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The Secret to Double Exposure Photography (Film and Digital)
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photography isn't fun anymore
5 things that suck the fun out of photography ^
Why film is better than digital
Basically a “photo dump” in a video of all the stuff I’ve been making with my Nikon FE lately.
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Why I bought a Polaroid 1-2
I’m finally back on instant film again now that the Polaroid I-2 exists! Watch the video to see what I think about it!
Here’s some of the first shots I got with it:
How big can you print a 35mm negative?
I was curious about this because I like printing my images huge and I’ve never really tried to push a 35mm negative to see how it would do. Watch the video for the results!
The Key Ingredient for a GREAT Photo Series
In this episode, I talk about my ongoing 13 year photo series where I’ve been photographing the same spot. Looking through these images made me realize what makes a photo series really work, because often, I find myself trying WAY TOO HARD.
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I turned my truck into a pinhole camera
So…this was a pain. Did it work as imagined? No. Was it super fun? Also no. BUT I enjoyed going for it to see if this weird idea could work. Turns out, it kind of can, but would take far more work and customizations to get it just right. Anyway, hope you enjoy the video! (You can peep some of the photos below)
Shooting Day and Night in One Photo on 35mm Film (Cinestill 800T)
This was a super interesting experiment! I decided to mix up this multi-location Double Exposure series I’ve been working on by shooting 2 exposures at different times of day AND different locations. Overall, I liked most of the results.
The frequency of the videos will increase as I get a handle on this workflow. Thanks for watching!
Travel Photography is Boring
Everyone Uses The Same Camera (digging deeper for ideas and my new Nikon FE)
Hey! In this episode, I talk about how everyone uses the same film cameras, my new Nikon FE, and how we need to dig deeper for ideas.
New video coming soon!
You can watch my 2.5D Printing video here
Thanks for listening!
2 Years of Photographing Small Towns FULL TIME
This is it. The culmination of full time traveling in order to photograph small towns for The Small Town Photo Project.
The Small Town Photo Project era is over, and it was quite a ride. Thank you to everyone who supported it!
Double Negative (a photography podcast by will malone)
As a follow-up to Photography is Dead, Will of the Future is a podcast where Will Malone looks to what’s next in the world of photography and creativity. BUT then I let it get too general and unfocused as like many things in my life. So we are back with the final name of this podcast: Double Negative (a photography podcast by will malone) where I talk about issues revolving around the photography world today and explore this new era of my own photography work. Topics to include: film in the modern day, AI, selling prints, and much much more.
Episode 1 is out! In this episode, I talk about keeping my eye on the ball of what my actual artistic goals vs. spending time promoting what I’m doing on social media. In this episode, I talk about the balance of that.
Also, we’re back to audio-only which I much prefer. Enjoy as I finally find some momentum in podcasting and photography again.
014 The Photographer Song and Dance
In this episode, I talk about how much the photography world has changed in regards to what is required of photographers in the modern era.
thinking about photography prints
Here’s a video where I tackle 3 different paths to start thinking about where your photography prints fit the best: Retail, Wholesale, or Commercial? Which lane works best for you?
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013 Asteroid City and Bad Photography Trends
In this episode of the podcast, I talk about some concerns I have with the color palette of Wes Anderson’s new movie Asteroid City, and how I’m already seeing photographers emulate it in their work.
Subscribe to the Youtube Channel! You can also always listen to the audio version of Will of the Future on your favorite podcast app!
012 Apple Vision Pro isn't going to make photographer's jobs easier
In this episode, I talk about the Apple Vision Pro and how even though technological advancement seems to make 2D photography more obsolete by the day, we still need to do what works for us rather than just go along with it all.
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the leica challenge
a new YouTube series where I document the process of creating a new photo series and selling them as prints!
011 UNSCRIPTED! Outrunning Ourselves, Finding Our Voice, and What I learned from the series finale of Barry
Trying something different in this episode! Let me know what you think!
010 Ten Things Photographers Don't Have To Do
In this episode, I’ve made a list of 10 things you feel like you have to do as a photographer, but don’t. Maybe some of this stuff can apply to other types of artists in other fields as well.
