Film photography Q&A - Consistency, making money, the film craze, + more
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:01 Why do you dislike rangefinders?
2:03 Editing style vs. content in an image?
3:02 New to scanning. Any tips?
4:47 Help me make my photos not look like trash...
5:53 Making money off of your photography.
8:10 Happy if you could only shoot 35mm?
9:18 How do I get a consistent look with film SOC?
10:35 Is it good to embrace change in style?
11:50 Where do you see the film photo craze going?
13:26 Any advice to deal with a confidence crisis?
15:15 Any plans for a zine or book?
15:50 Best advice for beginners?
16:55 How do I develop my own unique style?
17:55 Choose one: 8x10 B&W or 110 Colour?
18:22 Fuji X100V or X-T4?
19:00 Trust the X-T4 for commercial video work?
20:01 What drew you to the American Southwest?
21:05 How did you settle on 6x7?
22:53 Advice for asking strangers for portraits.
24:44 How do you go about shooting by yourself?
25:42 Is photography your main job?
27:00 Favourite lens for the Pentax 67ii?
27:37 Finding shots on limited creative time?
28:24 One camera you've always wanted to try?
29:05 Go back in time: One film stock and why?
29:26 What are you looking forward to shooting in the UK?
30:23 Another source of online inspiration rather than IG?
31:55 Best film stock for harsh light?
32:04 Have you shot the speed graphic with the rangefinder?
32:26 Tips for using a Pentax digital spot meter.
33:26 How do you decide between lab scans or DSLR?
34:32 Tips for someone wanting to start filmmaking.
35:24 More impact: Aspect ratio or resolution?
36:04 Best way to scan 35mm film?
37:04 Do you really need a light meter?
►*DISCLAIMER*
Some of the links below are affiliate links, where I earn a small commission if you click on the link and purchase an item. The money I earn helps me make this type of content consistently.
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My go-to medium format camera: ebay.us/GaK9Kp
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My favourite 35mm film camera: ebay.us/82WyVI
My favourite 35mm film lens: ebay.us/u0V817
The BEST medium format travel camera: ebay.us/FVcfWk
The film scanner that I use for my work: ebay.us/RwKM4c
Best entry-level film scanner: ebay.us/Qp3ZEz
The film camera that started it all for me: ebay.us/qewXkD
My go-to light meter: ebay.us/QIFXF0
My favourite film stock: ebay.us/orbudp
My favourite 645 medium format film camera: ebay.us/ydY4HK
Awesome strap for large cameras: ebay.us/pY8mV2
Rope style strap for smaller cameras (cheap but great!): amzn.to/33hrRDO
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DISCLAIMER
Some of the links above are affiliate links, where I earn a small commission if you click on the link and purchase an item. The money I earn helps me make this type of content consistently.
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I think there's a fine distinction to draw between people gatekeeping (and criticizing individuals) versus people critting the work itself.
You deal with this this in any extended university art program. Sometimes your work DESERVES to be torn to shreds by others.
Sadly I find people in most online communities absolutely fail to properly critique a photograph and instead contribute to the echo chamber of positivity. Yes: it's wonderful that people are taking photographs. It's questionable, however, that nobody contradicts positive comments on mediocre or outright boring work.
I'm super glad film has continued to rise in popularity. That will keep the medium alive for longer. Bring on the enthusiasts! Please. My gear will continue to hold its value or increase in value, and film will continue to be manufactured -- heck, we might even get some new film cameras produced.
Absolutely. We've seen new film stocks released and new camera/accessory companies come to life. I only want to see it grow!
@@KyleMcDougall Yes! Even Leica has pretty recently put out some new (albeit predictably expensive) cameras in the past few years. Super cool. I wonder if anyone will try to make a film camera with an EVF, to live-view your exposure like with a mirrorless digital camera. That would be interesting.
Recommendations from someone who has lived and travelled all over the UK.
re: photographic areas (no honeypots)
East Anglia - forests and beaches, plus historic architecture.
Northumberland - beaches, castles
Argyle - totally underrated, as people drive by to the Highlands (watch traffic reports for the 'Rest and Be Thankful' road. If its blocked by landslides the diversion is 100 miles!)
