Beginner Film Photography Help: Blank Shots!

Hello, I’m a beginner at film photography. I just got my 3 rolls developed and I have numerous blank shots (either all black or white-beige ish in color, some have street lights on it). I guess this is an issue regarding the exposure of the camera? I am not really fond of the photography terms yet. I’m using a canon slr camera, the auto ones so i’m on auto mode whenever i shoot since i dont know how to play with the settings yet. I believe my ISO is either 320-400 all through out. But the worse from my experience is when I tried the Fujifilm disposable camera. I think more than 10 shots were just pitch black and most of the photos were underexposed even thogh I used the flash.

Can someone give me how to avoid it? I’m really confused. What is the recommended ISO? When to use or not to use the flash? Any other settings to change? Thank you so much,

First of all, it's unsurprising that you had a bunch of blank shots on a disposable. Typically, those are set up with only one exposure setting, and anything that's either not bright enough or too far away for the flash to reach will be blank.

As far as your ISO setting-film has a fixed ISO speed depending on the film type. It should be prominently marked on the box and on the film canister also. If you know film and a particular film/camera combination well, you might deviate from this marked value but in the begging I'd STRONGLY encourage you to only use the marked ISO setting. If you read the instruction manual for your camera, it should have a setting for "DX Coding". This is a type of electrical coding built into most 35mm film cannisters(everything you'll encounter from Kodak, Ilford, and Fuji) and it's probably best for now if you just set your camera to this and forget about the film speed setting.

As a good starting film, I'd suggest Fuji Superia 400, although Kodak Gold 400 is also good.

Aside from this, pay attention to your camera. The instruction manual is usually full of good information about how exposure works and how your camera handles over or under exposure. If you don't have a paper copy of the manual for your camera, you should be able to find it online. I hope I don't sound like I'm brushing off your question, but I'd suggest that you read the manual from cover to cover to get an idea both of how exposure works and how your specific camera tells you things about exposure.

BTW, bad flash photography is easy, but good flash photography is an art. Depending on the age of your camera and what specific model it is, the camera might "suggest" using flash by way of a lighting bolt blinking in the viewfinder. If it does this, it's probably a good idea to listen to it at least while you're learning. BTW, this can happen both in the dark and in full sun...the full sun one often baffles people but it's using a technique called "fill flash".

There is a lot to cover here, but I would suggest you read a simple text on general photography to help with the fundamentals. without knowledge of your camera, the settings you used and what kinds of pictures you are taking, this is a very difficult question to answer.

In respect of the ISO, use the speed that Is on the box of the film. Do not adjust it ( film has a fixed ISO sensitivity, not like digital where you can vary the sensitivity). Flash pictures are typically used for subjects that are close to the camera. The nature of the way the light falls off with distance means that distant objects generally only receive a tiny fraction of the light from the flash, so for example, if you are taking a landscape picture on an overcast day, the flash won’t really make any difference, as it will only light up the near foreground, you won’t see any difference in the main subject.

If you have been using a disposable camera, it may be optimised for use with the flash. In conditions as described above, ie in low light, it may not provide enough exposure. These types of cameras are really designed for close pictures of people, where the flash can provide enough light for good exposure.

Regarding your SLR camera, if you are using it on auto, and you have the ISO setting set to the speed marked on the box, your exposures should be approximately correct. However, most film SLR cameras are getting quite old now and there are a host of problems associated with age that could give a problem due to malfunction. I would suggest you work out how to set the camera to a shutter speed of 1 second ( use ‘manual ‘ mode) and see if it sounds about correct. If it sounds way off 1 second, your shutter may be faulty. Which SLR do you have?

A nice start.

With a simple explanation at the beginning.

Get yourself a digital camera capable of full manual control. You'll learn much quicker and cheaper than with film.

Film is possibly the worst conceivable medium to learn with.

Once you know how to control an exposure properly, with the instant feedback of digital, then try film.

The cost of a dozen rolls of film+processing will easily buy you a decent used digital camera - something like a Canon G10 or similar.

I am not really fond of the photography terms yet.

