So you’re getting into film photography for the first time, and you’re just about to pull the trigger on your first purchase. But you’re scared of buying a 40-year old camera that could potentially not work. How do you ensure that you’re buying a film camera that functions properly? You’re in luck because after buying a bunch of used cameras in the last couple of months (thanks, quarantine), I’ve more or less caught onto what to look out for. And I’ve made a lot of mistakes to get to this point. …

Everyone starts off in a pretty similar manner. You pick up a camera for the first time. You fall in love. It becomes your hobby. You buy more and more gear. Eventually, you even start doing some paid work, and photography becomes either your main form or a form of income for you. But in this standard kind of journey, the magic of photography usually gets lost in the shuffle. Photography was once a fun hobby, but now it’s become work with clients and deadlines and pulling endless nights to finish edits. You’re still passionate about photography, but you’re shooting…

The age-old question arises again. Your camera brand of choice just released a new camera. Is it time to upgrade? Should you be content with what you have? Here are some things to consider when thinking about whether you need to upgrade your camera or not.

I recently read an article on Medium about how a mirrorless camera should not be your next upgrade after having owned DSLRs. Now, I’m not sure whether this author has ever shot on mirrorless, but I’ve never disagreed with an author more. If you ever have the opportunity to shoot and experience a mirrorless camera for an extended period of time, you will almost never want to go back to shooting on a DSLR. For professional work, especially, mirrorless is definitely here to stay, and I have little to no reason to look backward.

And an upgrade to mirrorless is…

About two weeks ago, I went out and bought my very first film camera, the coveted Canon AE-1. This was probably the most typical choice I could have made when choosing a film camera. But I was already buying FD lenses for adapting on mirrorless, and so buying the AE-1 or the A-1, which only the former was present at the open market, made a lot of sense to me.

I then proceeded to buy the battery and a few rolls of film and instantly got to shooting. There were certainly a lot of things I needed to learn on…

I’ve been obsessed with making a digital photo look like film for the longest time. Trying to replicate the “Film Look” has been something of a secondary photography goal for me during my four year career. Really, what I mean by this is replicating vintage film by observing the traits and characteristics of stocks like Portra 400, Kodak Gold 200, and Ektar 100. But every time I think I got it just right, I look at the photos later and say to myself, “I’m still not quite there yet.”

The sheer truth is that I’ll never be able to replicate…

A World of Convenience

There are many photo editing preset packs for Lightroom that other photographers are offering for you to buy. And sure, a lot of them give a really easy way to grade your photos without you having to worry. But I’m here to tell you that it’s not worth it to buy these, and depending on them can ruin your creative potential.

I can’t deny that we live in a world that loves convenience. You should definitely, definitely be using presets. Like, absolutely with no doubt about it. It’s okay to make shortcuts for yourself, but there comes a point where…

So You’ve Hit a Wall…

I remember when I first started shooting with my Canon Rebel camera. All I had was that body and the kit lens, the humble beginning many of us know. But I took my camera with me everywhere. I shot everything. I shot everyone. I even shot my friends in the cafeteria during lunch. I really, really loved taking photos, and I still do. But then I started to progress throughout the years. I got jobs and found clients. I bought all the gear and lenses I needed. I started to become everything I was hoping to become.

But then came…