Theory & Reflections

Looking for something to reflect upon, some photography theory or philosophy, or just want to read about how/why other photographers do what they do? Then this is the place to start!

Photography is often a lot less about the facts, and a lot more about the subjective and individual. For everyone who undertakes it, it is a very personal experience. I take a lot of pride in the fact that 35mmc has always – and will always – perpetuate these ideas.

As such, in this section of the website you will find authors sharing their thoughts, reflections, workflow and experiences. You won’t find anyone telling you how to think or how you should approach photography, but instead a series of articles from people reflecting on how they think and what they do.

Below you will find a list of the articles in this section separated into categories. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, or indeed feel like you have something you would like to add, then please feel free to get in touch. You can find out more about how to write for 35mmc here.

Philosophy and Reflections

Here you will find articles from authors talking about their thoughts towards photography, why they do what they do, now and in the past.

• (森林浴) Shinrin-Yoku or Forest Bathing Might Be the Best Thing for You and Your Photography
• 1960s New York. Dad’s slides scanned – by Charles Higham
• 35mm in the Time of Coronavirus – By Steph Powell
• 410 East 65th Street
• A Beginner’s Exploration of Documentary Photography – By Hugo Morgan
• A Bout of GAS, and a Rediscovered Pentax Q7
• A Cinematic Photographer Discovering New Horizons by – Nicola Armento
• A Collector’s Journey From Microscopes to Cancer to Cameras
• A Difference Between Professionals and Amateurs – By Frank H. Wu
• A Film Photography Fail with a Digital Fix
• A Point of Shoot Camera, and an old Roll of Film, Ties Together Canine Companions
• A Portrait of a Violin Maker, and some reflections on shooting what I enjoy
• A Repository for Memories: My Mother’s House
• A Tale of Two Processes – Quality Coffee and Film Photography – by Cody Allen
• A Year in Slide Film Part 1 – Shooting – By Holly Gilman
• A Year of Projects and Community Events (#TwentyTwentyDo) – by Billy Sanford
• About the value of my (and your?) photography – By Benoît Felten
• ADD, and My Photography or Where the Hell is the Leica? Sure I’ll Play Parcheesi!
• AI or not AI? or: on authenticity and photography
• AI Photography: My Journey Into A New Medium
• AI: The Beginning of The End of Photography
• AI, TV, VHS, IC, CD, DVD, EV, ICV and all the rest.
• Alex Lambrechts on Inspiration and Style – an Interview by Hamish Gill
• All Analogue: a Digital-Free Experience of Film Photography – By Ailbíona McLochlainn
• An Experiment in How we Interpret Unknown Images – a Group Project
• An Experiment in Looking at Photographs – by Sroyon
• Anecdotes from the Analogue World Ep. 2 – By Nandakumar
• Anecdotes from the Analogue World Ep. 3 – By Nandakumar
• Anecdotes from the Analogue World Ep. 4 – By Nandakumar
• Another YAWDISF Post
• Architectural photography with a 50mm lens (and some thoughts on minimalism) – By Daniel Sigg
• Are All My Photographs Failures? – By Frank H. Wu
• Artefacts of a Laboratory – Adapting an enlarging lens to a Sony DSLR – By Jordi Fradera
• Balancing the Environmental Impact of Photography
• “Blur is a Part of Life” – A Collaborative Project
• Bokeh as the Subject (in Photos and Writing)
• Breaking a Rut With A Return To Film – By Chris Ledda
• Breaking Digital Habits and Relearning Film With a Leica IIIf – By Christopher DellaCorte
• Camera Manuals, Coffee, and a Big Duh Moment
• Confessions of a Failed Camera Flipper
• The Contrarian with the Contax – By Frank H. Wu
• CoronaVirus isn’t going to stop me Blogging about Cameras and Photography
• Creativity vs Originality
• My Dead Dogs Came Back – By Frank H. Wu
• Death and Film Photography
• Death in the Camera Store / Learning to See On the Other Side of Fear – By Gerard Exupery
• Deciding on My Favourite 5 Frames From 2019 (And Maybe A couple of Sneaky Extras) – By Gavin Bain
• Dilemma Dilemma: What Shall I Use, Color or Black & White? A Short Comparison – by Andrew Morang
• Do We Need to Know What We’re Looking At? – By Frank H. Wu
• Do we need to take a step back in film photography?
• Does the Voice of the Student Matter? – By Holly Gilman
• Economies of Film
• Entering Solitude, or helping myself publish with a #FullRollFriday post – By Theo Swinscow
• Everything Goes Back to the Beginning – By Marcel Zyskind
• Exploring and Discussing the Idea of the “Bucket List Camera” – By Holly Gilman
• Exploring Urban Exploration Photography
• Façades of Kolkata, and the Value of “Boring” Projects – by Sroyon
• Falling in Love with Film & Promising to not buy a Leica M3 – Part One
• Some of my Favourite Film Photographers – Simon King
• Film Folders – Pure nostalgia, with a few tips from long, long ago
• Film Friday, Saturday and Sunday – By Röd White
• Film Photography – A Realisation That Cheap Thrills Can Still Be Had!
• Film Photography – Enriching my Journey like a Topolino – By Andrea Bevacqua
• Film Photography is Not about Serendipity (for me)!
• Film Photography as the “Long Tail” – By Frank H. Wu
• Film Photography; a to road rediscovery – Guest post by Richard Williams
• Film Photography Shows Why Private Property and Capitalist Markets Work Well – By Frank H. Wu
• Finding a style not a camera – By Taylor Ervin
• Finding My Analogue Groove – By Laura Cogan
• Finding Subjects in Familiar Sights – by Chris Illing
• Finding my way in photography – part 1 – by Nick Holt
