Digital Vs Film Photography

Digital vs Film Photography: I used to think that Digital Cameras are much better than their old Film cameras counterparts. But Truth can be stranger than Fiction!

We all love clicking Pictures and now-a-days we often click these on a digital camera / Smartphone. Digital Photography is all about converting light in to electric signals. While there are a lot of factors which determines the quality of an image. I chose three of them which are triangle of image exposure!


Aperture: It is basically the opening/hole in camera lens which allows the flow of light. It determines how much light will pass through lens. The larger the aperture the more light that gets in – the smaller the hole the less light.


Shutter: It controls the time frame for which light will be allowed to pass from Camera lens to image sensor. When light is bright, shutter will be open for a very short time. And when the scene is dark, shutter will be open for a long time.


ISO: It is the sensitivity of camera's sensor to light. If ISO is lower your camera will be less sensitive to light and if it's higher the sensor will be much more sensitive to light. In daylight shots ISO shall be low while in night it shall be high!


Film camera has a much better overall image quality which current average digital cameras can't match.


1. The sensor size of Film cameras is quite large, so they capture a lot more detail than digital cameras. Film cameras used a 35 mm format which is much bigger than current crop of digital cameras.


2. The quality of lenses (for film cameras) used to be excellent. After so many years of refinement, the lenses became their best assets. Although our digital cameras are coping up but they have yet to achieve the perfection of film cameras.


3. The resolution of film surpasses average digital cameras. Film cameras had around 25 megapixels of resolution. So the quality of photos is excellent!

And we all are happy while shooting through a 8 MP camera/smartphone!! Please note that the most common size of average consumer digital camera is 1/2.3".
Film cameras were excellent at photography and their level is yet to be matched by Digital cameras. Although we are covering the gap swiftly!
Hope the basics of image exposure are clear!

Source: http://www.shvoong.com/internet-and-technologies/computers/2418742-digital-vs-film-photography/#ixzz31ZTMxn4e

 

 

Where to buy camera film for cheap?

I love my film camera, but film photography is a pretty expensive hobby. Is there anywhere online that I can buy cheap film, maybe even cheap film in bulk?
Do you also have any suggestions for developing film inexpensively? Thank you!

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If cheap is your number one priority, I just don't think you will do any better than Walmart. You might want to try stores like Dollar General or Walgreens and buy their branded film. It may be a little cheaper than Kodak or Fuji from Walmart. It is all C41 color process anyway, so it makes little difference what name is on the box. Be aware, I have heard that Walmart no longer returns your negatives if you have film processed there, which to me is asinine. There are other low price places for processing though, Sams, Costco, Walgreens.

I very much doubt you are going to find anyplace online with any cheaper prices, especially when you factor in shipping costs.

steve 

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Here is a link to a lot of different brands of 35 mm film.

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/c1100-Colo...

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/c40-Black-...

When I shoot black and white film, I develop it myself and then when dry, scan it using my Epson V500 scanner.

When I shoot color film, I have the lab develop only (no prints) and again, scan them using my scanner

Source(s):

proFotog 

 

From: Yahoo Answers

How To: Start a Vintage Polaroid Camera Collection

A crash course in building your own instant camera collection

By Erik Karstan Smith

Even if you didn’t grow up in the ’70s, you’re likely familiar with the Polaroid cameras that spit film out the front and, like magic, developed an image before your eyes. Polaroid provided instant gratification for the photographer and subject and because of The Impossible Project, the Polaroid FotoLab and the newly opened Polaroid Museum in Las Vegas, a new generation is discovering the joys of instant photography.

 

When I heard The Impossible Project was resurrecting instant film for Dr. Land’s instant camera I decided to open the Dr. Frankenroid eBay store. I wanted to educate people—who might just be discovering the joys of instant photography—about the use, value and variety of these old cameras.

