How To Take Photos From a Kayak

 BY JIM BRASWELL 

Photo by Jim Braswell

Note from Steve: Today I’m excited to introduce another new contributor to PhotoNaturalist: Jim Braswell. Jim is a great wildlife/landscape photographer from Missouri, and his first post is all about taking photos from a kayak! Enjoy!

Want to have some real fun? I was turned on to photographing wildlife from a kayak by a friend of mine a few years ago. After a lot of convincing (yes, I had a lot of concerns about taking my expensive camera equipment in a small vessel, over open water), we loaded up two kayaks and headed out to photograph at a Conservation Area. After a day of photographing American white pelicans at pretty close range, I fell in love with the thrill of kayaking the backwaters, where human intervention is rare and the wildlife abundant.

So, then I purchased my own kayak and have since been out hundreds of times, capturing some pretty unique wildlife encounters.  Here in the Midwest, we have lots of American beavers and Northern river otters, and both are high on my “shot list” whenever I kayak. 

Such is the case about 3 years ago when I was sitting among a large field of American lotus plants, waiting for beavers to swim by. Hearing some splashing on the other side of the lotus field, I navigated the kayak around the corner and found a curious little otter staring at me as I clicked off a couple of images. Not wanting to frighten him off, I paddled back to my “hideout” to wait for beavers. In about 10 minutes, my kayak suddenly lurched backward and began traveling in reverse! Not being able to turn around to see what was going on, I began paddling hard on one side, allowing me to sit in one location and spin in a circle. Once my speed was up a bit, I turned around and saw my otter friend swinging around, with the rope carrying handle in his mouth! Seemed he just wanted to play a bit.

On several occasions, while photographing ducks during the spring/fall migrations, I have had small groups of ducks that almost landed on the kayak. No matter the subject, the use of a kayak in photographing nature has its advantages. First, sitting in a kayak means sitting low in the water, allowing the photographer to photograph at eye-level to the subject. A kayak is small and easy to navigate, allowing it to be positioned at strategic locations along waterways.

Choose a good kayak

I often am asked what kayak is best for photographing wildlife. My preference is a wide-body model, with a bottom that is flat and similar to the bottom of a canoe. This gives a tremendous amount of stability, as well as helps to overcome the fear of working with camera gear over water.

You will also need a good kayak paddle for navigation, preferably a lightweight, metal one. In addition, I purchased a small, wooden canoe paddle at a local discount store and then cut off the handle to make a short, emergency paddle that I keep inside the kayak during all outings.

A life jacket or PFD (personal flotation device) is mandatory. If you should capsize, or lose your paddle, you certainly don’t want to be up the creek without a paddle! Never kayak without this important safety gear!

Use “dry bags” to protect your gear

What about protecting camera gear? I use “dry bags” to transport and store my body/lens in, while navigating. Once I am ready to shoot, I remove the camera/lens and always place the camera strap around my neck. It would be tragic to successfully navigate the kayak about, with expensive equipment, only to drop the equipment in the water! And if you are nervous about splashing water on the equipment while shooting, you can use one of many available plastic or nylon protectors over the body and lens.

Wear camouflage to blend in with the environment

Photo by Jim Braswell

Whenever I kayak, I always wear camouflaged clothing so that I blend in with the plants along the bank. In fact, I took things a step further and re-painted my kayak, from a pretty, sky blue, to a flat army green color. This is particularly important when you are shooting waterfowl; since waterfowl is hunted in my area, they are very wary and the last thing you want to do is to have your clothing shout out to them that you are there!

Use a fast shutter speed

When shooting from a kayak, always try to shoot with a sufficiently high ISO so that the shutter speed will be enough to negate any movement by the kayak (I like to shoot for at least 1/500 second, when possible). If you have an IS or VR lens, even better.

Navigate slowly!

To be successful, you must navigate at a slow, steady pace and always be alert. It is very easy to come upon waterfowl or aquatic mammals and you don’t want to scare them. But most of all, have fun!

Get more great tips in our free weekly newsletter.

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About the Author: Jim Braswell is a lifelong resident of Missouri, photographing nature in Missouri and beyond. His photographic passion is wildlife and wildflowers. When working with wildlife, his goal is to capture animal behaviors and actions. Besides photographing nature, Jim teaches photography and Photoshop at a local career center and participates in several art fairs/festivals every year. View more of his work on his website at: http://www.showmenaturephotography.com/

Up skirting Illegal in Japan

May 26, 2014 · Peter Bower   

Earlier today, The Japan Times released that officials in Kyoto, Japan, had revised ordinance in order to crack down on the practice of upskirt photography (making unauthorized photographs under a woman’s skirt). The highly popular tourist destination in Japan is flooded with tourists every spring, mostly high school students, and “upskirting” had reached disturbing levels, with even “a whole subgenre of magazines” existing for individuals to sell their images.

This perverted practice has always been outlawed in Japan, but only in public places such as shopping centers, railway stations, and public transport. Individuals taking these photographs had found a loophole which made them untouchable by police by taking their photos in places not covered under the definition of a “public place.” The change in ordinance has seen the expansion of the “scope of protection” to include places such as schools, workplaces and hospitals, and has increased penalties for the use of hidden cameras in areas such as hot spring baths, changing rooms and public restrooms. Penalties can now be as high as ¥1 million (about $160,272) or a year in jail. [Read more...]

Memorial Day: Honor, Reflection & Remembrance at USAA

Thank you to all the Veterans who came home safely...and especially to those who didn't.

Registrations accepted for photography camps

PHOTOGRAPHY CLASSES & RESOURCES

(Via: The Buffalo News)

CLASSES & WORKSHOPS

CEPA’s photography classes cover a variety of subjects for all ages and skill levels, including film and digital photography and graphic design.

DARKROOM

Open to the public, the CEPA Gallery darkroom features 12 workstations for black-and-white film developing and archival printing with tray chemistry.

Registrations are being accepted for four Summer Photography Camps for youngsters offered by CEPA Gallery, the photography and visual arts center at 617 Main St.

The five-day camps have three-hour sessions each day. Camps for youngsters aged 8 to 12 begin at 9 a.m. Those 13 to 17 meet at 1 p.m. Activities include digital and film photography, pinhole cameras, darkroom printing and digital arts.

The camps include Photography Camps July 7 to 11 and July 14 to 18, Animation Camps from July 28 to Aug. 1 (8 to 12) and Aug. 4 to 8 (13 to 17) and Advanced Photography Camps July 28 to Aug. 1 (13 to 17) and Aug. 4 to 8 (8 to 12). For information, call 856-2717 or visit www.cepagallery.org.

Bethel Connecticut Film Fest

Written by Bethel Public Schools

Attention ALL Bethel students!!!!

The BHS Film and Photography Club will be hosting a Film Festival at Bethel Cinema June 10th from 7-9PM.

For their debut year they are looking to feature works created by all Bethel District Schools. There will be a first prize award for high school, middle school, 4-5, and K-8, as well as an honorary award to the film that best encapsulates or makes use of the town of Bethel.

They are also showing photography work in the lobby at Bethel Cinema that they hope to auction off with 50% of the sale going to the artist and 50% to their new club.

All video and photo submissions are due by Friday May 30th at 2:15 PM. This will be a wonderful way to showcase our districtwide creativity in film and photography!

For more information and submitting work go to this link: http://bethelfilmfest.tumblr.com/

Nikon Files Patent That Could Turn 35mm Film Cameras Into Digital SLRs

How would you like to convert your Nikon FM2 to digital?

• BY TIM BARRIBEAU 
• 12

ENLARGE

It's one of the holy grails of photography — a practical, easy way to switch between digital and film for all the incredible analog 35mm cameras that are already in circulation. And while we don't know if it'll ever be produced, Nikon has recently patented a way of doing exactly that — a replaceable digital back for 35mm film cameras.