McDougall territory - around Oban, avoid Oban itself, tourist shops and traffic.
Harris and Lewis - stunning beaches, hills, big skies and bog, prehistory. Not so packed with tourists like Skye. Ferry journey can be very choppy, pack sea sickness pills even if you don't get seasick.
If you can visit any of these 'out of season' you're likely to have the place to yourself, other than dog walkers.
Amazing. I appreciate the recommendations. I’ll check em out!
Thank you so much for the time stamps. Really appreciate that!
No problem 👍
Yes! Huge value! Love the effort you’re putting into your content. Thanks. Makes the experience so much better.
@@KyleMcDougall Miss Kyle, u sound like u came from a school where every kid received STUDENT OF THE MONTH
Scanning all my work (mostly 35mm) on a Epson v600. Hadn’t even thought about my images being muddy, then I did some sharpening and WOW. It really made a difference, some photos became usable all the sudden😅 Thanks for the tips! Great video!
Never scan 35mm with a flatbed
I feel exactly the same way that you do about rangefinders. I want the experience of looking through the viewfinder to be magical and show me exactly what I'm going to get in the photo. With a rangefinder I feel I have to imagine what a photo might look like rather than see and feel it in the moment. I love the waist level finder of the RB67 for that reason. It's fantastic to look at!
To the film craze. I am sad that I have to pay more for film equipment (fortunately I kept a lot of mine from film days). I am ecstatic about all the people doing film because it inspires new business like Intrepid, EFH, pixlatr, reveni labs, etc. I am thankful for all the people entering the community because it will ensure that film continues to be made and small "designer" film companies are and will arise. I think the advantages of a large community outweigh something like used equipment costs. Larger community means more interaction and more learning. I am happy that more people are finding enjoyment in film photography. The gatekeeper types should just form a small community among themselves and just talk together and leave the rest of us out of that dialogue.
I thought you summed it up well. I’ll give credit to TikTok and IG for pushing the resurgence of film. I don’t like TikTok particularly but I think its interesting to see those who grew up in the smartphone era and never experienced film the same way we did pick up a roll or camera for themselves. Yes it’s annoying seeing my go to films being out of stock because they bought it all and inflating the cost. It’s just a small price to pay.
Worth highlighting that Alex Burke uses a M43 camera for metering and makes some of the most amazing images I've seen. Kyle did a great interview with him!
Yes, he definitely came to mind with that question. Should have mentioned him.
if you're in the Mallaig area, I live in Knoydart - shoot film from 35 - 4x5, have a darkroom. Happy to help wherever I can in my area.
Hear you cannon every time I like to hear you
It's a pleasure to see the quality of your vid's! You go, Kyle.
Thanks, Tobias!
So detailed with the explanations... Always the best.
Thanks for including my question! Your advice and watching your videos, as well as other photographers/filmmakers on youtube, has helped tremendously as i dive into filmmaking. Still trying to feel out what I want my first project to be, but i'm excited to really get it going.
No problem Jeff. Hope that it helped! Thanks for sending one over. Sorry it took two months to answer 😁
I imagine that a side effect of the rise in value of vintage film cameras will be that broken cameras are going to be repaired and restored rather than being scrapped. This has to be good thing for all us film photography fans.
Absolutely.
Really interesting video Kyle, thanks for answering my question! Your response was really insightful and reassuring! Your videos are always so important, they help to really opening up a way of thinking and talking about photography and I think that this is truly important thanks for always giving back to the community! ✌️
Thanks Will. Appreciate you submitting a question! 🙏
Happy new year! Re 35mm -> I think it's great for doing experiments with an unfamiliar stock. It's also great for family shots (chasing my kid with the Hasselblad is a pain) and other topics that require portability or have a bad hit & miss ratio (like street photography).
I could listen you all day Kyle. Epic sir
Thanks, David.
Dope. I use a lightmeter app for iPhone (just called Light Meter). I've found that it tends towards under exposure, so usually rating your color film at half or three quarters of the ISO and metering with a bias for the shadows gives pretty good results. Because colors actually have luminosity, the colors in the scene will affect your phone-app light meter, so keep that in mind. Vibrant reds and greens and yellows make it read much brighter than the scene actually is. I think if you practice with a particular meter enough, you can get good at using it, even if it's not a great meter.
