Finding time in a hectic schedule to stick with film

Black and White Film, when processed at home, takes more time and energy than digital.  While someone who takes a digital photograph may spend more time tweaking their image to perfection the basic workflow from camera to viewable image is faster.  With our hectic lives and need for instant gratification many of us may find ourselves using a point and click, camera phone or possibly a dSLR for the majority of our photography and only using film for special projects.  Lately I’ve been guilty of this, I can barely find time to do my laundry let alone the 20 minutes or so it takes to process a roll of film.  And scanning, forget about it!  But I find time to toil on the internet and do other menial tasks that throughout the day somehow.  I’m not much of a TV watcher so I know that my time isn’t spent doing that.  So here are some ideas for finding the time to get something done that may be a little tedious.

 

Find something new to shoot, a new film or purchase a new camera (swap with a buddy or go to a thrift store if you’re on a tight budget).  When I have a new camera I always find time to shoot at least a roll of film to run the camera through it’s passes.  If I travel to a new location I’ll normally increase my average roll output by a large margin.

Dedicate an evening to processing film.  If you can set aside a couple of hours to process film once a week you’ll be doing good.

Pay someone else to do it for you.  Hey, it’s an option, not one that would work for me, but if you just don’t have the time…  Personally I’d rather just shoot digital since I’m giving up the control that keeps me shooting film in the first place.

If you have a tip for those strapped for time please share it!