 

I started seriously collecting in 2008, the same year I opened my store. I currently own over 100 rare cameras and accessories. Dr. Frankenroid is technically an eBay store, but it’s also an online museum of Polaroid cameras and ephemera that allows people to see the variety and valuation of these cameras with their accessories in entire kits.  Many of the most rare items in my store are actually priced to 'not sell'.

 

Polaroid produced millions of cameras around the world, but only a fraction of them have any real monetary value. However, a careful eye at a garage sale or local Goodwill can turn a small investment into a tidy return. I’ve met many people who have found box style 600 cameras (more on that later) at a garage sale or thrift store for $10 that ended up being worth hundreds. 

 

Be Realistic About Your Budget

Polaroid collecting as a hobby can be very expensive. It’s hard to say how much I’ve spent collecting over the past eight years. My advice to new collectors is to keep it simple. You can have a nice display of common cameras for $1000 and have a lot more fun with those than with a more expensive collection that you’re afraid to use. The Land List by Martin Kuhn is a great free resource and way to really do your homework before you dive in. Consider this a crash course in Polaroid camera collecting.

 

Condition Matters

Having a mint condition camera with the box and original documentation will always increase its value, but a camera in any condition will always be more valuable than a damaged one. If the camera is broken or untested, it will probably cost more for a repair than to just purchase another camera. Non-working cameras can be desireable to interior designers or other people just looking for a decoration, though, so a particularly pretty or interesting-looking Polaroid camera can still have value if you know who wants it.

 

Get to Know the Camera Types

There are three basic categories of Polaroid cameras: roll film cameras, pack film cameras and integral film cameras. Within each of these categories there are a variety of valuable models and prototypes.

 

The Model One Hundred is one of the most rare cameras and typically costs at least $1000.

 

Roll Film Cameras: These are the first instant cameras produced by Polaroid, but film was discontinued in the ’70s and for the most part they are obsolete. The Model One Hundred is the rarest of the roll film cameras, but is very difficult to find. I wouldn’t sell mine for under $1000 There are artisans who professionally convert these beautiful old cameras to use modern integral film and Fuji pack film.  I suggest Jason at Wolf-Industry or Nate at Option8. My favorite cameras for conversion are the 110a, 110b, 120 and 900 electric eye, these range in price starting at $500 for a 900 Electric Eye to $1500 for a 120.

Photographers in the World War II

Photographers in the World War II

A look back 70 years! Here's a collection of rare colour photographs of photographers during the Second World War. The creators of the reality portrayed immortalize themselves, but today all grandparents always young in the memories of the negative.

An Army Signal Corps photographer perches atop a pile of rubble to film the battle for Normandy in June 1944.

U.S. Marine Corps original combat cameraman

Army photographer.

Army photographer.

Serial photographer poses for ground photographer before boarding plane for mission.

Sgt. handing oblique camera to serial photographer for mission on a North American C-47A.

Sgt. installs a K-25 camera in a Bell P-39.

General view of Type A-2 photo trailer.

First man to obtain invasion day photographs is cameraman Captain Dale E. Bikinis, shown with his specially constructed camera.

First man to obtain invasion day photographs is cameraman Captain Dale E. Bikinis, shown with his specially constructed camera.

Combat cameraman has been in the ETO 27 months. He uses an old shattered German pillbox for protection while photographing the war action.

A WAC Sergeant makes a shot with a flash camera while in training.

Revenge of the Polaroid: How instant film captured a new generation

It's an analog technology that never really went away. Now Fujifilm is hoping a wifi-enabled instant film printer will bridge the Instagram gap.

Avril Lavigne uses an Instax camera in her new video for "Hello Kitty."

 

By: Graham Slaughter 

Porter Hovey and her artsy New York friends are lounging on a rooftop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, giddy to be outdoors. It’s spring’s first breath, and the gang passes around a camera to capture the moment in a way once thought extinct: Polaroids.

Well, not exactly. They’re using a Fujifilm Instax camera, one of the few remaining methods to capture the warm-edged, dreamlike quality of shoot-and-print photos ever since Polaroid closed its last instant film factory in 2008.

