Just a couple of weeks ago, Ilford Photo released a video on how to develop your own black and white film. Now, they've followed it up by giving you everything you need to know in order to turn those negatives into beautiful, tangible prints.
If you've ever wanted a film that you can shoot the way you can shoot with your digital camera in the dark, you'd normally be looking for the discontinued Kodak T-Max P3200. But now, thanks to a few coy teasers on Instagram, Kodak is telling us we're getting it very, very soon.
If you're just starting with film photography or are interested in it, processing your own film can seem a bit daunting, but it's really not that hard, especially with black and white film. Furthermore, it can be immensely satisfying. This great video will show you everything you need to get up and running as well as the entire procedure.
We often draw inspiration from several mediums; art, music, and film to name a few. These inspirations are blended together and found within our work. This article digs deeper into what may give our work moody undertones and makes us feel exactly how we feel when looking at it.
Sometimes, photography is too easy. After churning out perfect images left and right, I really felt I like I needed a challenge that would put my God-like skills to the test. Of course, that’s complete crap, but occasionally I do see the need to challenge myself and alternative processes are a great way to learn about the craft of photography while having a bit of fun floundering in failure. To that end, I’ve learned my first alternative process: the kallitype.
Kendall Jenner is being credited for a surge of sales in film cameras after she beamed about her Contax T2 during a TV chat show appearance.
Digital sensors have come a long way in the past 15 years or so, but even so, pushing a shot four stops is getting close to the limit of file latitude in most situations. So, how well can film hold up when you do the same? The answer is very well.
Film lovers and analog purists are not-so-patiently awaiting the release of Kodak's new Super 8 camera, which should finally come out sometime this year at a cost of $2,500-$3,000. In the meantime, Kodak took CES as an opportunity to release some new test footage that looks rather incredible. At times, the reel displays a properly vintage look reminiscent of 1960s French films. Yet, in other sequences, the footage looks much more updated. It's sharper and boasts much higher contrast, which gives hope to directors that this will be a very flexible, very capable setup.
There's a lot said about film versus digital, and a lot of it tends to be one extreme or the other, but like most things in life, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. This great video takes a very balanced and honest look at the merits and drawbacks of each when used in a fashion shoot.
In this beautiful short video, photographer and filmmaker Ian Wong discusses the work of legendary photographer Wing Shya and how making mistakes can give you creative freedom and innovation.
Stefano Carnelli is an Italian photographer living in London and Berlin, shooting socially-engaged, documentary images on medium-format film with a particular interest in the relationship between people and landscapes. His recent project, “Transumanza,” explores the lives of shepherds and their flocks in the Po Valley of northern Italy, examining how their historic traditions have changed in response to globalization and an ever-shifting landscape.
I'm no cinematographer. I mean I dabble, like a lot of still shooters do, but I wouldn't put myself under the category of video expert by any means. That being said, I do know what I like and what I think looks good. What I've always really liked is the depth and feel of large format in still photography and, now finally, in video. You don't need to spend a $100,000-plus to do it either. See for yourself how Zev Hoover from Massachusetts accomplished it.
Filmmaker Matt Mangham has been working on an ongoing series entitled “Analog: Stories of Film Photography,” and I’m very excited to share episode four with the Fstoppers community. In this episode, Mangham explores creativity through the eyes of San Diego native, Matthew Lawless.
In a world where flipping our images between color and black and white is as simple as the click of the mouse, photographers and cinematographers today aren’t often tasked with knowing the complexity of how those vibrant colors actually come into existence. But in the early days of cinema, when competing processes for color reproduction took turns as the next best innovation, one name reigned supreme: Technicolor.
Shooting film is a lot of fun, but part of what pushes photographers away from it is the cost, a lot of which is tied up in developing. This awesome video will show you how to develop your own black and white film in your bathroom with a minimal kit and much lower costs than sending it out.
What's the biggest camera you've shot with? If you're like most of us, you might have dabbled with medium format or if you're really passionate, maybe even a 4x5 or 8x10 large format camera. This photographer is putting all of us to shame with his camper that he converted into a giant functioning camera and darkroom.
"Instant Dreams" is a feature-length film about Polaroid that explores the magic of this defunct format, the pioneer of instant imagery, and documents the search for the lost chemical formula. Premiering at the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam a few days ago, the film discusses what it meant to produce imagery that is physical, unique, and, as one of the subjects puts it, "an artifact of time."
Creating beautiful and compelling imagery through the medium of photography is a difficult challenge. Capturing a scene as it unfolds is both art and truth in storytelling. Today, digital photography presents the effortless platform for image capture. Excelling technology allows anyone to pick up a camera and take excellent photographs. One might say the ease of digital imagery has opened doors across platforms. We’ve seen this paradigm before; we witnessed the introduction of gateway tools in the world of photography since the dawn of the medium, each time bringing in new and excited enthusiasts who will go on to redefine what it is to be a photographer. In 1981, well before the surge of digital technology, there was a camera that similarly ushered in a generation of photographers: the Canon AE-1 Program.
If you’ve ever been to a photo event in New York City or taken a pilgrimage to B&H Photo, chances are you’ve noticed the man in the trench coat with the old news photographer’s camera – bellows, big flash, and all.
