The Path
All the photos posted on this website were taken by me using my Nikon N65 in South Carolina’s low country. Something about the landscape inspires creativity, don’t you think?
In this digital age, I still take pictures with my Nikon. 35mm. Yes, I use film. Honestly, it’s not that bad. I love having hard copies of the photos, that’s my downfall. With the film camera, I take the roll to my local film developer, Snap Shots of Westfield, NJ, and he produces beautiful copies (matte finish!) along with a digital CD. That way, I have a really nice copy of my shot and a digital image that I can reproduce as I like (for example, to post on a blog!).
I do have an “everyday” digital camera. But the photo quality is not nearly as good. I also have my own, really nice photo printer. But the copies are never as crisp. As for cost, I could process 50 rolls of film with my local developer and still not have justified the purchase of a professional digital camera, one which would produce photos of the same quality. Oh, and the employee behind the counter at Snap Shots is a WWII veteran. How interesting is that!
And here’s the kicker. I believe you take better shots with the old fashioned camera. Why? Digital makes us lazy. We can snap away and rely on the camera to do all the work. We leave it up to chance as to whether or not we catch the shot. When you only have 24 photos at a time, you work harder to make sure each one counts. You search for the shot, you line it up, you test it out. You don’t just snap and photo shop later. And there is something about having to wait which increases a photo’s intrinsic value. My “real” pics are more precious to me.
I do love the ease of a digital camera. I do love checking right away to see how the pictures turned out. I love having limitless photo taking opportunities. Especially of a group of children who never want to stay still. But, for me, it still hasn’t replaced the original. Some things just can’t!
