I Quit Digital Photography for 365 Days. Here's What Happened

I'd like to remind all digital photographers that you too can slow down without having to move to film. Just take your time and look through that view finder for a while

this feels so much like the old Peter McKinnon videos, the ones that got me into photography in the first place. Just a friendly chat in front of a camera talking about whatever topic. Really wish these videos will keep coming

The 1 thing that keeps me coming back is that every time I'm done watching, i got extremely motivated. Love your videos man!

"don't expect results, you have to go get them" hit harder than i expected. Thank you for sharing your experience and takeaways

I come from the Analogue days, and i mainly worked as a concert photographer. I still remember the main thing it taught me. Because you only have 36 shots you have to learn how to "read" WHEN the moment happened BEFORE it happened. There was no spray and pray so you had had to use your senses to see into the future + click exactly when the time was right. Today I have lost that skill because of working digital only.... Another thing is that I was able to read exposure correctly without lightmeeter, I was able to see when to use 1600 ISO, 125 shutter and 2.8 apperture without using the gear.... today I have lost this skill as well because of digital.

Quick tip for digital shooters. Get yourself a small SD-card. Like one, where you only can shoot 50-100 photos. You will slow down sooo much!

In the early days I thought had a good grasp of photography when I could take some star trail shots or cleverly use a full flash in the correct moment. NOW, in a really weird way, I feel like digital photography was just a way for me to get ready for ACTUAL photography… shooting on film. Digital was absolutely the best way for me to learn because I could make mistakes so quickly. I became intimately familiar with ISO aperture and shutter speed. Now it’s really interesting because my mind kind of makes the picture in the moment and then weeks later I get to see if I was right. There’s something really fun about the technical challenge of it. It’s really awesome.

After a rough day at work knowing I get to come back and watch this video when I get off in 30 minutes, turned the whole day around. Had to put this here before even watching.

Shooting film definitely changed how I shoot digital. You learn light and new techniques and how to slow down so well! Stoked you had the same experience. ALL DIGITAL SHOOTERS SHOULD AT LEAST TRY FILM JUST TO LEARN MORE!

Shooting film is a lost art. I'm glad I was able to shoot film starting in the 70s. I started with the Nikon EM and ended film with the Nikon N75 in 2004. When digitizing slides became a thing I had a Minolta scanner and then a Nikon. Between scanning and editing, it took close to 30 minutes per image. Mostly the scanning and cleaning dust spots from an image when the scanner missed cleaning them. The digital age brought lots of unwanted noise to the lava flow outings if I had to be around other people. I remember the first time some guy walked over and set up right next to me and held the shutter button down for what seemed an eternity. I asked him what he planned to do with 1000s of photos from that moment and he replied, oh I'm hoping for 1 good one. Then there are the time-lapse ones that don't use the camera's silent setting. I shoot digital like I shot film. One or two differing exposures and on to the next subject.

Not sure if you ever going to read this Peter. But I discover your channel almost when you started it, and I just got so inspired back then that I bought my first camera.  When I forgot why I started, when I have difficult days, I come back to this channel and remember why I started my journey and why photography is so important to me. Thank you

I started photography in 1986 and it was all film back then. Now I shoot digital but my picture taking is the same process as it was back then. Get it right in camera and minimal processing post. The only thing I miss in the digital world is the 3 second film wind on where you are taking a pause between shots. No digital equivalent and I miss that.

I have done the reverse from you. I shot film from 1975 to 2004 and then picked up digital. I'm not sure what that did to my craft, but I do enjoy digital.

I love the vibe of this channel so much. It's like stepping away from loud traffic to enjoy the sound of flowing water. Love the work that you do

I truly love this adventure you are on with photography. I had 2 different Pentax digitial cameras that bricked themselves after some time, and this past year I've been playing around with film so much more, and it's made me like a kid again! I love the silly and ridiculous. I have a Diana F that I am OBSESSED WITH (it's a toy...seriously). I do plan on getting another digital at some point, but I really adore the organic feeling of film. I don't mind artifacts, I don't mind imperfections, I don't mind the not perfectly framed shot. I laugh at the out of focuses when I'm learning a new camera. I think you should always try and follow the joy. Love your work as always Sweetie Petey 💖

I learned photography starting in the early '70s. Digital was rectal exam back then. I had a darkroom in my parent's basement, and I loaded my own bulk film. I have no idea how many rolls of Tri-X I shot. There was no auto-focus or auto-metering. I started with a Yashica rangefinder my father gave me when he upgraded to an SLR. I bought the Olympus OM-1 when it came out and used that for many years. I still have it and it still works perfectly. The big advantage to learning photography by shooting film is learning to compose in the camera. As a result, I still compose in camera and rarely crop anything other than wildlife photos. I still shoot film, and I especially like the Bronica 2S I bought a few years ago. I have to externally meter the light, and the square format really makes me think about the composition. I develop my B&W film at home and scan the negatives into LRC. I send color film to the Darkroom in CA. Shooting film these days is my way of getting back to my roots. It slows me down and makes me really pay attention to what I'm doing. I love it.

Reinventing yourself constantly is the important thing in this line of work, wouldn’t ya say?

Happy you did that- looking forward to see how you feel next year about all of it. Happy weekend to everyone reffing this and thanks for sharing - 18 minutes never felt shorter than in this one 😊🙏🏻

I encourage you to learn how to develop your own film, you would probably shoot more, and have so much fun in the lab. For me, developing my own negative film, is like a zen moment. You will enjoy it!!

Your videos and your photography is better than ever now. Challenging yourself is the only way to keep growing. So good! Thank you!