FILM

STREET
PHOTO
GRAPHY
MANUAL
WHY SHOOT FILM?
One of the main questions you might be wondering: why
shoot film in today’s digital age? After all, film is inconve-
nient, expensive, and a pain in the ass to process.

However many young photographers are starting to re-dis-

cover the love of shooting film. In an age where we are
constantly plugged into social media via our smartphones,
shooting film allows us to unplug. Shooting film helps us
disconnect-- to be more reflective and meditative when
shooting, to consider more about what moments are truly
meaningful to us, and the chance for us to re-connect with
our forefathers of photography.

Shooting film won’t make you a better photographer; but

shooting film will make you more contemplative, more
thoughtful, more reflective, and will generally help you ap-
preciate the process of shooting photography more.

Not only that, but after training yourself shooting film, I

think you will also appreciate digital photography more.
And the principles you learned from shooting film-- you can
apply this to shooting digitally (not looking at your LCD
screen, taking your time when taking photos, and trying to
make each shot count).

I am not the expert of shooting street photography on film,

but I do come from a digital photography background-- so
I will try to explain everything I know about shooting street
photography on film in a comprehensive yet basic way.

Now undust those old film cameras in your closet, and let’s
get to work.

Eric Kim
Friday, March 11, 2016 / Berkeley / Philz Coffee
GETTING STARTED
Okay to start off, you first need a film camera.

If you’ve never shot street photography on film before,

please do not run out and buy a film Leica. Find the cheap-
est, most affordable film camera possible. If possible, try to
ask your parents, family, or friends for old film cameras. I
guarantee you that everyone has at least one old film cam-
era collecting dust in a closet somewhere.

When you are experimenting with film, you are not 100%
sure whether you will like it or not. Remember, if you’re
primarily a digital shooter-- this is just an experiment.

If you don’t have access to any free film cameras, I rec-

ommend starting on a cheap film SLR. Canon AE-1’s are
cheap to find on the used market, as well as Nikon FM-se-
ries cameras, or any point-and-shoot film camera.

For street photography, the best “bang-for-the-buck” com-

pact camera is the Contax T2-- a superbly built film camera
with a 38mm f/2.8 lens, a titanium-body, and the ability to
pre-focus at certain distances, or you can use with auto-fo-
cus.

If you happen to do have money to burn, a good film

rangefinder starter kit is the film Leica M6 and the Voigt-
lander 35mm f/2.5 lens. This is a kit that can (in theory)
outlive you.

Secondly what you want to do is pick up some film. I gener-

ally recommend Kodak Tri-X 400 for black-and-white, and
Kodak Portra 400 for color. For black-and-white, ILFORD
HP5 is also a fantastic option. If you’re on a budget, Kodak
Gold or any cheap Fujifilm color films are a good alterna-
tive. Check out CameraFilmPhoto.com (outside of U.S.)
LOADING THE FILM
Okay if you’ve made it this far, congratulations. So far
you’ve got your film camera, your film, and you’re ready
to rock and roll.

Now what you got to do is load the film into your camera.
Don’t be alarmed-- the best way to learn how to load the
film into your camera is to watch a tutorial on YouTube.
Search: “How to load film into ‘Camera X’”, or do a Goo-
gle Search. Guaranteed you will find a tutorial somewhere
online for free.

Now most modern film comes with 36 shots per roll. There
are some older films that come with 24 shots per roll-- try to
avoid these, as you get less “bang-for-the-buck”.

TECHNICAL SETTINGS
Now the next step you’re probably wondering is: what
technical settings do I use on my film camera?

First of all, if your camera has automatic settings-- just use

the automatic settings. Just because you know how to shoot
fully-manual doesn’t make you a more artistic photogra-
pher. 99% of the issues that beginning film shooters have is
that they just can’t get their exposure right (when I started,
the majority of my photos were under-exposed and looked
like crap).

If you plan on shooting fully-manual, as a tip, always

over-expose whenever possible. Why? With film, you can
always recover details if you accidentally blow your high-
lights. However if your photos are under-exposed, it is
almost impossible to draw details out of the shadows.
MANUAL SHOOTING
Okay you’re stubborn-- you don’t want to look like a
“noob” and shoot fully-automatic. I get it. So here are
some practical manual shooting tips when you’re on the
streets.

If you’re shooting black-and-white, I recommend “pushing

your film” to ISO 1600. Which means you can use ISO
400 (or any other film speed) and “trick” your camera into
thinking that the ISO 400 film is actually ISO 1600.

