1/3: The trials and tribulations of film photography

One of the unfortunate aspects of  film photography is the high chance no pictures will come out of a roll sometimes. In that case, there is money lost from the cost of the film and developing fees. This has happened to me many times. Though, the most disappointing instance, was a roll I just got back. The notes of the file read “only 9 developed.” This was on a 24 exposure roll.

I was particularly disappointed because the photos were of a trip I took to London as well as a music video I worked as crew on. I would have loved to have the memories of these events on film but they’re gone. It’s a risk I willingly took as a photographer in this case.

There are several reasons why this can happen. Light leaks most commonly happen if you even momentarily open the back of the camera while film is loaded in this. Sometimes it can actually make for a cool and interesting photo. I’ll include some an example of this below.

Another issue is under/over exposed photos. There is a likelihood that they will be included in the roll received back unless there is no detectable shape in the frame. They are usually still unfortunately throw away photos because adjusting the lighting in extreme ways will lower the quality.