How often do you shoot?

[LambentTyto]

average one 120 roll every 2-3 weeks...

of course if i had the olympus pen i'd be shooting a lot more - great trade! never should have sold the olympus pen! enjoy.

Thank you! I can't wait to do some shooting with it. I hear that the light meter can be a bit unreliable with newer batteries, though, so I might have to invest in a light meter.

OP: I don't think you're likely to save any money shooting film, but you just might find that you enjoy the process and, if you do, that it's enough of a reason to do it.

Well now, note that I said "cheap to get into." I've got three cameras and one with an extra telephoto lens that I got for a pretty nice deal. I might sell the Pantax because I can get a couple hundred for that, it seems and my entry cost will be even lower. Of course, I think I need to invest in a manual light meter, so maybe not. I'm thinking about limiting myself to a roll a month for now. The everyday snapshots I can leave up to my point and shoot, but when I see something I want to remember, I'm pulling out the film camera. The truth is, I might even shoot less than a roll a month.

Every year I put every print I make on my bulletin board and live with it for awhile. The ones that fall out of favor get pulled down in a few days, but I leave the ones I do like in place throughout the year. So far this year I have 14 prints still hanging on my Wall of Fame but I suspect at least two of those will come back down before too much more time passes.

I like your method. Gives you a chance to really decide what you like and what you don't.

 

[perkeleellinen]

I do nearly all my shooting in Spring and Summer. I start around April and finish up at the end of September. From then on I put one roll of B&W in my camera and it will last until April the following year. I'm a fair weather shooter.

This year I shot 20 rolls of colour film (15 negative, 5 slide). Of the 15 negative rolls my hit rate is on average 6 on each roll. So I'm working through the negatives at the moment and I'm going to print probably almost 90 frames.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

As often as possible. It means weekends and on trips. It is hard to shot between 8/30 and 17 then you are in tier 1 support. .

 

[guangong]

Except for two or three projects on my property and adjacent state forest, most of my photography could be summarized as “found objects”...things and people and circumstances in situations that interest me. I always carry a subminiature camera in my pocket. Whenever doing errands or whatever outside home I usually carry a 35mm camera or folding MF camera, small sketch book, pens, wallet, etc in a Billingham bag (one of my best investments years ago, considering that I carry it all the time.
Not being a “professional”, we have freedom to pick our subjects.
So, my shooting is erratic and depends upon what I encounter. As the Tom Lehrer song goes, “Be prepared, that’s the boy scouts marching song....if you meet a Girl Scout who is similarly inclined...be prepared!

 

[TheRook]

Very rarely shooting during 2018, all it's been is during trips (spain, hungary and romania this year). I find it hard to give my self a reason to go out when at home nowdays. My last thoughts have been regarding building myself a very small but usable darkroom at home and making some nice prints instead.

Photography can be done indoors as well. The camera doesn't require fresh outdoor air to function.

 

[rubbernglue]

Photography can be done indoors as well. The camera doesn't require fresh outdoor air to function.

Well.. sure! The weather was beautiful this year in sweden, I just don't feel a need to take "unnecessary" pictures all the time.. When finding a new place a different city whatever - thats when I find inspiration. Sure I absolutely understand others who photograph at home, taking family portraits and what not, but I live by my self and anyone I know lives at least an hour away. Sure I use my cell here and there but I don't count that

 

[jtk]

I rarely shoot unless I'm working on a self-assigned project or to answer a technical question. When I was professional most of my shots were either money or demo/portfolio. Now I shoot intending to make fine printsl I'm not into accumulating snapshots. "Enlightenment favors the prepared mind."

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Not as much as I should or want to, but I do get out at least once a month to do something. Some months I'm out shooting every weekend, sometimes both days. And when I travel, I'm shooting every day.

 

[Sirius Glass]

When I am on a trip or give myself an assignment. Rarely on a day to day basis.

 

[LambentTyto]

I rarely shoot unless I'm working on a self-assigned project or to answer a technical question. When I was professional most of my shots were either money or demo/portfolio. Now I shoot intending to make fine printsl I'm not into accumulating snapshots. "Enlightenment favors the prepared mind."