For sure. All about understanding your gear and figuring out what works best for you.
Super nice Kyle! Watched it all and didn't get bored throughout the questions. The pace was perfect and super interesting to get your views on all these questions. Hi from just accross the English channel. 🙌🏻
Thanks for sticking through it! I know it was a long one. Glad you enjoyed.
truly like your content bud keep it up
Thank you.
You really hit the nail on head @ 12:41, and again @ 20:34. Well said both times! I agree 100%.
Cheers, Mat.
Thanks Kyle! Watched em all, tons of information :D
Thanks, Devin!
Definitely need more 110 film shooters😎!
As always, awesome production Kyle. Horns up, man \m/ Ciao :)
🙏 Thanks, Andrea!
+1 for the Sharpening at Flatbed Scanning
Thank you for a very thoughtful and informative video.
You’re welcome. Cheers.
Watched it all. First class advice!
Glad you enjoyed this one, Alister!
McDoogly Woogly!! I just bought a 50R and i'm so scared and excited and your video was tremendously helpful in making my decision. Thanks brochacho
🙌 You're going to love it!
Great advice, thank you Kyle.
Thanks, man. Glad you got some value from it.
I'd love to see a video about your workflow with Vuescan and Negative Lap Pro!
Would really appreciate a video on sharpening film scans! :)
Noted!
Another great one for the tube!
Cheers, Dylan!
Great as always, Kyle.
Thanks, Richard!
Thanks for taking the time to make this video, Kyle 👍
Thanks for watching, Matt.
30:10 - Hey Kyle, I’m from Inverness (although I live in London now) feel free to fire me any Scotland related questions and I’ll try my best to help/give any tips!
Awesome, thanks Rich. May take you up on that!
From someone who does not shoot film (but did back in the day), I really liked this program and enjoyed listening to your answers. If I may ask: Do you develop your own color negatives? The more I read about the resurgence of film, the more this question comes up in my mind. Thanks.
Thanks, Dean. Glad you enjoyed it. I don't develop my own film right now, but plan to in the near future. Just been moving around this year, so no real space to do it. A lot of people do develop at home though.
I enjoy the insights, thank you! (I don't even shoot film... yet!)
Cheers!
Some good advice here. Thank you for an excellent channel.
Thanks for watching!
Thank you, Kyle!
Cheers, Shane.
AMEN calling out the negativity around camera price gatekeeping! It is what it is. Buy the camera you love and shoot! The rest will do whatever it will.
Yeah man, never understood it tbh!
Great video - thank you so much ....
Glad you enjoyed it!
really good practical advice here
Cheers, Ian.
Thanks! Can you take pictures of strangers on the street or public events - print them as posters or books and sell them?
I have a video of me making two large format cameras, one of which is for sale, that can shoot 20”x20” plates. I’ve been shooting LF for 16 years in various formats, all B&W contact prints. Just came across your channel and love it! Keep up the good work.
Who is gunna be the first company to make a new 120 film camera. New glass new body etc?
Really informative and entertaining video!
I also shoot fuji and my favorite lens is the 16mm 1.4 by far. It really does have the magic people talk about. What's your favorite fuji lens?
Cheers Ian. I also own the 16mm 1.4 and absolutely love it.
Loved listening to you! GF670 is a dream but they're way too expensive these days. I'd love to have the Voigtländer version.
Thanks Phil. Yeah, prices on them are pretty high.
Great video! Are you considering visiting Yorkshire? As my home county I’d always recommend it. There’s an area called Malham Cove, and nearby are Malham Tarn, Janet’s foss and Goredale scar. All are beautiful and are an absolute treat for photography
Awesome, thanks for the recommendations. Definitely plan on heading up that way at some point.
Thanks Kyle, I can feel your passion for photography in each answer!
If you'll dig more into black&white consider printing as well - it makes such a difference and is really rewarding!
best
Tom
Cheers, Tom!
Mother's quilting club, were using a pair of red glasses, to find complimentary shades in colored material, for watercolor quilts. Thought that was cool.
Anyway, would'st that be an old hack, to find middle grey?
