By Ambassador Jake Hood

We live in an age where everything happens so fast. News, stories, photos, videos, information, It goes by in the blink of an eye. Consumed at such a rate that the information goes in and straight back out and we don’t actually really process anything in between.

Camera phone, digital camera and social media have a big part to play in this. I can remember famous photos from old mountain bike magazine and adverts as clear as day in my head but I couldn’t tell you anything about the pictures I saw yesterday on Instagram, Heck even 3 hours ago. 

We snap a picture on our phone, slap it on Instagram. We take a picture with our cameras and we can see what we have taken instantly. You know if it’s good or bad. You can then manipulate that photo massive amounts using program such as Lightroom, photoshop etc. Photos are so crip and prefect. The turn around time from taken to edit is really fast.

But when a photo is captured on film it takes a lot longer to be processed. First of all, you can’t tell exactly what you took at that moment. There is no screen to look at. You then have to finish the film and process it before you get so see what you captured. Then if you decide you want to put it online you have to scan it. It’s a much longer and slower process.

I decided the evening before we set off on the road to Nelson that I was going to take a disposable camera with me on this filming trip. Shoot some behind the scenes stuff in between riding. Something slightly different to your usual behind the scenes I guess.

Personally I love the look of photos that come out of disposable cameras. The high noise. Washed out colours. The lack of sharpness, The grain. It’s very organic. I think it’s the reason why a lot of people try to recreate the same look when editing in lightroom/photoshop. The other thrill of disposables is that you have not really any clue of what you are going to get back. It could be the best picture in the world. It could be a black noise mess of a photo where nothing is distinguishable.

The Honzo Esd shoot was 2 big days of riding at Cable Bay adventure park. They were pretty none stop days trying to squeeze in as much as we could in the limited time we had. I would bust out the disposable in between lens swaps, camera changes and times where I didn’t need to be in the scene. I tried to capture moments to show what it’s like on set.

The shonky shoot was but a bit different. There was a lot going on over the 2 days. We had a lot of spots to hit over a short period of time. I also kind of forgot I had the disposable with me. I brought my proper camera with me this time around. Unfortunately on this shoot, it was so full on it didn’t get time to shoot as much as I wanted to with both the disposable and digital camera. I was there to ride for the video so that was my priority. I did shoot off a few on the disposable while riding behind the Smith crew on the way to the next shot. A couple of Eliot on at the pump track.

I didn’t manage to finish the reel of film on the Kona trip and it’s taken me some time to get through the last few clicks of the camera. Last week I sent the camera off to Wellington to a shop called Splendid to get develop. It’s been about  6 weeks since we were in Nelson so I had kind of had forgotten what I had taken. I was really excited to get them back and see what I had captured.  

Looking through these photos brings back good memories of the whole trip. I like the fact that a lot of them are pretty crappy. It’s more real feeling. More character to them. I spend more time looking at them since they aren’t perfect.

It was nice to take a disposable on the trip to capture some memories. Take a picture and have to wait to see how it turns out. No checking photo out instantly. No instant gratification. Just click and wait till film has been used up then get it developed.

I think because our lives are so fast-paced nowadays that a lot of people are turning back to things that take longer. I know that there has been a resurgence in in “film” the last few years. People are digging out their old film cameras. Looking around thrift shops. Searching eBay. Old point and shoots you could buy for cheap when they were new are now worth a fortune. (Goddam Hipsters). I think it’s a good thing we slow it all down a bit. Take time to enjoy the things around us and treasure moments. After using that disposable and the excitement I got from getting the pictures back has made me want to get a little point and shoot film camera that I can just throw in my back pocket and take it with me everywhere. Maybe a bike ride to the top of a mountain, Maybe just walking around town, Maybe my favourite band is playing at some grimy bar. Take the point and shoot with me. Shot off a few shots. Get it developed when the reel is finished. No checking to see if I got the shot. Not stressing about if it’s perfect. Just capturing a moment in my life. One that isn’t just 1 and 0, but a chemical reaction caused by light. One where I’ll have to wait to see what it was that I actually captured.

 

Thanks for your time


Jake