Last week, I worked on something new for me – setting up a small display of my darkroom photos in a local restaurant. Exhibits like this are low-stakes ways to put your photography out into the world. It’s also a nice challenge to choose which photos, sizes, and arrangements work best for your work. If this isn’t something you’ve done before, why not take the time to visit some nearby stores and ask if they show local art? That’s my recommendation for the week. Meanwhile, here’s the biggest news from the photography world that arrived while I was busy making prints.

Nurturing neophyte film photographers and movie makers, supplying photo schools with film cameras, and helping photographers of all levels learn how to use legacy film cameras, Michael Raso and the Film Photography Project volunteers have engaged with tens of thousands of film users around the world via a monthly podcast, by answering emailed questions and by conducting workshops. If you’re into film of any size, shape or format, visit the FPP website and tune in to a podcast.

Based in the Garden State in a former 1940s war engine plant that’s located one-half mile from an abandoned Kodak facility, Mike Raso and the Film Photography Project have a mission: to inspire, engage and inform beginners, pro photographers and movie makers on their journey with film cameras. The Garden State, for anyone who lives west of Ohio may be unaware, is the oft-misperceived lush farmland acreage and miles of bustling beaches also known as New Jersey.

Meet the Core FPP Lifeblood
Bound by a passion for photography—particularly film photography—FPP is staffed primarily by founder and podcast producer Mike Raso, podcast co-hosts Leslie Lazenby and Mat Marrash, and podcast contributors Dane Johnson, Owen McCafferty, Mark O’Brien, John Fedele and Paige Kay Davis. All members (click here for list) are unpaid volunteers.

Mike Raso, who is an adjunct professor at Union College in Cranford NJ where he teaches a class called Introduction to Film Photography, is a photographer, producer and filmmaker who’s been in the business for a long time—for over 30 years. After studying cinematography under Czech cinematographer Bedrich Batka at New York University, Mike worked in broadcasting as a producer/editor beginning in 1988 for Comcast Corporation. After many years producing cable television content, he served as an independent producer for such networks as HBO, ShowTime and others.

Inspire, Engage, Inform
“Since 2009, it’s been our mission to inspire, engage and inform beginning and professional film photographers around the globe,” Raso told us. “Our Film Photography Podcast, YouTube Channel and blogs share dependable product reviews, tutorials and tips that deconstruct the complex without dumbing down the content, providing tools that expand skills while supporting listeners’ creative output, experiences and passion for film photography.”

FPP also provides a web store where enthusiasts can find a wide variety of black & white and color films, including hard-to-get Double 8, Super 8 and 16mm film movie film and many, many obscure formats. They also offer an assortment of darkroom chemistry and supplies as well as assorted FPP branded gear.

Film Photography Fights an Uphill Battle
Total absence of new high-end models, hard to get repair parts, and disappearing repair knowledge—these are just three of the many obstacles film photographers deal with. Most photographers FPP encounters have digital workflow, i.e., when they shoot celluloid film they scan to digital. “In 2023,” Mike told us, “digitizing film is as easy as it’s ever been due to things like the Lomography smartphone scanner.” The $39 kit is available from Lomography and from Amazon.

Market Observations
During our discussion of bygone 35mm film cameras, Mike mentioned Minolta at least three times—and bear in mind we covered a lot of territory. There’s no way he could have known I was vice president of marketing at Minolta in a past life, so his genuine high esteem for the brand scored high marks with me. I asked him why Minolta was predominant in his conversation. He said that although he’s a Canon fan, he appreciated Minolta as the high quality underdog. He said that the Minolta Freedom Zoom line is still very popular. He added that the Minolta X-series is phenomenal and the older SR-T cameras are also outstanding.

FPP School Camera Donation Program
FPP’s popular Camera Donation Program continues to place analog cameras, film and lenses into the hands of kids and instructors in the US at no cost to those institutions. Donations average 30 to 60 every two months. If you have a film camera that you’d like to see transferred to the eager hands of a budding young photographer, visit the FPP website to learn how.

Want to learn more about shooting film? Visit the FPP website today and take a good look around. Tune in to a podcast. Buy some film for that family heirloom camera you inherited and enjoy the creative fulfillment that may be missing from your photographic life. The Film Photography Project is there to assist you through every step.

