Film and Digital Photography

was talking to a friend and fellow photographer the other day about shooting film. He looked at me for a second and asked "why would you ever want to shoot film again?". I think that's a pretty good question considering it's not easy to find professional film and get it processed any more. It usually takes about a week to see the fruits of your labor with film whereas, with digital the results are immediate. I love film, not only because of the way it looks, but because of the way it makes you approach the art of photography as well. PLEASE ... don't misunderstand me, I love digital photography too, so much that at least 98% of my work is digital. Still, there is something about film that won't let go of me.
When we have a little spare time, Karen and I like to visit antique stores. I asked Karen "what is it about antiques that you like so much." Her response was " they are handcrafted slowly with a thought in mind and have such character about them. They are not crafted just to make a few bucks but crafted to last for years and years." I started walking through the store picking up things and looking more closely at them. I noticed they were heavier and thicker more substantial than the modern versions and even the nicks and scratches gave them a certain character. These are some of the same things I like about shooting with film. It makes me slow down and take a more studied approach, back to the basics of exposure and composition.
Film is not dead, there are a growing number of folks who are learning to appreciate its look, the thickness and the subtle changes in tonality that it gives. There are differences between the two, and given the right circumstances film is the perfect choice. What's really funny about the whole thing is ... photographers, including myself spend a lot of time trying to make our digital photos look like film. There are a plethora of actions being created to help accomplish this. I'm starting to ramble now so I will bring this to a close. My last post were some maternity photos of my daughter Lindsey. During that session I shot some of the same photos using my mamiya 645 and 80mm 1.9.
Below are some comparisons between film and digital. Take a look and let me know what you think. By the way, none of the film photos have any post processing work done to them ... none at all. The digital photos were processed in Lightroom with a preset I use on every digital image I shoot. The ones on the left are digital and the ones on the right are film.