a DSLR. A few years later I inherited some film cameras from an uncle, and learned to develop film myself, etc. I fell in love with film at that point and haven't looked back. I bought a Hasselblad (easily my favorite camera), two 4x5 cameras (love the 4x5 format as well), and will still shoot 35mm if I'm going for a certain look (my main two are a Nikon FM and a Leica iiif).

Digital helped me realize I was interested in photography, but film is what made me fall in love with it. I love everything about film. I love the whole process. Shooting it has helped me really have to learn and understand the different photography principles. It has definitely helped make me a better photographer. I also love the different and unique looks that different films produce. I much prefer it over the digital look. I would like to learn to make darkroom prints, but haven't been able to yet. I scan my film, and even though it's digitized at that point, it still has a very unique look compared to photographs taken on a digital camera.

As for making money, it's definitely not a driving factor at all as to why I do photography. At the same time, I would like to start taking baby steps to get my work out there, and potentially make money from that (selling prints, zines, etc.). At first I hope to make enough to help fund the hobby itself (film, development chemicals, and then of course the cameras/lenses/equipment costs money). The pipedream would be to make enough from it that I can make it a secondary, and then primary source of income...but of course that's not WHY I do it at all. The other thing is this - I'm not going to sell my services, etc., in order to make money. I will continue to shoot exactly what I want because of my passion for doing so, and if I can then monetize that, then great. For example, I'm not going to get into wedding photography just to make money, because I'm not interested at all in wedding photography. I'm not going to open a studio for portraits to make money, etc. I will continue taking the photos I want, and working on the projects I want, and if those things can make money for me somehow in the end, hooray...otherwise oh well. Photography is an artistic passion for me, and I would never want that to change.