Mobile Menu
Recently, I began to challenge myself to use Fujifilm's black and white film sim ACROS for the month of June. I've been doing this lately-- spending a full month with each film sim because a.) I tend to default to one or two favorite sims and b.) I figured a month would be a proper amount of time to understand the use cases of each.
Ironic that I'd use this sim during a month filled with so much color: Pride parades, flowers in bloom, greens that pop so hard that I'm sure it's not real.
I have to say-- it's done something for my photography I didn't expect, but I certainly hoped for. After taking 15 years 'off' from shooting photos, I came back to it with the excitement of a new kid. Someone who had never shot before, because truthfully, that's what it felt like. The technology is so new and foreign that it feels like learning another language.
I've decided to use Voigtlander lenses as well (story for another blog), but using ACROS has been instrumental in forcing me to see photos and composition differently. My eyes are attracted to shadows and light. I am drawn to sun flares and the rich contrasts of black and not black. While I'm not a purist and believe that both color and monochrome have their place in our world, I can see how the latter produces its own bits of drama without much flair. And I'm actually ok with that.
I took a trip to San Diego last week and spent about twenty minutes on a pedestrian bridge (see below). In the absence of color through my EVF, I found leading lines, lights, and curves. I honestly don't know if I'd have seen any of that quite the same way if I'd been shooting in color.
I will go back to shooting color in a few days, when this month is over and I challenge myself to spending a month with another film sim. For the moment, I'm incredibly excited to have rediscovered my love of monochrome and the way it makes me feel. I leave you with the sky, a tree and a cloud, working harmoniously to frame this solo plane on its way to NYC or Newark.