Spotted by the Japanese blog Egami, the patent sounds much like the equivalent of a digital back for medium-format cameras. The patent also specifically mentions being able to adjust the flange distance, to make sure it's recording as accurately as possible.

Nikon Rumors has some translated text from the patent itself. From what I can gather, the back would probably have to be camera specific in order to be switched easily between film and digital. Naturally, there would be other hurdles to deal with as well — making sure you protect the sensor when swapping backs, and getting the sensor to play nice with the shutter mechanism, all that sort of thing.

If Nikon were to actually go ahead and make this, the real sticking point would be price. There's a pretty good chance that this is patent for its own sake, so that no one else can make one, but if Nikon decides this is a product they want to create, how much would it go for? And what would users be willing to pay for it? Digital medium format backs cost tens of thousands of dollars, but I somehow doubt that a digital back for more than $1,000 would go over very well. Could a slightly lower resolution full frame sensor be assembled on the cheap? If they could create one for around $500, good luck finding old Nikons on pawn shop shelves anymore.

As a concept, adding a 35mm sensor to film cameras isn't particularly new. One of the first digital cameras was the Kodak DCS 100, which was a heavily modified Nikon F3. Leica used to make aDigital Modul R for the R8 and R9, which still goes for more than $3000. There was also an April Fools prank from last year promising something similar, and more than a decade a go, a company was working on a real version of this that was never completed.

How to use almost any 35mm Film Camera

In the age of digital cameras, it may seem odd to instruct you how to use "obsolete" 35mm cameras. Still, there are many people out there who choose to shoot film for artistic (and other) reasons. And with digital eating up market share for nearly everything but landscape photography, awesome 35mm camera gear is cheaper than it has ever been.

There may be many more of you out there who want to use film cameras but find them intimidating. Maybe you've acquired a film camera that someone was giving away and have no idea how to use one. This guide will help you through some of the the oddities of film cameras that modern point-and-shoot digital cameras either don't have or have automated away.

Method 1 of 2: Preparation

1. 1
   Look for some basic controls on the camera. Not all cameras will have all of these, and some might not even have any of them, so don't worry if you see something described that isn't on your camera. We'll be referring to these later in the article, so it's a good idea to familiarise yourself with them now.
   • The shutter speed dial on a Minolta XG-M.
     The shutter speed dial sets the shutter speed, i.e. the time for which the film is exposed to light. More modern (1960s and onwards) cameras will show this in regular increments like 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, etc. Older cameras use weird and seemingly arbitrary values.
   • The aperture ring (closest to the body), set to f/2.8.
     The aperture ring controls the aperture, which is a small opening near the front of the lens.^[1] These are usually marked in standard increments, and nearly any lens will have settings of f/8 and f/11. The aperture ring is usually on the lens itself, but not always; some later (1980s and onwards) SLRs will allow this to be controlled from the camera itself, for example. Some systems (like Canon EOS) don't have aperture rings at all.
     
     A larger aperture (smaller number, as the size of the aperture is expressed as a ratio against the focal length) means less depth of field (i.e. less of your scene in focus), and more light being let onto the film. A smaller aperture will let less light onto the film, and give more depth of field. For example, with a 50mm focused to 8 feet, at an aperture of f/5.6, the portion of your scene from about 6.5 to 11 feet would be in focus. At an aperture of f/16, the portion from about 4.5 to 60 feet would be in focus.
   • 
     The ISO dial, which may be marked as ASA, tells the camera the speed of your film. This may not be a dial at all; it might be a series of button presses. Either way, this is necessary for cameras that have automatic exposure mechanisms, as different films will require a different exposure; ISO 50 film will require an exposure twice as long as an ISO 100 film, for example.
     