• Finding my way in photography Part 2 – My first steps shooting film – Guest Post by Nick Holt
• Forward Motion – On the Road with Saint Etienne – By Mike Monaghan
• Gear Theory – Shooting Film in the Rain – By Ted Ayre
• Getting it Wrong and Portra 160 in the Autumn
• Getting the Shot: A Hybrid Workflow Odyssey – By Jamie Winder
• Give Memories a Chance – By Ash Scott-Lockyer
• Going Analog on Okinawa – Part I – The Decision
• “Half of the Photos are Blurred” – the Time I Nearly Gave a Client a Full Refund
• Hanging Out With Photographers? For a Price?
• Hiking the Uncanny Valley – By Don Goodman-Wilson
• Hope in Creativity
• How do I put myself ‘out there’? – The next steps for an introverted photographer – By Tim Wainwright
• How Film Photography Helped Me to Appreciate Colour – by Simon King
• How I Became A Meme – Life With Generative AI
• How I came to shoot Nikon cameras – By Hasse Gustafsson
• How Minimal Can You Go? How Minimal Is Too Far? – By Nik Stanbridge
• How Privacy Hysteria Killed Street-Photography
• I Couldn’t Photograph a Watch If You Paid Me – By Ailbíona McLochlainn
• If You Run From Your Ghosts You’ll Never Find Out What They Want – By Gerard Exupery
• In Homage to – and Defence of – the Work of Tatsuo Suzuki – By Steven Bleistein
• Inchindown: Why make photography so hard? An Interview with Simon & Dave
• Is it Easier or Harder to Take Photos Now? – By Frank H. Wu
• Is the Revolution Here Again? (I’m really serious about this.)
• It’s All Done with Mirrors – A Tale of a Telescope Street Photo – By Tom Ace
• Juggling Parenting and Film Photography – by Richard McKenzie
• K.I.S.S Photography – By Ash Scott-Lockyer
• Kamera with a K – An ode to a love of Kamera: Shooting Seoul with a long missed Zeiss Ikon ZM
• Kershaw Penguin, Learning Photography, and My Introduction to Medium Format – By Peyton Hunter
• Kodachrome 64 – Digitising for the “Look”? – By David Hume
• Kodak Ektachrome E100 – Forgetting my Expectations & Embracing a bit of Failure
• Kodak P3200 & Happiness found in my (lazy) Hybrid 35mm Workflow
• The (Lack of) Value in (my) Photography (and negatives) – In the Dark Shed – with John Whitmore (VIDEO)
• Latent Postmodernism and The Act of Photography: Deconstructing the Yashica Y35 – By Michael Kaplan
• Learning To Lean Into Life’s Unknowns – by Brian Cox
• Life-like Finders and Photo-like Finders Part 1: The L–P spectrum
• Limiting and Reflecting on my Digital Output – by Simon King
• Lonely in Korea (Yes, the Southern One)
• Looking Back at my First Roll of Film
• Magnum Contact Sheets – Book Review – by Holly Gilman and Sroyon Mukherjee
• Second City – Making My First Zine – by Richard PJ Lambert
• Making Flash Work for my Photography
• Meeting the Vintage Field Camera Man at the Golden Spike 150th Anniversary – By Frank H. Wu
• Memories Lost, Memories Created, Memories Kept – By Jim Grey
• Minolta Hi-Matic 7 Review – One Year Shooting Film – By Seb Copley
• Minolta Hi-Matic 7s and A Sentimental Journey Discovering True Optical Prints – by Shawn Granton
• Money from Mars (A One-Shot Story)
• Motivation in Your Photography or The Importance of A Project – By Julian Higgs
• My Asylum Years
• My Colour Film Photography Workflow, or: A Rant about how Software isn’t the Enemy!
• My “Reason for Visit,” stage 3B cancer – By Nicolás Hagen
• My Return to Film – More than Nostalgia
• My Second First Roll of Film – By Reyazul Haque
• My Story of the Imperfect Perfection of Film in Wedding Photography
• The Necessity of Bad Photos – by Frank H. Wu
• New Horizons and Moving Back in Time
• No Word for Light Blue – By Ailbíona McLochlainn
• Northern Sustainable Darkroom: Helping Analogue Go Green – By Edd Carr
• Nost•Algia and Film Simulations in Digital Photography
• Not Fitting in a Photography Box
• Not shooting / won’t shoot – What to do to find and build inspiration – by Ryan Neilan
• On Composition – Or: the eye sees what the mind is prepared to comprehend
• On Finding inspiration (Don’t hold your breath) – By David Hume
• One camera, One Lens – Testing the Photo Adage in Japan
• One Good Photo of Everybody – by Frank H. Wu
• Overcoming Creative Block – A Few Tips – By Daniel Sigg
• Own Your Workflow and Goals (and don’t get too distracted by the mantras of others)
• Pentax Q7 – A Black and White Holiday Workflow
• “Are You a Photographer?” – By Frank Wu
• Photographer or Photographic Artist? – by Billy Sanford
• Photographic Nostalgia and the Myth of Soulfulness – By Ailbíona McLochlainn
• Photography and the Importance of a Proper Training
• Photography as Play
• Photography as Social Activity – By Frank H. Wu
• Photography Theory and Practice – A Collaborative Project
• Photography vs. Cameras and a Full Spectrum Fuji X100 In the Mist
• Photography Words in Other Languages
• The Photos Not Taken – by Frank H. Wu
• pixl-much-latr – delivering on a Kickstarter 22 months behind schedule
• Progress, Progress and more Regress? Analogue Photography and the Digital World.
• Punch Up Your Decor with Photographic LP Album Art!
• Finding the P-Word in Photography – By Laura Cogan
• In Pursuit of Elegance (if Not a “Good” Photo – Whatever that Means) in the Highlands – By David Allen
• Ranting about my Photographic Journey – By Alex Kreisman
• Rebecca – Women Hold Up Half The Sky – By Gerard Exupery
• Recurrent Corneal Erosion and a Mamiya 645 Pro – It’s a Pirates Life For Me – By Adam Laws
• Reflecting on a Year of Photography – By Wes Hall
• Reflecting on G.A.S and Finding other Distractions – By Holly Gilman
• Reflecting on Old Photographs – Nathan’s Famous Since 1916 – By Gerard Exupery
• Reflecting on Some Film Photography Failures – by Simon King
• Remembering what it is to be a “Novice” & Reflecting on the Arrogance of Experience
• Revisiting and Reflecting on my Photographs from 2012 – by Samuel Hardwick
• Running With Cameras
• Save those negatives. You never know…
• Scan and Destroy – My blasphemous quest to be free of my negatives – By Max Cooper
• Searching for Relevant Difference in a Digital Commercial World – By Tim Cole
• Seeing in Black and White
• Self-Portrait in Hotels – by Michiko Ohashi
• Sharing my Failures – Lost Frames from Amsterdam – by Simon King
• Sharpness? Overrated, and very rarely part of the definition of a good photo!
• Katie Melua on Shooting the “Album No.8” Cover with Film – Interview by Sroyon Mukherjee
• Shooting the Shooter – Photographs of me with my Cameras – By Jordi Fradera
• The Short Life of Tri-X Man – by Frank H. Wu
• Shooting the “Callahan” Way – By Dave Powell
• Six by Four – my experience of creating a Photo Book – By Frank Lehnen
• Some Thoughts and Experiences in Favor of the Price Hikes on Film – Steven Bleistein
• Spectacular Vernacular. Memory and Legacy.
• Spooky Action at a Distance – By Gerard Exupery
• Stop bloody moaning and support the Film Photography industry!
• The story behind a photo of a plastic bottle or: A (slightly defensive) response to a comment posted on my Sony A7rii review
• Studying Eisenstaedt – By Frank Wu
• Taking the Lengthier Route – The Manner in Which Now I Work – By Timothy Hall
• Ten Years Gone: The Ricoh GXR
• Thanks for the memories – Finishing a Roll of Neopan 1600 I started in 2012 – by Dave Donnelly
• The Alchemy of Film Photography – finding my perfect formula – by Joseph Tan
• The beginning the middle and the end…
• The Camera that Launched my Career… and Nearly Devastated me.
• The Case for Always Taking Your Camera
• The Case for Not Always Taking Your Camera
• The Case for Patience – Film Photography and Camera Repair – By Ryan Jones
• The Case for Photographing What You Know
• The Collection – An Accumulation of Film Canisters
• The Descent of a Film Photographer Part 1: From Colour to Black & White – By Nandakumar
• The Descent of a Film Photographer Part 2: From Black and White to “Coloured” – By Nandakumar
• The Film Community has a Math Problem. Not a Film Price or Kodak Problem – By Matt Wright
• The Gigapixel Image
• The Healing Process of Getting Back into Photography after 15 Years – By Grégoire MBV
• The Influence of Movies on my Work – By Nik Stanbridge
• The Influence of Other Artists on my Work – By Nik Stanbridge
• The Joy of Photobooks – By Nik Stanbridge
• The Joy of Small Prints – by Sroyon
• My Joy in Getting back into Film Photography – by David Mitchell
• The Legends of Jazz and 5 Photography Masters
• The Leica for a Year Project – By Patrick Medd
• The Life and Death of a Ricoh KR-30sp Program – By John Pemberton
• The Lost Art of Film Street Photography – By Armando Cabellero
• The Mother and The Photographer – By Ailbíona McLochlainn
• The Ones that Got Away
• The Pitfalls of Buying 2nd Hand… When 2nd Hand is all there is – By Chris Hooke
• The Remains of the Abandoned Microscopy Lab – Shooting Expired Film – Pt 1 – by Ricardo Andrade
• The Remains of the Abandoned Microscopy Lab – Shooting Expired Film – Pt 2 – by Ricardo Andrade
• The Role of Film Photography in an AI World – By Joseph
• The Roll Of Film That Changed My Photographic Life
• The Spoiled Negatives from a Spoiled Petri 7s – By Ana Sousa
• The Stupidity of Being Stubborn
• The Waitress, the Tarantula, the Body in the Bathtub and Why I Had To Buy My Girlfriend a New Pentax
• The Wet Side – My Early Career in NYC Darkrooms – By Gerard Exupery
• The Yashica 124G and How it Helped Me Get Married – by Sacha Cloutier
• Thoughts on the Question: Why Do You Still Shoot Film?
• Thoughts on ‘up north 1’ and a little common ground shared with someone I’ve never met …
• My Thoughts After One Year Of Shooting Film – by Aukje
• Three Mistake I’ve Made That Involved Photography in Some Way
• Time, Zen and My Father’s Camera – By Eric Charles Jones
• Travel Broadens the Mind – By Bob Janes
• Truth and Beauty in Film – By John-Paul Menez
• “Understanding Life Backwards” in Two Old Photographs – By Dave Powell
• The Value of Inspiration
• Video: Chatting to Ashley Carr in a Carpark in Stourport
• Video: Chatting to Ashley Carr in Stourport (part 2)
• What A Photographer Needs – By Ryan McCarthy
• What do you do with all the photographs you take? Who actually sees them? – By Nik Stanbridge
• What does a perfect camera need?
• What does it take to be a Photographer?
• What Does ‘Professional’ Mean in Photography?
• What my first portfolio review was like
• What the Heck is “Chimping?” – By Cire Llissat
• When Kitsch Becomes Collectible
• When The Burn Out Hits
• When You Pray, Be Specific – By Gerard Exupery
• Who Made You Gatekeeper? My Response to a Bigoted Email
• Why I might hate these old negatives – By Gerard Exupery
• Why I Prefer to use Film for my Street Photography – By Armando Caballero
• Why I spend my free time being a lab technician for a friend – By Sina Farhat
• Why I Think You Should Print Your Black & White Negs In Your Own Darkroom – By Recky Reck
• “Why It Does Not Have to Be in Focus” and “Out of Focus”: Pinhole Adventures Part 4 – by Sroyon
• Why Taking Photos for Money is Good for You – By David Hume
• Why You Should Only Shoot in Your Backyard (or ‘The Art of Belonging’)
• Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2021 – “Uncertainty But Also Joy” – by Sroyon
• You Don’t Have to Be a Good Photographer to Be a Good Photographer – By Ailbíona McLochlainn
• Your 2024 Film Challenge
• Youtube. Where I Find Inspiration in a World Where Everyone is a Photographer… – By Royce

Gear Theory

In this section, you can find articles from authors talking about their gear and media choices and reflecting on what these choices means to them. There is a lot of content online that perpetuates ideas about right and wrong approaches to photography. This section of the website aims to dispel some of those ideas and instead help to outline the reality that we all have different approaches to photography and the kit we use.

• 1 Sunset, 2 Mediums, 4 Cameras – By Charlie Bierwirth
• 28mm Point & Shoot Showdown – The plot widens… – By Daniel Rider
• 3 Canon Compacts Compared – ‘Supreme’ doesn’t mean Best – By David Hume
• 3 Focal Lengths in Danish Marshland – by Sroyon Mukherjee
• 4×5 reborn, or “What are those things?”
• 5 Frames Composed in Layers, with a 35mm Lens – by Simon King
• 5 Largely Unknown Digital-Infrared Gems – By Dave Powell
• 500mm Mirror Lens with Film – by Simon King
• 7Artisans 75mm f/1.25 Review – a confusion of “want” over “need”
• A Bout of GAS, and a Rediscovered Pentax Q7
• A Cautionary Tale about Scanning Negs with a Digital Camera
• A Few Words In Praise of Humble 50mm Lens – By Andy Larner
• A Fuji X100 and Solution that isn’t a Solution to my Photography Grump
• A look back at a Return to Photography and Discovering Shooting Legacy Lenses – By Rock
• A Note on the Concept of “Correct” Exposure
• A Quartz Date Dilemma – By Taylor Ervin
• A Tale of Two Compacts – Emotion and Camera Choice – By Octavia Vans
• AE-1 vs. OM4 – A Viable Alternative to Usual Recommendations – By Michael Allan-Wood
• Agfa Copex Rapid developed in H&W Control
• An Experience Thrift Hunting in my Hometown – By Gavin Bain
• Architectural photography with a 50mm lens (and some thoughts on minimalism) – By Daniel Sigg
• The Genius of Barnack, a Leica iiia & how rangefinders found a home on 35mmc
• The Beauty of Basic: Life with One Lens – By Will Mordell
• Breaking Digital Habits and Relearning Film With a Leica IIIf – By Christopher DellaCorte
• Can You Get Mojo From TLR Cameras?
• Canon EOS A2 – An Odd Little GAS Journey.
• Compact Magic: Turning into a Point-and-Shooter – By Christian Schroeder
• Confessions of a Failed Camera Flipper
• Conversion to Film: The Expected and Unexpected – by Anton Yakovlev
• Converting Colour and B&W Film Negs – an Evolution
• ‘Cool Retro Cameras’ – The Nikon Z Fc – Just ‘Cool’? Or Something More?
• Defining the Perfect Lens
• Diffraction and its Impact on Sharpness – By Tony Warren
• Digital Negatives – The Power of CHDK on Canon Powershots – By Sean Benham
• Digital Nostalgia – 5 Early Digital Cameras from between 2001 and 2005 – By Bob Janes
• “Digitalitis” and the Folly of the Pursuit for Perfection
• Digital Cameras & the Future of Home Scanning – By Arild Edvard Båsmo
• Discovering Film Photography in the Digital Age – by Joe Y
• Disposable cameras – Reflections on my early use – by Tobias Eriksson
• Doing my Thing (with a Fuji or two) – By Thorsten Wulff
• Don’t Sleep with Yellow Lenses, Darlin’
• DSLR Scanning on a Budget: Unlock Stunning Results with an Affordable Enlarger Lens
• Early Auto Exposure – Three Different Approaches
• Economies of Film
• Why I Enjoy Film Photography More Than Digital Photography – by Frank Wu
• Enjoying and Learning in the Darkroom – by Michael Scott
• Enjoying Some Pentax SLR Gear Acquisition Syndrome
• Enjoying the 110 format
• Evaluating and Choosing Half Frame – By Javier Martínez Delgue
• Expired Film – My Hows and Whys
• Exploring and Discussing the Idea of the “Bucket List Camera” – By Holly Gilman
• Extreme GAS! I don’t need a new camera, I need a new Helicopter!
• Fight of the Fifties… – By Bent_Brent
• The Film Camera – a Tool or Something More
• Film vs. Digital – An argument against the argument
• Finding my ideal 6×9 folder – Largest Negative in a Compact Travel Format – by Zheng Li
• Finding my perfect classic Sonnar – PT1
• Comparing (or not) Oranges and Oranges – Finding my perfect classic Sonnar – PT3
• My First Film Camera – by Aukje
• My First Film Camera Continued – by Aukje
• My First Experience of Film – by Ross Gibson
• My First Roll With a Leica Film Camera – Guest Post by Aukje
• My First Roll(s) With A Leica Film Camera Continued – Guest Post by Aukje
• Focus Adjustment and Other Considerations when Shooting Infrared
• For Quick Film Scans, Try an Olympus C-8080WZ!
• Foveon Color and Infrared Black & White Back to Back Comparison w/ SIGMA dp2 Quattro and sd Quattro – By Eric L. Woods
• From a 50 to a 35 – How I Changed My Perspective
• Fujifilm Neopan SS – My Last Rolls & When Not to Shoot Expired Film
• Gear Theory – Shooting Film in the Rain – By Ted Ayre
• Give Broken Ones a Chance – Shooting a Damaged Leica CL
• Halina AF700 Review – How it saved me from Creative Block – By Miriam Woodburn
• Help! I am being held prisoner in a lens collection! – By Jonathan Leavitt
• Heresy! Get with the Program (Mode) – By Bob Janes
• Hiking the Uncanny Valley – By Don Goodman-Wilson
• Holga Tips from a Holga Nut
• How Many Cameras to Take on Holiday? – by Sroyon
• I’m a photographer, and I like cameras – why is that not ok? (Video)
• In praise of ‘cheap’ lenses for ‘pro’ works
• Is Bulk Loaded Cine Film a Panacea for Rising Film Prices? – By Matt Wright
• Is my Old Light Meter Reliable? A Little Test and the Results
• Je Suis Le Mal Aimé! – The One No One Likes
• “Karmera” and the act of giving away your gear
• Kodak Tri-X – Finding my Photo Mojo in Forty Rolls – by Ryan Neilan
• Leica M-A – From Digital, Back to Film (part 2) – by Anthony Killeen
• Leica M Edition 60 (Leica M60) Review – the Deconstruction of the Digital Camera
• Leica M8 – How important is the use of a CCD in the look of the photos?
• Leica M8 – With or without a infrared cut filter comparison …
• The Leica Mystique: The Brand vs. The Camera
• The Leica Rangefinder and the importance of a well calibrated system – By Alan Starkie
• Life-like Finders and Photo-like Finders Part 1: The L–P spectrum
• Light Meters – by Marco North
• Lomography Metropolis Film and the Minolta Riva Panorama
• The lure of the uncomplicated camera
• Making Flash Work for my Photography
• Sony A7Rii – Making it work for me – Take Perfect. Spoil it. Be happy – by Aivaras
• Memorable photos made with forgettable lenses
• Monkeying Around with Focal Length and Perspective – by Sroyon Mukherjee
• My failing right eye, an old watch, the Leica M7 and learning how to frame a photo again…
• My First Time using Kodak Motion Picture Film – ENC-2 vs. C41.
• My Journey Shooting 85 Analog Cameras (and Writing a Book about it) – By Christof Bircher
• My Story of the Imperfect Perfection of Film in Wedding Photography
• My TLRs Over the Years
• Nikon 50mm f/1.8 – Returning to the Cheap Fifty: A Homecoming – By Max Cooper
• Nikon F75 Project – Part 4 – The SLR viewfinder, fundamentally flawed and entirely outdated…?
• No, your Pentax Spotmatic F is not better than my Leica M6! / Don’t be like Frank
• It’s Not the Camera – by Frank H. Wu
• Of Camera Sensors and Mega-Pixels – A Screen Play
• Olympus AF-10 Super Review, or: Pushing the functional limits of a crap point & shoot.
• Olympus OM – 42 years, Full Circle Back to Where I Started
• Olympus XA and other Compacts – Rediscovering Old Flames – By Alan Reich
• One Camera, One Lens – A Methodology that Stuck – by Jack Lowe
• One camera, One Lens – Testing the Photo Adage in Japan
• Panasonic GF1 & 7Artisans 18mm – My Analog Point & Shoot Experience Digital Camera – By Frankie Bina
• Pentax – In Praise of Usability of Cameras and Lenses
• The Perfect 35mm Compact Camera – by Roger Hicks
• An insight into my Post Process of colour images shot with the Leica M9 in low light
• Quick Thoughts on Eight of the Nikkor Nifty Fifties – by David Hume
• Rangefinder vs. SLR – Protest Photography – by Simon King
• Rediscovering 28mm – With the Aid of an External Viewfinder – By Tauseef Khan
• Rediscovering the SLR with a Nikon F – By Hern Tan
• Reflections on Experiencing an Attack of Anti-GAS – By Dan Marinelli
• Practice [and not a New Camera] Makes Perfect!
• Returning to Film with a Canon, a Nikon and a Touch of GAS – By Simon Rikowski
• Rollei 35SE Review – and some wider thoughts about shooting a zone focus camera
• Running with cameras
• Seeking Control through Simplifying the Digital Experience – By Vic Mortelmans
• Sharpness? A creative goal, but still not a prerequisite for a good photo, or: why I’m enjoying my Makina 67
• Shooting Film on Assignment: Can it Compete with Digital? – by Simon King
• Shooting film, XP2, my laziness and other comments on entering the world of analogue photography…
• Shooting Gigs – Pushing The Boundaries of B&W Film – By Tom Schulte
• Shooting infrared with a rangefinder camera, Rollei Infrared film and a Retina IIc – By Tony Warren
• Shooting Leica Rangefinder Cameras with Third-Party Lenses is not a Crime!
• Smena 8M Review – Sometimes you just have to play – By Carlos Argott
• So you want to get into Minox photography?
• Some of my thoughts and experiences with Point & Shoots
• Some Rolling-Shutter Fun… From a Moving Bus – By Dave Powell
• Storytelling with Three Lenses or Fewer – A Rangefinder Workflow – by Simon King
• Street shootout between Nikon 35mm camera/lens combos yields surprising results – By Isaac D. Pacheco
• That time I sent a letter to the president of Canon, and got a reply.
• The beginning of a TLR Challenge
• The Benefits of (B&W) Polyester Film – By Emanuel Hentes
• The Cost of the Mamiya 7
• The Descent of a Film Photographer Part 1: From Colour to Black & White – By Nandakumar
• The Descent of a Film Photographer Part 2: From Black and White to “Coloured” – By Nandakumar
• The Digital Rangefinder: an Endangered Species? – by Ailbíona McLochlainn
• The Game Called ISO – Taking Advantage of the EV System for Better Results – By Vlad Serebryany
• The Gear Acquisition Syndrome Horseshoe
• The Humble Strap: From Shoelace to Salvation – By Tim Snow
• The Kit Before the Horse – By David Allen
• The Leica for a Year Project – By Patrick Medd
• The (my) Best Leica
• The Viewfinder effect – and why I choose to cripple myself with an offset viewfinder
• The Pitfalls of Buying 2nd Hand… When 2nd Hand is all there is – By Chris Hooke
• The Rise of the Vintage Digital Camera
• The Short Telephoto – My Preferred Carry-Everywhere Lens
• The Wider View – learning to create panoramic images
• The Yellow Filter And Why I Love This Community – by Aukje
• Three 50mm lenses that fit my needs (video)
• TLR Challenge: 1 – User Errors
• TLR Challenge: 3 – Night Shots
• TLR Challenge – My Response
• How to Travel Without a Camera – By Elben Shira
• Traveling. Light? 4 days, 4 Cameras
• Twin Lens Reflex Cameras – Making My Case for the Quirky Design – By Alex Mitte
• Video: Chatting to Ashley Carr in a Carpark in Stourport
• Video: Chatting to Ashley Carr in Stourport (part 2)
• Traveling? Taking a vintage film camera? Take a back up! – By Denys
• Vintage Lenses in Cinema vs. Photography – Finding that “Secret Source”
• What does a perfect camera need?
• You VS FOMO – when to leave a film format behind
• Why Are You Carrying The Camera? – By Frank H. Wu
• Why I Prefer to use Film for my Street Photography – By Armando Caballero
• Why the Nikon F6 died (and What the Prospects of a Replacement are) – By Nik Stanbridge

