Golden Summer

I spent the summer shooting exclusively on Kodak Gold 200 and my Hasselblad 500cm.

Photography, TravelMatt BensonOctober 7, 2024outdoors, ocala national forest, florida, wilderness, real florida, photography, matt benson, adventure, travel, hasselblad, 500 cm, prince edward island, canada, kodak, gold, 200, 120, film, analog, square, 6x6, color

Making A Photography Zine

I made my first photography zine using the film I shot in California.

Photography, DesignMatt BensonMarch 8, 2020zine, print, design, graphic design, photography, photo, fanzine, production, how to, in design, layout, editorial, medium format, 6x7, mamiya, mamiya 7ii, analog, film, 120, kodak, portra400, ektar100, negative, c41, richard photo lab, DIY, matt benson, landscape, california, golden gate bridge, trinidad, san francisco, portrait, story, storytelling, visual, graphic, inspirational, color, process, editing, photography editing, adventure

New Life

In the past two months, Jenny and I bought a house, moved and had a little girl. Here’s to new life!

LifeMatt BensonFebruary 18, 2020zion, newborn, baby, family, film, photography, leica, m6, black and white, grain, kodak, tri-x, Tri-X 400, iso, 35mm, gainesville, matt benson, blog, new life, adventure

Enter The Nikonos V

I recently purchased a Nikonos V and took it to the Juniper Prairie Wilderness to fill some gaps in my photography story.

California On Film

Jenny and I went to California for our anniversary, and I recorded the entire trip on my Mamiya 7ii and 15 rolls of film.

Photography, TravelMatt BensonAugust 11, 2019mamiya, mamiya 7ii, film, analog, photography, landscape, 120, kodak, ektar100, portra400, portra, ektar, 6x7, medium format, color, california, san francisco, city, trinidad, woods, forest, redwood national park, redwoods, giants, trees, pacifica, beach, ocean, skyline, golden gate bridge, journey, adventure, west, west coast, travel, blog, matt benson

An Ever-Shifting Landscape

It was midday and 95 degrees with scattered thunderstorms forecasted throughout the afternoon. The conditions were perfect for a lot to go wrong.

The Woods is a Time Machine

This past weekend I did some time traveling. Not in the science fiction sense, where someone jumps into a DeLorean or a phone booth and leaps forward and backward in a dramatic attempt to rectify some injustice committed in an alternate timeline. No, my time travel was a little more tame than that.

The Things We Carried

They warn you about the bears. They warn you about the alligators. They warn you about the rattlesnakes and the water moccasins. But they never warn you about the two guys hauling an oversized bathroom mirror miles through the brush and the thicket into the wilderness. Probably best to stay clear of those two.

Tick Talk

It was the 4:15 a.m. alarm that finally succeeded in yanking me from the silence. I rolled out of bed and onto my feet.

Florida Adventures, PhotographyMatt BensonMarch 3, 2019mamiya, rz67, medium format, film, black and white, photography, analog, kodak, 400tx, pushed, tri-x, florida, wilderness, adventure, journal, documentary, explore, map, leica, m6, video, kayak, wilderness systems, river, fun, summer, juniper prairie wilderness, wilderness area, nature, woods, outdoors, matt benson, alex catalano, 6x7, 120, 120 love, 35mm, 110mm, f/2.8, grain, sunrise, sunset, pine trees, ocala, national forest, corn snake

Life and Death in The Prairie

I grew up in Florida. My family moved here from Cape Cod when I was seven. But I’ve always seen Florida as an unfortunate circumstance, a stain left in the carpet of my parents’ old dreams. This is the second post of my Contact Sheets series.

Florida Adventures, PhotographyMatt BensonJanuary 21, 2019photography, black and white, film, 120, kodak, 400tx, tri-x, 400, 120 love, juniper prairie wilderness, ocala national forest, the real florida, red filter, 110mm, f/2.8, 50mm, uld, mamiya, rz67, pro, II, wide angle, water, landscape, seascape, waterscape, feathers, bear, nature, wildlife, zine, analog, matt benson, 6x7, grain, florida, public land, home, contact sheet

Why I Shoot Film

In this post I reveal a little sneak peak of my new camera and dive into why I still shoot film in an almost exclusively digital world.

PhotographyMatt BensonSeptember 24, 2018film, leica, m6, mamiya, rz67, proii, 110mm, sekor, kodak, portra, 400, ektar, 100, acadia national park, portrait, grain, boxer, matt, benson, photography, photo, image, analog, 35mm, 120, medium format, unboxing, opening, film vs digital

Color Matters

When it comes to shooting film, I’ve always preferred black and white. But I recently shot eight rolls of Portra 400 over the last three weeks and wanted to share with you some of the images I made as well as my thoughts on shooting color film in general.

PhotographyMatt BensonJuly 9, 2017color, portra, 400, kodak, film, photography, inspiration, tips, advice, thoughts, leica, m6, zeiss, biogon, 35mm, matt, benson, blog, post, florida, ocala national forest, orlando, street, candid, moments, documentary, photojournalism, egmont key

11 Tips for Photographing Strangers

Everyone has a different approach to taking pictures of strangers. And the more you shoot, the faster you will discover what works and doesn’t work for you. It’s a skill like anything else, and it needs to be practiced as often as possible. Here are 11 tips I use when I’m out photographing strangers in the street.

PhotographyMatt BensonJune 19, 2017tips, inspiration, photography, black and white, leica, m6, how to, photograph, people, documentary, photojournalism, candid, moments, kodak, tri-x, 400, zeiss, biogon, matt, benson, analog, street, orlando, florida, list, grain, 35mm, D-76

Style Points

One of the biggest compliments you can receive as a photographer is somebody telling you that you have a unique style. It's a holy grail we all seek. But what do I mean by "style," and how can finding it help us connect with ourselves on a deeper level?

PhotographyMatt BensonJune 9, 2017Photography, thoughts, advice, inspiration, black and white, leica, m6, zeiss, biogon, film, street, orlando, florida, matt benson, photo, meaning, understanding, connection, grain, kodak, tri-x, 400, pushed, 800

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