     On some cameras, this is not necessary, and sometimes it's not even possible; many more recent cameras read the film speed from electrical contacts on the film cartridge itself. If your camera has electrical contacts inside the film chamber, then it's a DX-capable camera. This usually "just works", so don't worry about this too much.
   • The typical Canon mode dial.
     The mode dial sets various automatic exposure modes, if your camera has them available. This is common on fully-automatic electronic SLRs from the late 80s onwards. Sadly, all cameras call their modes different things; for example, Nikon call shutter-priority "S", and Canon inexplicably call it "Tv". We'll explore this later, but you want to keep it in "P" (meaning program automatic) most of the time.
   • The focusing ring focuses the lens to the distance to your subject. This will usually have distances in both feet and meters, as well as an ∞ marking (for focusing an infinite distance away). Some cameras (like the Olympus Trip 35) will, instead, have focusing zones, sometimes with cute little symbols marking what the zones are.
   • The rewind release button is usually on the underside of a camera.
     The rewind release allows you to rewind your film. Normally, while shooting the film is locked so that it can only move forwards and not backwards into the canister, for obvious reasons. The rewind release simply unlocks this safety mechanism. This is usually a small button located on the base of the camera, slightly recessed into the body, but some cameras are weird and have it elsewhere.
   • The rewind crank, usually on the left hand side of the camera. Note flip-out lever.
     The rewind crank lets you wind your film back into the canister. It's usually on the left-hand-side, and more often than not has a little flip-out lever to make it easier to turn. Some motorised cameras don't have this at all, and instead take care of rewinding your film all by itself, or have a switch to do it.
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2. 
   2
   Change your battery if your camera has one. Nearly all batteries for every 35mm camera ever made can be obtained very cheaply, since they don't use proprietary batteries like most digital cameras, and they last nearly forever; you can't afford to notchange them.
   
   A few older cameras will expect 1.35v PX-625 mercury batteries, which are very difficult to obtain now and have no voltage regulation circuits to cope with the widely-available 1.5v PX625 batteries. You can get around this by either experiment (shoot a roll of film and see if your exposure is out, and compensate accordingly), or use a piece of wire to wedge a #675 cell into the battery compartment.^[2]
3. 3
   Check that a film isn't already loaded. It's an easy mistake to make: getting ahold of a camera, popping the back open, and finding a film already loaded (and, consequently, ruining a good part of the film). Try winding the camera on; push the shutter button first if it refuses to. If your camera has a rewind crank or knob on the left hand side, you will see it turning. (How to do this on motor-driven cameras without a rewind crank is left as an exercise for the reader.)
4. 4
   Load your film. Even though 35mm film cartridges are meant to be light-proof, it's still a bad idea to do this in direct sunlight. Go indoors, or at least into the shade. There are two kinds of cameras you'll have to worry about, and only one that you're likely to encounter:
   • Rear-loading cameras are the most common, and the most straightforward to load.
     Rear-loading cameras are the easiest, and the most common; they have a hinged back which opens to expose the film chamber. Sometimes (especially on SLR cameras), you do this by lifting the rewind crank upwards. Other cameras will open by means of a designated lever. Slot the film canister into its chamber (typically, on the left hand side) and pull the film leader out. Sometimes you'll need to slide the leader into a slot in the take-up spool; on others, you simply pull the leader out until the tip lines up with a coloured mark.
     
     After you have done this, close the back of the camera. Some cameras will automatically wind on to the first frame; otherwise, take two or three shots of nothing in particular, wind the camera on. If you have a frame counter that reads upwards from 0, then wind on until the frame counter reaches 0. A few older cameras count down, and so will require that you set the frame counter manually to the number of exposures that your film has. Use the steps given earlier to verify that the film is properly loaded.
   • An early bottom-loading FED camera.
     Bottom-loading cameras, such as early Leica, Zorki, Fed and Zenit cameras, are somewhat less common, and also somewhat more difficult. For one, you'll need to physically cut your film so that it has a longer, thinner leader. Mark Tharp has an excellent web page describing the procedure.^[3]
5. 
   5
   Set the film speed. Usually, you should set it to the same as your film. Some cameras will consistently over- or under-expose by a certain amount; shoot a slide film to determine this experimentally.