Before I go on, you might wonder why you should shoot at

ISO 1600. The reason is because the higher the ISO, the
faster the shutter speed, and the more depth-of-field we can
have in our photos. Whenever possible, it is ideal to max-
out your shutter-speed (1/1000th on a Leica), and also
shoot with a deep depth-of-field (f/8-f/16).

The reason is because if you’re shooting film in street pho-

tography, you want to avoid two things: 1) Blurry photos
and 2) Out-of-focus photos.

By shooting with a really-fast shutter speed (ideally you

want to shoot faster than 1/250th of a second) you won’t
have blurry street photos. Your subjects will be sharp.

Secondly, by shooting between f/8-f/16, your photos will

be in-focus. Do not make the sucker mistake of trying to
shoot everything “wide-open” at f/2-f/2.8. This is a com-
mon newbie mistake, because who cares how much “bo-
keh” you can get in your photos, if your photos are out-of-
focus?

Explaining how “pushing” film works is a bit complicated--

and not every camera has the ability to push film. However
here is how you can push your film on different cameras:
PUSHING FILM 101
There are different types of film camera out there (for the
discussion now, let us stick to 35mm cameras).

First of all, you have the SLR (Single Lens Reflex), which
is the “standard” film camera you will see almost every-
where. They look like DSLR’s, except (duh) they are film
(DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex). Pretty much
the benefit of an SLR is “what you see is what you get”
-- meaning, when you look through the viewfinder, you’re
actually seeing what your lens sees. Which means your
framing will be very accurate. Not only that, but SLR’s
are very cheap and widely available. Downside-- they are
often big, clunky, and loud (Single Lens Reflex cameras use
a mirror and therefore have an infamous “shutter clack”
when taking images).

Assuming you have a film SLR that allows you to shoot

manually, this is what I would personally do:

1. Set your aperture to f/8 (f/8 is a good comprormise

between having a deep depth-of-field while also allowing
in a lot of light).

2. If your camera has a built-in light meter, set it to ISO

1600. If your camera doesn’t, you can download a smart-
phone “light meter” app, or use a “real” light meter (and
set the ISO to 1600).

3. All you need to do is adjust the shutter-speed depending

on the lighting situation. Because once your aperture (f/8)
and ISO (1600) is locked, the shutter-speed is the only vari-
able you need to adjust. That and of course, the focusing.

If you are still unsure to “push” your camera to ISO 1600,

just Google: “How to push film for ‘Camera X’”.
PROS/CONS OF DIFFERENT
FILM CAMERAS
Let us now talk about the benefits/disadvantages of differ-
ent film cameras out there.

Before we start, let me get it out of the way: a film range-

finder is not necessarily the “best” camera for street pho-
tography (although Leica marketing will have you think
otherwise). There are a lot of benefits to compact film
cameras in street photography (I actually prefer compacts
over rangefinders), and sometimes film SLR’s can be superi-
or. Let us continue:

1. FILM SLR
Pro: Cheap, affordable, “what you see is what you get”.
Con: Big, clunky, loud shutter.

2. RANGEFINDER
Pro: Small, compact, optical viewfinder allows you to see a
bit outside of your lens.
Con: Assuming you want a Leica, it is expensive, what you
see is not what you get (search ‘Parallax Error’), and gen-
erally requires having to shoot fully-manual (fine if you are
an expert, difficult if you’re a newbie).

3. COMPACT
Pro: Small, unobtrusive, fits in your front pocket.
Con: Often lack of manual-controls (can be a pro or a
con), most are generally autofocus (once again, can be a
pro or a con), and a bit slower than SLR’s or Rangefinders
when shooting.

Regardless of what camera you use, there is no “perfect”

film camera for street photography. I honestly prefer com-
pact cameras (you always have them with you).
FOCUSING 101
Assuming you are shooting with a film SLR or a rangefinder
(or any camera or lens that requires manual-focusing), here
are some basic tips when focusing when shooting on the
streets.

To start off, street photography is one of the most difficult

forms of photography out there. You need the agility of
a ballerina on the streets, the ferocity of a boxer, yet the
technical know-how of a scientist.

When you’re starting off shooting film in street photogra-

phy, you will be very slow. But once again, we all need to
start somewhere-- kind of how kids need to start off riding
tricycles before they can “upgrade” to bicycles.