Start Shooting 35mm Film – Here’s a Complete Guide
It’s easier to get started in film photography than you may think, and you’re sure to enjoy the ride. If you’re even vaguely thinking about shooting some film, read this Shutterbug story. It’s a compendium of everything you need and where to get it.

—Jon Sienkiewicz

 

(As an Amazon Associate, Shutterbug earns from qualifying purchases linked in this story.)

You’ve probably admired photos of the nighttime skies and the Milky Way, and thought these amazing images required specialized equipment and were beyond your skills. But guess what, this is a misconception as you’ll see in this beginners guide from our friends at the Photo Genius YouTube channel.

Australian pro Paul Farris is an accomplished photographer who has been teaching photo workshops for over a decade. Like with the quick episode below, he specializes in tutorials designed to help beginners up their game. As he says, “taking photos of the night sky isn’t just for pros,” and in barely nine minutes he explains how you can get started tonight.

Farris covers all the basics from camera settings and gear, to straightforward shooting techniques that result in impressive images. A sturdy tripod is required because you’ll be shooting with slow shutter speeds. Just about any DSLR or mirrorless camera will do fine—as long as long as it includes standard manual functions.

Exotic lenses aren’t needed either, and even a normal 50mm will get the job done, but Farris says a wide-angle is preferable because “it will let you capture a larger expanse of the sky and include some foreground in the shot as well.” Fast lenses with a wide maximum aperture are a bonus, but not absolutely essential.

The darker the sky, the brighter the stars will appear, so choosing the best location available will boost your chances of success.  A remote location with minimal light pollution is ideal, so if you can get out of the city that’s great. Farris realizes that this isn’t always possible, so the images he features here were taken in semi-urban locations— just to show you what can be achieved near home. The phase of the moon also factors into the equation.

The first thing to do with regard to camera settings in rotate the mode dial to Manual so you can select the correct aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to suit the task. Farris then walks you through the settings he recommends for each of these variables—beginning with the widest aperture available on your lens. Shutter speed and ISO settings follow from there.

Farris then moves on to shooting tips, beginning with proper focusing techniques. If you want to include a foreground subject, he recommends using a flashlight (as a Brit he calls it a “torch”), so you can briefly focus on the subject and turn off the light before snapping the shutter. Farris notes that autofocus tends to struggle when focusing on distant stars, so manual focus is a much better choice.

The episode wraps up with a few other tips, illustrated with images captured by Farris recently in preparation for this episode. Bottom line, by following his advice, and doing a bit of practice, you’ll be making beautiful images of starlit skies in no time.

There much more to learn on Farris’ YouTube channel and in the tutorial we posted recently, explaining how to shoot epic landscape photos by composing with symmetry in mind.

Most photographers prefer to be out in the field with their cameras, rather than sitting behind a computer processing photos. That means finishing up your edits as soon as possible without sacrificing quality.

The two-minute tutorial below from image-editing impresario Anthony Morganti reveals a relatively unknown Lightroom trick for doing just that when Curves adjustments are part of your process. This only works in certain situations, but when it does it’s a boon to your workflow.

Morganti explains that there are actually five different Tone Curves in Lightroom: The Parametric Curve, Point Curve, and the three Color Channel Curves—read, green and blue. What he demonstrates today falls under the Point Curve, and the technique applies to those of you who often employ relatively complicated Curves when editing your work.

The goal for Morganti’s demonstration image is to give it an old, vintage appearance, and he uses a complicated Point Curve to create the effect. He really likes this look and uses it often but doesn’t want to recreate the Curve every time he does. The solution: save a Tone Preset that can be used over and over again.

This task is super easy to accomplish, and you can do it right within Lightroom’s Tone Curve tool. As you’ll see, all you have to do is tap a button beneath the Tone Curve, choose the Custom option from the dropdown menu, and click “Save.” Then give your preset a name in the window that appears—in this case Morganti calls his preset “Washed Out Film.”

You can create as many presets as you want for the Tone Curve adjustments you use regularly and doing so will really streamline your workflow. Then the next time you’re working in Curves, just click the dropdown and your presets will immediately appear and you won’t have to redraw the Curve once again.

This oft-ignored trick is about as easy as it gets, and we suspect you’ll use it often. Morganti’s instructional YouTube channel is full of tips and tricks like this, so be sure to pay a visit and check back often.

We also suggest watching another tutorial we posed recently, demonstrating five helpful features in Adobe Bridge that you won’t find in Lightroom.