Workflow

Similar to the above section, but here you will find articles that focus on the the wider workflow. Again, the content in this section reflects how differently we photographers approach what we do.

• 4 Decades of Panoramas – Analogue & Digital – By Jordi Fradera
• Color Photography with the Leica M10 Monochrom – By John Ricard
• Digital-Infrared Workflow Begins Before You Leave Home – By Dave Powell
• Digitising Film – My Adventures So Far – By David Hume
• Epson V800 – Home Scanning Colour Negatives – by Aukje
• Experiments in Developing Colour Film At Home: The Chemicals Dilemma – by Aukje
• Finding Kodachrome and Bringing Back Color (the Digital Way)- By Zheng Li
• Finding the value in home scanning – Guest post by Frank Lehnen
• From Negative to Positive in Colour – My Experience & Workflow
• Kodachrome 64 – Digitising for the “Look”? – By David Hume
• Kodak P3200 & Happiness found in my (lazy) Hybrid 35mm Workflow
• Kodak Portra 800 Review – and some Thoughts on Shooting it Within my Workflow
• Legoland Windsor & giving AG Photo Lab a go
• Minolta Hi-Matic 7s and A Sentimental Journey Discovering True Optical Prints – by Shawn Granton
• My Colour Film Photography Workflow, or: A Rant about how Software isn’t the Enemy!
• Own Your Workflow and Goals (and don’t get too distracted by the mantras of others)
• Pentax Q7 – A Black and White Holiday Workflow
• Picking your Color Negative Film Stock – An Alternative Approach – By Matt Wright
• Plustek OpticFilm 8200i Review – A case for home scanning – by KJ Vogelius
• Scanning/Digitising My Life – By Jordi Fradera
• Seeking Control through Simplifying the Digital Experience – By Vic Mortelmans
• Using a Mobile Phone And a Free App To Scan Negatives – By George Griffin
• Discovering the professional scan – Guest post by Frank Lehnen

Interviews

A more recent addition to 35mmc – I have started interviewing some of the people I come across in the photography community, from artists to manufacturers and those who run charities – people who I find interesting, inspiring, or simple that I have enjoyed chatting to and want to draw some attention to what they do.

• A Conversation between Film Soupers Amy Berge and Jen Stamps – By Holly Gilman
• Alex Lambrechts on Inspiration and Style – an Interview by Hamish Gill
• Art Meets Education – Educating Underprivileged Children Through Photography – an Interview with Nico Klein-Allermann
• Bringing a New M-Mount Sonnar Lens to Market – An Interview with Chris Andreyo, Skyllaney Opto-Mechanics
• Inchindown: Why make photography so hard? An Interview with Simon & Dave
• It’s Not all Serendipity – An Interview with Sandy Phimester
• A Lifetime of Photography – An Interview with Gerard Exupery
• Katie Melua on Shooting the “Album No.8” Cover with Film – Interview by Sroyon Mukherjee
• The Solarcan PUCK! A Video Conversation with Sam Cornwell
• The State of the Film Photography Industry at the turn of 2020 – An interview with Charys Schuler, Editor, PhotoKlassik International
• Vintage Lenses in Cinema vs. Photography – Finding that “Secret Source”
• Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2021 – “Uncertainty But Also Joy” – by Sroyon

Learning Journeys

In this section of 35mmc, authors document their paths into photography through series of articles. Thanks to the help and support of the readers of 35mmc who comment on these articles, and indeed the varying paths the authors take, these series provide very interesting reading for photographers at all levels.

I think of myself as fairly knowledgeable, but I still learn a great deal from the insights of the authors and those that comment on the posts. It goes to show, I think, that it doesn’t matter how much we think we know, there is always more to learn – and sometimes, it’s the ‘student’ and not the ‘teacher’ we can learn from.

• Converting Colour and B&W Film Negs – an Evolution
• The Wider View – learning to create panoramic images
• From Negative to Positive in Colour – My Experience & Workflow
• TLR Challenge: 1 – User Errors
• Just like riding a bike
• Learning to Shoot Fashion Shows on Film
• The Cost of the Mamiya 7
• My First Five Rolls of Film (Ever)
• Going Analog on Okinawa – Part IV – DSLR Scanning
• Going Analog on Okinawa – Part III – Scanning Misadventures
• Going Analog on Okinawa – Part II – The First Roll
• Photography and the Importance of a Proper Training
• Going Analog on Okinawa – Part I – The Decision
• Trying Darkroom Printing for the First Time
• Developing film at home for the first time
• Huaxia 822 – Jumping into the Analog Deep End – My First Foray into Film
• Camera Manuals, Coffee, and a Big Duh Moment
• Digitisation – a tale of a film scanning options rabbit hole
• My First Major Development Fail
• My First 5 Frames on Large Format – And How it Took Me 9 Months to Get Here
• Easing into Home Development
• Two Photographers, One Camera, and the Crushing Disappointment of Film
• Starting to Learn Flash – Hurdles and Discoveries So Far – By Aivaras
• My First Two Rolls of Film – HP5+ in a Trip 35 – By Stevenson Gawen
• Grocery Store Development – Part 3: Fixing Film with Pool Chemicals and Fertilizer – By Josh Vickers
• Grocery Store Development – Part 2: Developing with Caffenol (and Salt) – By Josh Vickers
• My First Forays in Stereoscopic (3D) Photography – by Sroyon
• Building a Darkroom From the Ground Up – By Katie Cooper
• A Year in Slide Film Part 2 – Developing – By Holly Gilman
• Memento Mori – The making of a Zine – By George Griffin
• Trying Concert Photography on Film – By Billy Sanford
• Breaking Digital Habits and Relearning Film With a Leica IIIf – By Christopher DellaCorte
• A Year in Slide Film Part 1 – Shooting – By Holly Gilman
• Continuing to Learn C-41 Developing – A Learning Journey By Holly Gilman
• Searching for 1950s Motion Picture Aesthetics in my Own Photos – By Ian Do Carmo
• My First Time Discovering Film – By Bananciat
• Joys and Challenges of Publishing Zines – By Floyd K. Takeuchi
• My First Attempt at Colour Developing – a Learning Journey Update from Holly Gilman
• Caffenol for Breakfast – My First Experiments with Homemade Developer – By Steven Bleistein
• Developing Slide Film – Not for the Faint Hearted – by Laura Cogan
• Looking back on Two Pieces of Advice Given to me as a Beginner – By Andrea Bevacqua
• Restarting Film Photography with an Olympus 35 LC – By Jesper Reiche
• How I Came to own my Grandfather’s Olympus OM10 – By Joel Anning
• How I Lost the Washington Monument – by Simon King
• Does the Voice of the Student Matter? – By Holly Gilman
• Loading 35mm into 120 Camera (Without Adapters) – By Andrea Bevacqua
• A Personal Comparison of “Affordable”, Mid-Speed, Black & White Film Stocks – By Holly Gilman
• Experiments Pushing & Pulling Ilford HP5 – By Holly Gilman
• Stand development Follow Up – My First Steps into Analogue – Part 8 – By Andrea Bevacqua
• My First Rolls of Ektachrome – A Tropical Thunderstorm – By Aukje
• “Why It Does Not Have to Be in Focus” and “Out of Focus”: Pinhole Adventures Part 4 – by Sroyon
• Stand Development – My First Steps into Analogue – Part 7 – By Andrea Bevacqua
• Making, Measuring and Testing the “Optimal” Pinhole: Pinhole Adventures Part 3 – by Sroyon
• Making and Using a Cardboard Camera: Pinhole Adventures Part 2 – by Sroyon
• Nine Homemade Cameras: Pinhole Adventures Part 1 – by Sroyon
• My first 3 rolls of home developed film – By Holly Gilman
• Discovering Bromide Drag and New Developers – My First Steps into Analogue – Part 6 – By Andrea Bevacqua
• First Experiments in Home Developing Colour – My First Steps into Analogue – Part 5 – By Andrea Bevacqua
• My First Roll of 120 Film – My First Steps into Analogue – Part 4 – By Andrea Bevacqua
• Some little improvements – My First Steps into Analogue – Part 3 – By Andrea Bevacqua
• Honing In On Areas For Improvement – My First Steps into Analogue – Part 2 – By Andrea Bevacqua
• Finding the digital bit more difficult – My first steps into Analogue – Part 1 – By Andrea Bevacqua
• Kodak Portra 800: My Latest Crush In Film Photography – By Aukje
• Kodak Ektar 100 – Shooting Fashion In The Dark – By Aukje
• An Instax Project And A Framing Challenge – by Aukje
• Experiments in Developing Colour Film At Home: The Chemicals Dilemma – by Aukje
• Nikonos V – Underwater Film Photography – by Aukje
• Epson V800 – Home Scanning Colour Negatives – by Aukje
• Pushing Tri-X To 3200, Or Shooting A Concert On Film – Guest Post by Aukje
• My Thoughts After One Year Of Shooting Film – by Aukje
• Kodak Ektar 100 Vs Portra 400 In Greece – By Aukje
• Ilford HP5 vs Kodak Tri-X – Finding My Go-To Black & White Film – by Aukje
• Kodak Portra 400 – My First Experience With – by Aukje
• Fuji Pro 400H & Kodak Portra 400 – Quest For Colour – By Aukje
• The Yellow Filter And Why I Love This Community – by Aukje
• Minolta Riva Panorama – A Fun Intermezzo – by Aukje
• My First Roll(s) With A Leica Film Camera Continued – Guest Post by Aukje
• My First Roll With a Leica Film Camera – Guest Post by Aukje
• Kodak Tri-X – My First Roll – by Aukje
• My First Film Camera Continued – by Aukje
• My First Film Camera – by Aukje

Compact Photographers

A series of articles where authors reflect on their personal reasons for finding particular joy in always carrying a compact/pocketable camera.

• 35mm Compact Camera Photographer #21 – Luis Diaz
• 35mm Compact Camera Photographer #23 – Anil Mistry
• 35mm Compact Camera Photographer #24 – Gran Angular
• 35mm Compact Camera Photographer #25 – Carlos Albisu
• 35mm Compact Camera Photographer #28 – Grégoire Huret / Tete De Loup
• 35mm Compact Camera Photographer #29 – Daniel Marinelli
• 35mm Compact Camera Photographer #30 – Wen Zeng
• 35mm Compact Camera Photographer #31 – Trenton Trammell
• 35mm Compact Camera Photographer #26 – Caio Proença
• 35mm Compact Camera Photographer #22 – Mickaël André
• 35mm Compact Photographer #1 – Stewart Duffy – A Trip 35 man
• 35mm Compact Photographer #11 – Rob MacKillop
• 35mm Compact Photographer #12 – Benn Murhaaya
• 35mm Compact Photographer #13 – ‘Thirdculture’
• 35mm Compact Photographer #2 – Dominik Mrzyk – Student Shooter
• 35mm Compact Photographer #3 – Julián Péter – Hi-skill with a Hi-Matic!
• 35mm Compact Photographer #4 – Troy Holden – A mju-ii man
• 35mm Compact Photographer #5 – Jake Kenny – An “Urban Abstract” Shooter
• 35mm Compact Photographer #6 – Nicholas Poole – Armed with an Oly 35SP
• 35mm Compact Photographer #8 – Daniel VanDurmen – An RF xpro shooter
• 35mm Compact Photographer #9 – Alex Redman – He walks, he rolls, he shoots
• 35mm Compact Photographer #10 – John Roberts – Rollei 35 Shooter
• 35mm Compact Photographer #14 – James Fox-Davies
• 35mm Compact Photographer #15 – Frank Lehnen
• 35mm Compact Photographer #16 – Patrik Rośen
• 35mm Compact Photographer #17 – Sean Fisher
• 35mm Compact Photographer #18 – Oswaldo Guadarrama
• 35mm Compact Photographer #19 – Jimmy Yang
• 35mm Compact Photographer #20 – Michael Rennie
• 35mm Compact Photographer #7 – Alan Duff – A Hiking Street Shooter

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