Number 1-
You don’t have to follow trends or attempt algorithm tricks. There’s really no creativity in trends, which is obviously a problem since it makes social media all feel predictable and boring. It doesn’t tell a story, it just means that you’re motivated by this desire to go viral. The desire to get views often overshadows any other work that needs to get done and de-prioritizes all of it. Getting views or traffic may be useful in the short term, but if you’re in this for the long term this strategy totally collapses. Basically, if the motivation is views and attention and “going viral” you’re more subject to changes in how these platforms work more than anything. After a few months, you can kind of forget what you’re doing and why you’re doing it in the first place. Those who follow trends will almost always burn out, or just fade away after a while. But, in the short term it feels really good.
Number 2-
You don’t have to appeal to everyone. If I look at the top 100 podcasts or top 100 Youtube videos, it’s stuff I would personally never be interested in watching or listening to. I have my own tastes, and the expectation that we should all be pursuing a Joe Rogan level or ceiling-less growth is insane. Not only are we not all able to do that, but not all of us have the tastes that can reach those heights. Maybe we are into some weird sub-genres of photography that can only reach 5,000-10,000 followers. We need to pay attention to what our tastes are and be okay with the fact that they may not match most people.
Number 3-
You don’t have to use social media platforms all the time. The demands of being active on all social media is basically a full-time job. Pick focusing on the one that fits you best. Your content isn’t going to be good if you aren’t feeling it. There’s plenty of successful people that don’t post regularly everywhere, and that’s because, they spend more time focusing on the work itself. In fact, maybe it’s better to focus on the work itself anyway. People don’t listen as much to those that talk alot (I wouldn’t know what that’s like), but a quiet person’s words have far more impact.
Number 4-
You don’t have to chase perfection. There’s no such thing as perfect. Perfect comes from comparison. Maybe you see what other people are doing, and you see it as some definition of “perfect”, and you won’t be happy until you reach that level. Then you end up being really hard on yourself because you’re never quite able to attain your self-imposed definition of “perfection”. That’s usually what it comes down to: ingratitude or dissatisfaction with what is. The quest for perfection is very different from desire to be better. The desire to be better is attainable. Even if we don’t know it, we are getting better every single day. The quest for perfection is a chase for Bigfoot. Perfection doesn’t exist. Truthfully, no one really wants to look at “perfect” work anyway. We want to relate to other humans and see flaws, because everyone has flaws. It’s just a fact of life.
Number 5-
You don’t have to specialize. Specializing is great for a certain segment of photographers, but most photographers will shoot a general selection of stuff AND THAT’S FINE. Those photographers probably will end up being more well rounded and have more technical skills than those who focus only on one thing. The key is to just get really good at being who you are. Every time I try to focus too heavily on portrait photography, maybe I start craving landscape photography. It’s okay to be well-rounded and do different things. My tastes around what I shoot changes with the seasons. A good photographer is curious more than anything, and it’s possible to be curious about a whole range of things.
Number 6-
You don’t have to shoot a photo every day. Shooting a photo every day will make you crazy. I’ve done 9 365 projects now, and I’ll probably never do one again. It’s just not always the best way to work. Sometimes, it’s helpful to go out even if you don’t feel like it, but after doing it day in and day out, you can really start to really get burned out over it. I love photography more than anything, but I’d rather do it fresh instead of it feeling forced. Out of a daily photo project, you may have 100 photos or less that you’re actually happy with, and that’s just because we aren’t machines. I’ve always been driven by this desire to be a machine, but my best photos usually come after a long break of photo taking. Now, there is a benefit to practicing every day FOR SURE, but the need to get a photo every day AND post it isn’t necessarily the healthiest way to live. Also, letting images breathe is always good.
Number 7-
You don’t have to make money doing what you love. Since social media became a thing, I feel like everyone acts like they need a side-hustle of some kind. You don’t! It’s allowed for you to just do things for enjoyment rather than having to justify it to people. I grew up feeling the need to justify everything to everyone for whatever reason. But it’s great to spend money on doing something you love without it paying you back. Maybe I want to travel somewhere just to take photos that I want to take. Great. Money ruins everything. We are allowed to have fun and we don’t have to explain ourselves all the time.
Number 8-
You don’t have to take criticism from everyone you know. Maybe you shot a series of photos, but your family or friends think…it’s weird. Boy, we all love to hear that. We can’t take in criticism from everyone, but for some reason we think everyone we know is entitled to give us an opinion on our work. They aren’t. Make what you make and only care about the opinions of those around you who will only have valuable feedback. I only have a couple people I go to who really actually understand what I’m doing and will give me good feedback. I love being told ways I need to improve, it makes me better at what I do, but not everyone has the right to offer that. Opening my self up to opinions of people who have no idea what they are talking about is just masochism. That goes for family, friends, or people in comment sections. Have a good circle of people around where you all want to help each other grow and don’t take notes outside that.
Number 9-
You don’t have to be super invested in the photo world. In fact, photographers are observers of the world, so it’s maybe better for the work itself that you don’t live in the photo specific world constantly. It’s great to have a community of those you trust, but that’s a quality game, not quantity. I used to work in a print shop where I interacted with photographers all the time, and they all had the same photo-related insecurities because they hung out with other photographers who imposed a set of photography rules on them. There are no rules, but if you’re part of a community of people like photographers, rules for how you need to do things get made up all the time. When you don’t steep yourself in the photography world, you don’t absorb those rules, so you’re more free creatively in my view. Again, it’s great to have friends who have similar interests, but if that’s the bubble you live in exclusively, it’s going to limit the work you put out.
Number 10-
This one is more true than ever: You don’t need to buy expensive gear to take great photos. In fact, as time goes on, cheaper gear goes a lot farther. Somehow, my photography gear has gotten smaller and cheaper as time goes on because I now have a deeper understanding of what I actually need and what is total overkill. My best photos come from cameras that aren’t a distraction because they are more simple and have limited features. Less is more.
We could get more specific in this list for sure like: You don’t have to shoot RAW, you don’t have to shoot with your lens wide open, when you shoot film you don’t only have to shoot 90s cars and gas stations. But I feel like there are larger pressures in the modern day photography world that take up a lot of space in our brains that really affect the work more than anything. The other stuff is just menial details that don’t really matter in the long run.
I see people arguing about whether it’s crazy to shoot JPEGs or Nikon or whatever, and that stuff can be fun nerd stuff for a moment, but I’m more interested in larger concepts around this art form that I love so much. Photography opened up my entire way of thinking about creativity and changed how I see the world, and I’m immensely grateful for it. I just try to keep it all in perspective.
——
In this week’s recommendations I want to recommend a book titled Traffic by Ben Smith. It’s kind of depressing, but it’s a great history of the age of new media we lived in from 2006 to now. Ben Smith used to work for Buzzfeed and this is basically their story of their rise and fall. Buzzfeed and Gawker and publications like it were all built on this addiction to traffic. Basically, the goal was to tailor content that piqued all of our most lizard brain curiosities. Gawker grew by posting sex tapes, Buzzfeed grew with quizzes like “Which Disney Character Are You?” And more. At the end of the day, it’s all kind of junk and wasn’t built to last.
Buzzfeed specifically, relied so heavily on Facebook driving traffic to their site that once Facebook changed the algorithm it threatened to devastate their entire business.
The blogging era was where I come from on the internet. The blog style of the early 2000s is what has informed my writing and everything I do on the internet. I remember when alot of the events in Traffic happened because I was pretty deep into all that stuff at a pretty young age. I remember this excitement about everything: a phone you didn’t need a stylus to use, that was also a browser and and iPod, a platform where you could post something and tons of people all over the world can see it, and the idea that news can just travel faster and be made quicker than ever before. But it’s 2023 now and all that stuff has reached maturity, and maybe…a lot of what we were excited about ended up being…not so great for society.
The problem with a quest for a following or numbers is that it drives a sort of nihilism, which causes them to create content, not because they believe in it, but because they believe it will drive traffic. And that gets pretty gross.
And that’s it, thanks for listening and/or watching! See you next week.