“It’s nostalgia,” said Hovey, 30, who remembers her parents snapping Polaroids of her growing up in Nebraska in the 1980s. “Holding a photo in your hands is something you just don’t do now . . . there is just no replacing that with Instagram.”

Only now, that nostalgia has come full circle. While Instagram became a hit by offering vintage filters for your smartphone photos, now you can develop those fake-vintage snapshots on instant film stock. Fujifilm’s Instax Share SP-1 printer started appearing on Canadian store shelves this past week. The wifi-enabled miniature device connects to your smartphone to develop credit card-sized prints from your photo stream.

Fujifilm is betting on the printer as a new way to cash in on instant film’s resurgence, led by a growing wave of enthusiasts such as Hovey and her friends. The analog art has been kept afloat by Fuji and Impossible, a German company that took over Polaroid’s shuttered film factory in the Netherlands. The two companies remain the world’s lone distributors of instant cameras and film.

But why invest in the retro art when user-friendly digital photography has eclipsed film?

“It was pretty simple,” explains Creed O’Hanlon, CEO of Impossible. “There are still 200 million Polaroid cameras in the world, all of which were rendered useless by the withdrawal of the factory.”

Impossible, which took its name from the far-fetched dream of keeping instant film alive, is now the sole company manufacturing film for Polaroid’s discontinued lines of 600, SX-70 and Spectra cameras. They also refurbish about 35,000 of the cameras each year, buying them from flea markets and eBay and reselling them for US$150 to $460. The film is equally pricey; eight exposures cost $23.49.

Still, the trend seems to be catching. Impossible sold 1.2 million units of film in 2013, up from 600,000 in 2012. It’s especially popular in France and Australia with a growing market in Canada.

“Tens of thousands of films over the last three months have been heading into Canada,” O’Hanlon said. “Canadians, like Americans, are beginning to discover it.”

Many of those buyers are young, O’Hanlon said, especially since the company started selling cameras and film in North American Urban Outfitters stores.

“For a younger generation who never understood the frustration of waiting a week for film to develop, it’s akin to magic,” he said.

Still, the company has a bit of an identity problem. When someone is handed an Impossible photo, they usually say, “Oh wow, a Polaroid!” O’Hanlon says.

“We call them ‘Impossibles,’” he corrected.

Fujifilm’s cameras are markedly different. Its film only works with Fuji’s own line of Instax cameras, which have been around for more than a decade, long before Polaroid shut down its film factory.

However, Fuji felt a spike in sales in the past two years, especially among teen girls and those between 18 and 30. The colourful plastic cameras (retailing at $80 to $100) seem tailored for that demographic, with sly product placement in current music videos by Lily Allen and Avril Lavigne. Recently, Fujifilm introduced the more serious-looking Neo Classic model, with “advanced” features and a higher price tag (about $180), aimed at an older audience.

“Polaroid leaving the market has left some business on the table,” said Paul Woodall, the director of sales and marketing for Fuji Canada.

The cameras became such a hit that Polaroid decided to re-enter the instant film game in 2010 by partnering with Fujifilm to launch its Polaroid Pic300 camera. The camera was essentially a rebranded version of Fujifilm’s Instax 7S, with a few minor design adjustments.

Still, instant film remains a novelty item, and we’re not about to give up the convenience of our smartphone lenses. Which is where Fujifilm’s Instax Share printer comes in.

The new device even comes with its own Instagram-like Android and iOS apps that allow users to snap their own masterpieces and apply filters. It retails for $200, plus about $10 for 10 sheets of Instax film.

The Star tested the inkless printer, which is surprisingly quick. It took 10 seconds for it to spit out a photo, which fully developed in about one minute.

As for the app, it’s a little limited. Users can only choose from two filters, black-and-white and sepia, and a handful of seasonal frames, such as “Season’s Greetings” and “Happy Birthday.” It can be connected to a user’s Instagram and Facebook albums, unlocking the vast digital libraries.

Fuji is trying to market the product as a staple for big social events.

“The app allows multiple people to use the printer at once, which is ideal for parties,” Woodall explained. “If you want to get behind the scenes at a wedding . . . you could have everyone print them out and put them in a book as their keepsake.”

But in Porter Hovey’s eyes, the gap between the online world and instant photography is part of the appeal. A professional photographer herself, Hovey once used her Polaroid to snap a photo essay of Williamsburg.

“For some reason Polaroid film could capture the changes of the neighbourhood I lived in . . . that old-versus-new that I felt Williamsburg started to represent,” she said.

That past-versus-present theme came up again during the rooftop hangout as Hovey’s friends starting taking Instagram pictures of the Fuji instant photos. She couldn’t help but laugh.

“They were taking pictures of the pictures,” Hovey said. “It was the funniest thing.”

Northwest B.C.film festival seeks contributions

SkeenaWild is proud to announce that the 5th Annual SkeenaWild Film Festival (SWFF) is officially open for submissions from May 1st to September 15th, 2014.

This year marks a special milestone for the SkeenaWild Film Festival as we celebrate our 5th Year running! With over 500+ films and photos submitted over the past four years,

SWFF has become the largest home-grown film and photo festival of Northwestern BC and it just keeps getting better. In addition to our regular line-up of categories, this year features new categories for the ‘Best SmartPhone Pic or Video’, as well as, the sure to be hilarious ‘Funniest Skeena Story’.

Our region holds some of the most dramatic landscapes and compelling subjects.

This lends inspiration for all kinds of creative works. Feature and short-length films can be of any genre including documentary, action/adventure, comedy, animation, music video, etc. and SkeenaWild offers support to those who are interested in developing a submission for the festival from the use of our camera equipment to providing assistance during the editing process.

In addition to SWFF, SkeenaWild is also facilitating a five day Film Camp for youth ages 13-18 this summer.

Participants of the SkeenaWild Film Camp can expect to be immersed in all aspects of the filmmaking process including writing, directing, filming and editing while being led and mentored by local media and video professionals.

Dates of the Film Camp will be announced shortly with early-bird registration open and encouraged to ensure a space.

Film and photography is a field of considerable interest and SkeenaWild has consistently been at the forefront by producing compelling video that focuses on the conservation and protection of Wild Salmon and our ties to this resource, as well as, the facilitation of community engagement initiatives such as SWFF and the SkeenaWild Film Camp.

The result is a culmination of stories and moments that depict genuine care, connection, concern and passion for the Northwest region.

SkeenaWild Conservation Trust is a regionally based organization dedicated to the long-term health and resilience of the wild salmon ecosystem, while optimizing economic returns to First Nations and local communities. Its head office is in Terrace, B.C.

Black Photographers, Black History

by Merve Fejzula
Ten years in the making, Through A Lens Darkly was clearly worth the wait to the full crowd at the Montclair Film Festival on Saturday evening. Director Thomas Allen Harris attended the screening at the Clairidge Cinema on May 3 for the film’s New Jersey premiere.
Shola Lynch, curator at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and a filmmaker herself, provided an introduction for the film and moderated a Q&A session with the director afterwards. Lynch was well in a position to understand Harris: her film Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners screened at MFF last year.

Shola Lynch, Thomas Allen Harris, and Gregory Warren, Jr.
Photo by Frank Schramm / Montclair Film Festival

Harris briefly spoke before the screening, where he told the packed crowd of the ten-year journey the film has taken. Conversations with fellow artist and mentor Deborah Willis about her book Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present, originally sparked the idea for a film project. In histories of photography, black photographers were often omitted, something Willis has sought to rectify in her art and in her scholarship. Several photographers in the film also cited Willis’s work and support of the black photographer community.

Harris now calls the documentary that resulted from those initial beginnings more of a “cinematic essay.” The film has already begun the rounds of the festival circuit, having premiered at Sundance and been screened at the Berlin Film Festival. A wide theatrical release is expected on August 28.
Through the metaphor of the family album, Harris narrates the “essay” to probe difficult topics, particularly “what is missing” from black family albums. Exploring questions of gender, sexuality, race, family, and so much more, Through a Lens Darkly draws out the conflicted legacy of African Americans on film.
On the one hand, there are the stereotypical negative images that abounded in American media. On the other, a more sensitive picture that emerges in the interviews with black photographers and the pictures in family albums. Using his own personal family pictures and stories as a guide, Harris explores what he calls in his voice-over narration of the film, “the war of images within the American family album.”

Photo by Frank Schramm / Montclair Film Festival

During the lively Q&A after the film, Harris spoke about a parallel project that began as a result of working on the film. Expanding upon the notion of the “American family album,” Digital Diaspora Family Reunion: One World, One Family is a multimedia project that allows individuals to upload their family photos and share their stories online. The project has since grown to include numerous different platforms to showcase these incredible stories.
Telling one’s own story as a way to correct the historical record is something central to Harris’s work by his own admission. In addition to extensive visual art and multimedia work, he has long been a filmmaker. His previous films include É Minha Cara/That’s My Face (2001) and Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela (2005).
Lynch reiterated the importance of collecting and preserving family photographs in an age of only digital uploads. “If we don’t maintain our collections, we don’t exist,” she said. Harris agreed and added, these personal histories are “part of our national story.”

35mm Film Guide.

I get a lot of emails asking about the differences between certain brands of film, film speeds and which are better for which cameras but to be honest – the origins of 35mm consumer film are, to me, in murky waters. Color film production have ceased in several companies and although most brands are still for sale in the market, there has been a lot of re-branding going on so there’s no sure way of knowing what film I’m shooting with.

Having said that, I still think that a film guide would be useful for any other analogue enthusiast; every time before I try a new film, I like to check out samples on Flickr and blogs. Following my film camera guide, I do believe that a 35mm film guide is in order just so anyone who has half the mind to get into film photography has a clearer picture of what to expect. A few things to note about this guide:

1. This is by no means a professional guide.
I am an analog enthusiast, I do it for fun. I do not develop my own film and have absolutely no knowledge on how to do that. My films are sent to a local photo lab and basically, I just take whatever that’s given back to me. My thoughts and opinions of each film are based on how my photographs turn out under the professional processing skills of the lab people.

2. This is a guide based on preferences, not professional results.
Following the first point, there will be no discussion on how great the range of a particular film is, no talks about push or pull processing, no insistence on how grainless images are “the best”. As a film photography enthusiast, how good a film easily translates to how right it is for my needs.

3. Like I mentioned earlier, there is a lot of rebranding going on in different markets around the world so there is no sure way of knowing what film I’m shooting with.
One prime example: Lomography does not produce their own film so they basically rebrand other film stock to sell as their own. The origins of Lomography film is a topic widely discussed on the Internet but is generally inconclusive since it differs over time. Hence, all thoughts and opinions expressed here point back to what I’m being told on the film package box, not what they “actually are”.

4. Film performance is not always constant, depending on type of camera, lens, setttings and weather.
The results I have garnered are produced with the cameras I own, without flash, and may only act as a general gauge. I have picked a number of pictures that I personally feel are representative of the results I have had with each film.

5. All films on this list has been used at least twice on different occasions. 
Generally, I find it hard to characterize any film that I’ve shot with only once. There is no way to know for sure if anything that turned out was not by accident so I’ve made it a point to only include films that I’ve shot at least two rolls of.

