Photographer Shoots NFL on 35mm Film, Shares Photos Before Game is Over

Professional sports are almost always photographed with digital cameras these days, but this week one photographer decided to do something unusual: not only did he shoot an NFL football game on 35mm film, but he developed, scanned, and posted the photos before the game had even ended.

Photographer Miles Myerscough-Harris attended the Monday Night Football game on October 14th between the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. His equipment of choice was a Canon EOS 1-V 35mm film SLR camera loaded with Kodak Portra 800 color negative film. His lenses of choice were the 18-35mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8, and 300mm f/4.

After filling up some rolls of film, Myerscough-Harris passed them onto Will of Analogue Wonderland (an online film retailer), who processed the film during halftime in a backstage bathroom of the stadium. Development was done using the AGO Film Processor, a $479 automated system for B&W, C-41, and E-6 films.

Here’s Will from @AnalogueWLand processing the rolls during half time of the game, in the bathroom at the stadium 😅 so happy with how everything came out! pic.twitter.com/r7oHAKZWiq

— Miles | Expired Film Club (@expiredfilmclub) October 15, 2024

Will from Analogue Wonderland processing the film in a bathroom at MetLife Stadium.

The film was then digitized using a digital camera and lightbox, and the results were amazing.

Will from Analogue Wonderland digitizing the film during the NFL football game.

👇 pic.twitter.com/q59sMr6nU5

— Miles | Expired Film Club (@expiredfilmclub) October 15, 2024

Myerscough-Harris shared a 36-second video about this shoot on X, where it has been viewed over 3.6 million times:

The @nyjets on 35mm film – shot, developed, scanned & posted before the game even ended 🏈🎞️ pic.twitter.com/Mzsk8G6JWV

— Miles | Expired Film Club (@expiredfilmclub) October 15, 2024

He also shared this longer 1-minute behind-the-scenes look at how this project was done:

The New York Jets are extremely pleased with the unique style and amazing photos that Myerscough-Harris captured.

“At the Jets, we embrace the challenge of grabbing viewbers’ attention. What better way than to do something at MetLife Stadium that has never been done before,” the team tells PetaPixel.

“When our internal content team started discussing ideas on embracing and amplifying the nostalgia behind our Classics uniform brand, we immediately thought of Miles. We knew we wanted to work with him. His in-depth knowledge of film and his creative approach towards photography was the perfect mix to bring this project to life.”

Much like Myerscough-Harris routinely embraces analog photography technology and workflows from decades past, the Jets’ new ‘The Classic’ uniform combines the spirit of the 1968 Super Bowl-winning team and the look the team donned in the late 90s and early 2000s.

“With a uniform inspired by decades ranging from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s and early 2000’s we always knew we wanted to do something with film. But how do we do it differently than anyone else? We shoot and develop the film on-site for use in real-time,” the Jets add.

Myerscough-Harris has become one of the best-known film photographers on the Internet in recent years, boasting over 1.8 million followers on his Expired Film Club TikTok account. You can purchase prints of his beautiful work through Saint Leone.

Image credits: Photographs and still frames by Miles Myerscough-Harris / Expired Film Club