Analogue photography has come back into fashion over recent years and capturing that analogue aesthetic, whether that be through cameras or filters, is still desirable.
My passion for analogue photography began while I was studying Photography at university. The rawness and realness produced when photographing on film has always been fascinating to me. It allows you to slow down in our digitised world, which has so much fast, accessible imagery.
At uni, I developed my skills and learnt how to photograph, process and develop 35mm and medium format film. There are quite a few stages to learning 35mm film and it requires patience throughout.
Film photography teaches us to fully realise that ‘decisive moment’ when capturing images in that it doesn’t allows you to take thousands of images for…well ‘just in case’.
Are you ready to learn the stages of analogue photography and enjoy using old technology to capture your images naturally?
Choosing the right camera
When choosing the right camera, you want to make sure it is suitable for you and your needs. If you’re new to the world of 35mm cameras, go for the more common models and makes.
It’s better to start off with camera with an autofocus system like a Minolta Maxxum 7000. This already has a built-in light meter system, and can photograph on aperture, shutter speed and manual mode.
Once you feel more comfortable with 35mm cameras you could go for the more analogue cameras such as the Pentax P30T, where you will need to figure out the correct light exposure for your images and there is no auto focus system on the camera.
There are great places to find second hand cameras online to get your journey started in film photography. Here are just a few:
Using the correct film
Unlike digital cameras, film cameras require a roll of film that is light sensitive. In a roll of film, you can either get 24 or 36 exposures to photograph on.
Depending on your style of photography and the light conditions, this will determine the film you need. A good starting point is using film that has an ISO sensitivity of 400. This will generally produce a well exposed image without too much grain. The higher the ISO the grainier the images will be, though this can be used as an effect.
Don’t forget you have to photograph black and white separately from colour, as they require different developing methods later.
Here are some great brands that produce 35mm film:
Photographing on 35mm
Now that you’ve got your camera and film, you are ready to photograph on 35mm. Depending on the camera, you may need a light meter to help correctly balance your images. If your light meter isn’t working in the camera, use the ‘Sunny 16’ rule by setting your aperture to f16 and your shutter speed in match of your ISO. e.g. ISO 100, Shutter speed 1/100 or 1/125.
The camera (if it has a working light meter) will let you know when the image is perfectly exposed. Think carefully about your images. Remember you only have either 24 or 36 exposures; it’s unlike a digital camera where you can take over a thousand images.
Ultimately, have fun experimenting with your film camera; enjoy the process. Let yourself give into the surprise of not knowing what you’ve got until you develop the film.
Developing drum for film including: tank, reel, tube and funnel.
Developing film (black and white)
After capturing your images, it’s time for development. Unless you have the tools for developing film, you’ll need to get it developed by professionals. There are a few camera shops that will develop film such as Jessops and Snappy Snaps. However, there are independent places online that can help you too.
Depending on how you plan to use your images, you can either get them back as negatives, which can be used to further develop them in the darkroom, or you can scan them to become digital files. Some camera shops will put them onto a disk so that they’re already digitised for you. Getting the negatives from your photographs is a better option as this allows you to keep them for future purposes.
Alternatively, you can develop the film yourself.
Things you need to develop black and white film
- film retriever, film changing bag , tank and reel, developer, fixer, stop bath, negative filing sheet, measuring graduates and scissors.
It’s also possible to buy film processing kits, which will have all the equipment you need.
Once you have all your equipment, you’re now ready to put the film into the developer tank.
How to develop black and white film
- Use the film retriever to retrieve the film out of the canister
- Put everything inside your film changing bag: film, tank, reel, tube, funnel and scissors
- Ensure the changing bag sleeves are up to elbows so there are no light leaks
- Put film onto reel (There are tutorials online for example here)
- Once the film is on reel, put the reel onto the tube and place at the bottom of the tank
- Place funnel inside tube and tank then lock it (twist right or left)
- Press lid down firmly
You are halfway there from seeing your photographs on negatives. You are now ready to develop the film with chemicals.
Firstly, start with putting on a pair of gloves as the chemicals can be harsh on your skin. The chemical ratio depends on your film, you can find out more online.
Remember your film type determines how long the chemicals need to be left inside the tank. Always check on the inside of the film box for more instructions.