The real world is fast, hyper, and unpredictible. You can’t

take 10 minutes to focus on somebody like you do a flower
or a landscape. What you see before you will happen only
once. Either you get the shot, or you don’t. If you miss the
shot, you will never capture that moment again.

Generally with lenses, I recommend a 35mm “full-frame”

equivalent. Why? With a 35mm lens, it is generally wide
enough to capture most of everything you see before you.
If you are too far, you can always take a step back.

50mm is also a nice “classic” focal length-- but the down-

side is that most street photographers I know complain that
it is too tight and restrictive. Most film SLR’s have 50mm
for very cheap, but 35mm lenses are generally a bit more
expensive. Another downside of a 50mm; you have less
depth-of-field when you’re shooting

28mm is also solid for street photography, but I think most

beginners find it a bit too wide to “fill the frame” with.
PREFOCUSING
One of the main mistakes a lot of beginner street photogra-
phers do when shooting film is that they try to focus every-
thing perfectly. No-- this is a waste of time, and you will
never be fast enough to capture the action on the streets.

What you want to do instead is to pre-focus on your sub-

jects before you take their photo.

For example, a good “default” focusing distance is 1.2 me-

ters (roughly two-arm-lengths away). On a 35mm lens, that
is a good distance to “fill your frame.”

As an assignment, I would suggest keeping your lens

pre-focused to that 1.2 meters distance, and taking all of
your photos at that distance for a month. Why? It will help
you get to know that distance really well, and generally at
that distance with a 35mm lens, your compositions will look
good as well.

If youre shooting at 1.2 meters, with a 35mm lens, at f/8,

roughly everything from .9 meters to 1.9 meters will be
in-focus. Which means; even though your viewfinder shows
that your subject might not be “perfectly” in focus-- they
will actually be in focus.

To test this out (as well as anything in film) use a digital

camera. Dial in the settings you want in manual mode,
pre-focus at different apertures and shutter-speeds, and see
whether your shots are in-focus, sharp, or not.

Another practical tip when you’re starting shooting in the

streets with film: carry both a digital and a film camera
with you. Whenever unsure about your settings, just try it
out on digital and look at your LCD screen to see the re-
sults. No, this is not “cheating” (it is called “learning”).
FINDING YOUR SUBJECT
So far you’ve got your camera, you got your film loaded,
you know some (basic) settings, and you got your focusing
(somewhat) down. Now the next practical question: “What
should I shoot?”

Now that is a personal question. What interests you in the

world? Only shoot what you personally find interesting--
never take photos of what others think are interesting.

To start, just take your film (and digital as a backup) for a

walk, and just photograph anything you find interesting.
You can start off by shooting (non-people) like telephone
wires, buildings (urban landscapes), interesting things you
find on the streets, your friends, your family, or anything
that catches your eye.

The strange thing about shooting film is that anything you

take a photo of will automatically be more “artsy”. I hate
to say it-- but it is true. For some strange reason, photos of
urban landscapes or random stuff you find on the ground,
when shot on film, seem more intentional and contempla-
tive. Why? Because if you find a scene so interesting and
you’re willing to spend real money to capture that moment,
it shows more “intentionality.”

But don’t be a film snob-- there is no reason you need to

shove into everyone’s face that you shot a certain photo
on film. Just because you shot it on film doesn’t necessarily
mean it is a “better” photo. Remember, we are shooting
film because we personally enjoy it and we enjoy the pro-
cess more.

Now the next step is trying to shoot more candid photos of

strangers on the street without permission. This is the real
task, and the most difficult thing to do when shooting film.
CANDID STREET PHOTOS
Okay now you’ve graduated to the point where you want
to take candid photos of strangers or situations (for now,
without permission).

The first tip I want to tell you is this: if you find an interest-
ing person or a scene, take more than 1 photo. If possible,
take 5, 10, 15, or even 20 photos of a scene. If you see a
“moment” that you think is truly valuable and once-in-a-life-
time, shoot the entire roll of film on a scene.

What I have personally discovered from shooting street

photography on film is this: be more picky and stingy with
the situations you find interesting, and be more generous
with shooting a lot of photos on the scenes you actually do
find interesting.

For example, let’s say you walk around for an entire day.
If you are able to identify 2-3 scenes or “moments” you
find interesting, shoot the shit out of it. Know that in street
photography, it is very important to “work the scene”, and
not to be satisfied with only 1-2 photos.

