Iceland September - The Plan: 35mm lens, Velvia 50, no tripod

[///alpinepower]

I mainly use my nikon DSLR these days, but a recent project scanning to HDD storage every frame of film i have ever taken in my life put me on a different path....

I plan to take my "rediscovered" FT2, a single roll of velvia 50, and a 35mm lens on the trip to compose 5 frames of film per day. I don't want to go nuts with several rolls of film, as I actually prefer to leave those days behind (the final days of vacations were in some ways nerve-wracking, since the peaking bounty of undeveloped film coincided with the voyage home).

I have recently tested the meter and I ran a few B&W rolls through the camera to check it out. The DSLR will still be along for the ride, and I bet it will still generate a fair amount of garbage relative to the "great" shots. That's the way digital goes.

What say you? Could you limit yourself to one roll, one lens, and the other self-imposed caps? Do you recommend a different lens, a different film? I think this will be interesting.

[Mike1234]

I couldn't... or at least wouldn't... but it's a good exercise in choosing the very best images.

[Chris Nielsen]

If it was me, I'd be bracketing quite a bit with Velvia, I tend to screw up exposures fairly often with slide film. So that cuts the frames down by 2/3rds. I would take a bag full of film personally. If you can't afford a bag of Velvia maybe some Ektar or similar?

[david b]

Yeah...don't go crazy with two or three rolls of film. That's just insane.

Of course, you'll go back to Iceland many times in the future so don't worry.

[tony lockerbie]

I personally don't have anything like that sort of discipline, if I was going to Iceland I would need a pack mule to carry the cameras and film!

[Leighgion]

Sure.

I've done variations of this more than once, but never with the idea that limiting my supply of film was going to help me produce better shots. I'm slow enough burning film by natural inclination.

For me, sticking to less hardware has always been about lightening the load of what I carry and saving time on gear decisions by reducing options. I've never found that just having one lens helped me with anything but practicing with that focal length and finding all the situations where that focal length wasn't going to work.

[///alpinepower]

If it was me, I'd be bracketing quite a bit with Velvia, I tend to screw up exposures fairly often with slide film. So that cuts the frames down by 2/3rds. I would take a bag full of film personally. If you can't afford a bag of Velvia maybe some Ektar or similar?

Well, that's my fear too! But the whole point of this is to go on a trip without hauling a sack of film. That's why I quit and headed for digital. Most of my early work (mid 80s-90s) was done on Ilford HP5, but I guess in retrospect that was easier to work with.

[///alpinepower]

Sure.

I've done variations of this more than once, but never with the idea that limiting my supply of film was going to help me produce better shots. I'm slow enough burning film by natural inclination.

For me, sticking to less hardware has always been about lightening the load of what I carry and saving time on gear decisions by reducing options. I've never found that just having one lens helped me with anything but practicing with that focal length and finding all the situations where that focal length wasn't going to work.

I always fret about the lens that I left behind - and if it would have allowed me to make the spectacular shot that I could not get. But, that's part of the exercise.

[Dan Henderson]

There is a lot to be said for minimizing gear and exposing film like you were shooting a muzzle loader instead of a machine gun. But Iceland is a place with so many rich photographic possibilities that unless you are going to be in the country for an hour or so, 1 roll of film will just be too limiting. You will have to pass up too many scenes that should be photographed. As soon as that last frame is exposed, you will find the best photograph of the trip and will not be able to record it.

[dainmcgowan]

i would find an asa 50 rated film too slow to be without a tripod!!