Awsome. I'll most likely be picking up a book or two so I'll add that one to my list. It's actually surprising how difficult it is to find basic developing information on the internet.
I need to be quite competent with developing and printing in general. As I don't know much about the process I can't really say just how competent but I imagine they expect me to meet or surpass a senior high school students level of ability. But again not knowing the process I really don't know how competent that is.
It's all sort of strange actually as this is a very high end commercial photography course (two year course) and I'm not sure why we need to know anything about film other than how to scan it. If it were an art course I could understand but not for commercial photography. Either way I'm happy to learn and probably would have done it in my own time anyhow.
Hi, just looked in on the thread and have to say Far-Out. Glad to hear you have a desire to learn film. Silver Rules. I was one that started silver and has spent a lot of energy in digital since 2002. One thing I can offer as a positive there is I have found new energy in my silver based photography now that I have spent some time in digital. I can only image the perplexing shift you must be facing rather fearlessly.
One thing to note is format and type of camera you need to use. I noted you may be doing some commercial work, classes and such. I’d point you at the medium format world. Having a 645, or 6x6 neg gives you some satisfaction of looking directly at the film and really having enough real-estate to see what you shot before printing it. 35mm is good too, but I love 120 film… at $ 3.50 (US) a roll of neg film or more, it can be expensive. But you can use your digital as a proofing device for exposure and such before pulling out your film camera.
Something else you will probably notice is each shot will mean more to you. Waiting for the moment, composition, a 6th sense watching clouds roll over the sky shifting exposure and color temp. Golden moments, cut down on post editing decisions.
I grew up with good film cameras but never owned the ones I wanted, like a M2 Leica rangefinder, a Hasselblad, or a 4x5 field camera. Now with film cameras almost dumped on the market they can be pennies on the dollar.
Keep your thread up. Look at local camera clubs and go up to people over say… 35, and ask them if they do film. Ask a lot of questions, get some deep pockets too.
Lee