Classic camera enthusiast Daniel Neal has uploaded his whole collection of vintage Leica Photography  magazinesâpublished by the German optics companyâmaking issues dating back to 1949 available to the public online. The archive ( here ) provides a look into the world of mid-century photography nerds, back in the days before one-hour photo labs or point-and-shoot cameras, when you couldn't find out your picture was blurry or underexposed until days later, after you had gotten it processed. Here are 15 pieces of analog advice we learned from digging through back issues of Leica Photography from the 1940s and '50s:
For the Christmas 1949 issue, G. E. Herbert of New York gave readers some tips on color portraits. Color photography was still the domain of specialists and it was expensive. It didnât become the norm among the general public until the 1970s .
Photographer Richard Harrington of Toronto described the challenges of shooting Eskimo culture in the spring 1950 issue:
He also slept with his film:
Rae Gilman Engebretson describes taking her camera to New Guinea while working for the Red Cross in the fall 1950 issue:
Louise Haz of Skokie, Illinois advised readers on mixing colors in the Christmas 1950 issue:
C. Elvin Butterfield, a public information officer with the Illinois wing of the Civil Air Patrol, advises picking ideal lighting conditions in the Christmas 1951 issue:
But even in perfect light, itâs hard to capture a clear image from a plane hurtling through the air without a high-speed camera. Hereâs how Butterfield compensated for in-flight motion and engine vibration:
Sophie L. Siegel of Philadelphia trumpeted her husbandâs love artists in Woodstock, New York as photography subjects in the spring 1952 issue.
Manuel Komroff, a journalist and author, railed against blurry images in the spring 1952 issue. His advice? Among other things (like cleaning dust off your lens), use a sunshade:
Dexter Dawes, a photographer who followed high school sports teams in Englewood, New Jersey, recommended snapping photos at just the right moment in the fall 1952 issue:
Jerry Greenberg, a Los Angeles photographer, encouraged photographers to take to the sea in the winter 1952 issue, with one caveat:
In the spring 1953 issue, Louis G. Kirk, a park ranger at Arizonâs Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, counsels would-be landscape photographers shooting in the southwest to go out after it rains:
George P. Spelvin of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota discussed the intricacies of photographing subjects that have been dead for millions of years in the fall 1954 issue:
When shooting on construction sites, Cleveland-based photographer Denny C. Harris learned the hard way that industrial work and delicate equipment donât always mix, as he wrote in the spring 1955 issue:
In art and photography, simple is often better. Bruce H. Burnham of Massachusetts advocated for more minimalist images in the spring 1955 issue:
The key to great wildlife photos is the patience to wait for the exact right moment, Arkansas bird enthusiast Thase Daniel wrote in the summer 1955 issue:
In the Christmas 1949 issue, photographer Chris Butler wrote:Â
Leica Photography magazine was, after all, in the business of selling cameras. Â
All images from iStock.Â
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