Or why having it correct in camera is not the be all and end all.
Michael Elliott — Fine Art Film Photographer-Flâneur and Londoner at Massive
This was inspired by my answer to the following Quora query:
What is the distinction amongst a one particular cease underexposed damaging and a two cease underexposed damaging when utilizing black-and-white film?
Film photography is a fascinating and rewarding hobby but it can also be difficult and frustrating at occasions. 1 of the most frequent sources of confusion and anxiousness for film photographers is how to expose their film appropriately. In contrast to digital photography exactly where you can immediately verify your exposure on the LCD screen and adjust it accordingly film photography demands a additional cautious and deliberate method. You have to rely on your light meter your knowledge and your intuition to estimate the right exposure settings for your film and your scene. And even then you will not know for certain if you got it correct till you create and scan your film.
But what does it imply to expose film appropriately? And how do diverse kinds of film react to diverse levels of exposure? And what if you make a error and overexpose or underexpose your film? Is there a way to repair it or even use it to your benefit? In this post we will attempt to answer these concerns and additional by exploring the principles of exposing black and white colour damaging and colour slide film. We will also appear at how improvement of film can compensate for exposure errors and how you can use a mixture of overexposure or underexposure and compensated improvement to reach distinct artistic effects.
Black and White Film
Black and white film is the simplest and most versatile form of film when it comes to exposure. It consists of a single layer of silver halide crystals that are sensitive to light. When the film is exposed to light some of the crystals are converted into metallic silver forming a latent image that is later created into a visible image. The additional light that reaches the film the additional silver is formed and the darker the image becomes. Conversely the much less light that reaches the film the much less silver is formed and the lighter the image becomes.
An instance of pushing Rollei Paul and Reinhold (ISO 640) to 1600 (roughly 1 2/3 stops). Even though shadow detail is minimal there are nonetheless shadows that can be pulled out of the image. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Black and white film has a wide exposure latitude which suggests that it can tolerate some degree of overexposure or underexposure without having losing also a lot detail or tonality. In reality a big quantity of photographers deliberately overexpose or underexpose their black and white film to reach particular effects. For instance overexposing black and white film can outcome in a low-contrast image with soft tones and smooth transitions. Underexposing black and white film can outcome in a higher-contrast image with harsh tones and sharp edges.
Fuji Neopan 400 pushed to 1600. Shadow detail is practically non-existent. Even although this was in broad daylight I had an orange filter and polariser on and to reach the needed depth of field with a affordable shutter speed I had to use a greater EI than the box speed. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Nonetheless overexposing or underexposing black and white film is not sufficient to reach these effects. You also will need to adjust the improvement time accordingly. This is exactly where the notion of compensated improvement comes in. Compensated improvement is a approach that entails altering the improvement time primarily based on the exposure level of the film. The basic rule is: overdevelop underexposed film and underdevelop overexposed film. This way you can balance out the exposure errors and bring back some detail and tonality to your image.
For instance if you underexpose your black and white film by one particular cease (i.e. half the quantity of light necessary for a right exposure) you can compensate by escalating the improvement time by 20%. This will boost the density of your damaging and make it darker bringing out some shadow detail that would otherwise be lost. If you overexpose your black and white film by one particular cease (i.e. double the quantity of light necessary for a right exposure) you can compensate by decreasing the improvement time by 20%. This will lower the density of your damaging and make it lighter preserving some highlight detail that would otherwise be blown out.
In spite of my ideal efforts the shadows are muddy and not detailed in this shot taken on Fuji Neopan 400 at 1600 and pushed 2 stops in improvement. Pushing does not often perform wonders for a provided scene. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Of course these are just rough recommendations and diverse films may well demand diverse amounts of compensation. You may well also want to experiment with diverse degrees of compensation to reach diverse outcomes. For instance some photographers choose to overexpose their black and white film by two stops or additional and underdevelop it by 50% or additional. This produces a pretty low-contrast image with practically no shadows or highlights producing a dreamy or ethereal impact.
Colour Negative Film
Colour damaging film is additional complicated than black and white film when it comes to exposure. It consists museumbola of 3 layers of emulsion each and every sensitive to a diverse colour of light (blue green and red). Every layer also includes chemical substances referred to as dye couplers that react with the developer to kind dyes that correspond to the opposite colour (yellow magenta and cyan). When colour damaging film is exposed to light some of the silver halide crystals in each and every layer are converted into metallic silver forming a latent image that is later created into a visible image. The additional light that reaches each and every layer the additional silver is formed and the additional dye is created. The outcome is a damaging image with an orange hue that wants to be inverted and colour-corrected to make a optimistic image.
Colour damaging film also has a wide exposure latitude but not as wide as black and white film. It can tolerate some degree of overexposure or underexposure but not without having affecting the colour balance and saturation of the image. In basic colour damaging film handles overexposure improved than underexposure. Overexposing colour damaging film can outcome in a additional saturated and vibrant image with additional detail in the shadows. Underexposing colour damaging film can outcome in a additional muted and dull image with much less detail in the highlights.