The films, in alphabetical order:

Name: Efiniti UXi Super 200 (markings along the negatives show that it is a Fujifilm emulsion)
Tones: blue with strong undertones of green
Personal best results when used: in overcast daylight or indoors with plenty of natural light

Name: Fujicolor Pro 160s (expired)
Tones: muted contrast with relatively true to life tones, underexposes easily due to expiration
Personal best results when used: outdoors under shade or indoors with plenty of natural light

Name: Kodak ColorPlus 200
Tones: none in particular, occasional tinges of red or yellow
Personal best results when used: in bright sunlight with slight overexposure or indoors with plenty of natural light

From: Curating Cuteness Blog
To view the entire film guide use this link - http://curatingcuteness.com/2013/05/35mm-film-guide/

Mother's Day

For those of you who are forgetful, below are images of Mothers.  Tomorrow is Mother's Day.  Please feel free to email this page to friends and family as a polite reminder.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
 

Preserving history through the art of film photography

By Andrew Collins, Chloe Papas

A group of photography enthusiasts have the answer, and are planning to preserve their photos by switching back to film photography.

"Almost every person you talk to will have a story to tell about how they lost their photos," says Albany Film Users Group member Bob Symon.
From corrupted hard drives, to lost camera cards and the expense of buying more memory, the problems with digital storage are endless.
"I can still hold up the negatives I took when I was a kid," says Bob. "Digital photos that I took ten years ago, I haven't got many. What I've got, I'm looking after now, but it's a very difficult thing to do."
Most members of the group own digital cameras, but all have recently made the switch back to manual film cameras.
"Something changes in your mind when you have the old cameras," explains Bob.
"Because most of us haven't got automatic on the cameras, we have to do everything manually, so we've got to set the lens, exposure and think about the whole concept of the photo. I think that's where the improvement is, that we actually get this feeling for the photo."
The group believes that, although technology has advanced considerably when it comes to photography, it's all too easy for consumers to buy a sophisticated piece of equipment and shoot completely on automatic - losing the connection with the art.
"We have to develop this feeling of being able to predict something, so that we can see it coming and can snap it right on the spot. So rather than taking 100 shots, we'll take two or three. And it's just developing this feeling of - got it!"
The group are meeting regularly to exchange skills and equipment, with one member even taking to a few cameras with an angle grinder to invent a hybrid 'frankencam.

Being Very Close to the World Around Me

 by Leanne Cole


A few weeks ago Nikon lent me a 40mm macro lens.  I played with it, enjoyed it, but knew at the time that there was no way I would be able to afford one, too much money for me to have, just play around with. At that time suggestions were made, but Ben from Aperture64 Photography told me about some extension tubes that he has used by Polaroid, not to expensive and a good price for experimenting.  I looked them up and they arrived last week.
Again they haven’t been as easy to use, which I expected, but I have been experimenting with them.  I didn’t get the ones that would have meant that I could changed the aperture or use autofocus, so if you are contemplating going down this road, I would recommend getting those.  I don’t know how you would tell the difference when buying them, but hopefully someone can leave a comment on that.  Victor from Victor Rakmil Photography suggested that I see if I had a lens that I could change the aperture on the actual lens.  This is where I am so glad I didn’t get rid of my old film photography gear, the lenses I had for my old film Nikon have the aperture on the lens and I can change it there.  So I played around with both of the old lenses yesterday.
This was outside in the garden.  I was using my old 35-105mm lens, and I set the aperture on f/16. Focusing was difficult because I had to use manual focus which meant moving into it with the camera as close as I could until the image went into focus.  There was no control over that.  It also meant I had to stay very still to try and get it at that point. That is the part I found the most difficult.
These are the dead Gerberas again, spiders I think are starting to live in them, so it might be time to get rid of them.  I put the 70-210mm on the extension tubes, with all the tubes, and just played.  I found if I zoomed the lens in and out it was easier to find that point where the images was really sharp.  I enjoyed using the zoom a lot, and will try it out with the other lens as well.  I am looking forward to getting out on some cold mornings to take photos.
While I was taking photos of the dead flowers, our cat, Tiddles, was asleep in the sun on the floor.  I thought it would be good to take some photos of him asleep.  Then he rolled onto his back so the sun could warm up his belly.  I don’t normally show photos of my cat, but sometimes, well sometimes I just have to.  I am sure David from Through the Viewfinder. . . will be able to relate to this.
I haven’t done a very thorough explanation of the Extension tubes, as I really don’t know what I am doing yet, beyond having some fun.  I know there are other photographers out there that do know what they are all about.  Victor wrote a post on using Extension tubes and I would encourage you to go and take a look.  The post and link are Because you can never get enough magnification… (An essay on extension tubes etc.).
One thing I do have to warn you about, if you get the polaroid ones, which is what I got, and you get them for a Nikon, to get the one off your lens, you push the silver screw thing towards the camera body.  I have to tell you, I put it on my 50mm lens and I couldn’t get it off.  I was so scared, thought I would going to have to chuck the lens, but it did come off and I know what to do now, thanks Ben for your help there too.
I am going to put the images in a gallery now, with a couple more.  Enjoy your Friday.

