Trying to break an emotional bond

There can be no doubt I love film and film cameras.
The smell when opening a fresh film canister is like perfume and holding a beautiful 1950s rangefinder or a pristine Rollei still sends shivers down my spine.
I like the look of images produced by film -- I think it is magical and I like to look through old negatives and slides. Having a beer while I wait for a roll of film to be developed makes me feel like a kid on Christmas morning -- except for the beer part. I sometimes believe I have Rodinal or D-76 in my veins and digital imagesx and cameras, more often than not, leave me emotionally distant.
But with all that said, I am seriously considering a complete switch to digital. What, you may wonder, has brought on this 180 degree turn-around? In a word, 'cost.'
Last week I took a roll of film to the lab I regularly use and asked them to do the normal 'develop and scan to cd' bit. What I did not know is they had increased their prices, dramatically. When I got handed the bill, I was left reeling. All of my arguments about film not being more expensive than digital suddenly no longer held any water.
As I drove home I can honestly say I felt betrayed, abandoned by an old friend. Since then I have gone through some major, internal, mental-wrestling. Logic tells me it's time to say goodbye to the 20 or so mechanical film cameras I have but the problem is, I have developed strong emotional bonds with them.
I know I can do the same or better with my digital cameras -- in fact I can no longer argue digital is inferior to film. The truth is, it isn't and hasn't been for a long time.
And clients' simply don't care. I've tried to position myself as doing something different by shooting film but no-one cares. Sad but true.
I haven't finally decided my course, though logic tells me I will keep a couple of cameras to shoot the odd roll of film, mostly for fun.
Naturally the Rollei will stay and most likely the Bronica so I can shoot B&W while I have colour in the Rollei. And the Yasica A will probably stay because it has a triplet lens produces nice portraits. I'll keep the Voigtlander Prominent because it's so beautiful, and the two Retinas because they have sentimental value. And, if I'm keeping the rangefinders, I probably should hang on to the Ricoh as it easily fits in my pocket. There's also not much point in getting rid of the Nikons because the lenses can be used on the digital bodies...
Arrrgh!! fuck it! Why is life so complicated?

Blown away by a cheap rangefinder

It's been months since I last wrote anything on my blog, mainly because the financial crunch has forced me into survival mode. I've had to hustle and do all sorts of strange photographic jobs, ranging from golf days to end-of-year company functions.
Let's be honest, this is a tough business to be in right now.
But enough of that.
I recently shot some pictures of the little son of one of my best friends. Little Grant Cachia is one cute little tyke who never stops moving.


I wanted to do the shoot with something different, so I fished out an old Ricoh 35RF rangefinder camera that I've dabbled with on a few occasions.
The same, basic, Ricoh was produced in a number of guises and sold as a Ricoh 35G (I think) as well as under the Sears name. They can still be found regularly at bargain prices and are capable of phenomenal results.
I loaded up with Ilford's excellent XP2 Super black and white film. It's a very convenient film option as it produces incredibly fine-grained images and can be processed at any one-hour lab. I find it is best if under-exposed slightly and normally set my exposure meter at ISO 320.


The prints blew me away. Because the little guy moves so fast, and it was a dark and gloomy day (sounds like the start of a novel!) I was generally shooting wide open, at f2.8 and sometimes as slow as 1/15th of a second.
This resulted in some of the images not being blindingly sharp but I think they better captured the energy of the little guy. Sometimes sharp focus can be boring.
I have posted a couple of the shots below but you can also check them out at www.bighilt.smugmug.com
Also take a look at my new website www.bighilt.yolasite.com
Quite by chance I came across the work of Cheryl Jacobs. I think she is one of the finest portrait photographers you'll ever encounter. She is also one very good looking lady.
Do yourself a favour and look at her work at www.cheryljacobsportraits.com