As an example:
- Start with developer. You can find out the ratio needed online e.g. Ilford have a film processing chart
- Pour the developer inside the tank and put the lid back on. Roughly leave your chemicals in there for recommended time (Agitate for 10 seconds within every minute)
- Pour developer back into the beaker
- Run water through tank for recommended time and temperature, then pour the water away
- Pour fixer into the tank, refer back to film processing chart for recommended time
- Pour fixer back into beaker
- Run water through tank for 5-10 minutes
- Take film out tank and fill tank with water, wash film with stop bath solution
- Remove all excess water and hang film with two clicks on either side
- Leave to dry for 24 hours
Now your film is ready to be either developed in the dark room or scanned. In the meantime, keep your film in a negative filing sheet, to protect it from dust and scratches.
With colour film it’s entirely a different process, you can use Jobo film and print processor to develop your film. Here’s a tutorial on how to use a Jobo processor. There are also tutorials on how to process colour film at home.
Dark room processing
The fun and excitement from photographing on film is still not over. Once you have your negatives, you’re now able to develop them onto photographic paper. Either you can use a black and white darkroom or colour suite.
For black and white film, you are able to develop this under a red light, and with colour film you’ll have to do this in pitch black. This is due to the light sensitive paper that will get fogged if exposed to natural and artificial light.
There are many types of photographic paper available, it depends on how you like the overall look and finish to your images. Paper types range from matt to glossy format, it is the same when you are thinking about printing digital photographs.
Here are a couple of light sensitive papers available online:
In the UK, there are great dark rooms facilities that are available for enthusiast photographers:
- Lakeside Darkroom – London
- Fusion Arts Community darkroom – Oxford
- Real Photography Company – Bristol
- Darkroom – Birmingham
There will be technicians in these facilities that will help you learn the techniques of the darkroom, from beginner level to expert.
How to process black and white film in a dark room
This is where the fun really begins, you will see your images come to life in the dark room.
Dry side:
- Put your negative into the film carrier (Make sure shiny side of the film is facing up)
- Put the lens into the enlarger you will need a 50mm lens for developing 35mm
- Resize the image to the desired size with using the enlarger handles (You can use a micro focus finder to ensure your images are in focus)
- Set your enlarger lens to f8 as a starting point (You can change the f stop to let in less or more light)
- Play with your contrast grades (2-3 grade with give off a normal contrast on the image) but this is entirely up to you and the look you are trying to achieve
- Do a test strip first when exposing your image (cover up parts of the paper and expose for 3 seconds and keep moving along)
- Keep note of your f stop, exposure time and contrast grade for final results
- Once you know all your settings, expose the full paper with your image
Wet side:
- Put your photographic paper into the developer 2-3 minutes (agitate tray slightly) You will begin to see your image magically appear
- Pick you up the paper with tongs and let the developer gently drip off
- Place into stop bath for 30 seconds
- Put the paper into the fixer for 3-5 minutes
- Move paper into the wash bath and leave for no less than 10 minutes
You now have a fully developed a dark room print! How did it turn out? Remember your first print may not be perfect, but you can develop it again now that you know the process.
Colour processing (Dark room)
The same goes for colour processing in regard to black and white processing and using the dry side. However, there are a few differences to notes.
- Colour film must be developed completely in the dark
- You will need to adjust your magenta and yellow filters to get a good colour balance (Only introduce cyan if you need to)
Remember your primary and complimentary colours while developing. There are colour cast charts out there which can help you balance your images for a perfectly colour-exposed image.
Mostly for developing colour paper images, the paper will need to go through a large printer that will cleanly develop your image.
Analogue Aesthetic results
After all that, you now have you first images from analogue film! Remember to not take it too seriously and enjoy the process. Don’t worry if you make a mistake at any point, you can always re-photograph or develop. It’s about the enjoyment of learning a new skill and creating something truly unique.
Hopefully this tutorial has inspired you to try out analogue photography or at least try out the aesthetic filters you can get on most social media platform these days.
If you’re planning on eventually digitising your work and uploading it to Alamy, don’t forget to add ’35mm’, ‘medium format’, ‘large format’ and the type of film e.g. ‘Kodak’ or ‘Ilford’ to your keywords, so people can find this content easily.
Analogue photography is not for everyone, and you may not have the time to process film yourself. While digital can’t always capture the aesthetic of film, here’s a lightbox of inspirational analogue style photography.