Shoot film on holiday
I first shot film, a roll of Kodak Ultramax, on a trip to North York Moors in 2022 and it was so much fun I have continued shooting film on every trip since.
Here are some of the the reasons I love shooting film over digital on all of my trips since:
Excitement of reliving the trip
For me, reliving moments from my holiday, sometimes weeks or months after returning home is my favourite thing about shooting film. Some moments I would have been patiently waiting to revisit and there are always some surprises of forgotten ones when images come back from the lab to get excited about. Shooting digitally I would have reviewed the photos over and over again, on the back of the LCD screen, on my phone, on my laptop when backing up all while still on the trip and would miss out on this opportunity.
Less is more
So far I’ve returned from trips with less images to sort through, rather than taking 5-10 (or sometimes more) photos of a particular scene when shooting digital, on film I’ll take 1 or 2 photos max. Yes, this does sometimes result in not getting a decent image but the more I shoot film the higher the success rate, and the ones that do turn out well are even more special.
Being present
Another one of the benefits I’m finding shooting film on holiday, is experiencing the places with the people you are with in person rather than through the back of an LCD screen. Taking less photos of the same scene helps, capturing a memory with a single photo and then being present because you don’t have the option of checking the back of the screen right away means I take a photo, forget about it and carry on enjoying the place you are visiting. Taking fewer shots is improving my photography as I’m slowing down and being more intentional with how and what I’m photographing. Also, when stopping for a break or when you get back to your accommodation later in the day there’s no possibility of reviewing the days images and spoiling the excitement of reliving the trip, while you are still on the trip!
Travelling with less gear
Typically for my trips nowadays I pack my Pentax Super ME, one lens, a few rolls of 35mm film and a spare battery (one of those tiny watch batteries). That’s it. No laptop, no external hard drive, no chargers, no spare batteries, no memory cards and no extra lenses to worry about. There are obvious space and weight benefits to travelling with less gear but it is also helping to change the way I take photos, which takes us nicely onto reason number 5.
Taking images of moments
Shooting film has changed the type of photos I’m drawn to taking on holiday. I’m seeing and taking more photos of moments with those who I’m with, or little moments of light or colour which catch my attention, which I possibly would not have bothered capturing on my digital camera. This is instead of only taking photos of ‘pretty’ scenes which I’ve seen many times before on my social media feeds, which is making the whole process from taking the photo to getting it back from the lab much more enjoyable and the photos far more meaningful.
This is not to say that I’ll never shoot digital on holiday again, I’m sure I will and hopefully I can transfer much of the above into the way I shoot when I do. There are some potential issues with shooting film such as weather and getting through airport security with film in your bag and sometimes you do miss the shot! However for now, the enjoyment I get from shooting film far outweigh any potential negatives, pun intended :)
Below are a handful of photos shot on 35mm film from various trips across the UK since 2022!
