Incredible find in a random drawer of my maternal grandfather’s stuff: a roll of unexposed Kodak Ektachrome E135 slide film from the late 1950s.
Gonna have to research how to expose this and figure out something special to shoot with it. There’s a piece of masking tape on the can marked “ASA 32.” If I did the typical thing of overexposing a stop per decade, I’d have to shoot it at ASA 1/2, ha ha!
Any thoughts/suggestions, friends? Let me know on my Mastodon account!
I’m thrilled to report that BOOM is releasing a giant book called MECH CADETS that will collect issues #1-12 of the MECH CADET YU series written by yours truly with art by Takeshi Miyazawa, colors by Triona Farrell, Jessica Kholinne, and Raul Angulo, and letters by Simon Bowland!
In 2023 Netflix will launch an animated series based on the comics called MECH CADETS. Ask your local comics shop to order the MECH CADETS collection to get ready for the show!
For more about the book, read the article at ICv2.
So here we are in the last 12 hours of the 35mm Love Letter campaign, and I’ve been thinking about this analog photography memoir and how-to book and why it might be relevant for my fellow comics creators and readers. And I have some big ideas!
35mm Love Letter will tell the story of how I developed (and continue to develop) my eye for images and story through analog photography. And that means the analysis of individual images in the book will be entirely relevant to anyone interested in reading or making comics.
35mm still photography is often compared to movies because of the shared aesthetics of the physical medium of film. But I’d argue that the act of capturing a story in still images with a 35mm camera is actually more akin to comics than moviemaking.
Check out the image above — a picture I took as a teenager in Italy in 1984 or so. I love this image for several reasons that relate directly to comics.
First, the framing is just great visual storytelling in a single frame — working as a wide establishing shot with the building and street in the background while also placing characters and action in the foreground that move the “story” forward.
There’s also great use of secondary figures on the left and right to fill out the scene and add dimension and character without distracting.
And finally, the motion blur from the low shutter speed on the foreground characters sells ACTION and MOVEMENT in a still image.
All of these elements work tremendously well in photography and comics. So the thousands of 35mm photographs I took over the years helped train me for comics, and all the photos I’m taking these days further develop my eye and expand my notions of what’s possible.
So yeah, I’ll be writing about this kind of stuff in the book. So if you’re interested in comics, I’ve got a strong feeling that this book will be right up your alley.
I’d be honored for you to check it out and back it. Here’s the link — thanks so much for your consideration!
Hey, friends! Hope you’re all doing well as the year closes out, and huge thanks to everyone who’s supported my latest crowdfunded project — 35mm Love Letter, a memoir and guide to the glories of analog film photography!
So with just four days left in the 35MMLL campaign, I have a big stretch goal I’m thrilled to share today! If we hit 200 backers before 11:59 pm PST this Friday night, I’ll organize and deliver a live, 90 minute online class in analog photography for all backers in 2023! It’ll be a fun, lively, practical deep dive into the basics of analog photography from both a technical and creative perspective and we’ll have plenty of time for questions.
Of course, folks who want an even deeper educational experience should definitely sign up for the three session online photography class reward — that will be much more personalized and intense in a great way, with plenty of time for students to go shoot and come back with photographs for individual feedback. So please do check it out!
But if we hit 200 backers, EVERY backer can get a fantastic, fun introduction in a single online class to everything you need to know to get started with analog photography!
If this sounds cool to you, please do feel free to back the campaign today! And please do feel free to share the campaign with your friends in these last few days and encourage them to back at any level! Here’s that handy link:
Right now we’ve got 115 backers. Just 85 more and everyone gets access to this awesome class!
Thanks so much for your consideration and all the very best!
Hey, friends! I am absolutely thrilled to reveal a brand new passion project — 35mm Love Letter, a memoir and guide to the glories of analog film photography!
Like my previous how-to book Cooking Will Break Your Heart, 35mm Love Letter will be packed with incredibly practical information about a subject near and dear to my heart — and it’ll be a tribute to another aspect of my brilliant mother, Jane Pak.
My mother was an incredible amateur photographer who took hundreds of luminous black and white photos of her family and community when I was growing up in the ’70s and ’80s. She taught me how to shoot and develop black and white film and gave me her Canon FTb when I was in high school, and photography became a huge part of my life. I started shooting film again after my mom died in 2021, and I do not exaggerate when I say that analog photography helped save my heart and soul this year.
So 35mm Love Letter is exactly what it says on the tin — a love letter to analog photography, celebrating both its glorious aesthetic look and feel and the slower but creatively inspiring process that it requires.
If you’ve ever been intrigued by film photography and would like a primer, this book is for you!
If you’re already an analog photographer who wants a little fellowship and inspiration from another shooter, this book is for you!
And if you just love a good story and want to know how film photography and the ethos of quiet observation taught by Jane Pak has guided the life of her son, this book is for you!
Please do check it out and back the project today! In addition to the digital how-to book itself, you can order physical copies of some of my previous books, or even pick up a vintage 35mm camera cleaned and tested by yours truly, or sign up for a three session online photography class!
Thank you so much as always for your interest and support. I literally could not make these projects without you, and I appreciate you so much.
I leave you with just a taste of some of the photos from the past four decades that may make their way into the book.
Hey, it’s #SmallBusinessSaturday! So here’s a 15% discount link to my store, the Greg Pak Shop! Please do check it out and buy signed comics for the holidays! The store’s only open for a week – get on it now, friends!
Really hoping to bring this kind of energy back in 2023.
Photo taken in 1976 by my mother, Jane Pak, using a Canon FTb with Kodak Tri-X Pan.
(And yes, I have a big analog photography project on the horizon — please do keep your eyes open!)
I’m thrilled to share a sneak peek of CITY BOY, a brand new DC Comics character co-created by artist Minkyu Jung and yours truly! City Boy will appear for the first time in the WILDSTORM 30th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL on November 30 and then in LAZARUS PLANET: LEGENDS REBORN on January 31.
I’ve had the idea for this character rolling around in my head for over a decade. It’s been a thrill to develop him with brilliant editor Jessica Chen and artist Minkyu Jung. He’s a special little troublemaker and we love him — can’t wait for y’all to meet him!
DARTH VADER #29 hits comic shops on November 30, and StarWars.com has a preview! Featuring the return of the Handmaidens! Dormé in the spotlight! Interior art by Luke Ross, colors by Federico Blee, letters by Joe Caramagna, cover by Rahzzah, and script by yours truly!
Check out the lettered preview here and ask your local comic shop to hold a copy for you today!
I’m a kind of snob in reverse when it comes to Leicas. I’ve shot Canons since high school and love them and couldn’t imagine spending so much money on a Leica. But I picked up a Leicaflex Standard for a RIDICULOUSLY small amount on an auction site, and after a Leica rep confirmed the Summicron-R 50mm f2 lens it came with is NOT radioactive, I’m giving it a whirl.
I’ve loaded it with some Kentmere 100, which should give some nice, fine-grained images. I hear the Summicron-R may improve the latitude of images in comparison to my usual (excellent) Canon 50mm lenses, giving a little more detail in the shadows, for example. Very curious to see!
Weirdly, I spent VERY little on this camera/lens, but it turns out it’s probably one of the most valuable camera/lens combinations I own. So I’m going to be a little nervous with it outside today. Wonder how that’ll affect my shooting. We’ll see!