Comments on: Interview with Photographer Jonathan Canlas – 100% Film Shooter

By: J Daily

J Daily — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:03:07 +0000

My take on Jon is that he’s fearless. Shooting film like he does is in line with any great musician/guitarist who knows their place on the fret board. It becomes instinctive and natural if you shoot every week of the year. Not sure how he keeps the energy going.

Now I’ve got to get this Zeiss 50mm 1.4 lens for my FM3A and shoot my Delta 3200 thats been sitting since I bought my D700.

By: jonathan canlas

jonathan canlas — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:55:17 +0000

see you tomorrow joe at the foundation conference!

and thanks for the kinds words :)

By: Joe Milton

Joe Milton — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:34:42 +0000

I know I’m late to the party here, but I just wanted to say that Jon is the real deal. A photographer’s photographer, not to mention one of the nicest guys on the planet. Congrats on the great interview Jon!

By: Gordon Brightfoot

Gordon Brightfoot — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:52:16 +0000

i hope we’re kidding about that jerrys photography site… Is that supposed to be the digital equivalent to Jon’s work? I’m sure she’s good at what she does, but dude not even in the same vicinity as what’s being discussed. She does school pictures and rock art, Jon does timeless weddings. Film cannot be duplicated. If digital is the future then why is it so focused on replicating the past? I love both digi and film, but I think its ironic how people constantly attempt to digitally hoax Polaroids, lifts, and cross-processes, its not nearly as cool! :) Just do the real thing, its not living in the past, its just real.. like reading a real book with actual paper. Let digital explore things film hasn’t touched, or else the counterfeit look will become gimmicky and dated because its so obvious what its “trying” to be. The future of digital will be amazing once we free ourselves from this idea that its supposed to look like film.

By: jonathan canlas

jonathan canlas — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:01:00 +0000

there is little to no post production with my images. the post is done in exposure at at the time of the scan where they correct for color and density. every once in a while i’ll mess with levels, curves and color balance depending on if the scan was not scanned correctly. if the negative is scanned correctly, there needs to be no post processing. a lot of it has to do with the scanner, a fuji frontier sp2500. and come to think of it, the film stock (FUJI) and the developing as well in FujiHunt chemistry :). Not the simplest of answers, but there you go.

By: maya

maya — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:07:49 +0000

I am a lover of film as well. I think you cannot achieve the same kind of atmosphere that film creates. Jonathan, I was wondering how you process your color photos? The colors of your photographs are absolutely beautiful and vibrant. Is that just from the film you use or do you do some post production?

By: Dami

Dami — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:04:18 +0000

I myself am a traditionalist when it comes to certain aspects of the art öf photography but beign adept at what you do and defending it. that way you know u see with both your heart and eyes you are not colour blind sir you see the most.

By: Melinda

Melinda — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:26:45 +0000

This was a wonderfully insightful interview! Thank you Jonathan! Seeing your work and listening to your previous interview with Analog radio inspired me to take a photography class this summer and also to do all my projects and the final with film. I will miss the dark room, but seeing your work prompts me to keep shooting and experimenting. I hope to get to the point where I really “know my exposures” as you say. It’s nice to know that it can be done.

By: Preeti

Preeti — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:13:05 +0000

Ditto. It’s the dependency and convenience that has me hooked to my digital camera.

I also prefer to do as little processing as possible as photos should be shot in their original form. As an exception, certain types of photography, like HDR, is amazing fun to do and provides a different angle. If you were to shoot weddings, people, etc, natural (no photoshop madness) is the best way to go.

By: jonathan canlas

jonathan canlas — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:02:45 +0000

dude, jed wells! (we went to school together back in the day at BYU)

By: jonathan canlas

jonathan canlas — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:01:42 +0000

thanks todd!

By: jonathan canlas

jonathan canlas — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:01:24 +0000

if i did not use the contax 645, i’d bulk up my bicepts by using my fuji gx680.

By: jonathan canlas

jonathan canlas — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:59:51 +0000

thanks for looking nicole!

By: Nicole

Nicole — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:13:24 +0000

Jonathan,
I am a major fan of yours and I absolutely LOVE your work. I shoot with a digital camera now, but I have only just changed formats since Christmas, and the only reason I changed over was because I used to stress myself to the max everytime I shot a wedding that I would somehow stuff up someone’s wedding. Never once have I done that, but the ol’ self doubt always used to get me. So someone suggested to me to buy a digital and then I would eliminate that stress. I resisted for a very long time, but it has worked for me. I have found there are digital photographers out there who shoot and then do an enormous amount of post processing afterwards. “Shoot now, fix later” seems to be the mantra…

I think the grounding you get from working with film and knowing how light works with film is essential if you are planning on working as, or even calling yourself, a photographer. You still need to know the basics of exposure and composition. I worked for a photographer in the 90’s who would give me his B/W work to hand print, and every shot was perfect, compositionally and exposure wise. No need for test strips with him!! That is the mark of a professional and someone who knows their medium. BTW, he still shoots 100% film as well.

Your work is truly wonderful, and proof of that is how successful you are as a photographer. Your work rocks, and you have inspired me to look at the way I shoot and ‘refine my vision’ as you put it. I have started taking a lot more notice of the little details, something you are very good at. You could shoot with a pin hole camera and I’m sure your shots would be exceptional. Keep up the excellent work – I check your blog everyday for inspiration!!

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:58:38 +0000

Great article! I don’t see that Jonathan bashed anyone for using any particular format – he just expressed a genuine love for the medium that he has chosen and it happens to be film. If you’re truly excited about your passion then it shows, and that is what I see with Jonathan.

Best Wishes,
Michael