So being a total newbie with film, does developing prints via a darkroom skip the digital scanning process for a pure analogue experience?

 

[rubbernglue]

I like my prints being made in the darkroom, perhaps it's like the knowing that a painting of yours was really made by that famous artist and that's the only one of it's kind - just that feeling!
I have most of my pics in the computer also, but well cataloged and occasionally post pics here and there but I take pictures for my own enjoyment and so that people who visit me can view it like a part of me and perhaps appreciate the job and thought behind it.

 

[jvo]

... only a handful of my photographs that I think are really good. There are lots that I like, but that's different. Really good? Not so many. ...

i am often amazaed at a print i made that i think is "one i like" vs. really good... someone sees a print i think is in the 1st category, admires it, and explains what is of interest and important. i see it from their eyes in a new way. it doesn't necessarily make it really good, but something that i didn't consciously see that occurs to another.

 

[Pentode]

So being a total newbie with film, does developing prints via a darkroom skip the digital scanning process for a pure analogue experience?

Yes, optical printing (sometimes referred to as "wet" printing) uses an enlarger to expose photographic printing paper by projecting light through the negative onto the paper. The paper is sensitive to light in the same way film is so the result is a positive image. The paper is developed in a similar fashion to film. That's a super-simplified description, but you get the idea, I'm sure. No scanning takes place - it's a process that precedes computers by about a century.

 

[rubbernglue]

Personally I really don't care if my picture is "really good" - if I like it myself and can enjoy seeing it on my wall then that's what does it for me.

 

[LambentTyto]

Yes, optical printing (sometimes referred to as "wet" printing) uses an enlarger to expose photographic printing paper by projecting light through the negative onto the paper. The paper is sensitive to light in the same way film is so the result is a positive image. The paper is developed in a similar fashion to film. That's a super-simplified description, but you get the idea, I'm sure. No scanning takes place - it's a process that precedes computers by about a century.

That's pretty cool. I might have to try that out some day.

 

[Ces1um]

I get out about twice a week on my weekends. Usually the camera comes with me when I walk the dog in various parks/natural areas. I don't always shoot a full roll be it 35mm or 120 though.

 

[blockend]

Less than 10, more than 4 rolls per week.

 

[sterioma]

I would love to have more time to shoot (and especially darkroom print more).
I typically shoot between 10 and 20 rolls per year (35mm and 120), and have 12 darkroom sessions (4 hours once per month, in our camera club shared darkroom).

 

[OptiKen]

No where near often enough

 

[MattKing]

That's pretty cool. I might have to try that out some day.

Here is an Ilford website link oriented towards beginners who want to learn how to print in a darkroom.
IMHO, it is the most magical part of the process. And I've been enjoying that magic for 50+ years.
https://www.ilfordphoto.com/category/learning-zone/beginner-series/beginners-printing/

 

[removed account4]

Personally I really don't care if my picture is "really good" - if I like it myself and can enjoy seeing it on my wall then that's what does it for me.

yup that's the point to enjoy oneself
==
too add to what i said before
i only take snapshots unless i am on an assignment
YMMV

 

[jtk]

Thinking about driving to PA from NM and back to add adventure to my sweetheart's mandatory funeral attendance (think Kaddish).

Schedule is awkward because the guest of honor has not quite done the deed.

The RT travel and a few days wandering fly-over country would define some kind of 9 day personal photo assignment.

I'd photograph the mourners ifn' ...

Terrible weather would be stimulating.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Thinking about driving to PA from NM and back to add adventure to my sweetheart's mandatory funeral attendance (think Kaddish).

Schedule is awkward because the guest of honor has not quite done the deed.

The RT travel and a few days wandering fly-over country would define some kind of 9 day personal photo assignment.

I'd photograph the mourners ifn' ...

Terrible weather would be stimulating.

Drive east on I-40 and then north on I-81 and that would avoid most of the snow going east. On the way up stop at Harper's Ferry to take photographs without crowds of people this time of year. At stop at Falling Water https://www.fallingwater.org/ and the Flight 93 Memorial https://www.nationalparks.org/explore-parks/flight-93-national-memorial might be in order. That way some of the sadness could be balanced with other things.