What do you think?
Rate this book
Shooting Film: Everything You Need to Know About Analogue Photography
Film photography is back with a bang, and whether you're returning to the genre after switching to digital, or you've just discovered this amazing medium, there's never been a more compelling argument for going analogue with your photography
In a world where we are bombarded with visual imagery, making your photos stand out from the crowd is getting harder by the day, but film will give you that edge - and let you discover a whole new way of shooting in the process.
In this in-depth and inspirational guide, photography journalist Ben Hawkins and pro photographer Liza Kanaeva-Hunsicker reveal the techniques, tips and secrets for success when shooting film.
- Learn to shoot on film, from the essential basics to advanced techniques
- Make the right choices with an in-depth guide to buying second-hand cameras
- Master the language of film with jargon-free guides to all the vital processes
- Be inspired by advice from a top pro who shoots on film
- Discover the amazing imagery of the new school of analogue photographers
In a world where we are bombarded with visual imagery, making your photos stand out from the crowd is getting harder by the day, but film will give you that edge - and let you discover a whole new way of shooting in the process.
In this in-depth and inspirational guide, photography journalist Ben Hawkins and pro photographer Liza Kanaeva-Hunsicker reveal the techniques, tips and secrets for success when shooting film.
- Learn to shoot on film, from the essential basics to advanced techniques
- Make the right choices with an in-depth guide to buying second-hand cameras
- Master the language of film with jargon-free guides to all the vital processes
- Be inspired by advice from a top pro who shoots on film
- Discover the amazing imagery of the new school of analogue photographers
- GenresPhotographyNonfiction
192 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2022
6 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 24, 2025
This book is great for anyone entering or re-entering the world of analog film photography. The author included all the basics in easy-to-digest paragraphs of bite-sized info. However, sometimes this isn't the best way to communicate some of the concepts. For example, the technical explanation on focusing left me with way more doubts than answers and I'm sure I'll just end up Googling it in the near future.
It also includes camera recommendations, which I would heavily advice to be taken with a grain of salt. If you're a newcomer to the medium and are looking to buy a camera, the author's recommendations are a good jumping off point for independent research. Supplement this information with photography forums and blog posts, as well as Reddit threads.
I decided to trust his recommendations when shopping for a rangefinder and opted for the Canonet 28. This was my mistake for not doing more research, but it was insightful regarding on the book's information quality. He said he recommended it over the Canonet 28 over the well-regarded Canonet QL17 GIII because the latter requires a mercury battery, which are now illegal. Except the Canonet 28 ALSO requires a mercury battery, so what was the point of even mentioning that? He mentions that the Canonet 28 features autoexposure, but failed to clarify that it's basically nonfunctional outside of autoexposure. In other words, it relies almost exclusively on its metering, powered by the mercury battery he supposedly wanted to avoid. If you want to shoot manually, your only option is to shoot with a shutter speed of 1/30, which is too slow and you will probably get blurry images unless you use a tripod. But what's the point of using a tripod when the camera is so lightweight? Bad advice and a bad purchase on my part as I got a camera with a non-functioning meter (again, the purchase is my mistake, not the author's, but it was guided by his bad information).
Regardless of his incomplete or questionable recommendations, I did overall love this book. It allowed me to refresh some concepts and its approach felt very playful. I definitely want to try out a lot of the techniques he mentioned, as well as the films he recommended. Naturally, will do more research beforehand to avoid wasting resources due to incomplete information.
The physical book is gorgeous, with thick, glossy pages. It also features some essays by photographer Liza Kanaeva-Hunsicker and others in which they describe their creative process, as well as share some of the things they do that photography snobs may turn their nose up at. For example, Kanaeva-Hunsicker shoots with color film and, for her black-and-white pictures, merely turns them black-and-white in photoshop. And she shoots gorgeous pictures for vogue. As someone who learned to shoot with black-and-white film, this feels sacrilegious, but I love how it hammers in the message: there are no rules in art.
It also includes camera recommendations, which I would heavily advice to be taken with a grain of salt. If you're a newcomer to the medium and are looking to buy a camera, the author's recommendations are a good jumping off point for independent research. Supplement this information with photography forums and blog posts, as well as Reddit threads.
I decided to trust his recommendations when shopping for a rangefinder and opted for the Canonet 28. This was my mistake for not doing more research, but it was insightful regarding on the book's information quality. He said he recommended it over the Canonet 28 over the well-regarded Canonet QL17 GIII because the latter requires a mercury battery, which are now illegal. Except the Canonet 28 ALSO requires a mercury battery, so what was the point of even mentioning that? He mentions that the Canonet 28 features autoexposure, but failed to clarify that it's basically nonfunctional outside of autoexposure. In other words, it relies almost exclusively on its metering, powered by the mercury battery he supposedly wanted to avoid. If you want to shoot manually, your only option is to shoot with a shutter speed of 1/30, which is too slow and you will probably get blurry images unless you use a tripod. But what's the point of using a tripod when the camera is so lightweight? Bad advice and a bad purchase on my part as I got a camera with a non-functioning meter (again, the purchase is my mistake, not the author's, but it was guided by his bad information).
Regardless of his incomplete or questionable recommendations, I did overall love this book. It allowed me to refresh some concepts and its approach felt very playful. I definitely want to try out a lot of the techniques he mentioned, as well as the films he recommended. Naturally, will do more research beforehand to avoid wasting resources due to incomplete information.
The physical book is gorgeous, with thick, glossy pages. It also features some essays by photographer Liza Kanaeva-Hunsicker and others in which they describe their creative process, as well as share some of the things they do that photography snobs may turn their nose up at. For example, Kanaeva-Hunsicker shoots with color film and, for her black-and-white pictures, merely turns them black-and-white in photoshop. And she shoots gorgeous pictures for vogue. As someone who learned to shoot with black-and-white film, this feels sacrilegious, but I love how it hammers in the message: there are no rules in art.
March 12, 2022
A nice introduction to the rediscovered world of amateur analog photography. It is not as detailed or as practically informative as the excellent book 'The Film Photography Handbook by by Chris Marquardt and Monika Andrae, but it does make a nice starting point for those (re)discovering their interest in film photography. It would have been nice to have some practical step by step instructions of the developing processes and some more of the photography basics that a beginner needs. It is not really detailed enough to be a reference book on the subject. The photographs, the format of the book and the personal stories are excellent.
December 10, 2023
This book is a great introductory step into the world of analog photography. It explains all the basics very well and has a long list of resources at the end to help expand your knowledge and connect with online film photography communities. I do feel like it gets a bit too gear-oriented at times though.
March 15, 2023
A well-designed, up-to-date, and seriously underrated guide to film photography for beginners. I don't think it's meant to be an in-depth technical manual, but as an introduction to the world of film cameras and photography, it does the job rather beautifully.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews