The Beauty of Half-frame Photography

“Don’t think, just shoot” is a core philosophy for Lomographers. We believe that the best outcomes are usually the unplanned, unpredictable and unexpected ones – but that's much easier said than done.

Confidently clicking the shutter and trusting yourself takes a lot of practice. When shooting in analogue, especially if you’re a newbie, it can be easy to feel worried that you might be wasting your roll by shooting just anything. Eventually, you’ll learn that there’s no such thing as “wasting your roll”, as long as you enjoy your time taking photos and learn from each experience. If developing this mindset is something you’re still struggling with, then half-frame photography may be for you.

Half-frame photography, as can be deduced from its name, is when an image is created on one half of a frame at a time. Since two images can be taken within each full-frame, the usual 36 exposures of a standard 35 mm film roll would double to a whopping 72! One thing to remember given the division of the full-frame, is that shooting with your camera positioned horizontally will create a vertical photo.

The history of half-frame photography dates back to the 1960s. It was invented in Japan as a more affordable option, starting off with the Olympus Pen line. Even now, its cost-effectiveness remains one of the reasons why people turn to half-frame photography. Having access to more exposures that you can work with and learn from is highly important, especially if you’re still testing the waters of film.

Of course, this shouldn’t compromise the quality of the photos that half-frame cameras produce. Quantity is not all that there is to them! Take the Lomourette Half-frame for example. It’s a camera fully dedicated to shooting half-frames using any 35 mm film. Aside from producing an amazing 72 photos, the Lomourette Half-frame carries iconic characteristics like superb saturation and dreamy vignettes. The lightweight and portable camera also allows for advanced creative features like bulb mode for long exposures, unlimited multiple exposures, four focusing settings, and compatibility with attachments like colored gel filters and detachable flashes. All of which are easy to try and navigate, further making it a great introduction to analogue photography.

Shooting in halves doesn’t need to limit your creativity. If anything, it expands it. The divisions of photos makes for interesting diptychs and panoramic sequences. It requires capturing less through the lens – but it makes you say more.

Practicing half-frame photography means stitching fragments of your moments together, allowing for more autonomy and freedom in your photographs. With a great number of exposures and experimental settings available at your disposal, you will eventually develop faith in your own artistic abilities. This will further transform into pride in sharing your stories and creations that can inspire others to pick up a camera and capture their own memories as well. To us, that is the beauty of half-frame photography.

Have you tried half-frame photography yet? Share your photos with us on your LomoHomes and check out our range of half-frame cameras on our Online Store.

written by kylavillena on 2024-12-26 #gear #half-frame-photography #lomourette