These are the 29 days and 31 articles that made EMULSIVE in February 2020, starting (as always) with a list of the “top ten” as decided by you and ordered by date of publication.
A lot went on in February, here’s what you might have missed.
Enjoy!
5 Frames… With ILFORD XP2 SUPER (EI 1600 / 120 format / Mamiya 645 AFD)
These photos are of a friend/coworker of mine. Since his roommate’s work had just received a RED Cinema camera and a set of Atlas anamorphic lenses that they were renting, he and his roommate had the idea to do a video shoot of a McRib deal in a warehouse to test out the camera and the glass. They invited me to be a part of […]
The mighty Fujica Panorama G617 Professional camera review
The mighty Fujica Panorama G617 Professional was the camera that made me return to shooting on film. After I’d sold my film gear and gone all digital, I had thought that if I ever found a panoramic camera in a second-hand shop, that it might tempt me back to film – I was right. I work in motion picture visual effects and in that capacity […]
5 Frames… With Lomography LomoChrome Purple XR 100-400 (EI 400 / 35mm format / Contax G1)
A few months ago I was heading to Europe for a few weeks. I needed a trusty camera that would allow me complete control but also auto settings that gave me the freedom to capture images without much thought. My buddy Joe suggested the Contax G1 since he’d purchased one earlier in the year. I took his for a test drive and was hooked. I […]
Blue Planet: Come dip your toe into the Cyanotype ocean
Artist and teacher Christina Z. Anderson refers to cyanotypes (also known as Sun prints) as a “gateway drug” for alternative photography. As in, stick a toe in that deep blue ocean and next thing you know you’ve turned your basement into a dim room, McGyvered a UV exposure box out of an old tanning lamp, and Googled information on locations with the greatest number of […]
The Hypersensitive Podcast Episode 09: The “religion” of film, photographic self-indulgence and other musings…
Recorded on February 7th, Hamish and I managed to fill an hour and forty minutes with pure photography talk. No commentary on society, politics, nothing but photography. We think it’s a first but can’t really be bothered to go back and listen to the last eight episodes to confirm. Yes, the latest Hypersensitive Photographers Podcast episode is out and unlike the last one, this isn’t […]
Photoset: No curtain call – ILFORD HP5 PLUS at EI 3200
A WORLD OF ITS OWN. A GLIMPSE BEYOND THE APPARENT. SHOT ON ILFORD HP5, EI. 3200 PER USUAL, THE ATTENTION IN A THEATER IS FOCUSED ON SOME KIND OF HUMAN ACTION – ACTING – WITH THE INNER WORKINGS OF THE VERY BASE FOR IT ALL COVERED IN BLACK VELVET AND PAINT, SEALED OFF AND HIDDEN AWAY. A STORY TOLD WITHOUT ACTORS: A CATHEDRAL OF CATWALKS […]
5 Frames… On New Year’s Day 2020 in Hong Kong with ILFORD HP5 PLUS (EI 800 / 35mm format Nikon FM2)
This is not your ordinary “5 Frames…” article. Unlike my fellow shooters who took their cameras on trips or journeys, I took my Nikon FM2 onto the busy streets of Hong Kong during a mass rally against the government on New Year’s Day 2020. I have been a casual film shooter for the past year yet I mostly focused on colour negatives. This is the […]
EMULSIVE January 2020: month in review
These are the 31 days and 33 articles that made EMULSIVE in January 2020, starting (as always) with a list of the “top ten” as decided by you and ordered by date of publication. Enjoy!
Humanity on the frontline of climate change: the Australian NSW bushfires on film
Without exception, every Australian state was burning during the Summer of 2019. Each state has a band of volunteer firefighters alongside paid emergency workers trying to control their own fires. The following is the story of mine. Specifically, the story of my experience as a volunteer firefighter and my photography while on duty in New South Wales’ Blue Mountains during December 2019 and January 2020. […]
5 Frames… With Fujifilm FP-100C (Polaroid 340 Land Camera)
I’ve been shooting 35mm and medium format film for a quite a while and was never really interested in instant film. But last summer I found out about pack film. It was so different from what I’ve seen before, sharpness and color accuracy – it was all there. Unfortunately, I was too late, the last film (Fuji FP-100C) was discontinued shortly before I found out […]
What I’ve learned from my LomoChrome Purple XR 100-400 experiences: A user’s guide
Lomography’s LomoChrome Purple XR 100-400 is definitely an interesting film. Until shooting it in late 2019, I had never tried a ‘special effects’ film before and surprisingly, I liked it. But there are some caveats that never seem to be mentioned in Lomography’s posts and promotions. This is not so much intended as a film review, but guidelines that I believe will help you enjoy […]
5 Frames… With ADOX SILVERMAX 100 (EI 100 / 35mm format / Leica M3)
ADOX SILVERMAX 100 is one of my favorite black and white films. The tonal range is extremely wide, and if exposed properly the imagery is free of grain. I used my sublime Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/1.4 ZM lens for the first time with a film camera. Using this lens with the Leica M3 added a twist since the M3 has no 35mm frame […]
EMULSIVE interview #213: I am Ryan HK and this is why I shoot film
Have you ever heard off an off-the-grid professional film photographer? You have now. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Ryan HK. Over to you, Ryan. Hi Ryan, what’s this picture, then? This is a mistake. RHK: In Bob Ross’ words “A happy little accident.” I was in this crazy little ghost town in rural Alberta… I brought a couple of rolls of film and my RZ67. I […]
GAS and the “wrong” camera: Skateboarders with the Pentax 6×7 in Singapore
I suffer from GAS: Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Even as I write this I have a painfully expensive Mamiya 6 on its way from Japan because I just had to have a medium format camera that’s light and easy to carry. You know, because my 35mm cameras are great, but what if I find myself in an impromptu portrait shoot with a childhood hero and I […]
5 Frames… With Kodak T-MAX 400 (EI 400 / 35mm format / Canon 7)
This past summer, I became interested in Kodak T-MAX 400 in 35mm format. I was hoping for a film stock that was a little more contrasty than ILFORD Delta and less grainy than Tri-X 400. I also chose ISO 400 film rather than ISO 100 film because I wanted a film that would have a more forgiving depth of field during the day but still […]
Is black and white photography “real”?
I recently wrote an article about the way I find the film process is an asset to an honest approach to documentary photography. This is a topic I feel quite strongly about, especially in the current media climate where the veracity of many aspects of media reporting, from video to photo to interviews require scrutiny at all angles. My argument in that piece was that […]
5 Frames… Of the Chaophraya River on Kosmo Foto Mono 100 (EI 100 / 120 format / Voigtländer Perkeo I)
On the same day that EM put my 5 Frames with Kosmo Foto Mono 100 with my Hasselblad 500CM I picked up some negatives from the lab I use in Bangkok and took them home for scanning. The first two rolls were also Kosmo Foto Mono 100: one from my Agfa Record III, and the other taken with the Voigtländer Perkeo I bought around the […]
Scanning film: The $20K Imacon 949 vs the $740 Epson Perfection V800
Let me be clear this is not a consumer or technical review, really it is just a bit of fun born out of an opportunity. A few weeks back week I met up with my friend Mark Heaver so that he could give me a large format 4×5″ negative that I had shot using his Chamonix large format camera. At the same time, he had […]
5 Frames… With Fomapan 200 Creative (EI 200 / 35mm format / Olympus XA)
The camera shop that I frequent in Toronto — Downtown Camera — recently relocated into a fresh, new space down the block from where it had long established itself as a staple of Toronto’s photography community. To celebrate this move, DC sold some “Grand Opening Mystery Boxes” in limited quantities. I purchased a 35mm box and among the goodies were two rolls of film that I’d […]
Add to queue: interviewing Ted Vieira
The latest interview in the ‘Add to queue’ series is with a real stalwart of the film photography YouTube scene. His smooth tones are relaxing and draw you in to the video whether he is talking about photography, or his other passion of music, specifically Jazz. His videos tend to be short and focussed, often him sat on a big ball talking to camera (It’s […]
