Kodachrome 25/20mm lens/ 1/sec@F/4
It always makes me wonder how in the world we were able to make photos when the film of choice was Kodachrome. I say film of choice because virtually everyone I knew shot it. Except for when I was shooting for AP and UPI in the seventies, and we rated Ektachrome up to ASA 1600, I would shoot with Kodachrome because the color was soooooo much better looking.
In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I’m always asked what ISO (ASA) I keep my camera on? Do I increase it in low light situations? How do I remind myself to change it back?
My answer is always the same. I now keep it at 800 and forget about it no matter what the situation is. Since I’m on a tripod nearly 100% of the time, I’m in complete control. I can shoot at any shutter speed/aperture combination in any low light situations, and walk away with the photo I was after.
In the Kodachrome days, I got use to and became comfortable with shooting people at very slow shutter speeds. Taking a portrait at a 1/4 sec, 1/2, or even a full second was the norm. It’s what I had to do if I wanted the rich saturated colors that came from shooting Kodachrome 25….meaning ASA or ISO of 25.
One of the many problems that came with the digital camera and the new photographers that came with it was the idea that in order to shoot good photos, you have to manipulate the many camera settings from situation to situation, and from location to location. Trust me when I tell you that YOU DON’T!!!!!
Try taking the “Baraban Challenge” sometime. Change all your setting back to their default, and put your camera back in the box it came in; then pretend that you just bought it. Open it (with great enthusiasm and excitement) and start reading the parts of the manual that shows you where the shutter release is, where you change out the card, the location of the manual setting, where you change the shutter speed, and oh yes…where you turn it on!!!
After learning all this hard stuff, go out and start shooting. You don’t even need the AF mode. After all, auto-focusing is a luxury not a necessity.
Toooooooo scary????????????? That’s OK, I understand. If you’re scared, just put all the settings back to where you’re not scared anymore!!!!
One last thing: When someone asks me what I did when I needed a faster ISO/ASA, I tell them I would switch to Kodachrome 64.
🙂
Boy do I miss my Kodachrome!!!
🙁
Visit my website at:www.joebaraban.com and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot the low light with me sometime.
JoeB
Kodachrome 64, I miss it too.
I drool over used Nikon film cameras on e-bay, miss handling film, miss waiting for slides to arrive…only to fill the waste basket with most of them.
What I do not miss for example is the lost opportunity to have images of sunrise over Cappadocia (Turkey) from hot air balloon that was…moving all the time (surprisingly they did not allow tripods in the balloon basket full of people) .
http://www.redberryphoto.com/Travel/Turkey-more-to-come/9842216_CvjKdJ#!i=187012130&k=xFwVdxn
It is digital age that allowed me to shoot while scuba diving with my $200 digital compact and have a few keepers (http://www.redberryphoto.com/Underwater).
All that said, I love my tripod.
Michael,
I’m on a tripod 95% of the time…why? So I be in complete control and do whatever is required to make photos.
JoeB