From a fascinating opening piece from Denis Hocking to an exclusive and engaging interview with Victor Hamke, the November edition of Medium Format Magazine offers 140 pages of ad-free, highly curated content you won’t find anywhere else.
Denis Hocking opens the November issue with his account of an incredible voyage into the deep Arctic. In his reportage-style piece, “The High Arctic: The best photographic experience of my life,” Denis takes us on a true adventure which he describes this way: “It was very difficult for me but, in retrospect, my life is substantially richer for the experience.” I have to say the same after reading this captivating piece. I am confident you will enjoy it as much as I did.
Every month we bring you an interview with captivating medium format photographers and thinkers. This month we are so thrilled to share with you an exclusive interview with Victor Hamke, who in his own words “likes to drink a lot of coffee, loves to sleep and who always enjoys good conversation. A pretty normal dude.” We beg to disagree. Victor’s classy, intimate and powerful wedding imagery is anything but normal. Victor shares with us his beginnings, processes and his approach to this fascinating genre of photography. Whether you shoot wedding photography or not, you will love it.
Next, Steven Friedman in his series “Shoot to Print” presents his image titled “Zebra Aspens” and shares his story and philosophy behind this image. Steven also explores a variety of printing papers and the differences between them, including his own favourites. I cannot emphasis enough the importance of the subject of printing. Valuable and powerful advice!
In the following article, “In the Moment,” Paul Sanders continues his series about contemplative photography. He writes, “Reflecting on an image is a valuable exercise in itself. Ask yourself how you felt about the original moment. How you saw things is very powerful. I often journal about my images, reflecting on the way I felt at the time and how I feel looking back at the way I collected the moment.” I don’t know about you, but this thought alone opened my mind and senses to a totally different way of thinking about my own photography. Paul’s text is accompanied by a tranquil photograph you can’t stop looking at. A must-read for everyone!
Chris Knight, whom we interviewed last month, has agreed to write this month’s column “How it Was Shot.” Chris presents one of his stunning images, “Queen of the North” and explains in great detail the story behind the image, including the mechanics of shooting it from inspiration to styling and from lighting to post-processing. You will see the entire process of creation. It cannot get better than that.
In his column “Metapixel,” Lloyd Chambers tackles the issue of “Multi-Frame Stitching and Panoramas.” Lloyd explains the technique and the process and provides multiple examples. He also recommends the gear which could help you achieve the best results. I wouldn’t be surprised if you started experimenting with these techniques for yourself.
In his article, “Sky is the Limit” Vieri Bottazzini makes a fascinating case for sky in landscape photography. Vieri shows us examples when the use of sky makes the images powerful and different. He also shares his thoughts about the use of different ratios in landscape photography and the power of medium format to achieve your own goals or, as Vieri describes it, when “the sky is the limit.” We definitely agree.
In the following article, Ludwig Hagelstein continues his series about medium format analogue photography. In Part 2 he writes about “choosing the right film for your project.” He counters a popular notion that there are not many types of film to choose from and gives us some signposts how to look for the film that you would like to pick up for yourself.
The topic of film doesn’t end with Ludwig’s piece. Alex Burke continues the subject “exploring the dynamic range of colour negative film.” He shares his experience of shooting film and makes a compelling technical case for it. As usual, his stunning landscape photography might make you pick up film again, if you are not already shooting with it.
Finally, the Readers’ Exhibition section makes a comeback so please make sure to see the great work submitted by our readers.
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