Shoot some film!

I've recently rediscovered the beauty of film. It's exciting. I learned on film and shot it for 6 years before finally going digital (honestly, never wanted to go digital, but it has its advantages). There's a look, color, and tonal rendition that are tough to come by digitally. Shooting film also requires great care and discipline with each shutter click. Film and processing cost money so I try not to waste any shots. It makes me think even harder about a composition and makes me more patient, too. I had these shots processed recently and finally purchased a good scanner to go along with it. I wanted to share the product of a week and 36 shots around my house with my boys. I used Portra 160NC, a professional, natural color film. Iso 160 is pretty slow, so these had to be outdoors. Hope this inspires you to pick up your old film camera or buy a used one (you can get them for less than $100 and they'll work with your current lenses).

If you decide film isn't for you, try this: limit yourself to 36 shots for an entire week or even an entire outing to the zoo, park, etc. Don't delete any shots or even review them. Try to get it right in-camera. The discipline and skill it takes are invaluable to good technique and will help you further your technical skills. Hope you try it out. Here's a sample of those shots.

About shooting color film: there's no "auto white balance" so shooting in different types of light will not produce the same color renditions (i.e., shooting on a cloudy day will produce cooler images, etc, when shooting with a daylight balanced film). You'll notice this in the color casts throughout this set. Here is a sample of that roll: