Musings on Digital vs. Film in the Cellphone Camera Age

Tonight's post does not have photos attached. It is musings about the journey that I have recently been on to re-learn and use a 4x5 view camera and real film. I have found that the personal engagement with the device and the medium are quite different then using the digital camera. In today's world of digital cameras being pervasive using a large, slow moving tripod mounted device is much different. Recently a pastor friend of mine talked about officiating at a wedding where the photographer had a hard time doing his job because members of the audience kept getting in the way with their cell phone cameras. The paid photographer seemed at a distinct disadvantage. He was obligated to capture very specific shots. Even more problematic was that as he was trying to get those shots people with cell phones apparently kept getting up from their seats and getting in the way. I wondered when does the photographic process take precedent over the actual event? Will the bride and groom be happy with their friends being in their photos randomly? That is certainly not something that would have occurred ten years ago. Then the photographer was the recorder of the event sure there was the occasional guest with a small camera but certainly not everyone recording movies of the event and emailing or Twittering them all around in real time. Now that has changed be it at a wedding or an Occupy Wall Street protest. As I start using the large format camera I am so aware that it is so much more visible, so much more obvious and present. Even obvious than my bulky digital SLR's which can often dominate a situation and make people act differently. Using the 4x5 comes with a commitment of time and attitude that simply are part of the process and inevitably shape the images you get. If the cell phone camera is all about spontaneity the large format camera is the complete opposite. With it you must plan and calculate what you are going to shoot, how you are going to shoot, how many exposures you have and most of the time plan the shots well in advance. It is the opposite of the whip it out cell camera. Even the rather cumbersome digital SLR allows you to shoot color, or black and white at will and with a large memory card you can click away capturing hundreds of images. But with the 4x5 view camera you must plan which film, what subject and what lens well in advance. You must decide how to use the limited number of sheets of film you have editing in the field which images are worthy of investment. It is a whole different thought process but in the end I think you must ask the question. Will it mean more? Will the viewer see this in the finished product? Will they form a deeper commitment to the human connection you are trying to make?