Medium Format Roll No. 2 & 3
I know I know, I just did a post about this. I can't stop. I've kind of fallen in love with square black and white pictures and I feel like I've found gold by tapping into it. Using film makes me take more thoughtful pictures- think, compose, set shutter speed, focus, cock shutter, snap, wind, that's it. There's no retakes, no checking the back of the camera to see if 'you got it', you're relying on intuition and living in the moment. And there's something special that happens with the subjects in between focusing and snapping... I can't describe it, but in those extra 5 seconds that it takes to focus the picture they seem to lose their self awareness, and everything that they've been thinking about lately rises to the surface across their face, and then you click. And you have it, and there it sits on the undeveloped negative until you wind it onto a spool in the dark and complete the developing process in your sink. It results in a better subject experience than bombarding them with 3 clicks per second. It might not sound that appealing, but it is so rewarding and exciting for me. I get such bad tunnel-vision when I shoot with digital because the perfectionist in me gets scatterbrained thinking about the endless retakes and possibilities, so sometimes it's good to just rein it in and give yourself some limitations. And in this case, the limitations are just 12 shots per roll. I'm still learning how to use the camera/develop the film so my pictures are by far from perfect, but I'm having so much fun trying and experimenting! Here are some pictures that I took with my Yashica-A at home and on my recent trip to Michigan-
And on a last note, here are some of my favorite medium format photographers who use/used TLR cameras, click on the names to see their work:
Annd one more last note. These people were often seen using their TLR cameras back in the day... I wish I could see their pictures. Recognize any of these faces?