THE CHILD LABOR PHOTOS THAT SHAMED AMERICA

Collage of child labor photos taken at turn of the century by Lewis Hine. His photos now reside at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, in Rochester, NY. CLICK TO ENLARGE (INTERNATIONAL) -- At the turn of the century many people in America did not believe, simply could not believe that small children, mostly from poor families were being terribly exploited by factory and coal mine owners and bosses. They were routinely made to work long hours in sometimes dangerous industrial settings for virtually no money to speak of. In coal mines children as young as seven and eight years old worked underground in the dark. In factories young children worked around large, loud and often dangerous machines that would occasionally take off a tiny hand or arm if a child was unlucky. They were considered by factory owners simply factory fodder and collateral damage in the days of the industrial revolution when no unions were there to protect children or adults and no labor laws to protect children. Lewis Hine is the photographer best known for his images of construction workers who helped build the Empire State Building in 1930. But many years before that, in 1908 he was a sociology professor hired by the National Child Labor Committee to document how children as young as seven were working in cotton mills and coal mines. People who wanted to protect these children knew that visual proof of their lives in the factories and mines was needed before any child labor laws could be enacted. For over ten years of his life Hine shot thousands of photographs that eventually helped convince US lawmakers to introduce new industrial labor regulations to protect children. There is a new book out about his work titled simply, Lewis Hine. The BBC has a video report here on the images in the book which are today kept at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, in Rochester, NY.

by: Jess

 by: Jess

Frustrations with Film

The other day I took a few rolls of film to blacks to be developed. I had bought these rolls of black & white film at blacks, so I assumed the sensible thing to do would be to take them back for developing. Well, turns out they no longer develop B&W film. Neither does Walmart, any grocery stores, or the specialty camera stores in the area. There is but one lonely studio that now develops black and white film, and they are incredibly out of the way. Sigh.

Lately I feel like shooting film is more frustrating than therapeutic. It is so much easier to use my DSLR that does video, and I can view the results immediately. I struggle with what to do, since this entire blog is based on the premise of film photography, yet I haven't posted film shots in what feels like months. I can either give up on film and re-brand, or continue to spend money on (and being frustrated with) the film development process. Has anyone else had a similar situation with their blog? What did you do?

Photography & Film at More Than Footprints by The Editor, UK (Currently in Kuala Lumpur)

Ok, so you photographers and filmmakers are feeling a little left out. But never fear, your galleries are on their way. Sign up and we’ll keep you posted on when those galleries go live on the site. In the meantime, you can still get a free copy of the book by sending us photos and links to you videos or YouTube channels and we can stick them on the site.
In particular we are looking for interesting photos for page headers. Banner images should be cropped to 1400px x 173px (or we can crop them for you if you send us the image). That banner is obviously long and thin, so unless you kick it over first, the Eiffel Tower probably won’t fit.
If you’d like to know more about photography and film at More Than Footprints, contact editor@morethanfootprints.com
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Guide to More Than Footprints – The Book

