Alright, let’s get right to the point – in this post I’ll be sharing some behind the scenes technical notes and my thought process while shooting.


A few weeks ago, I asked a photographer friend and her daughter to meet me at a nearby studio. I wanted to use my canon 1v exclusively to get more familiar with the focusing system. In the past year, I haven’t used this camera as much as I would have liked, and the focusing system is still a bit foreign to me.


I only had a roll of Fuji 400, so that is what I used. I’ve slowly switched to portra because it is more versatile (especially for indoor shoots) and I can’t deny those gorgeous film colors. Honestly, I like both film stocks and will probably always use both. But for this shoot, Fuji was what I used.


I set my aperture at f/2.0 on the Canon 35mm f/1.4 lens – I normally keep it between f/1.4 and f/2.0. These images (film) are all at 2.0. The digital images were at f/1.4.


We didn’t have much time in the studio – maybe 20 minutes total. Although I always use an external light meter, given the time constraint, I used the cameras internal meter but also because I was curious how accurate it is.


Near the end of the shoot, I grabbed my Sony because I doubted my film was correctly exposed. I worried the meter was off. Ah – the struggle of being a hybrid photographer!


On my Sony, I had the Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens with the MC-11 adapter. A couple of the images from this shoot are digital and the rest is film. I turned a few film images to black and white because they are somewhat underexposed….I love the grain.


Takeaway: I’m loving more and more the canon 1v and the 35mm format. I am leaning toward using this camera vs my Pentax 645n at shoots where there are little kids because I like to move quickly if need be and the Canon 1v helps me do this. It’s quickly becoming my go-to for photographing families.


The internal meter for the Canon 1v also seems pretty accurate. I’ve had a few other rolls of film come through and they are exposed well. Yay for that!


And last, I love film. I love my Sony.

3/05/20

Behind the Scenes: Film Notes

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *