Film Photography

Some may be dubious of the merits of ENG cameras over their sleek and stylish film counterparts, such as the 8K F65 Cine Alta or Arri Alexa, and they wouldn't be entirely wrong. While ENG cameras have long been pigeonholed for their clunky construction and weight, much of network television depends upon their workhorse-like live sports coverage capabilities.

We can learn so much about the art of storytelling through careful study of some of the pinnacles of the film. Blocking, subtext, shot framing: all of these and more are crucial to the conveyance of plot. Check out this video that breaks down some of film's most iconic and masterful scenes and provides great tips to incorporate into your own work.

"The Daguerreotype Achromat Art Lens is a revival of a lost esthetic that disappeared from photography some 175 years ago. Based on the Charles Chevalier's historical lens model and built using a unique achromat design, you can now create modern images that look like world's earliest photographs bathed in a powerful, alluring veil of light."

Impossible Project, the awesome folks that have been bringing you film for your Polaroid 600 instant cameras and even the ability to make Polaroid prints out of your camera phone images, have just announced their all-new instant film camera and it sounds awesome.

Medium-format cameras have long been in the hands of working pros because of their combination of ease of use and incredible image quality. While large format was always the king of resolution and dynamic range, it is difficult to work with on location and cumbersome. Today, medium format is a little different. Phase One and Hasselblad have both released 100 MP options, allowing for unparalleled image quality.

Since digital photography was introduced, our art has become available to most, for better or worse. Releasing a shutter doesn’t cost much anymore, the process of creating an image is easier than ever, and everyone who has a phone is now a photographer. In 2016, going back to film sounds like a crazy idea for many. However, like "One Roll of Film" shows, it still has its place, and it is different from digital.

I'll be the first to say it, smoke bombs are usually too Tumblr for my taste. Generally you see them with a moody girl looking off into the distance in some backyard forest. I never got the point of those images. But I found myself mesmerized by "Chromaticity"; the smoke bombs were alive, more like wayward spirits hovering above the big blue. I was so entranced it took me half of the video to realize they were attached to drones, and the drones were nowhere to be seen.

For years, videographers shooting in dark situations frequently ran into the issue of a ton of noise in darks and shadows that would oftentimes make some footage difficult or impossible to use. Many have heralded the release of the a7S II with applause due to its power for video in low-light situations and even to record bursts of high frame rates in HD, so we took one into the deep recesses of an abandoned power plant in New Orleans to see how it did.

Who else is sick of hearing the same five Premium Beat songs in what seems like every advertisement on TV right now? Well, fear not, a new site is in town to help you with your short film or commercial projects, and there is plenty of variety. For $199 a year, Art-list gives you access to universal licenses and unlimited downloads for all of your music needs. Yes, you read that right, unlimited downloads.

Nearly every photographer owns a film camera whether it be in the dark recesses collecting dust or they use it on a regular basis. The most common reaction when people see one of these film beauties out and about is shocked that you can still acquire the film to shoot with one of these models. So if you own a 35mm, Polaroid, or even a medium format film camera, Dust it off! Don't know where to begin on buying film? Have no fear! I have become your personal film guide and have tried and tested all the major players out there in the film world, so you don't have to!

In this video essay, Evan Puschak aka The Nerdwriter explains some of the techniques Ansel Adams used to achieve his technical and esthetic mastery. Using visualization and some other relatively easy to learn techniques, Adams learned to bring what he saw in his mind's eye to his photographs (yes, I said "easy to learn," but hard to master). It was Adams' commitment to taking photographs, with intent, that made him a master artist and led him to develop the tools he needed to bring his images to fruition.​

Jianmin Huang is a fashion and street photographer born in village in China. He can now be found chasing moments throughout the streets of Amsterdam, which has earned him the nickname of Jimmy on the Run. In this seven minute video portrait, we learn how he got his start, what his aspiration as a photographer are, and about his struggles to earn the respect of his family.

Have you ever felt like you were trapped inside of your mind, consumed by a constant flow of anxiety, worry, and fear? Or maybe you have felt this way at a time in your life and realize the power and control you have over your mind. Either way, you need to check out "The Irrational Fear of Nothing," a short film directed by Paul Trillo, that follows a paranoid, neurotic man named Terry as he walks the streets of Manhattan.

Right-o! Let's jump in our "wayback machine" to London, England in the late 19th century to witness some of the oldest known video footage, not only just of the city, but in all of human history. I'm a sucker for finding the earliest cinema and photography have to offer, and if you are too, then click on.

Let us venture back in time for a minute. 35mm film was always considered small. In fact, it was developed in the early 1900s as a means to make high-volume shooting and consumer photography possible. If you were a working professional, you were shooting at least medium format (6x4.5-6x19 cm) or even more likely, large format, like 4”x5” or 8x10”. The idea is that the larger the format, the more detail you can see. As we fast forward to digital, full-frame is the ideal format for many working pros in a variety of genres. While full-frame can be expensive and yields incredible image quality, there is something more.

We fell head-over-heels when we saw CineStill’s 35mm 800T film, repackaged from Kodak cinema film. Beautiful golden skin tones, cool shadows, and that ever-difficult-to-explain magic glow, brought the beauty of true filmmaking to the still format. It’s been a long wait since the 35mm format was introduced in 2012, but today, CineStill launches their high-speed, tungsten-balanced cinema film in the 120 format.

How many of us picked up our first camera because it was a way to make a buck? For most videographers, the hustle of media production work gradually evolved from a passion for filming into a business formula based on our strengths, reputation, and market necessity, but fun was the kickstarter.

We all know it's a little bit more competitive for females to "make it" in the photography and film industries. Yes, it is. The gender gap is real, and I'm not being a feminazi. There are studies about this — science. Even women who are the main characters in films don't get paid as much as their male counterparts (Jennifer Lawrence in the Hunger Games, anyone?). It's even worse for women who are behind the screen, the creators of these big projects. The team over at Vimeo isn't having it anymore, so they are doing something about it.

I recently had the pleasure of picking up one of the first final production models of the Inspire Pro and X5 Micro 4/3 Camera, and immediately took it to one of the most beautiful photography destinations in the world to test it out: Meteora Greece. I spent the better part of a week there getting the hang of flying and capturing both photos and videos and I was able to come away with some stunning results. This review is meant to showcase what I was able to capture and give you an idea about the capability of the new X5 Camera and the key differences between the Inspire and...

Totally Rad are the producers of the film emulation presets titled Replichrome. Currently there are three sets of presets, Replichrome I: Icon, Replichrome II: Slide, and Replichrome III: Archive. The initial inception of the Lightroom presets, now known as the Icon Series, came with the intent to get it right. Not to create stylized versions of film but to create accurate depictions so that the digital images with the film presets would appear as close to actual film as possible.

It's not rocket science, complex editing, ridiculous lighting, or overly complex photographic method. It's basic double exposure; snap a picture, snap another before advancing the film, or rather expose over an already exposed roll of film. Aaron Checkwood, photographer from Oceanside, California does and incredible job taking these film school fundamentals to the ocean. Combining terrestrial imagery with iconic aquatic sites of green Pacific barrels creates a mesmerizing image of a true love affair with the sea.

Peter Jackson's first steps into Middle-earth with “Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring” was incredible as it followed Frodo and his good friend Samwise Gamgee as they fight their way to Mordor in one of the greatest trilogies of the early 2000s. You can guess that my excitement level was high when they finally announced “The Hobbit” would come to the big screen in its own series, though as many could have guessed it was a terrible venture that overwhelmed its director at the high cost of making a mediocre follow-up to its previously successful trilogy.

Iceland has become a naturelovers' playground and a hotspot for adventure photographers looking to visit the home of some of the most popular Instagramable locations on Earth. But many travelers visit the island nation during the warmer and more accessible summer months. Winter is when most of the country is covered in snow and ice and tourism drops dramatically. But that isn't stopping four British adventurers from attempting something that has never before been accomplished; crossing the country unsupported in the heart of winter in what they're calling "The Coldest Crossing."

Film photography has made a comeback! Some would argue that just like Dre, its been here the whole time. But over the past few years, the aesthetic and cache of film photography has made a strong presence in the zeitgeist of contemporary digital photography. In this entertaining short film by Maison Carnot called "Disassembly," we see how to take an old non-functioning film camera and bring it back to life through a complete disassembly and repurposing of the old gear.

If you're like me, you have way too many apps on your smartphone. I know this might sound crazy coming from Fstoppers, but we really do rely too much on our phones. Yes, even the great iPhone 6s Plus. “Connectivity Lost,” by filmmaker Walter Stoehr, is a short showing what could go wrong if we depend on our phones too much.

The use and misuse of composite photography is a story we hear about quite often. Long before the days of Photoshop and digital manipulation, though, composite photography existed. Here's the story of one of the earliest controversies surrounding a composite.

I find myself saying this a lot these days, but that's not a typo. In fact, the listed ISO range for the new KONO! Donau film is actually ISO 3-6. With such a low sensitivity, photographers can capture longer exposures in daylight. The film's extremely blue tones serve as a reminder that it's still in the experimental range, but there's an entirely new limit to what you could do with a hand-rolled ISO 3-6 film.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post mocking the new Holga Digtal Kickstarter campaign. Holga's PR team caught wind of my post and decided to send me the new Digital Holga. At the same time the Impossible Project sent me a Polaroid 600 camera with Impossible Instant color and BW film. Which is better? Let's find out.

A new photo has surfaced of the famed western outlaw Billy the Kid, purchased for about $2 in a junk shop in California, that could easily be worth upward of $5 million. The lucky man behind the photo purchase is Randy Guijarro who picked it up in a store around Fresno, California in 2010. Awaiting authentication for just over a year it has finally been claimed to be the kid himself.

Canadian Designer, Photographer, and Cinematographer Tom Kucy doesn't sleep. Less than two days after we reported on NASA's huge release of over 10,000 never-before-seen photos from the Apollo space missions, Kucy decided to work them into a project that involves taking these almost half-century old two-dimensional film images and converting them into moving, stereoscopic 3D photographs.

NASA recently released over 11,000 images from the Apollo space missions via the Project Apollo Archive on Flickr, and I have spent the past few days looking through them. Spoiler alert: They're awesome.

“Star Wars” fans around the world are patiently awaiting the arrival of “Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens” on December 18. That being said, the hype train has been running full steam ahead since the initial trailer for “The Force Awakens” was released almost 10 months ago. Since the release of “A New Hope” in 1977, “Star Wars” has created a fanatical fan base, with an expansive universe and many stories to be told. Fan films have been a part of that universe for many decades now, and they have gotten so big that “Star Wars” has an entire section of their site with awards dedicated to them.

I've always been a big fan of Dave Hill's photography and creative vision. If you're familiar with his earlier commercial work, you probably know him for his progressive digital and composite techniques. Well, in recent years, Hill has been growing and changing as an artist and he's been exploring different techniques and mediums (not just super rad composites) and shooting a lot more automotive ads. Here is an example of a great Jeep Wrangler ad campaign he captured with — Gasp! — 645, 6x7, and 35 film.

Ryan and Josh Connolly of Film Riot always brings us the coolest do-it-yourself filmmaking and special effects tutorials. In this "rewind" episode (read: old) they show us how to create the killer effect of throwing someone clear across the room. What's doubly cool is how easily this can be done with just a still camera and software that most of us already have (Photoshop and After Effects).

During the winter months, snowboarders and skiers dream of those big powder days, where a storm leaves the mountain covered in a soft blanket of snow that’s perfect for riding. During the summer months though, mountain bikers have never been able to experience anything that can truly match a mountain that's freshly covered in snow. Until one day at Whistler Blackbomb mountain, when dirt literally fell from the skies to create the very first dirt blizzard.

If you Google the solar system, you will be shown images of all the planets in our solar system laid out in the order they rotate around the sun. The problem with these images is that each planet's respective distance to the sun is not shown to true scale. This leaves the viewer without a true understanding of just how far away each planet is from another. That’s why Alex Gorosh and Wylie Overstreet set out to make a true-to-scale representation of the solar system.

Markus Andersen, certainly one of the leading street and fine art photographers in Sydney, Australia, and known globally, has just released pre-orders for his first book – and it looks stunning. “Rage Against The Light” published by TG Publishing showcases his wonderful work around his home town of Sydney (and for the first 100 pre-orders, 42 remaining pre-orders, comes with a free print).

Some photographers like that soft, ethereal feel as they specifically seek out types of plastic to stick in front of the lens, or even go so far as to buy defocus control lenses and LensBabies that will allow them to distort an otherwise true image. That has its value. But this isn’t for that. This is the new go-to guide for absolutely everything to know about how to get your images to be tack sharp. Get ready to dive in: this is a no-questions-left-behind study on sharpness.

Maybe I'm just jaded, but GoPro videos of snowboarders, mountain bikers, parkour runners, and wing suit flying people (to name a few) have just started to get a little old for me. Sure, they're exciting and give me a glimpse of what the world might be like if I got off my sofa, but I feel like I've seen them all, so when I saw this video posted on the San Bernardino County Fire Department's YouTube channel, I had to click it.

I have never really been into extreme sport videos ever in my life. The second I see someone decked out in Red Bull apparel, I am immediately turned off. But this video in particular has caught my attention. Everything from the directing, editing, camera operating, and sound design has been formulated perfectly into a four minute YouTube masterpiece.

Recently, Richmond Virginia-based wedding and portrait photographer Meagan Abell made a stunning find in a thrift-store box of old images. Among the half-century-old family snapshots she uncovered a set of jarringly beautiful transparencies (slide film) and a desire to find the women on them. The #FindTheGirlsOnTheNegatives campaign has, overnight, caught fire, garnering worldwide attention and press. Ms. Abell was kind enough to take a few minutes out of her schedule of NatGeo and BBC calls to chat with me for an exclusive interview.

Beth Moon is a photographer who specializes in classic black and white imagery. Over the last 14 years she has been traveling the world documenting the oldest and largest trees on the planet. To promote her new book "Ancient Trees: Portraits in Time," Moon has shared this behind-the-scenes video of her platinum printing darkroom process which is pretty interesting to watch. Platinum printing is viewed by many to be the absolute best form of archival printing, and Moon's results are absolutely gorgeous.

Sometimes you just need to slow down. Last year, I shot just north of 95,000 digital photographs. That may not seem like a lot to some of you wedding photographers out there, but it was enough to make me take a step back and want something else. How many did I throw away? How many were made without thought or conviction? This was enough to trigger the impulse to try something new, and that something new was large format photography.

With Comic Con in full swing this week we are all waiting patiently for the next big reveal in the world of cinema and sci-fi. Today is that day as we are brought through an outstanding BTS video from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Blasting onto the scene with never before seen footage of Han, Chewbacca, Leia, and many more as they show us what delicate hands of J.J. Abrams we are in. Seeing the combination of practical and visual effects we are sure to find a true sequel to the original trilogy that was released almost four decades prior.

There are hundreds of 35mm film camera options out there. Everything from cheap drug-store point and shoots to beautiful, bespoke-feeling Leicas, to the Canon AE-1 hipsters wear around their necks with a guitar strap. The Nikon F100 is, without a doubt, one of the best 135 cameras out there and is, in my opinion, is the absolute best choice for a digital shooter to experiment with 35mm film.*

While there’s never been a sure fire way to win work and sustain a living as a photographer or film maker, and particularly not today given how much change we are seeing, having your own unique vision can help set you apart from the crowd. Young film maker Paul Trillo has shown time and again how an interesting perspective can separate him and his work from the pack. After watching his recent innovative short, you'll likely never be able to look at your phone in the same way again.

If you haven't been keeping up with Casey Neistat's daily vlogs, then you absolutely need to start. They're a great source of creative inspiration, lots of running cut-scenes, and the occasional viral video. In this particular vlog, Neistat tells a story on the importance of not quitting and, while filming, experiences an error with his Canon 70D. You may not believe how he solves it.

Electrophotography is a medium that was never intended to be used for photography. Electrophotography, later changed to xerography, was originally intended for use as a photocopier. This video follows Tom Carpenter as he uses the electrophotography method to create a portrait. The results certainly won't be putting Canon out of business, but they are interesting from a creative and experimental photography standpoint.

The era of 360-degree filmmaking is upon us. Google, in collaboration with The Mill and production company Bullitt, has released the 360-degree short film "HELP" for free on Google's mobile storytelling platform Spotlight Stories. The film is full of explosions, aliens, and action all within a beautiful 360-degree world.