Testing film
Friday, March 17, 2017
One of the huge advantages of shooting digital files is having the ability to "mix down" the color of an image to black and white to an almost infinite degree of possibilities with programs like Adobe Photoshop or Nik Silver Efex Pro. In shooting black and white film - that "mix down" or "rendering" of color to black and white is predetermined by the film manufacturer to a large extent. One way to change how a panchromatic black and white film "sees" color and renders it into black and white is to use color filters on the lens while exposing the film.
I tested out Ilford's HP5 Plus black and white negative film with a couple of different filters over the lens. This was also the first roll of medium format negative film I've developed myself in at least 12 years, possibly longer. It was a very familiar experience but I experienced the expected "slowdown" of the using the film process compared to the typically faster digital process. For instance, I got a little impatient waiting for the film to dry so I could cut and sleeve it and see the results on the scanner. With digital, I would have already seen the images on the back of the camera the moment I made an exposure.
I had the odd but familiar experience of shooting in the studio with film, strobes and the Mamiya again with this test. It has been about 12 years since I have made portraits with the medium format camera and studio lighting, having switched completely to digital around 2005. The experience was like putting on a favorite old pair of shoes again - familiar feeling but perhaps not exactly as I remembered.
I don't consider this an official portrait for the project since my goal in doing this was simply to get a person in front of the lens and test the film and see the effect the filters have on skin tones. Not to make a portrait per se. The person in the photos and helping me out with the test was highly-tuned photographer Jesse Snyder out of Washington, DC. Jesse knows the craft and art of photography as well as anyone I've ever met.
I tested out Ilford's HP5 Plus black and white negative film with a couple of different filters over the lens. This was also the first roll of medium format negative film I've developed myself in at least 12 years, possibly longer. It was a very familiar experience but I experienced the expected "slowdown" of the using the film process compared to the typically faster digital process. For instance, I got a little impatient waiting for the film to dry so I could cut and sleeve it and see the results on the scanner. With digital, I would have already seen the images on the back of the camera the moment I made an exposure.
I had the odd but familiar experience of shooting in the studio with film, strobes and the Mamiya again with this test. It has been about 12 years since I have made portraits with the medium format camera and studio lighting, having switched completely to digital around 2005. The experience was like putting on a favorite old pair of shoes again - familiar feeling but perhaps not exactly as I remembered.
I don't consider this an official portrait for the project since my goal in doing this was simply to get a person in front of the lens and test the film and see the effect the filters have on skin tones. Not to make a portrait per se. The person in the photos and helping me out with the test was highly-tuned photographer Jesse Snyder out of Washington, DC. Jesse knows the craft and art of photography as well as anyone I've ever met.
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