Film Photography

The iconic Windows XP wallpaper "Bliss" is widely considered to be the world's most viewed image. Though most of us are familiar with the beautiful image that has graced our computers at one point or another, not many are familiar with the story of how it came to be, and fewer yet that it is in fact a real image captured on film! Photographer Charles O'Rear shares with us the story behind how he created the image with nothing more than his Mamiya RZ67 and a roll of Fuji Film.

It's not the first time I'm sharing Michael Shainblums work and it won't be the last time. Timelapses are one of the most time consuming forms of photography and only a dedicated person with patience can produce quality results as often as Michael.

The Sony A7s is making a lot of buzz on the internet right now for its insane ability to push ISO high and basically see in the dark! Sony released a demo video on the Youtube channel SonyHowTo for us all to watch. To be honest, the results are impressive.

A new product is hoping to make its way into the market in the near future, New55 Film. This product has been making waves, and is supported by those who still shoot film. New55 Film was founded by Bob Crowley and is managed by Sam Hiser, project CEO.

It’s no secret that everyone can become burnt out on what they do. Whether we are photographers, athletes, truck drivers, or teachers. If we do something long enough, maybe unless you’re a fighter pilot, professional surfer, and/or an astronaut, almost everyone will experience a period of time in their career when they’re flat-out bored and/or they suddenly arrive at a place where they question both their work and if what they’re doing is really what they should be doing.

35mm film shooters will be happy to hear that German imaging company, Reflecta, has announced a new almost-pocket-sized slide film scanner that can scan up to 10,000 DPI. The ProScan 10T is advertised to have a DR of 3.9 DMax. Here’s the kicker - it comes in at a surprisingly low € 469 (just under $650).

Polaroid enthusiasts who have long missed Type 55, that unique black and white 4x5 emulsion famous for providing a usable negative along with a positive print, may soon be in luck. The film may return to production but it depends on the likelihood of New55 project, a four year effort aimed at resurrecting it, having success as a Kickstarter campaign with a funding goal of $400,000.

I'm always fascinated by what makes the best photographers think they way they do. What shapes their ways of seeing? In the current climate of photography, it's easy to get lost in everything technical. We can often lose sight of the most important thing about photography...why we photograph. In this video from Steve McCurry's Youtube channel, we get a glimpse at what goes on in the master mind of perhaps the world's greatest living photographer.

In recent news, the production team of the Hunger Games series tells all on their decision to use film over digital film-making. This news has been well received by creatives who still trust and love the quality of film. There have been several favorable comments that the look of "Catching Fire"was drastically improved from the 1st movie in the series "Hunger Games." For the second film, the production team brought in a new director, Francis Lawrence.

"All good things must come to an end." It's a common theme throughout this special by National Geographic in which we follow Steve McCurry on his quest of shooting the last roll of Kodak Kodachrome film ever made. It's a pretty daunting and heavy assignment to be sure - one McCurry is no stranger to. That fact is even more apparent when we learn that it was McCurry who asked for the final roll.

Remember when Jean-Clade Van Damme released his awesome Volvo Trucks commercial? Then, it was followed by an even more awesome Chuck Norris doing the splits between two planes video response? Yah, we do. Turns out Chuck Norris truly can be beat though!

One does not often associate violent protests and the threat of sniper fire with portrait studios. However, photojournalist Anastasia Taylor-Lind’s recent portraits of protestors and fighters in Kiev, Ukraine make us question this apparent disconnect. Taylor-Lind's stunning and revealing portraits were taken with a medium-format film camera between outbursts of violence, documenting the men and women fighting for their freedom in Kiev.

Polish photographer Emil Stankiewicz’s has created a unique, handmade Talbotype camera nicknamed Idlozi, which means “window to your heritage soul.” Each unique image captured by the wooden camera starts as a paper negative which is then rephotographed with the same box camera to yield a positive print. The camera also known as a “street camera” or “á la minute camera” are inspired by Henry Fox Talbot’s calotype, the British inventor who was able to create a paper negative from which positive prints could be contact printed.

A recent tutorial online shows us how we're able to take our video production with the use of a video slider. Often, camera sliders can cost hundreds of dollars, and can even break $1000 for a professional quality one. This latest tutorial shows you how you can make one in just an hour of time, and a mere $30 spent at your local Ikea.

Black bear bile, rhino horns, shark fins and other endangered wildlife and their illicit trade account for more than $10 billion annually. For the past ten years, documentary photographer Patrick Brown has explored this story, shooting from the jungles of Cambodia to the markets of Guangzhou. The work is now collected in the book “Trading to Extinction,” published by Dewi Llewis and released to coincide with this week’s global summit on illegal wildlife trade hosted in London.

