Interview with Alex Warren - Film Photography

1) Tell us all a little about you, your background/job and why/when you started photography?

I am a Chartered Accountant by trade, and my geeky background goes a long way in explaining my love of lines, order and simplicity which I lean towards with my photography. The funny thing is that I have spent my whole life up until about a year ago genuinely believing I was not creative, having been discouraged from art at school and pushed down a more traditionally academic path. But photography has always featured in my family history - I have fond memories of looking through photo albums as a kid and watching my Dad’s holiday slide shows. So during lockdown last year I decided to buy myself a camera and learn how to use it, and was instantly utterly smitten.

"From the very first roll of film I shot. I was immediately smitten."

2) Having seen all your film work on Instagram, it's inspired me massively to buy a film camera and follow in your path. Can you tell us about your journey into film photography and whether you prefer it over the digital medium? 

That’s so kind of you to say, Laura - I can’t wait to see what you create! I decided to give film photography a try last November when I was chatting to my Dad’s cousin about his film photography background and he suggested I give it a try again many years after I last used a 35mm point-and-shoot as a kid. 

Don’t make me chose between film and digital, it’s like asking me to choose my favourite child! You can do so much with digital - RAW files contain a mind-boggling amount of information, so are hugely flexible. But with film it’s all just stripped back to the building blocks of light, colour and composition and there really is nowhere to hide. I love them both.

"So out of focus, I probably would have deleted this straight away as a digital image. And yet I now love it - embrace the imperfection!"

3) What are the biggest differences between using a film camera and DSLR/mirrorless?

The pace is completely different with film, particularly as my cameras are manual focus, so just getting ready to take the film shot takes longer. And, of course, you can’t check your shot on the live view screen afterwards so you just have to trust your instincts as a photographer which is a little scary but exhilarating too. And then you have the giddy feeling of getting your photos back a week or two after you have shot them and seeing how they have turned out. The novelty doesn’t wear off, I am still like a kid at Christmas every single time.

As you are limited to 16 or 36 shots-per roll of film, the upside of that is that you don’t have to spend hours wading through the contents of your SD card and deciding which shots to keep. Something has to really matter to you to make you want to shoot it on film and every single shot counts. 

4) How would you describe your film photography and what's your favourite subject to photograph? 

I like to see each roll of film as a mini project in waiting. So I will try to tell the story of an outing or event over the shots in the roll, like Christmas or a family BBQ, music festival or circus trip, mixing documentary family shots with wide scenes and close-up details. Or I will shoot or whole roll focussing on different subject matters - I recently explored reflections and this week I went for a walk on holiday and shot yellow things. Working with a finite number of shots like this is a brilliant creative challenge and helps keep things fresh. 

"Hola! Give me a mirror and camera and I’m one happy camper :)"

5) Who are your favourite film photographers on Instagram? Which photographers have influenced and inspired your work?

On Instagram Ryan Muirhead (@ryanmuirhead) and Yan Palmer (@yanpalmer) hang out together in Utah and just have a super-cool effortless style. Cami Turpin (@bluehillimages), Amy Berge (@itsamyburge) and Melese Miller (@melesemiller) all love to experiment with film and create beautiful work. Ian Howorth (@ihoworth) has a vintage 1970s feel which I love.

So many of the greats who worked in film inspire my work - I just love looking at their use of light, colour and composition. But my absolute favourites who I return to time and time again are Vivian Maier, Henri Cartier-Bresson and someone you introduced me to - William Eggleston.

"Summer colour."

6) What are your top tips for those wanting to try shooting on film?  

Just give it a go! It can feel daunting at first, but it’s everything you already know from digital photography (the exposure triangle of SS/aperture/ISO is exactly the same) but if anything it’s actually even easier as ISO is fixed for each roll of film and dictated by the film stock you are using.

You can try a disposable camera or a very simple point and shoot like this if you want to try something very straight-forward. 

If you want to go for an SLR, you can find a whole range of different second-hand cameras online - The Shoot it with Film website has a great guide to beginner cameras here.

There are plenty of great beginner resources online too, Shoot it with Film and Melese Miller are my go-to websites, and both have mailing lists you can sign up to for regular newsletters featuring tips and tricks.  

And if you do get a second-hand SLR, check out YouTube for specific beginner how-to guides. 

"Simplicity"

7) What is your favourite film camera?

I have two - a Nikon FM2n 35mm which is a small-ish take-anywhere camera and is great. But as a (very!) early birthday and Christmas present I have recently bought a medium format Pentax 645n. It is absolutely huge and weighs a ton, but has the most magical depth of field and the shutter release has an almighty clunk which feels like you are a magician suspending time when you press it. It just pips the post as my favourite (…but don’t tell my Nikon!)

"Loch Katrine"

8) Where do you buy film and where do you get your film developed? Do you pay extra to get the images scanned to digital? 

I buy my film from Analogue Wonderland and get it developed at Southsun - I have had nothing but brilliant service from both. My favourite colour film is Kodak Portra and B&W is Illford HP5. Yes I do get them scanned into digital - I can load into Lightroom and tweak slightly to straighten, crop and adjust exposure slightly, but that is it. Yet another brilliant thing about film is that the editing is minimal, you get a beautiful consistency of shots even with varying light conditions. 

"Film soup - I boiled this up with cherry tea, red wine vinegar and washing up liquid et voila!"

9) Any other advice you'd like to offer our campers about film? 

Embrace the imperfection - shots will be blurred, out of focus, mis-exposed and things you’re not expecting will pop into the frame, but that just brings a magic realness to your film shots that you don’t get with digital. And that element of surprise what keeps me coming back for more. 

And once you’ve been bitten by there’s plenty more fun to be had with more experimental techniques you can try, like double exposures and film soup - I have just tried this for the first time and the results were awesome.

I hope you love film photography as much as I do - I cannot wait to see what magic you talented bunch create! Please do give me a shout with any questions - I am more than happy to help :)

"Festival essentials"

"I really had to trust my instincts with this one. Hold your breath, wait for the perfect moment then pray to the Shutter Gods."