Innholdsfortegnelse for 29-Aug-2020 i Amateur Photographer

To paraphrase Mark Twain’s misquote, reports of the death of film are greatly exaggerated. Film photography is alive and well, and growing. But why? No one could claim that film is easier, more convenient, or cheaper. Quite the opposite. But is it not true that we value something more when we invest more of ourselves in its creation? And in an increasingly digital world, where images are made by computers from capture to print, there is also a yearning for the feeling of having made something tangible that looks and feels organic and flawed, rather than programmed and perfect and infinitely replicable, but ultimately illusory. If you’re an AP reader you almost certainly used film for years, even if you’re not one of the 25% who still do, so this…

Red Arrows by Alex Roebuck Canon EOS-1D X Mark II, 1/2000sec at f/5.6, ISO 400 Alex is a photographer from Rotherham, South Yorkshire. This image was taken at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire during a training exercise for the Royal Air Force Display Team, The Red Arrows. Alex’s background in photography means that he’s usually photographing sports or news events. He can be found on Instagram @alexroebuckphotographer and his website is www.alexroebuck.co.uk. Chosen by Geoff Harris, Deputy Editor Happisburgh Lighthouse by Steve Gray Canon EOS 6D, 14mm, 25sec at f/2.8, ISO 2500 For Steve, photography is a hobby that he decided to take more seriously about five years ago when he bought his first DSLR. He says, ‘I mainly shoot landscapes, seascapes and urban landscapes, and my two favourite locations to…

KODAK, a name formerly synonymous with photography, keeps on making the news – and not in a good way. Eastman Kodak Company was supposed to be receiving a $765 million (£587 million) loan from the US government to enable it to ramp up pharmaceutical production as part of the fight against Covid-19. This loan has now been put on hold, owing to ‘recent allegations of wrongdoing’, said the U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC). The allegations concern securities transactions made by Kodak and various executives when it learned it was getting the loan – insider trading, basically. According to the Financial Times, ‘the $765m loan, the first under the Defense Production Act since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, drew scrutiny from members of Congress because shares of the company…

Not so long ago film photography was on the verge of becoming a forgotten medium. But, despite being cast aside by a tidal wave of digital technology, a shrinking number of film manufacturers, photographers and printers refused to give up on this traditional craft of image making. After years of treading water, careful nurturing and an analogue renaissance sparked a new lease of life for film in which many young photographers discovered it for the first time and generations of former film users rediscovered a new passion for it after cutting their teeth with digital. Those who persisted with film could feel vindicated by their faith and now graciously impart their passion, wisdom and expertise. The re-emergence of film has piqued the curiosity of many photographers who want to see›and…

From the pages of Amateur Photographer to a plethora of blogs, YouTube channels and podcasts, there are now plenty of ways to absorb regular fixes of content that will support or enhance your enjoyment of analogue photography. In addition to the options below I would encourage you to check out the ilfordphoto.com website and social channels as these are great resources for ongoing education and inspiration. Blogs Blogs are a great way to stay inspired with reviews, camera porn (yes, that is a thing), education and resources. Emulsive.org is a superb film focused site while other excellent blogs include 35mmc, Japan Camera Hunter and Casual Photophile. YouTube Videos are a fantastic way to learn film photography but can also serve up healthy doses of inspiration to keep us shooting. Some…

1 Home processing 35mm is relatively easy and does not require a darkroom if the negatives are to be scanned instead of printed. A developing tank, chemicals, measuring cylinders and a thermometer are essential. Plus ideally a changing bag for loading the film onto the spirals and then into the developing tank. 2 While black & white is a straightforward process requiring three main chemicals (or just developer and fixer if water is used instead of a stop bath), many photographers are now processing their own colour negative film. Sales of Tetenal’s Colortec C-41 processing kit have greatly increased in the last few years. 3 Ensure processed 35mm film is dried in a dust-free environment. Because of the format’s small size, dust and scratches are more obvious when enlarged. Black…

AP: Tell us about your photography background? SC: I’ve been taking photos for as long as I can remember, using a Kodak Instamatic as a child, changing to an Olympus OM20 as a teenager and then through many digital iterations until I settled on the Olympus OM-D series in 2014. If I had to define my style I would say I’m a wildlife photographer, although I also enjoy insects and flowers as well as studio macro, like splash art. My real passion, though, is birds. I was lucky to be able to retire early, five years ago, and that has allowed me more time to hone my skills and travel to capture more unusual birds like the Dalmatian pelicans in Greece. AP: What kit do you regularly carry in your…