If you are still unsure how to use the technical settings on

your camera, or if you are a bit slow, don’t feel bad asking
your subjects for permission.

One of the big benefits of shooting film is that people are

fascinated by old film cameras. I have found that whether
I’m shooting candidly or asking for permission-- people are
a lot less paranoid about being photographed (on film)
than being shot on digital. Perhaps because they feel hon-
ored that you decided to actually spend money to take a
photo of them (whereas digital is a bit disposable). I have
also had a lot of strangers start converstaions with me say-
ing, “They still make film?”-- which can open doors.
FILM ASSIGNMENTS
Here are some practical assignments you can do in your
free time to hone your skills on shooting film.

1. FOCUS ON THINGS AT HOME

One of the most difficult things in film street photography is

getting to know your distances very well. So what you can
do is when you’re sitting at home on your couch, watching
TV or whatever, is keep your film camera close and guess
how far the distances of certain objects in your house.

For example, if you’re sitting on the couch, look at the

kitchen table. Guess how many meters (or feet) it is away
from you. Then without bringing the camera to your eye,
pre-focus to what you think the distance is, and then bring
up the camera to your eye and see how accurate you
were. The more you practice this, the quicker you will be at
“prefocusing” in street photography. Vary your distances.
Guess the distance of things close and far from you, and
from “medium” distance (1.2 meters).

2. KEEP NOTES

Use a small notebook to test out exposures and settings

on your camera. Go for a walk, and if you see an inter-
esting scene take three photos at three different exposure
settings. Try to take 1 photo that is perfectly exposed, one
photo that is under-exposed (by 1 “stop”), and one photo
that is over-exposed (by “1 stop”). When you get your film
processed and scanned, see which exposures look good to
you.

3. SHOOT 1 ROLL A DAY

Practice makes perfect. Shoot 1 roll a day for a month.

PROCESSING & SCANNING
Another big thing that first scared me when I started shoot-
ing film is wondering how I could process and scan my film.

First of all, if you’re somebody who is really busy (and has

some extra cash), I just recommend sending your film to a
lab and having them develop and scan the film for you.

Assuming you make $40,000 a year, and your labor is

worth $20 an hour-- ask yourself; how much do I value my
time?

For me, I prefer shooting over developing and scanning my

film. So I don’t mind paying money to free up my time so
I can spend more time shooting (not developing and scan-
ning).

However at the same time, I know a lot of photographers

who love to develop and scan their own film. They find the
experience a good time to reflect, meditate, and “zen” out.

With color film, it is always easier to develop it at a lab

(and generally cheap). Black-and-white film is easy to pro-
cess at home with a “changing bag” (no you don’t need
a full-on darkroom to develop at home). There are a lot of
YouTube tutorials on how to develop your own black and
white films at home.

For scanning, either get the lab to do it or just do it your-

self. If you’re a newbie, just pick up the cheapest Canon,
Epson, or Plustek scanner (these scans look fine for the
internet). Personally I find the best “bang-for-the-buck”
scanner is the Epson V700 (scans both 35mm and medi-
um-format film). For just 35mm, I recommend any “Plustek”
scanner (scanning is slower, but the quality is incredible,
and also the machine is quite affordable).
MEDIUM-FORMAT FILM?
Most street photographers I know prefer 35mm film. Why?
You get 36 photos on a roll (compared to 10-12 photos
on medium-format cameras), 35mm cameras are smaller
than medium-format photos, and you also get more depth-
of-field on 35mm cameras (compared to medium-format
cameras).

To start off, a medium-format camera is a camera that

shoots with larger pieces of film-- which mean that the
photos have more detail, depth, and sharpness. Medi-
um-format film is quite popular with “environmental portrai-
ture” -- when you get a subject to pose in front of an inter-
esting background. Medium-format film is also good for
urban-landscapes (if you can shoot on a tripod and your
subject is not moving).

I have toyed around with a lot of medium-format film cam-

eras, and while I do like the additional detail-- honestly,
I think 35mm is just a lot easier (and more affordable).
Unless you are a fine-art photographer, you will honestly
never blow up your photos to be massive prints. Even with
35mm film, you can blow up your photos to be quite large.

But like everything in life, it is good to experiment. For

street photography, the best rangefinder is the Mamiya
7-series cameras (that make 6x7cm images). If you prefer
square images (6x6cm images) the Mamiya 6 is a good
compact option.

