Day Seventeen: Photography

One of the seminar classes I'm taking is a photography class. I really like this class. We are using film, but we didn't start the year using normal film cameras. We started out using pinhole cameras, which essentially are light-tight boxes with a pin prick hole in the front, with photo sensitive paper on the opposite wall. By starting out with these cameras, we learned the basics of processing pictures in a dark room. We learned the patience required to produce a photo, and we were introduced to the idea of exposure.
Now, however, we have graduated to using out 35mm film cameras! I am so happy. I have been waiting all semester to use them. Our first project is pretty open; we have to somehow involved windows in our pictures. For me this is really easy and fun to shoot, because I love framing the same picture differently, and what better way to do that than with the actual frame of a window?  With the film cameras, everything is manual, so we have to choose the right aperture and shutter speed and focus the camera. At first it seems like a lot to think about, but it gets easier. Things start to click and the photography gets easier.
I really enjoy shooting with film. The whole process takes time. You have to think about what you're doing. You can't just pick up your phone and see the image right away; you have to put in effort and the result is so rewarding. After the methodical, and time consuming, process in the dark room, it's so rewarding to see the final image, a print that you put so much thought and effort into. It makes my pictures have so much more meaning
Shooting with film has also made me realize how quickly we try to rush through everything in life. Nowadays we get frustrated if we have to wait five seconds for a page to load or if we just miss the green light. Shooting and processing film has made me slow down, even if it's just during those few times I'm holding the camera or the film. There is no need to rush everything. It can be nice to slow down and enjoy the time it takes to produce something meaningful, to enjoy the process of making the final product.
-Libby Morehouse