Photography on YouTube

I really enjoy Japan Vintage Camera. Nice, simple, and informative walkthroughs of everyone's favorite old Japanese cameras. He also does breakdown/overhaul videos that are easy to follow. And Mr. Guthrie has some nice deals on cameras, too.

Matt Osborne who looks at new and vintage Leica stuff is always entertaining. He is a great working photographer who takes fantastic photos with old lenses. Like doing a model shoot on film or digital with an old LTM Nikkor 50mm f/2 and getting stellar results.

Other than that and some random others, and repair videos, I prefer reading articles about cameras over watching videos. But articles are more difficult to "monetize."
 
Talking about gear isn’t “talking about photography,” any more than discussing ballpoint pens is discussing literature.

True indeed. But if those photo gear videos and all the gear talk that fills much of RFF makes people want to get out and shoot.. long live gear videos and talks..
 
I find YouTube a valuable resource. I do not subscribe to any photographic videographers.

Here are some of the photographic videos I have viewed in just the last three months:
Nikon F cameras and lenses
Fuji X cameras and lenses
Leica M cameras and lenses
RB67 cameras and lenses
Contax G1 cameras and lenses
Micro 4/3 cameras and lenses
4x5 inch view cameras and lenses
Folding cameras
Zeiss lenses
Photographic films
composition
landscape photography
portrait photography
infrared photography
wedding photography
macro photography
pinhole photography
Aerial photography
Architectural photography
Soft focus filters
What's in my bag
 
There are a lot of good photography stuff on YouTube. I don’t normally watch gear reviews unless I’m buying, and instead am interested in how photographers practice their craft. I just search for Martin Parr or Alex Webb for example and a lot of wonderful stuff comes up. There are a lot of helpful how to videos and I need to thank Chris Crawford again.
 
I like Samuel Streetlife, though I feel he's getting sidetracked with GAS. Sean Tucker is one of the best ways you could spend your time on YouTube. The Art of Photography (Ted Forbes) is usually pretty good, I still like Kai Wong, even though he's not part of DigitalRev and not in fascinating Hong Kong anymore. Snappiness puts out good older gear and Pentax stuff. Mattias Burling is a great one for older gear as well. Niels Kemp Creative does some good stuff. Those are my picks.
 
So to my last recollection Kai left DigitalRev a few years ago and has his own channel now (in the UK instead of Hong Kong too). https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknMR7NOY6ZKcVbyzOxQPhw

A few others to try are
Simon Baxter (similar to Thomas Heaton, but quieter and not as nervous)
https://www.youtube.com/c/SimonBaxterPhotography

Ted Forbes/Art of Photography (can be a bit of gear head towards Nkon and Sony- But also a lot of theory and practice work/advice too).
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7T8roVtC_3afWKTOGtLlBA

Bill Schwab at North Light Photo (printing and alt printing work)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3bPSmAt8jg9BExikgT9tBQ

Jon Cone (printing and alt printing work)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGBXnuhNPEudwoIoTDyuHFQ

Jamie Windsor (all around
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxCFQfO05RinX6x_r5VVuiA

Leica Camera USA - lots and lots of interviews since the start of the pandemic with some of your favorite photographers
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGULT5--2wVGeS9C9y6VI3A
 
Art of Photography
Art of Photography
Photo educator from Fort Worth, Texas. The amount of gear coverage is something they say is a regrettable necessity in order to maintain visibility on YouTube, but they otherwise have a rich catalogue of videos on photographic theory, art history, composition, work and business habits. They also have a recurring series interviewing famous living photographers that is an enormous treat to watch.
Artist Series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjuWESzRhWo&list=PLGEE7pGLuppS6Wn-FHetQPfo0QbeDiTYe

Nick Exposed
https://www.youtube.com/user/NickExposed
Wonderful, wonderful channel by a film photographer (up until recently - they sold their Leica M2 to buy a house and now mostly shoots a Fuji X-Pro1) who talks about shooting film, the creative process and DIY/how-to projects. Positive, practical and unpretentious. Doesn’t upload as often anymore but their videos are a rich resource. Their zine series must be singled out.
Photo Zine How-To Series playlist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMtDwU4D5_I&list=PLBGyAfppZVHJnE8Yo2n7wOxVxpBz9YstR

Matt Day
https://www.youtube.com/c/mattdayphoto/videos
While I have a hard time appreciating their actual photography, Matt has been talking a lot about photo books lately and I recommend this channel on the strength of that alone.

B&H
https://www.youtube.com/c/BandH/featured
The B&H does a series of lectures called Event Space from just about every kind of working photographer talking about composition, projects, printing, marketing, posing and anything else you want to learn about. These lectures are hit and miss but when they’re good, they’re really good, such as this one:
Bridging the Gap: Classical Art Designed for Photographers | Adam Marelli
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwk3YFknyNA
 
I used to read about gear, now I watch about it on YouTube. I just use google search and it finds what I need. Doesn't have to be known name with thousands of subscribers. Google search is good for gear reviews and how to fix.