 

Black and White Film: Photography of the Future

Black and White Film: Photography of the Future

Photographer and teacher, Douglas Carr Cunningham

Like most artists, Douglas Carr Cunningham has held a variety of jobs including photojournalist, camera salesman, and adjunct professor. As a former U. S. Navy photojournalist, Cunningham has an extensive archive of images, “enough to last me a lifetime,” he laughs.
In 1999 Cunningham was one of the first local photographers to embrace the then-new digital photo technology, but he believes black and white film photography stands the test of time as an archival photo medium and even calls it “the photography of the future.”
Cunningham’s teaching career began years ago when local photographer Jack Alterman invited him to teach at the Center for Photography. Today, he enjoys watching the lightbulb go off in his students eyes. In preparation for the upcoming workshop Old Time Photography on May 17 that will include a tour of the exhibition Beyond the Darkroom, Photography in the 21st Century and a demonstration at Redux Studios, I spoke with Cunningham about his work. Here are some highlights from our conversation.
“Photography is always evolving and digital has blurred the lines between the general public and professionals,” he explained. “The problem with digital is storing information. Digital is virtual and technology is always changing so the question is, will you have to re-save your archives to a new medium every few years?”

From 1855, this image is an example of one of the earliest photographs from our permanent collection, Captain Percival Drayton, by Jeremiah Gurney

Photography was introduced in 1839, when Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre shared the first successful photographic process, dubbed the daguerreotype. A daguerreotype is a direct-positive process, meaning there is no intervening negative used to print the image. To create a daguerreotype a plate of copper is coated in silver, polished, sensitized with iodine vapors, and exposed in a camera. The image is then developed in mercury fumes and stabilized (or fixed) with a salt water solution. The plate is then put under glass and housed in a case.
Photography has continued to evolve and according to Cunningham, the invention of digital has resulted in a loss of ‘pre-visualization,’ a technique used by film photographers for ages. “Today I still shoot film right along with my digital precisely to enlighten my students and because if it’s done correctly, it’ll still be around for years to come.” Cunningham explains that a really good photographer will learn to use both because a photographer needs to have the foundation and the tradition to go forward.
“With pre-visualization you imagine what the shoot is going to look like and then you use technology to make it happen. It’s about the creative process of thinking it through.”
Cunningham’s favorite exercise is to ask his students to pretend their camera shoots only 24 images. “Look at the subject through the viewfinder and don’t look at your screen until you get home. Photographers call the act of looking at your LCD screen the second after you take a shot ‘Chimping’ or ‘monkey see, monkey do.’ This is something we all do and the downside of this habit is that it can interrupt your creative process and like Cunningham says, chimping doesn’t allow for pre-visualization. This exercise breaks students of the chimping habit and Cunningham says they enjoy contemplative time in the darkroom and are inspired by this ‘old fashioned’ creative process. He insists that contrary to what we might assume, “Black and white film is the photography of the future because it’s permanent.”

Untitled from the Passage on the Underground Railroad by Stephen Marc

On Saturday, May 17^th, Cunningham will lead a private tour of Beyond the Darkroom: Photography in the 21st Century, a collection of images from the Gibbes’ permanent collection. This exhibition examines the evolution of photography through a variety of works acquired over the past ten years for the museum’s permanent collection. Ranging from the text and photo-based works of Carrie Mae Weems to the digital montages of Stephen Marc, this exhibition showcases the great innovation in photography today.
—Amy Mercer, Gibbes Museum Marketing and Communications Manager
Join Cunningham for a tour of Beyond the Darkroom, and a demonstration of the time honored art of black and white film at Redux Contemporary Art Center.
$40 for Museum, CCforP, and Redux Members, $45 Non-Members (box lunch included, transportation not included).
To purchase tickets please visit gibbesmuseum.org/events or call 843.722.2706 x21