I also like the Hasselblad medium-format cameras, which

are good for urban landscapes and posed environmental
portraits. However the downside is that they are really big,
heavy, and overall cumbersome to use. A more compact
solution are “TLR” cameras (Rolleiflex, Yashicaflex) or any
other film camera that have “flex” in them.
DIGITAL FILM SCANNING
If you are very ambitious, I recommend taking a course
on darkroom printing. This is the true “pursit” approach--
you take the actual film negative, and you make prints in
a darkroom. It is a quite mystical, romantic, and beautiful
experience, which makes you appreciate the art of pho-
tography a lot more. I have a 2-hour YouTube video titled:
“Introduction to Darkroom Film Developing and Printing”
which is worth checking out.

But in today’s digital age, you are probably better-off deal-

ing with digital film scans. I think the future of photography
is going to be a “hybrid” approach-- new digital cameras
that simulate the effect of shooting with a film camera more
and more, and also film cameras embracing more digital
technologies.

Anyways, when you scan your own film (the default Epson
scanning software is good, otherwise use Silverfast) you
will deal with issues of hair, dust, and (sometimes) scratch-
es. Just use Photoshop or any other image-editing software
to “clone” or “heal” away the small impefections.

Also when you have digital scans, you can use Lightroom
or Photoshop to adjust the contrast, brightness, exposure,
highlights, shadows. With scans, you have a lot less control
when dealing with RAW images. But a little post-processing
with digital tools will help improve the look of your images
quite a bit (and no, this is not “cheating”).

A lot of people will wonder: What is the point of shooting

film if you’re just going to scan the photos digitally any-
ways? For me, I still prefer the process of shooting film, and
also the digital scans of film photos still look more aesthet-
ically pleasing to me than digital photos. Ignore the old-
school film snobs; embrace both analog and digial.
FAVORITE FILM CAMERAS
There is a lot of information out there about film cameras,
one of my favorite resources is JapanCameraHunter.com
(my friend Bellamy Hunt runs it). Below are some of my
personal favorite film cameras for street photography:

1. CONTAX T3

Famously used by Anders Petersen, the T3 is a compact

camera that has a brilliant Carl-Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 lens, all
in a tiny and compact body. The photos I get on the cam-
era rival that of the photos I get with my Leica 35mm f/2
Summicron ASPH lens. I usually shoot it in “P” mode, and
use autofocus. Downside: quite expensive.

2. RICOH GR1-SERIES

There are a ton of Ricoh GR 1-series cameras out there

(GR1, GR1s, GR1v). They all have 28mm f/2.8 lenses, are
tiny (fit into your front pocket), and are extremely ergo-
nomic and easy to hold in the hand. The downside is that
they are fragile cameras and break easily. It is difficult to
find any place that repairs them anymore, so if you find
one second-hand that is in good condition (for a good
price) just give it a go.

3. LEICA MP

Leica MP stands for “mechanical perfection” (yeah su-

per-pretentious). It is a film Leica with a light-meter built into
it, made of solid-brass, and will probably last for another
200 years or so. If you want one film camera for the rest of
your life, this is the one for you. I personally bought a sec-
ond-hand one from Japan from my friend Bellamy, and it
has been my constant companion. More affordable options
are the M6, M5, M4, M2 or the Bessa rangefinder.
TRAVELING WITH FILM
Ironically enough, I find that traveling with film causes me a
lot less anxiety than traveling with digital.

Why?

First of all, my film is less likely to “crash” than my SD

cards, my hard drive on my computer, or any other dig-
ital-storage device. Also if someone stole my hard drive,
or laptop, or digital camera, I would probably lose all of
the photos I shot while traveling. However with film, first of
all-- nobody will be interested in stealing your film. Second-
ly, if you happen to get your backpack stolen, you might
only lose a few rolls of film (I generally keep my film stored
where I am staying).

Don’t worry about putting film through the x-ray scanner at

the airport (if your film is rated at ISO 400). The only issue
I heard is if you get your film x-rayed if it is ISO 1600 or
above. I’ve personally had tons of my film scanned (several
times) through x-ray scanners in developing countries, and
never had any issues. If you are super-paranoid, you can
always get “x-ray proof bags”.

When I “push” my film, I always use a sharpie to mark on

the film canister “1600” (as a reminder to myself later). I
also like to keep my film organized in the Japan Camera
Hunter film cases (or I just keep them all in a big ziplock
bag).

