In my recent portrait session with Charlotte, I used both my digital color camera and my film camera loaded with black and white to get two different looks.
The color images benefit from capturing her beautiful, natural red hair. They’re also much easier to process and alter—which should come as no surprise to anyone who has shot, developed and printed film.
Charlotte is not a model, although she’s clearly pretty enough to be one if she’d choose. I gave her some direction on posing, and she contributed her own ideas.
Getting an expression other than a standard smile is always a challenge. I think she did a good job on looking engaged even when I’d ask her to not smile. And yet, when I caught her in an unguarded moment, her expression makes the photo.
As for the film photos, they have the traditional, grainy look, which I personally like. I made darkroom prints of these, which I like more than their digital counterparts made from scans of the negatives.
This is my favorite from our session. A gust of wind blew her hair across her face and I asked her not to brush it away.
Even though it’s more equipment to bring along, I think I’ll continue to shoot portraits with both cameras. Like so much else in photography, there’s a case to be made for both choices.