Once your camera is set up, you can go out into the big blue room and take some great photographs. Older cameras, however, will require that you set many (sometimes all) of the things that a modern film or digital camera would handle for you automatically.

1. 1
   Focus your shot. We'll detail this first because some old SLR cameras need their apertures stopped down in order to meter; this makes the viewfinder much darker, and makes it harder to see when you're in focus or not.
   • The Canon EOS 650, an early auto-focus camera.
     Auto-focus cameras, common since the mid-1980s onwards, are the easiest. If you either have no focusing ring, or a manual/auto focus switch on either the lens or the camera, then you probably have an autofocus camera. Simply half-press the shutter very gently to focus. When focus is obtained (usually by some indication in the viewfinder, or possibly by an annoying beeping sound), then the camera is ready to take a shot. Fortunately, most (probably all) auto-focus cameras have automatic exposure as well, which means that you can safely ignore the next step about setting exposure.
   • Two common focusing aids in an SLR viewfinder: the split screen (center circle) and microprism ring (surrounding it). This is out of focus; note the "broken" lines in the center, and the defocus being made more obvious by the microprism ring.
     Manual-focus single-lens reflex cameras are slightly more awkward. SLRs are distinguishable by their large central "hump" housing the viewfinder and their pentaprism (or pentamirror). Turn your focusing ring until the image in the viewfinder is sharp. Most manual-focus cameras will have two focusing aids to make it easier to tell when you're in perfect focus. One is a split screen, right in the center, which splits the images into two pieces, which are aligned when the image is in focus. The other, a microprism ring around the outside of the the split screen, will cause any defocus to be far more obvious than it would be otherwise. A very few will have a focus confirmation indicator in the viewfinder when focus is obtained. Use these focusing aids if you have them.
   • The Leica M7, a very nice rangefinder camera.
     Manual-focus rangefinder cameras are nearly as easy. Coupled rangefinder cameras show two images of the same subject through the viewfinder, one of which moves as you turn the focusing ring. When the two images coincide and fuse into one, the image is in focus.^[4]
     
     Some older rangefinder cameras do not have a coupled rangefinder of this kind. If this is what you have, then find the desired distance through the rangefinder, and then set that value on the focusing ring.
   • The Voigtlander Vito B, a viewfinder camera from the 1950s.
     Viewfinder cameras look much like rangefinder cameras, but offer little assistance in finding the distance to your subject. Either use an external rangefinder, or guess the distance and set that on your focusing ring.
2. 2
   Set your exposure. Remember that older cameras have stupid meters; they only read a small area at the center of the screen. So if your subject is off-center, then point the camera at the subject, meter, and then reframe your shot. The specifics of getting a good exposure differ from camera to camera:
   • The Canon A-1, one of the first cameras with a fully-automatic Program mode.
     Fully automatic exposure cameras are the easiest. If your camera has no controls for shutter speed and aperture, then it's probably one of these cameras (like many compact cameras, most notably the Olympus Trip-35). Otherwise, the camera may have a "Program" or "Automatic" mode; if it does, save yourself a lot of hassle and use it. Modern Nikon and Canon SLRs, for example, will have a mode dial that you should turn to "P". If you have the option, set your metering mode to "Matrix", "Evaluative" or similar and have fun.
   • Cameras with aperture-priority automatic exposure (like the Canon AV-1) will allow you to set an aperture, and then choose a shutter speed for you. On most of these, just set an aperture according to the amount of light you have and/or your required depth of field, and let the camera do the rest. Naturally, don't choose an aperture that will require your camera to use a faster shutter or slower speed than it has available.
     
