Last weekend I had the good fortune to attend one of Chris Marquardt and Monika Andrae’s film workshops, Absolut Analog. In the spirit of full disclosure, I do a lot of work with Chris (The Invisible Camera) so I may have a slight bias. In short, I loved it.

I have processed my own film before but it’s been a long time. Twenty years? Really? That seems to be the situation. For quite a while I have been wanting to get back into shooting and processing B&W film. There are a bunch of reasons why- the artistic nature of it, the simplicity, the smell and feel (I know, I’m THAT guy). But the biggest reason is that it’s a lot of fun.

Before I could dive head first I needed a quick refresher on film processing and as luck would have it Chris had room in his workshop right here in Tübingen. The downside- it was an advanced class and it would be in German. Now, my German is not going to win any awards but I can get by if everybody speaks slowly. My concern was that I was going to slow the group down but everybody was really cool about it and Chris and Monika made sure I knew what was going on.

photo: Chris Marquardt Twitter- @chrismarquardt

First up we were going to “Push” ISO 400 film to 1600. Long story short, underexpose and overprocess to compensate for the difference resulting in high contrast images. The afternoon session had us “Pulling” ISO 400 film to ISO 50. Overexpose, underprocess yielding lower contrast images. Then that night Chris had us really stretch out the envelope and push ISO 400 all the way to 6400 and shoot in the dark. REALLY high contrast.

There’s something tremendously satisfying about shooting film (no chimping allowed), mixing your own chemicals and getting the timing just right.

photo: Monika Andrae Twitter- @nahlinse

And when you hang that film strip up and confirm that you actually got an image? Thrilling. No hyperbole.

photo: Monika Andrae Twitter- @nahlinse

If you’ve ever wanted to shoot and process your own film I recommend the workshop. But more importantly- if you’ve ever wanted to improve your skills as a DIGITAL photographer, take the Absolut Analog Workshop. The skill set Chris and Monika provide you with will apply to your digital workflow exponentially. Again, no hyperbole necessary.

I don’t know if Chris plans on offering many analog workshops Stateside but if you send him an e-mail you might be able to convince him otherwise. You’ll be glad you did.

www.absolutanalog.de