Shooting Film for the First Time

For the first time, I’m shooting on film.

After ten years of digital photography — learning through trial and error, figuring out light, experimenting with depth of field — this feels like a completely different world. With digital, you’re always able to test, adjust, delete, try again. With film, that luxury disappears. No instant feedback. No automation. No safety net.

I’ve always been drawn to the idea of film, but never seriously considered it as a route I’d follow. That changed after a recent conversation about a visual artwork idea I’ve been working on. Not long after, I picked up a medium format camera — the Zenza Bronica S2. Often described as a budget Hasselblad, it’s fully mechanical, built in 1965, and has a square 6x6cm viewfinder made for shooting from the hip.

No electronics. No metering. No digital crutch. The first thing I had to figure out was how to expose correctly based purely on the available light. The viewfinder doesn’t give you feedback — it’s just glass. You have to rely on your eye, your instinct, your knowledge.

It feels completely alien — and I love it. Like picking up a phone without knowing who’s on the other end. Or sound-checking a mic with no monitor, just your ears. It forces you to be present. There’s no way around it: you have to know what you’re doing.

There’s something incredibly honest about that. It’s real. It’s technical. It’s deliberate. And it makes me think about how easy everything is becoming — not just in photography, but in music, design, content creation. Technology is doing so much of the work now, and it’s made everything more convenient — and more average.

Digital is quicker and cheaper, sure. But it’s not always better. It’s made everything look and feel the same. Film shifts that. It demands attention. It makes you think. You get one shot. One take. And that’s what makes it powerful. There’s no second guessing — you commit. It’s liberating to work like that. No distractions. Just light, time, and intention.

Looking forward to doing more of this. Watch this space for images