 Let's face it there are so many things that go wrong when using film for photography shooting film is like navigating a minefield There are so many ways that you could lose a frame or a role a role of Important memories or trip an event Frame of a one of once a lifetime shot. I was reminded of this recently On my last video where I was using film At the end of the video, I had ended and said well if I find something on the way back to the car I will put the photo up at the end of the video because I had a couple frames left I think it was two or three frames and Typically, I shoot a whole roll So when it came time to develop the film I was in a big hurry And I was thinking I had advanced the film to the all the way to the end. I Just proceeded to Open the camera So I lost the last frame it could have been a lot worse When I opened it it was pretty subdued light. I could have lost the whole the whole shoot That doesn't happen to me very often In fact, I don't I can't remember the last time that's happened when you're new to film photography just starting out a Roll film should say have a warning on it saying proceed at your own peril because there's just so many ways to have that shot messed up and It's heartbreaking. It's it's heart wrenching to lose a frame or a role to Human error and there's sometimes just bad luck. It's just Stuff that's beyond your control. So I'm gonna run through some of the pitfalls You might find or I've seen through the years of ways to lose some images So the first one, of course, like I just explained Opening the back of the camera before the roll has been advanced either back into the cassette or wound all the way through Like a medium format. I think many of shot many of a shot has been ruined doing that and that way you could have something go wrong is Mechanical errors or the or maybe not loading the film correctly and it not advancing. So You're either shooting a frame over a frame or you're you've shot a whole roll worth of stuff and realize. Oh The film never advanced all those shots never happened about setting your ASA or ISO to the wrong setting so say you're shooting ISO 50 film and you're setting it the ISO to 1,000 Most likely those shots aren't gonna turn out Yeah, I may have done that scratch film can be a real issue with film photography There are software Programs that help mitigate that when you're scanning an image, but if you're doing wet printing You're kind of stuck with it one of the culprits for a scratch film So I can 35 millimeter if you've got something on your pressure plate always check to make sure it's clean And there's no and it's smooth and there's no no grit there because that you'd be scraping your film right across that another way you could get some scratches is if you're doing large format and your Holders dusty or you've got some grit in here Then you slide the film in across the not good. No light live leaks are a real common Issue for film especially nowadays because we're all using old film cameras and The seals just degrade over time on a shoot at the coast last year I Wasn't smart enough to Realize it. I probably shouldn't have this camera out in direct sunlight for a prolonged period of time because I had a whole roll that was had Leaks along the edges. I was able to salvage a lot of that, but it made the it made it much harder I haven't had that issue since I've been just keeping the camera in a bag until I'm ready to shoot So at some point I'm gonna have to redo the seals on that camera, but a lot of older cameras Will definitely need their either their bellows to be fixed. There may be pinholes in their bellows or There may be light leaks around the seals in the cameras just depending on what kind of camera But light leaks are definitely a problem for older Cameras and that's basically what we've got to work with nowadays So that's one that a lot of people will probably Have some experience with in the future for your large format folks a way to destroy a sheet of film is when you've Set your shot and shot up For you forget to close the lens so when you're when you're focusing you have the lens open and if you forget to close it and you pull the dark side on the Film holder while it's open you've run the shot And the only time I've done that I've caught it and What I lost was a it was an expensive mistake. I lost a sheet of film But that that is something you got to think about you're getting a hurry That's an easy mistake to make and I'm sure everybody that shoots large format Film anybody that shoots large format Has had that happen another one for the large format folks When you load your film in the dark Making sure that you're under this little lip here Because if you go and get one through and the other one's up on top of the lip and you slide this closed And you don't notice it it can either well cause a light leak or the film won't be laying flat So it's not going to be sharp That can be a problem another one would be to forget Once you've taken the shot to return the dark slide on the other turn it around before you when you put it in Now so you know that it's been exposed because if you think it's been unexposed you'll Shoot another frame over it Running two shots. I've never done that Well, maybe I have During film development if you develop your own film, it's also a Mindful to navigate so many ways to mess up a role of film You can make a mistake loading the reel which is right off the bat If your film is touching film During processing it's going to just basically destroy whatever is being touched during the development process So you got to be very careful to not Properly load the cassette another problem that can occur during development is bubbles on your film and That's caused by Not giving it a good rap at the beginning of the process. I like to do it a couple times. I'm paranoid so I will Continuously did wrote agitate the film and then at that point I will Give it a good rap and then do another agitation About 10 seconds every minute from there on So that's important to get rid of those bubbles because they will if they stay on the film That is not allowing the developer to contact the film That could be a problem. I know their issue could be not properly putting the lid on the Tank I have a Patterson tank and if it doesn't click in It's it looks like it's Light tight. It looks like it's sealed. But if you were to pick that Section up. Oh, it wasn't locked in There goes the film I Haven't had that issue, but I I've come close to it a couple times thinking it had locked in and I just for some reason I just Could I felt it when I was in the way I was switching from development to to fix and luckily I it was Tight enough to keep the light from seeping in but if I would have not been paying attention There has been another role and film is really fragile one especially when it's wet So it would be really careful when you take it off the cassette Or if you're working with sheet film try not to let it rub against anything because you're gonna get scratches Very easy on this really easy to bend to pinch film and once it's bent and pinched It's really hard to to scan or anything So you just got to really handle it with care if you use a squeegee to wipe off your film Which is something I don't do I Don't even touch the film after I've developed it anymore. I I I just Put a little wetting agent on it I shake it off as hard as I can then I just hang it to dry and I have found that that has worked very well for me Without touching the film because inevitably you run something along the film. It's really soft Especially on the emulsion side. It's going to scratch So be careful there and if you fit send your film out to to be processed I've had damaged film in the process. I've had it come back from shipping damaged So you're not even you are not immune to the possibility of losing your shots Why why would I you want to shoot film with all the with everything against me with with the so many possibilities of that shot being ruined I You know, I don't even think about it anymore It's um, I do get a bit nervous when I develop my film. I get a little anxious. I think that's a good thing. It keeps me on Tasking and make sure that I'm not getting sloppy Paying attention to what I'm doing except last time of course nothing feels worse in photography Then losing the shot or a role To a mistake or an error either caused by yourself or just a mechanical bad luck. I I Think there's a euphoria that you get as a film shooter that I don't think you'll ever experience shooting digital And I think it comes from that hard fought What that film has to have gone through to get to the final stage I'm sure I've missed a bunch of the pitfalls and things that can happen to your film along the way Feel free to add yours in the comments below I can't have been the only one that has lost a little film through the years Well, if you shoot film, I wish you a lot of luck on your next outing and if you shoot digital I also wish you luck too So I'm gonna end today's video right here Until next time Thanks for coming along for the ride