I got my first camera when I was teenager.
I'm not a teenager any more, but I still have that camera. Along with many more I aquired over the years, sometimes out of a desire for something shiny. Sometimes to try something new.
Today, I am more likely to take a picture with my phone rather than a purpose built camera. I comfort myself with the knowledge that the best camera is the one you have with you.
From where I sit, I can see my phone plugged into the charger. I have a digital camera in a drawer an arm's reach away, and to my right I have a film camera out in the open.
I think it's clear I get more enjoyment from film camera than any other kind. To me, that forty year old film camera is more like photography than a cell phone is. More work, certainly, but also more fun and a connection to my past. Learning about photography from my brother, and dad. Having my own darkroom set up in a closet.
I like the limit of film - a fixed number of exposures before having to put a new roll in the camera. Having to focus manually, and set the camera controls for each shot. Learning how to shoot slide film, more finicky and expensive than the black and white I normally shot. There was a magic in getting a box of slides back in the mail. Looking to see what pictures turned out best, and, over time, seeing how I was advancing technically.
I still have my darkroom equipment, in storage in the basement. And a film camera in plain view.
I think today is the day I shoot some film.
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