Sooc

[Black Pearl]

This has come from another forum and a FB group.

Set up your DSLR as if it were a film camera - I know there are all sorts of 'What if's" and "Buts" and 'You could's' but we are talking in general here so before you start with the negatives and arguments either have a go if you think it will be a laugh or don't if all you see is issues.

Pick a camera.
Lock your ISO
Lock your WB
Pick one lens - preferably a fixed one.
Make sure your camera is shooting jpeg.
Turn off the image review so you can't see what you have shot - very important.
Limit yourself to 24 or 36 shots.
Can be colour or mono - must be set in-camera.
Load your shots into your computer - resize them and post your fav five or six.

Please don't cheat, this is just a bit of a laugh to see if you can shoot without the aid of digital shenanigans.


I did just that today.
We went down to our allotment to get it ready for spring, sort out or greenhouse, do a bit of weeding and let the kids pick some veg. In other word the perfect opportunity to give this a go - limit my shooting - record an event that wasn't otherwise important and see if I could still take a decent set of images without resorting to machine gunning a situation, processing the results and only showing the world the polished results.

I was going to limit myself to 24 shots but my eldest found an old radio on the allotment dump that still worked so I shot a few more - ended on 32 which is still WAY less than I would normally take.

See what you think:


A few of the shots I think tell the storey best:












The joy of getting home, importing these into Lightroom and seeing them for the first time was amazing. I didn't cheat, I didn't look at them as I took them, kept a mental note of how many I had taken and tried to think ahead with regards to framing and exposure as I couldn't do anything about either.

If you fancy a go I can honestly say it is a genuine laugh.

[IzzieK]

That is a wonderful project to undertake...only a few showed up as a full frame the rest just looks like as is, stamp-sized shots.

[Shadowman]

Nice undertaking.

[ShaneS]

Love this idea and the shot of your son with the radio is just one of the bunch that I like quite a bit.

So what did you learn about yourself and your photography through the exercise Robin?

[Black Pearl]

Thanks

Isabel: Thats just a contact sheet - thought it would be fun to present them in an old fashioned way.
Shane: Well it took me back a few years (though I do still shoot film for a laugh from time to time) to when this was how you had to take pictures. You had to wait until you got the film processed to see what you had and were never entirely sure if everything had turned out....they usually did because you came to rely on basics and reading the light. I learned the Nikon will under exposure in a milder way that I thought it did when presented with a backlit scene - that'll be the multi-patern metering at work and that I should take more care composing as I tend to think it'll be ok, I can crop it afterwards. Also I think I will calm down my shooting rate a little and make sure more of the ones I take count.

[AB26]

That is a pretty cool exercise. Will give it a go as soon as I have an opportunity.

[deetheturk]

Cool idea Robin!

[AndrewMcD]

An interesting exercise. Neat images and thought provoking response to Shane's question about what you learned.

Andrew

[Wavelength]

Very interesting idea; i must join this Soon

Your images are nice too

[chauncey]

Robin, it would appear that we have different goals with mine being to attempt to master one subject at a time before moving on to another. Kinda getting into the rut technique.

[Black Pearl]

Regardless of your photographic history if you have been shooting with digital for a while I can guarantee you will find this fun - a little frustrating possibly - but fun. If you tend to shoot in a very orderly manner then you may not find too many differences but if you tend to shoot a little more....lets say flamboyantly....it doesn't half slow you down knowing you have a very limited number of exposures available and can't see what you have taken.

Actually not seeing the shots until I got home was really exciting, I had forgotten all about the joy you get when you see them for the first time.

[Shadowman]

I did some experimenting with a film camera last summer so I can only say that it's even more frustrating when you have to wait a few days for the film to be developed, even more frustrating with film is how you tend to conserve shots more so than with digital.