Oh no, seems like I missed out on the first issues of the field notes newsletter! Is there an archived version of them, Kyle? Thanks!
Hit me up at info@kylemcdougallphoto.com and I’ll send you the first one.
I missed your story IG, but maybe for nex time ... how do you deal with UV/purple color cast on bright sunny days .. is there anything you do to avoid it in the feild, or do you deal with it later in post? Your photos on portra are always great in color palette and warmish looking, but I never get that sort of result right of the bat with my flatbad scanner abd portra, and always dealing with it in LR, which is not the best option given it effect other real colors in the scene, not only the annoying color casts.
Could u share how you color grade your videos? It’s so good omg 😍
Thank you. Something I’ll think about in the future.
my friend your videos are very good and thanks for sharing information, could you make a video to explain how to expose correctly for night photography thankyou
Thanks. I'll keep it in mind for the future.
Rangefinders are cool so long as you THROW THE LENS CAPS AWAY! (personal experience: hey Ansel, you left the lens cap on. Again.)
I have a collapsible 50mm Summicron, so I have to extend the lens before shooting. Keeps me from forgetting to take off the lens cap. :)
Haha, yeah, and as long as you don't put your finger in front of the lens as well!
Kyle, which mic and boom arm is this? :)
any desire that when film photography comes back again that there will be more support - repairs for those cameras by the original companies that built them?
or just totally new film camera bodies be created?
Yeah, as much as that would be great I really can’t see it happening, unfortunately.
I never understood how you get such clean images from your photos. I have pretty much all of your own cameras. it's my photos don't come out so clean. Never. if i could do a tutorial on this i would appreciate it. very good
Could be a number of things, but hard to say without seeing them. Shoot me an email (info@kylemcdougallphoto.com) if you want to chat more about it/send some examples.
@@KyleMcDougall thank you!!! Sure
You should look into the Graflex SLR's if you want to shoot handheld 4x5. The auto graflex, and super D are really fun cameras to shoot. Only main caveat is there's not really many wide angle lenses for them.
Just checked them out... I'm in love, haha. They're definitely not cheap though!
@@KyleMcDougall Nope, I'm already a few grand in. I own one in every size, besides 5x7. They are a bit uncommon outside the US though. But since you're in England atm, you should keep your eyes peeled for houghton butcher/ensign/kershaw reflex's. They had quite a few models very similar to graflex, and unlike many of the european reflex's they came in American sheet sizes. Likewise with Newman and Guardia which has a bayonet style lens board.
Specific Models to look for:
Soho reflex
Ensign Special Reflex
Popular Pressman Reflex
Ensign Folding Reflex
Thornton Pickard Ruby Reflex
Thornton Pickard Junior Special Reflex
Newman & Guardia reflex special
Newman & Guardia reflex
However, be aware that some may be in 2 1/4 x 3 1/4, and 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 sheet sizes.
You may also see German made reflex's but most are in metric film sizes, which you may need to import from Germany.
There were a couple good brands like:
Ernemann: Ernoflex
Ihagee: reflex
Goltz & Bregman: Mentor
Amazing. Thanks for all this info! I’ll definitely keep an eye out. 🙏
Any plans for darkroom printing? (fully analog process)
At some point, yes!
12:45 That's not the point. I think people are frustrated with the idea that prices are rising because of people who will never keep at it and are just dynamiting the market for a short time. I don't feel that way though. It's good that more people shoot film because how terrible would it be if nobody used film and Kodak stopped production? It would be such a heartbreak.
Hey man, you should come and visit the isle of wight for some interesting coastal shots.
Would love to check it out! hopefully in the near future.
14.00 agree ;)
It really is a shame to see gatekeepers and people being negative to others work. In film photography and photography in general its better to be unique and not follow the trends that these gatekeepers may put in place.
For sure. It's not just specific to the photography world as well, those people are everywhere. Thankfully there are way more people supporting and encouraging others. But the gatekeepers definitely stand out.
Great video, I'm from Glasgow so if you head to Scotland feel free to give a me shout, I'd love to go a day trip and shoot some film with you man.
Thanks Andrew. Appreciate the offer!
