Natural Eye

Natural Eye

by Angela Carabelas

Angela Carabelas is an Orlando-based photographer with skill in both film and digital photography. As displayed in the following photo gallery, the heart for her craft is seen indefinitely.

Film photography has seen an interesting renaissance in the last few years. Fueled mostly by analog trends and the wedding photography industry, people have started to remember the magic of light and color that doesn’t feel so digital.

With the rise of digital photography, the limits of film seemed to fall away in an exciting way. More than ever, anyone can take a great photo with some basic skills. As our times have become increasingly digital, a growing niche of photographers have chosen to pursue “the shot” in the harder, yet at the same time, more natural way.

Many argue that ‘making’ a picture is far more rewarding than just ‘taking’ one. It requires craft, passion and patience. Patience being the chief among them. Additionally, shooting film is not as cheap, so it lends itself to be more focused and less frivolous.

Last year on a road trip through California I decided to put myself to a test. I used my medium format Hasselblad 503cw as my main camera but still had a digital Fujifilm as a backup. There was a couple times where the learning curve had caught me and I either missed shots, or found myself googling to troubleshoot some film-loading issues. I was nervous, uncertain, and seriously putting a lot of faith in a newer process to record a very special trip.

On the way to the airport, I shipped off my film to my professional lab, praying things would turn out okay. I waited about five days to get my results, though it felt like an eternity. And finally, I received the scans. It was a relief! Not only did the images come out beautifully, but they far surpassed the look I was going for in my digital files. Even when I tried to edit them to be exact, it was rarely the same. My hard work and frustration-management paid off.

Since then, I’ve been using film in my travels whether big or small. I’ve relied less on digital backups and have even left my Fujifilm at home sometimes. As I get to know my favorite Kodak Portra 400 film, I’ve been more confident and more free. It’s been sweet, and quite personal from an artistic standpoint. There is no shortcut way to find your own style or taste with film photography because it’s not designed to be quick. Digital photography is great for “quick”. However, I like slow.

Often one looks at a photo shot on film and realizes that it’s simply special. It’s special because there is risk involved to get the final result. Color and depth can be read more like a dream or a memory. And most importantly, it has soul.