Great advice for film photographers

<p>Hello all...</p>

<p>I run a film photography blog, where I've been posting reviews, pics, and stories from my travels shooting film for the last 15-odd years....</p>

<p>www.zorkiphoto.co.uk</p>

<p>I want to introduce a new series for it, called 52 Photo Tips.</p>

<p>It's will be photography advice aimed at those shooting film - some can be directly related to film, others could be more gernal advice.<br>

<br />I wanted to know: what's the best single piece of photography advice you ever received? The one that changed the way you shot or that you wish you had known earlier one. The one that you'd unhesitatingly offer if someone asked for a simple tip.<br>

<br />I'd love to hear what the sage minds here think. I'm currently pulling together a list - any I use from here I'll be sure to credit the author (and to link tho their site/Flickr/blog etc if they wish) when i write it up.</p>

<p>Many thanks in advance.</p>

<p>Stephen</p>

<p>Hi Stephen:<br /> Best film tip-By my teacher and mentor the late, Vern Miller:<br /> "if you need a meter to expose 400 speed film in daylight...you're clearly not shooting enough."</p>

<p>Best general tip1-(Ansel Adams):<br /> "The most important part of the camera is the six inches behind it."</p>

<p>Best general tip2-(Jay Silverman- after a workshop asking for pearls of wisdom):<br /> "Wanna get good at photography? Stop standing around yakking with me, GET BUSY SHOOTING!"</p>

<p>Good luck with your blog!</p>

<p>"It's not about the equipment, it is about the vision, inspiration, and creativity of the photographer"</p>

<blockquote>

<p>what's the best single piece of photography advice you ever received?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Measure twice; cut once.<br>

Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

<p>"f8 and be there"?</p>

Advice? That's always the summary of what worked for someone else. And unless you want to be that someone else (and who would?) it probably doesn't work for you.<br>So an ancient bit of wisdom instead: do whatever you want.<br><br>But don't listen to me. Do whatever you want instead.

Ted Orland published a poster of photographic truths, such as "when friend finally realize that you are a true artist,

committed to making Sensitive and meaningful images, They will ask you to photograph their wedding".

<p>The best photography advice I ever received came from Brett Weston at an exhibition of his prints during the 1970s. He never spoke a word. But when I asked him inane questions about materials he used - film, papers, cameras, lenses - he merely looked at me curiously, like I was speaking gibberish. And I was.</p>

<p>It took me years for that lesson to finally sink in: to stop emphasizing materials and to appreciate the end result at least as much as the process.</p>

<p>Learn how to use the Light you are given to its best advantage.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>Don't let you fixer salt out.</p>

<p>The best advice I've ever found for any kind of photography is to look <strong>into </strong>the camera, not <strong>through </strong>it. You're making a two-dimensional image, so try to see whatever the viewfinder shows as if it were projected onto a flat surface.</p>

Regarding film: although high speed

film has more noise than digital

sensors, the best negative emulsions

today can be pushed to 6400 on

35mm, 12,800 on medium format. You

should do your own research but I

have seen evidence for those claims.

 

Back in 1985, you could push Fuji 400

by three stops and get usable results.

(I will have to start a thread about that).

 

Ignore the naysayers: look at what

photographers actually do, not what

armchair philosophers say. (That's a tip

in itself!)

<p>"Fill the frame."</p>

<p>It's a version of <em>"If your photos aren't good enough, you aren't close enough"</em> and so on.</p>

<p>Make sure the rewind crank is spinning when you wind your film.</p>

For slide film or big enlargements, hand held, don't expect consistently good results with anything less

than 1/250 shutter speed. Be happy with the photo ops you know you can utilize and enjoy the other as

pleasant memories.

<p>"Quit thinking cameras, think pictures." <<me, today</p>

<p>A few words particularly relevant in this digital age:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>" I have often thought that if photography were difficult in the true sense of the term, meaning that the creation of a simple photograph would entail as much time and effort as the production of a good watercolor or etching, there would be a vast improvement in the quality of output. The sheer ease with which we can produce a superficial image often leads to creative disaster."</p>

<p>From Ansel Adams.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<blockquote>

<p>“Anything more than 500 yards from the car just isn’t photogenic.” – Edward Weston*</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Makes more and more sense the older I get.</p>

<p>(*Sometimes attributed to Brett Weston or someone else but this is from John Paul Caponigro's site http://www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/blog/12034/23-quotes-by-photographer-edward-weston/ so I'm going with that.)</p>

<p>Close the tank before agitating</p>

<p>"Less"</p>

<p>How about this one:</p>

<p>"Expose for the shadows and let the highlights take of themselves"</p>

<p>Or was it the other way around?</p>

<p>Take off your watch with a luminescent face before loading a film in a changing bag... apparently.</p>

<p>I think you guys have it all covered, and I love the Edward Weston quote....these days I prefer 50 meters!</p>

<p>Long ago, a friend took a photo class, and said the only really lasting advice he took away was never to let the camera strap dangle over the edge of a shelf or table.</p>

<p>My own echoes Kevin Mayo's: check that the film is really wound on. Long after forgetting the pictures I took I will lament the ones that got away. </p>

<p>If you rewind a partially exposed roll of film for later use, mark both the roll and film can, and don't rewind the lead into the canister.</p>