Jimi Hendrix by Doug McKenzie The influential rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix in action at the Isle of Wight Festival, which took place 50 years ago this week. It was the last public performance Hendrix gave, and was released as a posthumous live album in 1971. At the time, he was the world’s highest paid performer, headlining Woodstock in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. He performed in the early hours of 31 August, with technical problems plaguing the set. Less than three weeks later, Hendrix died in London at the age of just 27. Despite his short life, he is still widely regarded as one of the greatest instrumentalists of all time. The Getty Images Hulton Archive is one of the world’s great cultural resources. Tracing its…

VSCO has introduced a new Kodachrome-inspired preset, KC25. As analogue film fans will know, Kodachrome was a highly influential film (pro fans inclued Steve McCurry), and VSCO says it has been working to recreate the unique look since it was discontinued in 2010. You can use the new preset with the VSCO smartphone app, which is available for iOS and Android on their respective app stores. The limited version is free; if you subscribe you’ll get access to the full list of presets and features. KC25 will be available to all VSCO users free until 25 August and can be permanently added to the preset library with a subscription to VSCO.…

Over the years there have been many formats of film that have fallen away and now only exist, if at all, as expired film. This includes 116, 616, 126, 220, 828, and the relatively recent APS (1996 to 2011). Three main formats remain that cater to the vast majority of film cameras in circulation, while a small number of older formats are still available but usually hand cut, spooled and rebranded from other films. 135 cassettes 135 (35mm) cassettes are lightproof and contain perforated film long enough for either 24 or 36 exposures of 24x36mm frames. This is the format most people associate with film and is the most widely used with approximately 150 different options currently available. 120 roll film 120 (medium format) roll film, dating back to 1901,…

Round Four Keep on Moving ZAY YAR LIN from Myanmar is the winner of Round Four of APOY 2020. He can pick products of up to £1,000 in value (based on Sigma’s RRP), and if his choice is above this price, he can decide to pay the difference. Both the 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary (RRP £999.99) or the 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Sports (RRP £1,899.99) would be great choices. 1 Zay Yar Lin Myanmar 20pts Apple iPhone 7 Plus, 6.6mm, 1/529sec at f/2.8, ISO 20 This image appears at first glance to be a composite, but then, as the eye adjusts, we realise it is the edge of a ship’s deck with the swirling sea below. The theme of movement is apparent both in the…

I have never really considered myself that interested in cameras, and as a photographer, this might initially sound like a surprising confession. There are certainly favourites, appreciated and used for different reasons, but I very rarely buy new equipment unless there is a specific requirement for a project. I do however use different cameras and film formats depending on the series of work and thought it might be interesting to write a series of articles based on these formats: the equipment used for projects, their strengths and limitations and the work I find inspirational. Naturally it seemed appropriate to begin with the format which most of us start with, 35mm. My 35mm journey My interest in photography began in the mid 1970s on joining my school’s photography club. We read…

In my last article in AP 8 August I discussed the latest version of the standard from the International Organization for Standardization called ‘Photography – Digital still cameras – Determination of exposure index, ISO speed ratings, standard output sensitivity, and recommended exposure index’. This defines what is meant by the setting that photographers call ‘ISO’. Previously, I looked at the word ‘sensitivity’ in this context. Now, I’m examining a fact that this version makes explicit – that ‘ISO’ does not apply to raw files. This statement comes as a surprise to many people, since it is clear that changing the ISO setting on your camera does indeed change the raw file. But whatever that change might be, it is not standardised by the ISO document. In fact the effect on…

Suburban Barn Owl by Nigel Bewley Canon 1DX, 500mm, 1/640sec at f/4, ISO 1000 Amazingly Nigel took this not that far away, as the owl flies, from Wembley Stadium. He lives in Ealing, West London and is proof positive that you don’t have to travel to isolated rural spots to capture great wildlife images. He tells us, ‘I was on Horsenden Hill, a stretch of countryside very close to home, to photograph swifts swooping over the huge meadows there. At last light, a barn owl appeared and drifted silently towards me and veered away at the last minute to continue its journey. A magical moment.’ Nigel uploaded his image to flickr.com/photos/ nigelbewley using the hashtag #appicoftheweek. Chosen by Nigel Atherton, Editor as our #appicoftheweek Want to see your pictures here?…

