Film Photography

I still try to learn, as much as I can, as often as I can, especially in the world of photography. No matter how much more experience I manage to gain or how many people I get lucky enough to work with, I think I will always still feel like a beginner who is just learning the craft. I was fortunate enough to begin my adventures into photography with a great darkroom class. My experience behind the camera quite literally started with black and white film and using enlargers to bring my images to life.

Large format cameras are easily the most technical of their kind, but they reward the photographer with extra capabilities and stunning resolution. This video takes another look at some of those capabilities.

As Halloween nears, we are all soon to be bombarded with a litany of images in our social media feeds of our friend’s unwilling pets being forced to don cute/embarrassing outfits picked out by their fawning owners. In fact, it’s highly likely that we have perpetrated this subtle canine fashion abuse ourselves at some point and time in our lives. How can you help it? They’re just so darn cute. But what is far less likely is that any of us will have achieved the rakish heights of the world’s foremost purveyor of canine imagery, William Wegman.

The word “unprecedented” gets thrown around a lot these days, and it looks like once-renowned camera manufacturer Yashica is the latest company to use it to describe the new digiFilm Camera Y35 camera they just launched on Kickstarter.

With the release of "Blade Runner 2049," which by the way, is absolutely incredible, Getty Images has put together a collection of production stills from the incredible 1982 original film. The new movie was produced by Ridley Scott, who directed "Blade Runner" thirty some years ago in both the real world and in the film's sequence. The collection of color plus black and white photographs emphasize the detail and grit of this futuristic film noir world.

Large format photography is probably the most technical and methodical process of all methods of shooting, but you're rewarded with prints that have mind-blowing renderings and resolution. Along with that technical process come some pretty unique powers, however. This video shows off one such capability and how it helped the photographer realize his creative vision.

It might seem that film has been relegated to a pursuit sustained mostly by enthusiasts, but as this campaign by Dickies shows, it can still create the kind of images large brands are happy to use. Go behind the scenes of this shoot with a large format camera.

Continuing with its strong comeback in the still photography arena, Kodak recently announced a digital camera called the Printomatic that is capable of printing instant photos. The camera uses a 10MP sensor and saves images to a digital card, but built into the camera is also an inkless printer system that prints on 2" x 3" Zink paper using heat.

When I chose to move beyond candid snapshots of my friends and family and actually asked them to sit down for formal portraits, my approach to everyday photography changed. Candid moments are wonderful, but practicing your craft with the people around you both helps hone your skills as a photographer and leads to precious moments with the people you love.

Many digital photographers appreciate the look of film, but don't own the necessary equipment to shoot it, whether that is due to the hassle or the cost. There are many ways to mimic the look in post-production, however, and this great tutorial will show you such methods to do it.

The Nikon D850 is all over every photography blog and for good reason. One feature isn't getting too much spotlight though, the ability of the D850 to act as a super high-res 35mm film scanner, converting said image in-camera. Like many Nikon enthusiasts, I stayed awake for the highly anticipated official D850 press release from Nikon this past Thursday. Much akin to my reactions during most of the Game of Thrones season 7 finale, I let out a giddy squeal when I read this short line in the Nikon press release:

While the world grows increasingly digital, there’s something that draws humans to the physical gratification of analog media. Whether it’s the surge in vinyl record or cassette sales or the cult VHS collectors, it’s clear that there’s a deep-seated nostalgia that draws many of us to physical mediums. That nostalgia inspired Fujifilm to make the Instax Square Film that’s now being utilized in the quintessentially retro, “Lomo'Instant Square” from Lomography.

If you're looking to try out film for the first time, the veritable myriad of choices can be a smidgen overwhelming. This remarkably comprehensive guide will tell you everything you need to know about all the 35mm ISO 400 options on the market right now.

Humidity, sunlight, water, and most of all, time, are just some of the culprits in the damage most printed photographs will endure. However these memories of loved ones do not need to be thrown away or thought to be unrepairable. A few layers in the digital world can bring it back for your clients.

Photographer Monica Jane Frisell has spent the last four months living out of a renovated 1988 Toyota Seabreeze, traveling across the United States with her scrappy terrier Lou and a Zone VI 4x5 camera for her project “Looking Forward/Portraits from an RV.” I caught up with her to talk about the project, life on the road, and the process of shooting large format film.