5 Unique Film Photography Tips & Hacks

Despite still being a very mediocre photographer, I’ve actually been shooting film for about 8 years and over that time I’ve had my fair share of dumb mistakes from blank rolls, light leaks and under-exposed photos.

So I’ve looked back at some of the best tips and hacks that I’ve learned along the way and put them together so you can get the most out of your film photography.

You can do simple things like over-exposing by 1 stop to avoid bad exposures but I wanted to give you some more unique tips and the last one has absolutely saved a load of my rolls.

Tip #1 – Layers Of Light

For the first few years I was shooting I didn’t really understand that much about different kinds of light and I kinda just shot whenever I wanted.

I still managed to get some good shots but there wasn’t much understanding about what the light meant in the frame.

That was until I started to learn about cinematography and layers of light. You see, layers of light create depth or a kind of 3D, immersive feeling to an image.

So if you look at this shot, there’s dark, light, dark, light. This gives the picture a way more 3d feeling with way more depth.

So next time you’re out shooting, think about layers of light rather than an image that’s just fully flat and that’ll help you to get way more depth in your shot. 

To explain what I mean by a flat image, I’ll put a picture below.

This picture above is pretty flat, and that’s not to say that it’s a bad image but there isn’t really anything that provides us with a sense of depth or a 3D feel. There’s no depth of field, there’s no layers of light (apart from very slightly throughout the footprints in the sand and the grass) and there’s nothing in the foreground to show depth either.

Layers of light are the best tool to create immersive depth, learn it and use it!

Tip #2 – The Best Camera

A few years ago I got to the point where I thought I needed to upgrade my camera, I went for a Pentax 67, literally a camera if you dropped it on the floor, you’d be checking if the floor was ok.

This is one of the best cameras ever made so obviously I’m thinking, this is gonna make me a better photographer.

How wrong I was…

The best camera is the best camera for you, it’s not the most expensive one on the market, it’s the one that suits you and does the job for you.

If a camera is too expensive and you worry about taking it out, it’s not for you, if you only get 12 shots per roll and you’re poor then it’s not for you, if the lenses cost a grand each and you can only afford to eat beans, it’s not for you.

This simple realisation made me go back to a simple Nikon FM2 and it made me focus on what mattered way more, which is working on your style, learning and trying new things.

Don’t worry about the camera, worry about what you’re shooting with it, why you’re shooting it and how you’re shooting it.

Tip #3 – Stop Shooting Wide-Open

Back in like 2018 when I was hitting the streets of Manchester shooting street photography, I virtually always shot at F1.8, I genuinely just thought that was the best. I didn’t really have any reasoning or understanding about why, I just thought it was the best.

I didn’t realise it then but there were so many reasons why I shouldn’t have been constantly shooting wide open.

First, you’ll often miss the shot because there’s absolutely no leeway at F1.8 so you have to nail focus every time.

Also, the overall sharpness is just gonna be way less, and while I’m not saying that sharpness is the be-all and end-all of an image, it can help to tell more of a story.

And basically, there aren’t that many times that you need to actually shoot completely wide open. If you’re relying on it to provide depth too often then you’re missing some key things as you’ll know from the first tip.

So yeah, usually, F 4-8 is a really good spot to be in, F8-10 is critical aperture for most lenses which means it’s the sharpest if that’s what you’re going for.

Tip #4 – In Special Moments, Take Multiple Shots!

This one is simple but man, if I’d been doing it from the start then I’d have like 8 great photos instead of 4.

Soooooo, many times I’ve seen an amazing moment, taken one shot and thought, yeah, that was great, I’ve got that now.

And well, it was not great.

Always, always take multiple shots when the time’s right, when you see that moment, take more than one shot or you’ll be looking back and thinking, what was that?

Okay, the pictures above are rubbish but I’m using them to visually demonstrate what I’m talking about. This shows a process of taking pictures of the same thing with a completely different outcome.

The reason this is more important for us film photographers is because we can’t see what we’ve shot, we’ve got no evidence about how good the shot was so we’ve kinda gotta just hope.

Tip #5 – All Is Not Lost

This final one is so simple but it’s so handy to know.

Not too long ago I went out for a hike with some friends, we’d got all our stuff ready, just about to set off and I go to change the roll. For some reason, my brain must have been extra rotten that day because I just opened the camera without rewinding.

You might be thinking, that’s it, all your shots were gone, right?

Wrong, turns out, if you open your camera up, even in bright daylight for a few seconds, you’ll probably only lose about 4-5 shots.

All of the shots you’ve already taken are pretty tightly wound up within layers of film on the spool.

This revelation is a game changer because all of us at some point will probably make this dumb mistake.

Final Word

Thanks for taking the time to check out my article! I’m here to give you loads of little tips and tricks and hopefully make your film photography experience way better!

If you enjoy what I’m doing then take a look around at some more of my articles!!