The Cinematic Notebook
The craft behind our portraiture and film development.
How This Notebook Connects to Film Photography and Film Development
Every article in this archive reflects the full analogue workflow used by Liquid Light Whisperer and Liquid Light Lab — from motivated lighting and optical rendering through to controlled development and high-dynamic-range scanning. The same discipline documented here is applied to commissioned portrait work and to every roll processed in the lab.
A Timeless Developer for Modern Eyes: 510 Pyro Review
Pyro-based developers have a rich history dating back to the very origins of photography in the 1830s. Early photographic pioneers in England—including William Henry Fox Talbot—experimented with gallic acid and its derivatives, such as pyrogallol (the chemical foundation of pyro developers).
Leica’s Legendary Craftsmanship: From Barnack’s Vision to the M5 and M6.
Leica’s Legendary Craftsmanship: From Barnack’s Vision to the M6. From the full frame size of a digital sensor, to 36 rolls of film in a cannister - 35mm photography begins with Oskar Barnack.
The Creation of 35mm Photography: Oskar Barnack’s Vision and the Leica Legacy
From the earliest days of photography, cameras were hefty, complicated devices. Plates were large and unwieldy, limiting both portability and the opportunities to shoot spontaneously. Oskar Barnack (1879–1936), an ingenious optical engineer at Ernst Leitz Wetzlar in Germany, would change all of that forever.