An instance of pushing colour film gone right — this is Fuji CDU-2 a colour optimistic duplicating film with a pretty low native ISO of 6. Nonetheless by cross processing in C41 and pushing 2 stops I was in a position to eke out an EI of 200. The grain is rather noticeable and the colour shifts have been tricky to right for but it was attainable. Detail all through is great. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Nonetheless overexposing colour damaging film also a lot can also have some drawbacks. It can boost the grain and noise of the image as nicely as introduce colour shifts and casts. For instance overexposing Kodak Portra 400 by additional than 3 stops can make the image appear additional yellow and green when overexposing Fujifilm Superia 400 by additional than 3 stops can make the image appear additional red and magenta. These colour shifts can be corrected to some extent through scanning or printing but they may well also influence the general mood and tone of the image.
On the other hand some photographers deliberately overexpose their colour damaging film to reach a particular appear. For instance overexposing Kodak Portra 400 by one particular or two stops can make beautiful pastel tones with smooth transitions and low contrast. This is specifically appropriate for portrait photography as it can generate a flattering and soft skin tone. Overexposing Fujifilm Superia 400 by one particular or two stops can make vivid and punchy colours with higher contrast. This is specifically appropriate for landscape photography as it can generate a dramatic and lively scene.
In contrast to black and white film colour damaging film does not advantage a lot from compensated improvement. Altering the improvement time of colour damaging film can influence the colour balance and saturation of the image but not in a predictable or constant way. Consequently it is ideal to create colour damaging film according to the normal course of action (C-41) and adjust the exposure level through shooting or scanning.
Colour Slide Film
Colour slide film is the most tricky and demanding form of film when it comes to exposure. It consists of 3 layers of emulsion each and every sensitive to a diverse colour of light (blue green and red). Every layer also includes chemical substances referred to as dye couplers that react with the developer to kind dyes that correspond to the exact same colour (blue green and red). When colour slide film is exposed to light some of the silver halide crystals in each and every layer are converted into metallic silver forming a latent image that is later created into a visible image. The additional light that reaches each and every layer the additional silver is formed and the much less dye is created. The outcome is a optimistic image on a transparent base that can be viewed straight or projected onto a screen.
Taken on Fujichrome MS100/1000 — a film deliberately formulated for push-processing this was shot at EI200 and processed for 8m30s in the very first developer for a 1 cease push. Even though it is not fantastic and I would not attempt to push this film to EI 1000 (specifically due to the fact it is extended discontinued and the examples I discovered had expiration dates in the early 2000s) it is got a great colour balance and shadow detail is not entirely absent. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Colour slide film has a pretty narrow exposure latitude which suggests that it can tolerate pretty tiny degree of overexposure or underexposure without having losing detail or tonality. In basic colour slide film handles underexposure improved than overexposure. Underexposing colour slide film can outcome in a darker and additional contrasty image with additional saturated colours. Overexposing colour slide film can outcome in a lighter and additional washed-out image with much less saturated colours.
Nonetheless underexposing or overexposing colour slide film also a lot can also have some drawbacks. It can lessen the dynamic variety and detail of the image as nicely as introduce colour shifts and casts. For instance underexposing Kodak Ektachrome 100 by additional than one particular cease can make the image appear additional blue and cyan when overexposing Fujifilm Velvia 50 by additional than one particular cease can make the image appear additional yellow and orange. These colour shifts can be tricky or not possible to right through scanning or printing as they are inherent to the film itself.
In contrast to black and white film but like colour damaging film colour slide film does not advantage from compensated improvement either. Altering the improvement time of colour slide film can influence the density and contrast of the image but not in a predictable or constant way. Consequently it is ideal to create colour slide film according to the normal course of action (E-6) and adjust the exposure level through shooting. There have been distinct films that had been engineered to enable for some kind of push processing compensation (Fujichrome MS100/1000) but these have been uncommon and now discontinued. Other films like Fujichrome Provia 400X (now discontinued) and 100F lend themselves improved to an up-to-2-cease push but it is a lot improved to shoot these at their box speeds.
Conclusion
A s you can see exposing film appropriately is not a uncomplicated or simple job. It depends on numerous aspects such as the form of film the lighting situations the topic matter and the artistic vision. Nonetheless it is also not one thing that you will need to obsess more than or be concerned about also a lot. Film photography is not about having it correct in camera all the time. It is about experimenting with diverse procedures and effects studying from your blunders and successes and enjoying the course of action and the outcomes.
In this post I have covered some of the fundamental principles of exposing black and white colour damaging and colour slide film. We have also looked at how improvement of film can compensate for exposure errors and how you can use a mixture of overexposure or underexposure and compensated improvement to reach distinct artistic effects. I hope that this post has provided you some valuable info and inspiration for your subsequent film photography project.