How-to: Your ultimate guide to printing a photography zine
This article covers everything you need to understand when it comes to printing your zine and owning the selection process for paper, binding, finishing and preparing your file(s) for print
5 Frames… With ILFORD FP4 Plus (EI 125 / 35mm format / Fujica Compact Deluxe)
These images date back to 2017 when I was working Mondays and Thursdays in a camera repair shop to learn a few things and I found this Fujica Compact Deluxe. It was in an old box of equipment for which the repair had never been approved and the owner never came back to pick it up. Many cameras die like this. I had never seen […]
2020 film and traditional photography event calendar
This film community is awesome. In fact, it’s getting awesomer(er) every day, month and year. One thing it is missing though, is a way of seeing all sorts of film events across the year in one place. We haven’t all got time to keep up with multiple websites for photowalks, shows, film parties and so on. So with that in mind, here’s your list of […]
Behind the scenes with Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet and the cast of Little Women on 1860s wet plate photography + photographer Q&A
Going against the grain, the on-set photographer of 2019’s Little Women included the use of traditional wet plate photography – also known as tintypes – to capture Saoirse Ronan, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Emma Watson, James Norton and the rest of the production’s cast. It’s not very often that a unit still photographer gets to play on-set work, let alone with a ~160-year-old technique but […]
Bringing a 160 year old giant Petzval lens back to life
It was a normal Saturday afternoon in November when I walked into a flea market. I met some friends there and looked around a little bit. In the end, I bought this Gasc and Charconnet 500mm petzval lens. If you are as old as I am and have seen the movie “Big trouble in little China”, you know the Quote from Egg Shen: “But that’s […]
5 Frames… Of derelict Communist hotels on Rollei RPX 400 (EI 400 / 120 format / Rolleiflex 2.8GX)
Recently I went on vacation with the family to Croatia. It was not a photographic trip, so I took just one film camera, a Rolleiflex 2.8GX. I grabbed three rolls of 120 film from the fridge, one of which turned out to be Rollei RPX 400, a film I had never tried before. In Croatia, I discovered something I did not expect to be photographing: […]
How to shoot expired film or, no you do not need to add one stop per decade
There is a “rule” for shooting expired film. This “rule” states that when shooting expired film, one should add one stop of exposure per decade it has been expired. The rule is wrong and by blindly following it, you are doing yourself, your film and your subjects a disservice. No-one knows where the rule came from, no-one. Perhaps it was always there, lurking, waiting. Somehow, […]
Found Film: ~1959 Kodak Verichrome Pan VP 828 film and a Kodak Bantam Colorsnap II
Every now and then my parents present me with an old camera they’ve discovered at a car boot sale or some Freecycle giveaway. This is how last year I came to own a Kodak Bantam Colorsnap II, which were produced in the UK from 1959 to 1961. Old Kodak amateur cameras are pretty much ten-a-penny so I wasn’t initially very excited until I spotted that […]
5 Frames… Showing a different side to Birmingham on CineStill 800 Tungsten (EI 400 / 120 format / Rolleiflex 2.8F)
Around mid-2018, after seven years of shooting digital, I decided to put the digital camera down for a little while as I experimented with learning and shooting film for my personal work. I have been photographing the streets of Birmingham UK for several years, but had never shot film before, so this seemed like a good place to start. I enjoy shooting day and night […]
straight 8: The one-roll-no-retakes film competition with a Cannes premiere
straight 8 is an annual film competition open to anyone, anywhere with an idea for a short film, a cool head and a steady trigger finger. Entrants shoot a short film on one roll of super 8 – no post-production, no grading, no fiddling or fixing. Even the soundtrack is created without having seen the film – and it must be original. The first time […]
5 Frames… Wandering through Bangkok with CineStill 800 Tungsten (EI 1250 / 35mm format / Yashica FX-3 Super 2000)
I’ve always wanted to try CineStill 800T since it came out a few years ago. I’ve been delighted by all the pictures I’ve seen online; the saturated colors, the lack of anti-halation adding that unique glow to bright sources and the overall effect this incredible film can ensure in low light situations with artificial lights. But it wasn’t (and still isn’t) cheap for the penniless […]
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