At what point is there enough of a film resurgence that Canon, Nikon, et al decide to start releasing film cameras again? In 20 years are we all going to still be chasing after an ever dwindling supply of film cameras from the 1900s? Plunking down 1K plus for a 20-50 year old high end medium format camera is just not in my DNA. I’m not a gatekeeper by any means, I think it is great that so many people are getting back into film in so many different ways. Seems like there is a market for a traditional film camera, especially one that uses lenses you already have. Maybe the future is 3D printed cameras like Intrepid, Chamonix or Goodman Zone. Seriously thinking about an Intrepid 4 x 5
Unfortunately, I can’t see any big brands bringing back film camera models.
I think complaining about camera prices rising is the opposite of gatekeeping.
Can you guys take a look the playlist on my channel and let me know what I should implement to better my videos?
please do a video about sharpening 🙏
Will do.
Great video! You'd be a great podcast host
He has a podcast! It’s definitely my favorite out of all the film photography podcasts. Called the contact sheet
Thanks Sarah. 🙂
@@sarahstellino1954 had no idea, for sure gonna check that out. Thanks.
Is the podcast named Local analogue? About film.@kyle McDougall
Nope. Mine is called The Contact Sheet.
You can live 46k followers by yourself? That is amazing. Are there other sources of income or do you still take video jobs from time to time?
Yeah, it's not all just RUclips right now. There are some other photo income sources. And I'm just making the transition. Finishing up a few last video gigs. But yeah, getting to the point where it's working. I would say the one thing is that's it's not all about the size of the audience, it's the connection with them.
All you need is a small amount of dedicated followers. Just look at streamers. Some of them have 50k+ watchers but im sure its probably just a small % of those that actually donate regularly and the rest maybe every once and a while.
Gear getting more expensive for no reason other than people being able to get away with it is not going to make film more accessible. At this point unless more film stock and/or film cameras are made it will only get less accessible.
Why would down vote this? Love it!
I don't agree that most of the new people that are new to film, shoot things that really interest them. I think they see people (meaning you tubers...) shooting old gas stations, old cars, neon signs and think that's what they need to be shooting to get those likes...
Cool. All good if you disagree. I personally think the narrative of 'everyone new to film is just looking for likes' is an massive assumption and the only way to know for sure would be to poll everyone and hope they're being honest.
Instagram shouldn't be anyone's source of inspiration. All that will lead to is subconscious copying and further comparing yourself instead of growing. Only people with large followings will tell people that Instagram is important and continue to push its importance.
I see your point Taylor, however Instagram can be a good source of inspiration and doesn’t need to result in copying or stifling of imagination, despite what you think Kyle’s intentions of pushing it might be here.
There are so many good photographers you can discover on IG that can inspire, just as book or gallery would. Personally i think it’s a balance between being inspired without replicating. But that can happen regardless of where you view the photographers work.
For example that vast majority of professional photographers of all levels will have an Instagram account offering a glimpse into their portfolio - much like a website. There is lots of inspo on IG.
Although I don’t think Kyle offered an alternative to IG as a source of inspo? 🤔 Personally, as a commercial photographer, I like to keep an eye on Agents websites - they usually have good blogs showcasing their rosters latest work.
Yea, going to have to disagree with you Taylor. While I know that comparison on the platform is something that people struggle with at times (we all have/do), it's not the platforms fault. It's a personal thing that needs to be dealt with/worked on. If you compare yourself to others on IG, you're going to find ways to do it in the real world as well... speaking from experience. As for the whole "only people with large followings pushing it".... I personally don't know any photographers who have an agenda to promote the platform to ensure it's longevity. If you don't like it, that's totally cool, but you're making some major assumptions. I'm inspired everyday by the work and the photographers that I discover on the platform.
@@KyleMcDougall well it's obvious that you and many others draw their inspiration from the work on Instagram since everything that seems to be popular on the platform is hard to differentiate these days. It's all the same photo rehashed in different ways, there's a major lack of substance to people's work on that platform. Professional photographers seem to be only people who have profiles with diversity or content that isn't the cliche aesthetic photograph or who bother piecing together meaningful work.
Well, how about just follow the artists you like, and not the ones you don’t like? 🤷♂️
first
You want a medal for that or what?
@@robinte98 pog