting digital. There are more things that can go wrong in the proces, however, when it’s right, it is all worth it. It's magic. I'm not anti-digital, even though I prefer film. It's about using the right camera for the right job.

The best part of shooting film is that top quality film cameras only cost a fraction of their digital equivalents. It can be pretty expensive if you want to keep up with the continuous advance of digital camera technology. I know my film cameras will last a life time.

You can see more of Ann's photos in this and this set on Flickr.