Wait, I think I wrote a little while ago about how I wanted to narrow down what I shoot so I have it easier when I take the stuff to the darkroom to print. Yeah, true, but, I actually like messing around in the darkroom. I like making test prints and slowly remove color casts. No better feeling than when you nail the color! So a bunch of different films is OK I guess. Hindsight is 20/20 no?
There are many advantages to shooting film. One is you can maintain a signature look to your images for years by shooting the same film stock. IF it doesn't get discontinued... Is doing that really creating a signature look for yourself? Wouldn't anybody shooting the same stock have the same signature then? I believe you can build a signature look into your work by shooting different stocks of film, even digital could work.
More and more films get discontinued and I don't wanna settle on a film that gets discontinued. I like trying out different films. If I settle on Superia let's say, I'll hate myself when Ektar gets discontinued and I never shot it or didn't shoot it enough. If films don't get discontinued, they get more expensive. Fuji increased prices twice in the past six months. So did Kodak, at least in the Japanese market.
HP5+ was cheaper than Tri-X in Japan and I liked it. I was ready to drop Tri-X for it. Then, when I finally finished all my Tri-X and wanted to buy more HP5+ they DOUBLED the price in Japan! No kidding, they actually just DOUBLED the price of all Ilford films in Japan over night! How do you not expect to lose customers?
Kodak Portra was about the same price as Fuji Pro400H in Tokyo. Then it went up in late 2015 and up again in early 2016. Yeah, I admit I'll still buy it, but I sure as hell would like to buy it at a lower price if I can. I just shot a roll of Superia Venus 400 someone gave me that was 11 years expired, sitting on a shelf in the sun. It came out just fine so hoarding film could be an option.
Film in my fridge is eye candy. It is an addiction. When a little bit of space opens up I feel I need to top up.
I can still have my own look without shooting the same stock of film. Consistent colors are not the only thing that make your photos look good. Ellen Von Unwerth for example seems to have shot many different films.
Black and White and it looked awesome.
by Ellen von Unwerth
Color and it looked awesome! All images had her style no matter what film she shot.
by Ellen von Unwerth
#rant
Ektar, Portra, Superia, Natura and all the slides. Just to tasty to take a pass on right now. I'll shoot a consistent film stock when there's only one left to shoot! Until then I wanna have it all.