What you can also do is mark your films with what cities
or countries you shot them in. This can be a nice way for
you to track your progress in shooting while traveling, and
keep a tally of how many rolls you shoot in different plac-
es. I also like being able to travel and not always look at
Lightroom. With film I just shoot, go home, and sleep.
FILM VS DIGITAL?
You will see a lot of debates on the internet on “film vs dig-
ital”. Honestly at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter
what you shoot. Ultimately, I think it isn’t film vs digital, but
film and digital.

For example, you send emails to your work colleagues, but

you write hand-written cards to your loved ones.

You stream your music to your smartphone when you’re at

the gym, but you prefer to listen to music at a concert when
on a romantic date.

You type out notes on your computer, but you also hand-
write notes or journal in a notebook.

The future of technology and life isn’t this battle between

the analog and digital. It is the blending, or the hybridiza-
tion of both.

A lot of digital technologies try to apply analog approach-

es (new digital cameras look like film cameras). And at the
same time, analog is becoming more digital (you can scan
your notebooks into digital form).

Personally all the photos I’ve shot that are truly meaningful
are shot on film. It costs money, it is a pain to process, but
I feel that I am willing to spend that extra money on what
really matters to me. For example, photos I shoot of Cindy
(the love of my life) are mostly shot on film-- whereas pho-
tos of strangers are usually shot on digital.

So ultimately embrace both film and digital photography--

perhaps you can compartmentalize it in different ways.
Maybe film for personal photos, digital for commercial?
B/W film, and color digital? Do whatever fits for you.
STORING NEGATIVES
I will admit-- one of the things I am horrible at is organizing
and storing my negatives (in a logical and coherent way).

I have a lot of friends who are fantastic about cutting their

negatives, and putting them into clear sleeves, and keeping
them all organized according to date, camera, lens, and
type of film.

For me, I just throw it all into a box, and hope one day my
future grandchildren will know what to do with it.

If I could do it all over again, I would keep my negatives

organized according to date, location, and keep them
stored in a safe place (my mom’s house).

One of the hidden benefits of negatives (versus digital files)

is that in 200 years, the negatives will still exist in a physi-
cal form. Which means it will be easy to scan negatives in
the future.

However how easy will it be for future generations to ac-

cess our digital RAW files, which are trapped in our hard
drives?

I have a friend who takes all of his family photos on film,

because they will always have access to seeing the images
without having to use some digital device to access them.
You can simply take your negatives, hold them up to the
light, and see what images they are.

Sure your house can burn down and you can lose all of
your negatives. So take a hybrid approach: keep your neg-
atives organized, and keep many digital back-ups of your
scans (hard drives and on the cloud).
THE FILM “LOOK”
The main two reasons I look to shoot film is that I prefer the
more meditative and “zen-like” process of shooting film, as
well as the ultimate aesthetic (how the photos look).

I love the grain of film images, the irregularities, the coarse-

ness, the texture, the “beautiful mistakes”, and the imper-
fections. For me, digital photos often feel “soul-less”-- they
are too sharp, precise, technical, clinical, and “perfect.”

I shoot a lot of digital-- and I try to make my digital RAW

images look like film. There are a lot of ways to do this-- I
have free Lightroom film simulation presets you can down-
load to convert your raw images to look like Tri-X pushed
to 1600, or even the look of Portra 400. You can also use
plug-ins like Silver Efex Pro (black-and-white simulation), or
VSCO.

However unfortunately, no matter how good these digi-

tal simulations become-- it will still never be like the “real
thing” -- because in terms of physics, the digital photog-
raphy process of image-rendering and the way that film
renders light is fundamentally different.

Digital sensors are small computers that detect light in a

scene, and encode it into an image which is made out of
binary data (1’s and 0’s).

Film records the physical light in a scene, and embeds that

light onto a film negative.

Not only that, but (in 2016) film still has more “dynamic
range” and data than most digital cameras. The result is
that (to most people) film photos will still look better than
digital photos. But ultimately, aesthetics is something per-
sonal-- just do whatever looks and feels best to you.
SAMPLE STREET SETTINGS
Below are some sample settings you can use when shooting
street photography at ISO 400 and 1600. When shooting
color, I shoot at ISO 400, and when shooting black-and-
white, I will “push” the film “two stops” to 1600. You can
also use the “Sunny 16 rule”, but I think these settings
below are better for street photography (because it allows
you to shoot between f/8-f/16 for deep depth-of-field.