Renowned actor Norman Reedus, best known for his portrayal as Daryl Dixon in the television series The Walking Dead, is also an international artist and photographer. Step inside the inventive mind of Reedus by taking a look at his recently published book, The Sun’s Coming Up… Like a Big Bald Head. It is filled with dark and gruesome images that exist somewhere between Reedus's reality and our own.

It seems like Stillmotion is never content sitting still for long. These Portland based filmmakers have spent the better part of a decade chasing their dreams and doing so on their own terms. The one consistent thread for Stillmotion has always been executing amazing stories that need to be told.

Lynn Goldsmith is considered to be one of the best music photographers in the world. She was one of the only female photographers in the scene in the 70s and 80s, and photographed pretty much all legend we can think of. From Michael Jackson to Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley and The Beatles. In this interview with CBS she shares some of the stories and experiences she had as a rock and roll photographer.

As 2013 comes to an end, many of us are starting to think about fresh starts and goals for the New Year. For most, 2014 will mean expanding and upgrading gear or even taking a leap of faith. Personally, I’ve taken a very counter-intuitive leap of faith. I sold the most expensive video asset that I've ever had: My RED Scarlet.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Robert Capa, the iconic war photographer and Magnum Photos co-founder whose life, documented in the autobiography Slightly Out of Focus, is the stuff of legend. Capa's centenary has brought with it a number of undiscovered treasures from his life including his only surviving audio interview from October 1947 but also a rich collection of slide film taken on assignment from 1938 until his death in 1954.

The swirly bokeh of fast lenses designed by Joseph Petzval in the mid-19th century is no longer solely available to fine art photographers using view cameras. In July, we profiled a Kickstarter campaign by Lomography to fund the creation of a brass Petzval for Nikon and Canon mounts. Now, a new campaign is hoping to fund the production of an F3.8 120mm lens for medium format cameras with a Pentacon Six and Hasselblad compatible mount.

I often times hear that portrait photographers will only show 1 person in their portfolio and not to duplicate subjects on their website. I am completely against this idea and urge photographers to be more like Mr. Tarantino, who can transform characters and settings by use of wardrobe, color, and hair. This post is a call for examples of how YOU are shooting the same subject differently. Send me your images and I will post a follow up article with the best suggestions.

You know that moment when you start to watch a documentary, not knowing if it will be any good, and then walk away with your jaw on the floor as the credits roll? That was me last night. If you're interested in the film VS. digital debate; the progression of technology; where things are going for visual media; cinematography; how the media we use to create images affects how we feel about what we see or watch (and why), or how changes in the photographic industry have influenced cinema, you positively, absolutely need to check out Side By Side. Like, now.

There are photo books and then there are photo books that you go back to repeatedly over time. Peter Turnley's new self-published collection "French Kiss: A Love Letter to Paris" is one such publication that begs to be savored. A monochromatic study of Paris captured over 40 years on the streets, the 138-image hardcover is an homage to the romance of the City of Lights captured with a reverence for the aesthetics of famous French street photography.

Cheryl Dunn’s visceral documentary of New York street photographers “Everybody Street” is now available for rental or purchase online via Vimeo. The 90-minute film debuted in April at Toronto’s HotDocs International Documentary Film Festival, traveled to several international festivals and continues to be screened. Featured photographers include Boogie, Bruce Davidson, Bruce Gilden, Elliott Erwitt, Jamel Shabazz, Jill Freedman, Mary Ellen Mark and Joel Meyerowitz among others.

Currently the only black and white instant film available in the 3×4 size is the Fujifilm 3000b, and it's being discontinued. Yes, you read that right. One of the single most popular instant films will no longer be around. The photography industry isn't a stranger to films being discontinued. It happened with Kodak, so it was only time before it trickled to other manufacturers.

Philadelphia-based photographic artist Isa Leshko turned her camera onto aging farm animals, horses and dogs to create a powerful study of mortality and aging. The body of work, captured with medium format film, is currently exhibited at the Corden Potts gallery in San Francisco and was inspired by the caregiving process she underwent with her parents.

The brain child of Michael Krebs and Hannah Pribitzer, Revolog is a unique company providing a unique service in what many consider a dying art: film. I still shoot film on occasion, just to mix things up creatively. I stumbled upon Revolog a few years ago, and fell in love with their product and their passion for film.

The team at Red Giant Films, working with special effects guru Stu Maschwitz, have yet again released another compelling short video. Unlike other shorts such as Spy vs. Guy and Plot Device, this is actually a pitch trailer for a film based on a video game that they hope to create. Check the full post for the behind the scenes video too!

As filmmakers, we often find ourselves in less-than-perfect circumstances; we may be losing sunlight at the end of a shoot or trying to capture a fleeting moment before it disappears. Often times you’ll find that you've captured great moments with an undesirable camera shake. I've found myself in this situation countless times and I want to share something that has changed the way I deal with shaky footage.