Ben Kepka

Photographer, writer, and founder of Cultured Kiwi

I’m a New Zealand photographer based in London, and for the past twelve years I’ve been doing the two things this site is built on: shooting 35mm film and putting photo editing software through its paces. The running tally sits at more than 60 cameras reviewed, over 30 editing apps tested, and well past 200 rolls of film shot, scanned, and edited.

I write every review on Cultured Kiwi, shoot every sample photo, and answer every email. If it’s on this site, it went through my hands first.

How I Got Here

I started out as a travel photographer, hauling cameras through the Chernobyl exclusion zone, abandoned farms in Iceland, and a fair chunk of Europe. Somewhere along the way my great uncle, the original Cultured Kiwi, left me his Canon F-1, and film photography went from a side interest to the main event. These days you’ll find me on the beaches of Kent with a Nikon FM2 as often as anywhere exotic.

The editing software obsession grew out of necessity. Film scans need work, and I got tired of guessing which tools were worth the money. So I started testing every major release of Luminar and Topaz on my own photos and film scans, and writing down what actually happened. That habit became half of what Cultured Kiwi does.

Featured In

My Chernobyl photography was featured by The New Zealand Herald and Stuff, and I wrote about shooting there for ePHOTOzine. Iceland Magazine covered my night at that abandoned farm. My double exposure guide ran on DIY Photography, and I’ve been a Lonely Planet Pathfinder since 2014.

What I Shoot With

The cameras that live in my bag rather than on a shelf, each with a full review on the site: the Canon F-1 my great uncle left me, my Nikon FM2, a Hasselblad 500C/M for when I’m feeling patient, and an Olympus OM-1 for when I’m not. Film-wise I keep coming back to Portra 400, with plenty of budget rolls in between. For editing, my scans go through Luminar and Topaz Photo AI, both reviewed in full.

Start Here

If you’re new to the site, these are the pieces readers get the most out of: the best 35mm film guide (every stock bought and shot on the same camera), the best film cameras guide, and the developing film at home walkthrough.