An introduction to ShootFilm.UK
Shooting film is like driving an old mini. There's faster, more reliable options out there but lets face it, it's not as cool and everyone secretly wishes they had one.
Ok so that probably makes more sense in my own head but what I'm really trying to get at is that film - like an old mini - is just as popular now as it ever has been. Ok so it's a little more difficult to get hold of these days and processing often means shipping your rolls off to a lab somewhere in another city, but it's still possible and that's the main thing.
I have started this website for several reasons of which I will go into in more detail below. But first, allow me to introduce myself.
I am Karl, I live and work around the North West of England, based in the sunny seaside resort of Blackpool. I shoot film, and have been doing for several years. Locally, there is nowhere to buy film apart from Boots or Poundland and although Boots offer a fair range of 35mm film, it can be quite expensive and there's no way of getting your hands on any larger formats. I shoot using a small selection of cameras including my Canon A1 35mm, Anniversary Edition Bronica ETRSi 6x4 Medium Format, Zero2000 6x6 Pinhole Camera and occasionally Polaroid 600 & Fuji InstaxMini.
So why another site about film photography? Well as mentioned there isn't really a great deal of "things" for analogue photographers up north and getting hold of film usually means ordering from the internet. Primarily I had designed this site as a place to sell film, which will grow along with the website, but I also wanted it to be more than just a shop, I want ShootFilm.uk to be a place where, once you've shot the film you can come back and share your images and together we can discuss techniques and processes, film types and camera types etc. I would like to see ShootFilm.uk become a creative HUB where analogue photographers throughout the UK can be featured, perhaps answer a few questions about their work and inspire others to give film a go.
At the moment, as we grow we would love to collaborate with writers and photographers interested in being involved. If you have any suggestions for the site or perhaps there's a certain type of film you'd like to see in the shop. Please get in touch and get involved. We will also hold the occasional open call for photographers to submit work and win prizes so be sure to check back every so often.
We will also be creating a little page of useful links to places like Film Processing Labs and Printing Companies we know and trust, so again, if there's somewhere you use that you think other analogue photographers should know about, send us a message and we will add them to the list. Lets share our love for Film and together we can make Shooting Film more accessible.
Thank you.
