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That’s honestly part of the reason presets even became a thing for me. I was trying to simplify the process. Trying to get closer to the feeling faster.But nothing really fixed it until I rediscovered film photography. 35mm. Medium format. Slowing everything down.
And suddenly, I loved photography again.
Film Forces Intentionality
With digital, it’s easy to shoot endlessly.
Twenty versions of the same frame.Tiny adjustments.Burst mode.“Fix it later.”
Film doesn’t really let you work like that. Every frame costs money. Every roll has a limit. Every shot matters. You have to think before pressing the shutter.
And because setting up takes longer, because changing rolls takes time, because sometimes your camera isn’t ready when something incredible happens, you become way more intentional with what you choose to photograph.
Ironically, the limitations are what make it exciting again. There have been moments where an insane image happened right in front of me and I missed it completely because the camera was off or I ran out of film.
And honestly? That’s part of why the photos that do work feel so much more meaningful. There’s weight behind them.
Fewer Photos. Better Photos.
A few years ago in Iceland, I came back with thousands of digital images. Same thing in Italy. Thousands. But after traveling through Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile this year, shooting mostly film, I came back with around 250 photos total.
And almost all of them were sick. That changed everything. The selection process became shorter. The editing process became almost nonexistent. The relationship with photography became healthier. Instead of drowning in files, I actually wanted to take more photos again.
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