     If circumstances permit (and you don't want either an extremely shallow or extremely deep depth of field), then don't shoot your lens either at its largest aperture, and don't stop it down past f/11 or so. Nearly all lenses are slightly sharper stopped down than they are wide open, and all lenses are limited by diffraction at small apertures.
   • Cameras with shutter-priority automatic exposure, which is not necessarily a distinct class of camera from the above, will allow you to choose a shutter speed and then it will set an aperture automatically. Pick a shutter speed according to the amount of light you have and whether you want to freeze (or blur) motion.
     Of course, this has to be long enough to ensure that your lens actually has an aperture wide enough to match the shutter speed, but fast enough that your lens has an aperture small enough (and so that you're able to hand-hold the camera, if that's what you're doing, and you should be).
   • The Praktica MTL3, a very typical fully-manual SLR camera.
     Fully-manual cameras will require you to set both aperture and shutter speed yourself. Most of these will have a match-needle meter in the viewfinder which will indicate either over- or under-exposure; if the needle goes above the middle mark your photo will be over-exposed, and if it goes below it will be under-exposed. You normally meter by half-pressing the shutter; some cameras such as Praktica L-series bodies will have a dedicated metering key to do this (which also stops the lens down). Set either your aperture, shutter speed, or both, depending on the requirements for your scene, until the needle sits more or less at the half-way mark. If you're shooting negative film (rather than slide film), it doesn't hurt a bit for the needle to go slightly above the half-way mark; negative film has a huge tolerance for over-exposure.
     
     If you don't have a meter in the viewfinder, use an exposure table^[5], your memory of one, or an external light meter--the best kind is a digital camera; an obsolete compact one is fine but you'll want it to show the exposure reading in the viewfinder.^[6] (Remember that you can make offsetting adjustments in aperture andshutter speed). Or try a free light-metering program for a smartphone, such as Photography Assistant for Android.^[7].
3. 3
   Frame your shot and shoot. The artistic elements of composing a photograph is well outside the scope of this article, but you will find some useful pointers in How to Take Better Photographs and How to Develop Your Photography Skills.
4. 4
   Shoot till you hit the end of the roll. You'll know when you're there when either the camera refuses to wind on (for those cameras with automatic winders), or otherwise when winding the film on becomes very difficult (if this is you, don't force it). It won't necessarily be when you've used up 24 or 36 exposures (or however many you have on your film); some cameras will allow you to milk up to an extra 4 frames above the rated number. When you get there, you'll need to rewind the film. Some motorised cameras do this automatically as soon as you hit the end of the roll; some other motorised ones will have a rewind switch.
   
   If you don't, don't worry. Press your rewind release button. Now turn your rewind crank in the direction indicated on the crank (usually clockwise). You'll notice that near to the end of the film the crank gets stiffer, and then becomes very easy to turn. When you hit this, stop winding and open the back.
5. 5
   Get your film developed. If you're shooting negative film then fortunately you can still get this done nearly anywhere. Slide film and traditional black-and-white film requires very different processes; check with a local camera store if you need help finding someone to develop your film for you.
6. 
   6
   Check your film for exposure problems. Look for obvious under- and over-exposure. All films tend to look horrible and murky when underexposed; slide films will blow highlights nearly as readily as digital cameras when overexposed. If these things do not indicate poor technique (such as metering on the wrong part of your scene), it means that your meter is wrong or that your shutter is inaccurate. Set your ISO speed manually, as described earlier. For example, if you're underexposing on ISO 400 film, set the ISO dial to 200 or so.
7. 
   7
   Stick another roll of film in and go shoot some more. Practice makes perfect. Go out and take as many photos as you can afford to take. And don't forget to show your results off to the world.

Film Internship

Through the Roof Productions 5247 Agnes Ave, Los Angeles, CA

Application Deadline: June 2, 2014

Position: Part-time, Unpaid

Timeframe: 06/03/14 — 09/03/14

Apply

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Why I shoot film by John Kossik

 

Why I Shoot Film
John Kossik shares with us his thoughts on shooting film and gives us a science lesson in the process.

When I was in 1st grade back in 1966 I would walk the 10 blocks from my home in Trenton Michigan to St. Timothy’s Elementary school will a little plastic old-school collapsable briefcase in hand.  The only item that I can ever remember being in this briefcase was a red workbook entitled “Think and Do.”  It was some kind of early-reader that all kids my age used, “See Dick and Jane run.”  I remember little of the specifics, but the title has stuck with me for some 48 years.