ISO 400 ISO 1600

SUPER-BRIGHT SUNNY DAY SUPER-BRIGHT SUNNY DAY
Aperture: f/8 Aperture: f/16
Shutter Speed: 1/1000th sec Shutter Speed: 1/1000th sec
ISO: 400 ISO: 1600

OVERCAST OVERCAST
Aperture: f/8 Aperture: f/16
Shutter Speed: 1/250th sec Shutter Speed: 1/250th sec
ISO: 400 ISO: 1600

SUNSET SUNSET
Aperture: f/8 Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/125th sec Shutter Speed: 1/500th sec
ISO: 400 ISO: 1600

SHADE SHADE
Aperture: f/8 Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/60th sec Shutter Speed: 1/250th sec
ISO: 400 ISO: 1600

INDOORS INDOORS
Aperture: f/2 Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/30th sec Shutter Speed: 1/60th sec
ISO: 400 ISO: 1600
THE CINDY PROJECT
One of my on-going life projects is the “Cindy Project” -- a
photo-series of the love of my life (Cindy), shot mostly on
film.

Why film?

Well-- I like the idea that I can create physical remnants

of Cindy’s soul and presence (in a film negative). I have
taken a lot of photos of her on digital, but if my hard drives
crash or my cloud services crash, there is no way my future
grandchildren will be able to see these images.

Also, I have tried really hard to make my digital photos

have the same aesthetic, emotion, and feel of my film pho-
tos. While I have had (some) luck (I have about 80-85%
the “look” I like), I still far prefer the film photos.

All of these photos of Cindy are shot on my film Leica MP,

35mm f/2 Leica Summicron ASPH lens, Kodak Tri-X pushed
to 1600, and with a yellow filter (adds extra contrast and
brightens skin tones).

Photos: 2015-Present
FILM NOTES
How did the light look? ____________________________
What did I shoot? ________________________________
Where did I shoot? _______________________________
Aperture: ____
Shutter Speed: ____
ISO: ____
Film: _____________

Notes:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________

How did the light look? ____________________________

What did I shoot? ________________________________
Where did I shoot? _______________________________
Aperture: ____
Shutter Speed: ____
ISO: ____
Film: _____________

Notes:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
FILM NOTES
How did the light look? ____________________________
What did I shoot? ________________________________
Where did I shoot? _______________________________
Aperture: ____
Shutter Speed: ____
ISO: ____
Film: _____________

Notes:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________

How did the light look? ____________________________

What did I shoot? ________________________________
Where did I shoot? _______________________________
Aperture: ____
Shutter Speed: ____
ISO: ____
Film: _____________

Notes:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
FILM NOTES
How did the light look? ____________________________
What did I shoot? ________________________________
Where did I shoot? _______________________________
Aperture: ____
Shutter Speed: ____
ISO: ____
Film: _____________

Notes:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________

How did the light look? ____________________________

What did I shoot? ________________________________
Where did I shoot? _______________________________
Aperture: ____
Shutter Speed: ____
ISO: ____
Film: _____________

Notes:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
FILM NOTES
How did the light look? ____________________________
What did I shoot? ________________________________
Where did I shoot? _______________________________
Aperture: ____
Shutter Speed: ____
ISO: ____
Film: _____________

Notes:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________

How did the light look? ____________________________

What did I shoot? ________________________________
Where did I shoot? _______________________________
Aperture: ____
Shutter Speed: ____
ISO: ____
Film: _____________

Notes:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
FILM NOTES
How did the light look? ____________________________
What did I shoot? ________________________________
Where did I shoot? _______________________________
Aperture: ____
Shutter Speed: ____
ISO: ____
Film: _____________

Notes:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________

How did the light look? ____________________________

What did I shoot? ________________________________
Where did I shoot? _______________________________
Aperture: ____
Shutter Speed: ____
ISO: ____
Film: _____________

Notes:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
FILM NOTES
How did the light look? ____________________________
What did I shoot? ________________________________
Where did I shoot? _______________________________
Aperture: ____
Shutter Speed: ____
ISO: ____
Film: _____________

Notes:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________

How did the light look? ____________________________

What did I shoot? ________________________________
Where did I shoot? _______________________________
Aperture: ____
Shutter Speed: ____
ISO: ____
Film: _____________

Notes:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
#MORE
MEGAPIXELS
MORE
PROBLEMS