WE ARE sad to report the death of Russell Kirsch, who is assured a place in computing and digital photographic history as the co-inventor of the pixel. Kirsch was born in Manhattan in 1929 to Jewish immigrant parents and soon stood out as an academic star – his alma mater included Harvard and MIT. Aged only 23, he joined the National Bureau of Standards as a member of the Standards Eastern Automatic Computer (SEAC) team – responsible for handling the world’s first programmable computer. In 1957, Kirsch played a key role in helping to develop a 5cm by 5cm digital image scanner for the SEAC that eventually captured the first digital images. His son Walden, then three months old, was an early subject and was the first baby to be…

‘On a camera that may be three, four or five years old, the box isn’t really going to add that much value’ Until recently I had always considered them an essential bit of photographic kit. Okay, not as essential as a tripod or even a lens cleaning cloth, but still something that I always needed to keep hold of. I am, obviously, talking about the empty boxes that my camera, lenses, microphones, tripods, laptop or anything else came with. Like a lot of people I have spent a lot of time indoors recently, and there has been a lot of tidying and sorting. I found myself staring at the empty boxes, wondering if I could part with them. Like most people, I always worked on the theory that if I…

If buying from unverified vendors such as eBay or Facebook sellers then carefully check the wording in the listings (some say ‘for repairs and parts only’). Try to buy from someone who has film-tested the camera and has a good idea of what they are looking for. Working meters and shutters, fungus-free lenses, film transporting as it should and so on. You can always replace seals and send the camera for a CLA (clean, lubricate and adjust) but buying a cheap broken camera may not be worth the additional cost to repair. An alternative to these sites is a professional photographic retailer that specialises in buying and selling used film cameras. My closest is Real Camera (realcamera. co.uk) in Manchester and Liverpool who have a great selection and very knowledgeable…

I notice that you have recently been featuring Treasures from the Hulton Archive, including images taken by photographers who worked for Fox Photos. When I was young, I knew Fred Morley (1901-1969) who worked for Fox Photos from the 1930s to the 1950s. Fred’s most famous picture is ‘The Milkman’, one of the most iconic images of the Blitz and well-known to have been posed. My parents were tenants of a farm in the Cotswolds where I was born in 1937 and, through family connections, got to know Fred who used to come and stay at the farm with his wife for a holiday, from the end of the war until around 1950. As a result I have a number of images taken by Fred which illustrate farming practices at…

Andrew Robertson, 3rd and 14th For me, the key to shooting motion is to decide what sort of image you would like to make and work out the appropriate exposure length. With my Electric Avenue image, I wanted a number of unbroken trails, which meant I had to use a very long exposure. I also wanted to retain some colour in the sky, so to achieve both this and the light trails, I took the shot just after sunset. Graeme Youngson, 18th Luck is vital – and you can increase your chances of getting lucky by always having your camera in your hand wherever you are, pre-set to the prevailing conditions, and by staying aware of what is going on around you. Don’t worry about perfect framing (there’s not time!).…

I find projects often emerge from other ideas. Inspired by the painter Whistler, I started to photograph the River Thames at night using 35mm Ilford Delta 3200. I liked the texture and contrast produced by its high grain that was then accentuated by lith printing. However, I soon felt limited in subject matter and instead pieced together a series using photographs taken in different cities but linked by the theme of the night. Eventually I removed very recognisable locations to make the project more anonymous, as if it were a walk through an imagined city. There have been four exhibitions of the work so far. The project is ongoing, and I continue to shoot images to make it a more cohesive body of work.…

THREE types of 120 film, in a range of speeds, are still available. Black & white film produces monochrome negatives to be printed in a darkroom, or scanned and reversed to make digital images; colour negative film is used to make colour prints or can be scanned for digital use; colour reversal film produces positive transparencies (colour slides), which can also be scanned. Search eBay for out-dated film or search the internet for dealers selling modern roll film. For a comprehensive stock of 120 films of all types and speeds, as well as adapters that allow 35mm film to be used in some 120 cameras, check out analoguewonderland.co.uk What to pay Based on recent eBay and auction sales, here’s a guide to the prices of cameras illustrated on these pages.…