On February 14th (exactly 2 months ago), I posted this blog about my purchase of a Canon AE-1 that was manufactured long before I was born. In it, I wrote:
There’s also this feeling I get from long time photographers that us “youngsters” who grew up digital and don’t understand the art of photography. I hear this a lot actually. A photographer sees me with a tiny point & shoot and after hearing me utter the words, “i’m a photographer” I first get a scoff and then they say that cameras these days make it too easy and you’re not a photographer. After looking at my Flickr albums and talking work-flow, I earn their respect but simply saying, “I spend most of my time shooting on a Canon AE-1” and you can bet that I’ll be getting their respect a lot quicker.
Of course, it’s not about respect or being accepted but I really think that these photogs are right! I think that there is a true value in getting behind a real view-finder, manually focusing my lens and setting the aperture and after clicking, figuring out days later if the shot even came out. My photos will become more conservative and I’ll spend far more time framing and patiently waiting for the photo instead of clicking insanely fast at 3.2 frames per second and filling up an SD card with 500 shots. I see a value here.
I’d love to share the best work derived from four 24 exposure rolls of film. For my travels, I used Fujifilm Superia X-TRA 35mm Film at 400 iso. I wanted to force myself to get the correct lighting and felt 800 ISO would be cheating a bit. Also, the lens on this camera is a Canon 50mm f/1.4 Prime lens with manual focus so it already let in plenty of light.
The first two rolls of film were horribly overexposed. The reason was the battery was dead which was something I learned mid-way through my trip in India. This low voltage caused the meter to read incorrectly and sometimes, not work at all. This meter helped me sometimes when I wasn’t quite sure if the shutter speed was perfect for this shot (something I’ll get better at over time). I bought one of these while in India and a 6-pack once I returned. Every photo taken since then came out beautifully. It’s sad that those photos are gone forever from the first half of my trip but I’v learned my lesson and how to check the battery voltage going forward.
I’d like to share a few photos with you from my travels with the manually operated Canon AE-1 SLR. Thanks!
I hate to sound like I’m complaining but this camera is hell to use. It’s absolutely photography in the most simplest terms. Everything about this camer requires a manual change for each shot. You must act quickly to get most shots and digital (even in manual mode) compensates way too much. I take auto-focus for granted and I’m so thrilled to have bought this. What a challenging project that will change my pursuit as a photographer.