Frankly, things become a lot easier if you do develop some fondness for the terms - since it makes it much easier to understand explanations given. Troubleshooting expsoure issues without understanding what's what, is not really going to work. A good learning book is 'Understanding Exposure' by Bryan Peterson - it covers the important basics in a clear and accessible way. Alternatively, a short version of that book is available in the Learning Section on this site.

Shooting all auto on a Canon SLR should at least give a reasonably well-exposed image (and most of the time, a quite perfectly exposed image). So I too expect something could be wrong with the camera. Either way, shooting with everything on auto with film is not very educational, unless you note for each frame which settings the camera (shutter speed, aperture) has chosen for you. You'll learn a great deal more once you start shooting in the Av, Tv or M modes, though, and take more control.

While I like shooting film, I do agree that for learning, digital has clear benefits: make more shots without a price penalty, makes it easier to experiment and test different settings, and you keep the information on the settings used in the file, so also in retrospect it's easier to understand why an image came out the way it did.

A nice start.

With a simple explanation at the beginning.

That video has some bad information. He showed you how to set the camera in Av mode wrong. To use the A1 in Av mode you leave the aperture ring at A. You set the aperture on the dial only.

That video has some bad information. He showed you how to set the camera in Av mode wrong. To use the A1 in Av mode you leave the aperture ring at A. You set the aperture on the dial only.

Yes, you are correct.

The generic info is pretty clear and transcends the AE-1.

I started with film photography myself, but once I started working with digital cameras with full manual control (no presets or filters), I began to gain a better understanding of how film works. Perhaps, it'll be better you invest in digital photography so that you aren't losing money on processing and purchasing rolls of films.

Check out some of my work: Yuseki Ota Photography

"Get yourself a digital camera capable of full manual control. You'll learn much quicker and cheaper than with film.

Film is possibly the worst conceivable medium to learn with."

I don't understand why some people think that film is so difficult to learn. Sure, I grew up with it and it's second nature to me, but if I can teach a photo neophyte 75 year old grand mother how to use an FTb in less than an hour, what's the mystery? The instruction manual for my old F1 is 60 pages. Buy a new digital and you could be looking at a book - and that's just for the "quick start".

Once I load my film I have just three things to worry about - the shutter, the diaphragm, and the focusing ring. If I use my EF, or New F1, I can narrow it down to two things to set. Can it get any simpler?

Yes, I do have a digital camera just in case you think I live in a cave.

When I first bought my FM years ago (not so long after it came out) it seemed obvious to me to get a manual camera.

Previously, I had used rangefinder cameras, either with external meter, or one that told the aperture when you set the shutter speed.

Being in the loop gives you a chance to recognize bad metering (such as a bright light in an otherwise dark scene) and correct it.

But with DSLR, I most often keep them in P mode, though mostly not with auto-ISO.

With shutter speed and aperture visible in the viewfinder, I can at least think about it before I shoot.

Even with a manual camera (internal or external light meter), it isn't so hard to make the setting without actually thinking about it.

Usually one starts with daylight exposures.

The sunny 16 rule works well for sunny days, one stop more for bright cloudy days, two or three stops for darker cloudy days,

and three or four stops for open shade. (Lit by much sky, but otherwise in shade.)

The OP mentions street lights, which sometimes are the only thing visible in an otherwise underexposed shot.

Even with ISO 400 and bright street lighting, you will need a slow shutter speed and full aperture.

Some automatic cameras give a warning when the scene is too dark, but otherwise shoot anyway.

But also, scenes lit by lights in the frame are some of the ones that are hardest to meter.

The meter can be easily fooled by the lights, expose for them, instead of the actual scene.

Shooting a few rolls outdoors during the day (sunny or cloudy) is a good way to start.

Use the meter, and compare to rules indicated above. (It used to be that film came with

a little data sheet with a chart for common outdoor scenes.)

Next challenge might be indoors lit with the sun through a window.

Flash is the next thing to learn. Flash is complicated by the inverse square law,

that the light decreases as the square of the distance. Simple cameras get you

to about 10 feet (3m), with fast film and larger flash, you might get 30 or 40 feet.

Manual flash means a guidenumber, dividing the guidenumber by the distance,

and setting the aperture accordingly. Appropriate shutter setting for bulbs

or electronic flash, usually 1/30 or 1/60 for many cameras. Automatic

flash simplify it a little.