You see this seemingly innocuous title is quite profound being based on the “Scientific Method.”  The Scientific Method that since it origins with Ibn al-Haytham over 1000 years ago since then has formed the basis of our understanding of the universe.

In its base form, the Scientific Method tells us to: (1) Formulate a Question to be Answered; (2) Create a Hypothesis that answers the Question; (3) Make a Prediction based on this Hypothesis; (4) Conduct an Experiment; (5) Analyze your Results to see if your Prediction is correct.

If your Results match your Prediction then you are done and you have an understanding of how the Universe works,  an understanding that you can use to predict the future.  If your Results do not match your Prediction than go back to (1) and try again.

Formulate, Hypothesis, Predict (THINK)

Experiment, Analyze (DO)

THINK and DO.  Note that the order is important here, first we THINK then we DO, and this is where our so-called “digital revolution” can let us down.

Take “data-mining” for example.  Companies like Google, Microsoft, the NSA, etc. collect terabytes and terabytes of data just for the sake of collecting it and “hoping” that they can “find” some trends or patterns or human tendencies buried in it to use to make money or control people.  Unfortunately they do not even know in most cases what they are looking to find.  They are DOING before they are THINKING!

Well you say this is not inherently bad, but it is as it is teaching the younger generation the direct opposite of the scientific method and in as such we are losing analytical skills that we have carefully cultivated for a millennia.  Case in point.  Check out the Wikipedia entry on Monte Carlo method (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Carlo_method).  There you will see the use of this complex computational tool to approximate the value of pi.  To do so you need thousands of inputs to approximate pi.  On the other hand you could just take your bicycle wheel, mark a point on it, roll it till you reach that point again, measure the difference traveled, and divide it by the diameter of the wheel!

This ludicrous example is noted here to illustrate the dangers of humans being too dependent on electronic devices and methods of which they have no understanding.  How many young people even know how to use a compass?Better yet, if you are in the northern hemisphere, how many can tell you North by simply looking for the big dipper and the North Star?  I was purchasing a cell phone lately and specifically wanted a model with a piezoelectric chip sensor in it so I could use it to determine the barometric pressure.  I went to three stores and none of the people at any of these even knew what I was talking about when I mentioned barometric pressure let alone the piezoelectric effect.  When the general public does not understand the workings of devices that they depend on every day, then they become (unknowingly) slaves of the small minority that controls them.   A democracy itself is in peril under these conditions.

What does this have to do with photography and the discussion of digital vs film?  Everything!  This can most easily be seen in the phenomena called “Chimping,” clicking a digital picture and immediately checking it.  In doing so we are DOING then THINKING.  Aside from the danger of walking in front of a bus while “chimping” there is the fact that no THINKING is needed prior to taking the picture.  Without this prior THINKING we are much less likely to formulate a viable hypothesis/prediction sequence than if we followed the proper steps of the scientific method.  To be fair, there are many who use digital cameras in the THINK and DO mode.  First they set their exposure settings (not using AUTO), frame their subject (THINK), then take the picture and review the results for exposure and content (DO).  Matter of fact all good photographers do this, and this is the same method used in film photography, the only difference being that the time between THINKING and DOING can be a few days or at least a few hours due to developing time.

The problem is that most people using digital cameras do not do this, they simply DO then THINK (or just DO, DO, DO, DO, DO).  Alas the scientific method is lost on them and they learn nothing from their efforts.

Will digital photography cause the downfall of the human race?  Not quite, but is does serve us well as the “canary in the coal mine” of a path we seem to be traveling down that leads to a dead end.

Shooting film FORCES you to THINK then DO, and thus FORCES you to use the scientific method whether you know you are doing so or not.  That’s why I shoot film.

John Kossik

Many thanks for your thoughts John. Very interesting reading.

You can see John’s bag and his work by following this link http://www.japancamerahunter.com/2014/01/bag-768-john-kossik/