Lenses are obviously some of the most talked about pieces of photography equipment out there. However, there's one type of photography that requires no lens at all. This neat video follows a photographer as he spends a day shooting landscapes with a pinhole camera.
Reflex is a new brand aiming to give 35mm film photographers a new camera option instead of going with a dated SLR design (the 13-year-old Nikon F6) or buying in the used market. But it’s not just a rehash of the classic film SLR design. Users can change film using a special “I-Back” system, and even change out the lens mount quickly and easily.
Fstoppers Analog Review is a quick throw down on some of photography’s greatest equipment. In a world where we are constantly defined by the rapid progression of technology, these posts are intended to remind us about our love for the fundamentality of capturing life in silver and light. Each week we’ll review another piece of pivotal photography equipment, discuss the history, review its capabilities, and share our results! This review will go to the fabulous Nikonos V, a waterproof 35mm camera with a history as deep as diving itself. This handy sidekick will blow you away with its capability!
Decades ago, instant film was one of the most popular mediums for photography. Though camera technology has significantly advanced since instant cameras were in their prime, there are still many valid reasons for experimenting with them from time to time.
Large format photography is its own beast, with all sorts of considerations and technical know-how needed to pull it off successfully, not the least of which being that the equipment is often simply unwieldy. Nonetheless, that extra work is not without a payoff, as the resultant images can be full of gorgeous detail. This neat video takes a look at a different way of going about landscape images.
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.
You know that someone somewhere did a great job of marketing when it's late at night and something pops into your head, from who knows where, and you find yourself jumping online to make a small new purchase. No, I'm not talking about an expensive new lens or shiny new piece of gear; I'm talking about what amounts to an inexpensive accessory that tags along on your photo sessions. It adds something fun and tangible all while being almost impossible not to have a good time with. I'm talking about those Poloroid-esque mini cameras that seem to be making a big time comeback these days.
Back in April, I ventured on a trip to Havana, Cuba with the lofty goal of capturing the culture and people there within with my favorite little 35mm film camera. With the recent news that President Trump plans on buckling down on all travel and trade to Cuba, I'm all the more grateful than ever to have made the trip when I did. The Cuban experience is easily the most surreal of any international travel that I have ever experienced.
Whenever my girlfriend and I see antique stores or vintage markets, our eyes light up. Her eyes are lit up with dreams of bone china tea sets and antiquated woodworking, whereas mine are bright with visions of a dusty Hasselblad in a forgotten corner, or spools of unprocessed and antiquated film. On a Sunday morning in sunny Englandshire recently, my lady-friend and I went for breakfast and on returning to our car, saw a small sign for a vintage pop-up market.
Ah, scanning. If you're not printing in the darkroom, it's a necessary evil when dealing with film. You could argue that outside of the moment of exposure, scanning carries the most weight in determining the quality of the final image. For those that choose to develop their film at home, scanning is the next step in our workflow. Most of us want to get in, get the best scan we can, and get out to the greener pastures of Photoshop to make our final edits. Your choice of software has a lot to do with how efficient and how tolerable it will be to get your negatives into the computer. It's through that lens that we take a look at VueScan.
Matthew Modine played the lead role of Pvt. Joker in Stanley Kubrick's iconic film about the Vietnam War. Modine used his personal Rolleiflex camera to capture behind-the-scenes images of the almost two years the film was in production. Now, he is auctioning 12 of those images off with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit the Purple Heart Foundation. The auction is timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the release of "Full Metal Jacket."
CineStill is best known for its 35mm motion picture films that it processes and repackages for use in still cameras, but it's only recently that they dove into medium format with a high-speed, 800T (tungsten-balanced) film. Right now, 50D, a fine-grain daylight film stock already available in 35mm is now also available for pre-order in 120. The official announcement will be up on their site tomorrow, but you can see image samples and already pre-order if you read on.
If you're used to APS-C or 35mm cameras, moving to medium format is essentially the same user experience, save for a bulkier camera. Large format, on the other hand, is an entirely different beast that takes a lot of practice to master. Follow a landscape photographer as he continues to learn the process and enjoys the unique challenges brought about by large format work.
Back in the good old days of film photography, contact sheets or proof sheets were one of the best ways to view results from black and white or color negative film shoots. Printed on photographic paper, these sheets were exposed in a darkroom by laying a roll of negative film typically cut up and placed in transparent sleeves. They are a great way to see an entire roll of film in one glance. Web galleries and slide shows have all but replaced them in this digital age, but for those few who are still shooting the odd roll of film and don't have access to a darkroom, here's a film and digital solution for making contact sheets at home using a light table and a digital camera.
It's been a month or so since I started printing in the darkroom, and what a ride it has been! After going through tons of paper and chemicals, making a mountain of bad prints, and generally messing up in every way possible, I've managed to be able to make some decent prints. Here are a few of most important lessons I've learned so far in my darkroom adventure.
Cinematographer Matt Workman of Cinematography Database has prepared another in depth breakdown. This time he brings into focus the current box office queen, "Wonder Woman" featuring Gal Gadot and Chris Pine.
The Holga 120 GCFN is a plastic medium format camera with a fixed 60mm f/8 lens, complete with over-the-top vignetting and light leaks. But for many, that's the joy of a toy camera. See what's it like to shoot with this cult classic.
