I've stepped backwards in my photography. Well, backwards in time and bought myself a medium format film camera, circa 1991. I have shot on film before, my first couple of cameras were film but modern film cameras, just before the era of digital relay came to be an affordable option so there would be very little to do regarding settings in camera.

Medium format though, I have never shot so this was new to me and it is with an older camera, which does have a light meter built into the viewfinder but until I got my first couple of film rolls developed my trust for metering would be with an app on my phone (not terribly old school, I know).

The main challenge for me when moving to medium film would be the limited exposures you can achieve from one roll of 120 film. Which is 15 to 16.... And at roughly £10 per roll, I had to really think 'is this the correct composition, timing for the light, settings for the camera' etc. etc. before pressing the shutter.

This experience did really connect with me as I have found with shooting digital, where you can fire off as many shots as your card can hold without the worry of expense even crossing your mind, most of the time my initial composition before changing things up is my favourite. Still, the slowing down and addition of stress and anxiety when taking the shots added to the experience.

This regression to a simpler time in photography didn't stop there. When I told my dad about my new camera he disappeared, reappearing about 10 minutes later with his trusted Zenit(h) 11 35mm film camera. So I have been mixing things up with medium format, which is an absolute joy to shoot with and my dad's 35mm, which is again such an enjoyable camera to use. Interestingly, I find the 36 exposures you get from the 35mm camera to be too many.... This, I think, is that I am so eager to finish a roll of film so I can send it off to the lab for development and see the results. No back screen to check on these old cameras....