Where are plenty of street photography as photography videos. I'm returning to Samuel with Spanish look and German accent. He is in Japan at this moment visiting his wife relatives. I like his videos because he shows cities, meets good photogs. Honestly, I watch street photography videos like his because I miss Europe. Not because their photos are something special. It just nice videos of streets with photos in-between. Very close to real life experience. IMO.
 
The Albuquerque Art Museum has several good videos associated with the current Frida Kahlo/Diego Rivera exhibit. There is a lot of photography in the exhibit which is discussed in a conversation between the museum's art curator and photographer, Cecilia Portal, who may have been the last assistant to Manuel Alvarez Bravo. I thought her too young to have done that, but found when I looked up the Alvarez Bravo bio that he had lived to one hundred years.
 
Art of Photography
Art of Photography
Photo educator from Fort Worth, Texas. The amount of gear coverage is something they say is a regrettable necessity in order to maintain visibility on YouTube, but they otherwise have a rich catalogue of videos on photographic theory, art history, composition, work and business habits. They also have a recurring series interviewing famous living photographers that is an enormous treat to watch.
Artist Series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjuWESzRhWo&list=PLGEE7pGLuppS6Wn-FHetQPfo0QbeDiTYe

I totally agree - Ted Forbes, who hosts the channel, is very down to earth and knowledgable about photography history and photographers. He does a very good job of laying out the reasons why the photographers he covers are important, their influences etc. I enjoy his delivery because it lacks a lot of the pretentiousness that I have seen in other Youtube channels.

I don't really watch his gear reviews, because I don't use many of the newer camera equipment that he covers. But his photographer introductions are good. I learned about a few I did not know about and enjoy, such as Harry Callahan, just watched that one this week.

link here for Harry Callahan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7C7hF5INfs
 
Here are a few YouTube channels that I subscribe to that haven't been mentioned yet:

the_real_sir_robin (aka Robin Schimko)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc-9JMcDZSh6R4OXuWX6Gag
Widely traveled German street photographer, shooting a mix of film and digital. POV photowalk style. More recently, he'll select a few of his favorite shots from the "episode" and discuss why he likes them or what could be improved. Publishes a lot of zines of his work.

Clock Country
https://www.youtube.com/c/CLOCKCOUNTRY/featured
Urban landscapes in Japan using film, photowalk vlog style.

The Attic Darkroom
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQMkgBc-7GpZIcDyi4qcyg
Off-the-wall experiments with film. Very unconventional and experimental, but fun.

xmstyle
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdvW16UouXNYVgwL_7nFitw
South-Korean film photographer, POV-style videos of urban landscapes. No narration, just POV footage, some background music, and the resulting photos. Features lots of classic film cameras.
 
Nick Carver is a legit photographer.... excellent on technique, metering, pre visualizing, some interesting photographs... Videos are extremely well done... I'd recommend check him out...


You beat me to it; I logged on just to recommend Nick Carver. Highly recommended.
 
Here are a few YouTube channels that I subscribe to that haven't been mentioned yet:

the_real_sir_robin (aka Robin Schimko)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc-9JMcDZSh6R4OXuWX6Gag
Widely traveled German street photographer, shooting a mix of film and digital. POV photowalk style. More recently, he'll select a few of his favorite shots from the "episode" and discuss why he likes them or what could be improved. Publishes a lot of zines of his work.

Clock Country
https://www.youtube.com/c/CLOCKCOUNTRY/featured
Urban landscapes in Japan using film, photowalk vlog style.

The Attic Darkroom
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQMkgBc-7GpZIcDyi4qcyg
Off-the-wall experiments with film. Very unconventional and experimental, but fun.

xmstyle
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdvW16UouXNYVgwL_7nFitw
South-Korean film photographer, POV-style videos of urban landscapes. No narration, just POV footage, some background music, and the resulting photos. Features lots of classic film cameras.

These are the best because I can travel vicariously. Sir Robin has been shooting in the Mexico City area a street photography mecca (but don’t drink the water like I did). Nick Carver speaks to me because I also wander the SW with view cameras.
 
I see some excellent suggestions here!

Other than the informative part of some of these, I often find that participating in someone else's photographic process can bring out a meditative component.
 
The number of film youtubers is meanwhile exploding. Hundreds of them in English alone. And an increasing and meanwhile countless number from many Asian countries.
A very good and clear indicator for the strong film revival.
But unfortunately most of them are younger ones with very little knowledge.

An excellent photography channel with a kind of "high-quality BBC level" for both digital and film photography is
"Photography Online":
https://www.youtube.com/c/PhotographyOnline/videos
 
I thoroughly enjoy Peter Elgar's videos. A charming, interesting fellow in the mold of early Youtubers -- not polished, no silly titles!
 
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