FILM NOIR: FINDING MY PASSION FOR PHOTOGRAPHY AGAIN
Updated: Oct 7
I’ve been a photographer for over 30 years now. Needless to say, I’ve shot so much film over the decades I could probably fill a swimming pool with it!
However, since my full-time job shifted to guiding overland trips, my relationship with the camera changed. To support the marketing side of Four Points Adventures, I started thinking about photography (which is all digital now) strictly as a tool to promote the business. Over time, I lost touch with my passion for photography itself. It became more about content creation than creative expression.
That all changed recently when I stumbled across a small, local film camera shop in Seattle.
Dusting Off the Classics
Walking into that shop brought back a wave of memories and reminded me how much I genuinely love the medium. It turns out that old passion hadn't disappeared, it was just laying low for a while.
As soon as I got home, I dug through my gear stash and pulled out:
The 35mm Workhorse: My classic Olympus OM-1.
The Medium Format Icons: My old Hasselblad bodies and lenses.
I gave them a deep cleaning, made sure the mechanics were smooth, and packed them into a nice new travel case.
Finding the Passion for Photography - Six Good Shots and a New Spark
To test the camera bodies, my light metering, and my lab workflow from start to finish, I loaded a single "practice" roll of 35mm film into the Olympus. I wanted to see if I still had the chops for manual analog shooting.
Out of that first roll, I got some really solid shots. That was all it took and I'm completely hooked again. Sometimes that's all it takes to find the passion for photography again.
Here's a few photos from the "practice" roll of 35mm film.
Slowing Down on the Trail
Now, my little Olympus OM-1 goes with me on all my drives.
Digital photography makes it easy to take hundreds of photos a day, but shooting film forces you to slow down, compose a shot, and wait for that truly special moment. Having that mechanical camera sitting on the seat next to me has brought back a sense of joy I hadn't felt in a long time, and I'm looking forward to sharing more analog shots from our upcoming backcountry trips.
Give me a call at (510) 912-8618 if you'd like to get some friends together for a vehicle-based photography expedition. I love planning creative trips like these, and I'm confident you will too.
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