International Center of Photography shooter James Mignogna once told me that a good photographer matches their light, lens, film and developer. Nowhere do I think these decisions are more critical than portraits in dim lighting. With all of us spending so much time at home lately, I have gotten a number of emails asking for […]
Read more "Rating + Processing for Available Light Portraits – EI 1600 ISO"Since buying, shooting and writing about the Voigtlander 40mm 1.4 Nokton MC, I feel like I see this lens everywhere! I didn’t realise how popular it is. The blog I wrote about it is my third most viewed of all time, I see it mounted to many of the cameras that I read reviews of […]
Read more "One Year with the Voigtlander 40mm 1.4 Nokton MC"The Leitz 9cm f4 Elmar is almost as ubiquitous as the famous Leitz 5cm f3.5 Elmar but often seems forgotten about. The lens dates back to 1933 and was Leica’s first 90mm. It was likely designed to take advantage of their newly released rangefinder camera, the model III. The 9cm Elmar is part of the […]
Read more "There’s No Excuse Not to Own a Leitz 9cm f4 Elmar"Looking to buy your first rangefinder? Here’s a tip, start with the lenses! Effective Baselength, or EBL is often left with little or no consideration by SLR shooters looking for their first interchangeable lens rangefinder. Review after review will sing praises of a bright viewfinder, numerous (or lack of) framelines and a plethora other features […]
Read more "What’s Your Effective Baselength?"“Legacy? I’m a worker in the factory; all we care about is today! A legacy… what a bunch of baloney.” Last week, photographer Bill Cunningham’s posthumously compiled book was released and I immediately scooped up a copy. You should too! Bill Cunningham was a prolific photographer who famously documented remarkably dressed but average people on […]
Read more "A Review of Sorts, Bill Cunningham: On the Street"It was announced today that b&w fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh has passed away at age 74. I’ll leave the detailed articles of his storied career for the big publications to cover and encourage all portrait shooters to seek them out! But speaking as a grainy black and white film photographer, I wanted to share some […]
Read more "Salute the Grain; The Passing of Peter Lindbergh"Film photography websites are often dominated by male-centric camera fetish articles built on claims of indestructibility and a glorious history that seems to have concluded as shelf decor with occasional use. I love reading (and writing) about vintage film cameras and certainly reference all these sites when I’m on the market for a new piece […]
Read more "Lifestyle Film Photographer, Stephanie Bryan"What do House of Cards, Whale Wars, Michael Jackson’s Beat It, the Walking Dead, Parks and Recreation, Wedding Crashers, and Sex in the City 2 all have in common? I’ve photographed members of their casts and crews! Being a photographer is reason enough to be somewhere special and meet interesting people. If you shoot production […]
Read more "My Life As A Production Still Photographer"Say what you will about wedding photography but few other gigs will allow you to party with beautiful people without having to even know a single dance move. My wife and I are freelance wedding photographers. She shoots digital and I shoot on b&w 35mm film. I use vintage, all manual cameras and lenses and […]
Read more "Wedding Receptions on Film; No Flash, No Automation"I first met film photographer, Brian Henry without realising who he is. You see, around 2011, Brian was processing my film pretty regularly at a lab in Baltimore. Somehow, I connected the dots between our interactions there and his posts in the Film in Baltimore group, so I began following Brian’s work. I also take […]
Read more "The Instant (Film) Decay of Brian Henry"