There is abundant discussion online on the topic of film vs digital. And what most conclude is that it is the end result that matters and not how one gets there. While I do agree that the end result is important for me the process of getting there is what makes shooting film so endearing. So when I found a bag of 10 kodak tri-x film that expired last century and had not been stored in a fridge for a majority of the last 25+ yearsI, was very curious to see what they could produce.

The general rule is to add a stop of exposure for every 10 years so I added approximately 2.5 stops and shot the film at ISO 80. I took the camera to a high floor in my building and fired off a roll bracketing each shot.

By the time I got the developed film back from the lab it had been 3 days since I finished the roll. Just the excitement of holding the negatives up to the light and seeing images is priceless. I hope some day in the next year and a half to have a fully functional dark room where I can develop and print my images, but till then I have to depend on a lab to develop the film and then I scan them at home.

While the images here are just of buildings it is enough to check for tone, sharpness and detail of the film and I have to say that overall I was very happy with the results and can’t wait to shoot the rest of the batch. I also took images of my son and my dogs in low light handheld (did not included those images here) to see how the film would hold shadow detail. Again I was very pleased with what I got. There was absolutely no post production done to these images.

I am so glad that there is a resurgence of film globally. I know it is expensive but I don’t spend money on fancy dinners, or fancy clothes or fancy cars. Shooting film keeps my love for photography energised, and while digital definitely has its place in my workflow and is technically just incredible, it is film, with all its inadequacies and flaws, that speaks to my soul.