Film Photography

How to Shoot, Develop, and Scan Film Entirely on the Road (Yes, Really)
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How to Shoot, Develop, and Scan Film Entirely on the Road (Yes, Really)

There is something about committing to film on a road trip that forces you to slow down in the best possible way. You get thirty-six frames, maybe fewer, and every single one costs you something. I started thinking seriously about mobile film processing after I spent a week in the Olympic Peninsula with a roll of Ilford in my bag and zero plan for developing it when I got home. It sat in a drawer for two months.

Lost and Found: Essential Darkroom Equipment Modern Photographers Should Know About
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Lost and Found: Essential Darkroom Equipment Modern Photographers Should Know About

A Glimpse Into Photography’s Hands-On Past When I started researching analog darkroom work, I was struck by how many photographers under 40 have never experienced the tactile, deliberate process of creating prints in a light-sealed room. The darkroom represented something distinctly different from our current digital workflow—a space where patience, precision, and physical skill determined your final image. Today, I want to walk you through eight tools that were absolutely essential to this process, not because they’re nostalgic artifacts, but because understanding them teaches us something valuable about intentional photography.

The Widelux Explained: Why This Panning Film Camera Belongs on Every Photographer's Radar
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The Widelux Explained: Why This Panning Film Camera Belongs on Every Photographer's Radar

I have a soft spot for cameras that do something mechanically weird. Not digital weird, not software weird, but physically, beautifully, mechanically weird. So when I first stumbled onto Peter McKinnon’s enthusiasm for the Widelux, I completely understood the obsession. Here was a camera that doesn’t just sit still and capture a frame. It moves. The lens actually rotates through a 180-degree arc as you fire the shutter, sweeping across a scene the way your eye naturally scans a horizon.

Why I'm Telling Intermediate Photographers to Put Down Their Mirrorless Camera (At Least for a Weekend)
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Why I'm Telling Intermediate Photographers to Put Down Their Mirrorless Camera (At Least for a Weekend)

There’s a specific kind of creative rut I’ve noticed in my own work and in the students I teach: you stop seeing and start capturing. Your camera becomes a machine you point at things, and the magic of actually choosing a frame quietly disappears. I hit that wall a couple of years ago during a trip to Iceland. I came home with 1,400 raw files and felt nothing looking at them.

Shooting Film Portraits at Home: What I Learned From Sean Tucker's Medium Format Setup
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Shooting Film Portraits at Home: What I Learned From Sean Tucker's Medium Format Setup

I have a complicated relationship with “staying home and shooting.” For years, I told myself I needed to be somewhere interesting before a portrait session was worth attempting. A good location, good light, some reason to leave the house. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize that the most controlled, repeatable, and honestly beautiful portrait work often happens in a single room with a couple of thoughtful decisions about gear and light.

What Happens When You Leave Your Digital Camera at Home (And Only Shoot Film)
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What Happens When You Leave Your Digital Camera at Home (And Only Shoot Film)

There’s a specific kind of anxiety that hits when you realize you can’t rely on your usual tools. I know it well. I once spent an entire vacation trying to nail one waterfall shot, missing dinner every night, convinced that if I just got the settings right I’d finally have the image. What I actually needed was to stop fussing and start seeing. That tension between gear dependency and genuine vision is exactly what Thomas Heaton explores in his recent trip to the Outer Hebrides, a rugged cluster of islands off the coast of Scotland.

What a Hasselblad on the Coast Taught Me About Shooting Film Without a Safety Net
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What a Hasselblad on the Coast Taught Me About Shooting Film Without a Safety Net

Every film photographer I know has a version of the same story: you drive an hour to a location, set up your camera, and realize you forgot something important. A filter adapter. A cable release. The prism viewfinder you were absolutely certain you packed. What makes the difference between a ruined shoot and a great one isn’t perfect preparation. It’s knowing how to adapt your technique on the fly while still protecting the exposures you only get twelve of per roll.

Zone Focus, Film Burns, and Honest Editing: What Peter McKinnon's NYC Street Shoot Taught Me
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Zone Focus, Film Burns, and Honest Editing: What Peter McKinnon's NYC Street Shoot Taught Me

Every Sunday morning I take a photo walk. No client, no brief, just me and whatever camera I grab off the shelf. For a long time, those walks felt like practice without a destination because I was still thinking like a studio shooter. I’d wait for perfect light, fuss over focus, and come home with twelve technically fine images and zero soul. What I was missing was the street shooter’s mindset: decide your settings, commit to your zone, and let the city do the rest.

Affordable Instant Photography Just Got More Accessible: What You Need to Know About Budget-Friendly Instant Cameras
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Affordable Instant Photography Just Got More Accessible: What You Need to Know About Budget-Friendly Instant Cameras

Making Instant Photography Accessible to Everyone I’ve watched instant film photography make a remarkable comeback over the past decade, and I’m thrilled to see manufacturers responding to demand by creating genuinely affordable options. Recently, I came across some exciting news that reinforces this trend: compact instant cameras are now available at price points that won’t intimidate beginners or drain your budget. Why This Matters for New Photographers When I started mentoring beginner photographers, cost was always a barrier to trying instant film.

10 Film Photographers You Should Be Following Right Now (And What They Taught Me About Shooting Film)
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10 Film Photographers You Should Be Following Right Now (And What They Taught Me About Shooting Film)

I’ve been shooting digital for years, and somewhere along the way I convinced myself that film was this intimidating, gatekept world I wasn’t ready for. Too many settings I didn’t understand. Too much money wasted on bad exposures. Too many things I couldn’t just fix in Lightroom later. What finally cracked that wall open for me wasn’t a manual or a course. It was watching other photographers who were further down the road share exactly who had taught them and why.

What a 10-Year Wet Plate Photography Project Taught Me About Committing to a Vision
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What a 10-Year Wet Plate Photography Project Taught Me About Committing to a Vision

Every Sunday morning I do a photo walk. No agenda, no client, no brief. Just me, a coffee, and whatever lens feels right that day. I started the tradition because I kept noticing that my best personal work happened when I wasn’t trying to impress anyone. But even with that ritual locked in, I’ve struggled with the bigger question: what am I actually building toward? A folder of nice images isn’t a body of work.

How to Edit Film Scans in Lightroom (and Why Less Is Almost Always More)
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How to Edit Film Scans in Lightroom (and Why Less Is Almost Always More)

Film photography has been sneaking back into my life lately, and honestly, I wasn’t prepared for the editing side of it. I assumed shooting film meant skipping the computer entirely. Wasn’t that the whole point? Then I started getting my scans back from the lab and realized: flat profiles are the default for a reason. The lab is giving you latitude, not a finished image. You still have to show up in Lightroom.