The scouts all want to shoot film

Bill Burk · Jan 16, 2016

The next couple scout outings promise to be good opportunities to take pictures, talk about photography and try for the merit badge.

So as we sat around the table I asked who had cameras.

No hands went up.

I practiced this speech before the meeting... "OK if you don't have a camera, a camera will be assigned to you"

Who wants to shoot digital.

No hands went up.

Who wants to shoot film?

All hands went up.

OK, manual camera where you have to set everything yourself or a point and shoot?

Black and white or color?

For those shooting color, prints or slides?

So the scouts will be shooting a little of each. Senior patrol leader wanted to shoot manual, and color, I talked him into slides.

Now I have to put together some gear. This is going to be a fun project.

Laurent · Jan 16, 2016

Are you sure this is fair? I mean, they are at an age when then may not be able to make their mind by themselves, and you introduce them to this addicting thing !

Congratulations!

Kevin Caulfield · Jan 16, 2016

Good work and good luck.

Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

PrestonR · Jan 16, 2016

Great to hear! I'm an Eagle Scout now, but I would have loved to shoot film for a merit badge.

Richard S. (rich815) · Jan 16, 2016

This is cool. However in my experience kids like the IDEA of film cameras but once they try them few stick with it due to: impatience, cost, process, etc. Worth trying though. Maybe at least one will stick with it!

JPJackson · Jan 16, 2016

This is a great project!
Help them learn how to "see" and share the results with us.

Sirius Glass · Jan 16, 2016

Best of luck in your endeavor. They are just the right age to shoot film and get into a darkroom.

winger · Jan 16, 2016

Cool! I hope it goes well and they have fun.

Trail Images · Jan 16, 2016

Good for you, Bill. Great to hear you're able and willing to give them the added support overall.

fdonadio · Jan 16, 2016

Richard S. (rich815) said:
Worth trying though. Maybe at least one will stick with it!

That's the idea, I think. If only one of them sticks, it was well worth it!

fdonadio · Jan 16, 2016

Great, Bill! I can't wait for the dodging and burning merit badge!

mgb74 · Jan 16, 2016

Great!

But I would encourage b/w so they can have the experience of developing and printing (I realize could be done with color, but far more difficult for beginners).

ME Super · Jan 16, 2016

This is cool, Bill! Maybe the SPL will get bit by the slide bug and will want to project them. I think manual or semi-automatic (such as aperture priority or shutter priority) is a great way to learn. Two scouts in my son's troop (including my son) have the photography merit badge.

fotch · Jan 16, 2016

mgb74 said:
Great!

But I would encourage b/w so they can have the experience of developing and printing (I realize could be done with color, but far more difficult for beginners).

A lot of magic for beginners starts in the darkroom.

OptiKen · Jan 16, 2016

FANTASTIC!
This should be a very fun project

Bill Burk · Jan 16, 2016

Thanks for the encouragement.

The requirements are clear for the badge, the scouts will easily meet them and a counselor can't make them do more than required. I'm going to get the color processed and will develop the black and white for them. Anything extra can happen after they already earned the badge. I figure the scout who shoots black and white, will always have those negatives to learn to print later.

My committee chair will bring in a "projector" for the color negs. I'll have to figure out what to do for black and white, maybe I'll make proof prints. Then I'll bring in a Carousel and the two shooting slides will get to show the real deal.

ME Super · Jan 16, 2016

Nice. It takes a lot to beat a projected slide.

CropDusterMan · Jan 16, 2016

Man, what a cool project Bill, very nice of you to donate your expertise and time to such
a great organization. It would be great fun for the kids having a slide show...popcorn
and lots of laughs and learning. It would be cool if you were able to have them watch
you process and print...maybe a youtube video of it they can't watch due to location...having
them see an image appear in a developer tray is a magical experience the first time...might
hook them on photography! Maybe put an ad on Craigslist or in the local paper to see if
people can donate/loan old film cameras...maybe even a local news TV station...is kind of a neat
local story for them. All of my gear is high end...if I had an old Rebel G or the likes, I'd donate it.

Good luck.

Jason

Richard Man · Jan 16, 2016

Give them all Leica Or 500C ;-P

Bill Burk · Jan 16, 2016

CropDusterMan said:
if I had an old Rebel G or the likes, I'd donate it.

Good luck.

Jason

Thanks CropDusterMan,

Yes, I think BSA is an awesome organization. Lately I've been collecting books written by Baden Powell, James West, Ernest Thompson and have been more and more impressed with their talents as writers, illustrators and storytellers. They basically started out writing handbooks of things for boys to do in their spare time. Many of the same things can still be done today (like the deer hunt game where a scout wears an iron "footprint" on his shoe and leaves a trail for the others to track), others need to be looked at as something that might be fun if it weren't so damaging to the environment (like building shelters and beds out of sapling trees).

I've got plenty of cameras.

Friends gave me an A-1 and that's going to the Senior Patrol Leader who wants to shoot slides with a manual camera. I figure he should get accurate exposures at least. I've got an old Rebel G and that's going to have color print film for the scout who wanted point and shoot color. For a scout who wanted to shoot black and white in a point and shoot, I've got a Canon AF35ML. Another scout is looking for point and shoot color but he may not be going on tomorrow's hike.

Bill Burk · Jan 17, 2016

Richard Man said:
Give them all Leica

Was thinking about it... the old M2 doesn't see much use these days since I've been shooting with the OM-4's (long story but now I've got two).

But seriously... I did shoot a roll through it last night. My son was in a play (the complete works of Wm. Shakespeare) and two nights ago I had a lousy time trying to use a Canon EOS with 100-300. Matrix metering schmetering. Really needed f/2 and a spotmeter. So that was a waste of time. Luckily there was a second performance last night.

So last night I took the M2, Elmarit 90, tripod (used as monopod) and spotmeter. I needed a camera that did what I told it to do. Spotmeter battery died halfway through the performance... luckily the case has a secret compartment where I had a spare battery.

p.s. Like your site Richard Man! Just saw the film "Big Short" - reminded me of your series.

removed account4 · Jan 17, 2016

have fun bill !

maybe you can get council to have a photographic jamoree

- john

kb3lms · Jan 17, 2016

Awesome, and a chance for some young ones to learn that not everything requires a computer!

HiHoSilver · Jan 17, 2016

'Nothing important to add, but I do think its a very cool thing - what you're doing, Bill. I suspect the scouts will not just have fun & learn, but find themselves fond of you being there.

Poisson Du Jour · Jan 17, 2016

Should be an interesting experiment, Drill Major.
As a Queen's Scout (1974) cameras were very, very rarely seen anywhere. I marvel at how the dawning of the mid-1990s brought a plethora of technology within reach of each and every scout. I'll bet your necktie that there isn't a scout today with a smartphone that does all his photgraphy for him!

The scouts all want to shoot film

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