Or why having it proper 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 in between a a single cease underexposed adverse and a two cease underexposed adverse when making use of 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 prevalent sources of confusion and anxiousness for film photographers is how to expose their film properly. 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 a lot more 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 proper till you create and scan your film.
But what does it imply to expose film properly? And how do distinct sorts of film react to distinct 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 short article we will attempt to answer these inquiries and a lot more by exploring the principles of exposing black and white colour adverse 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 obtain certain artistic effects.
Black and White Film
Black and white film is the simplest and most versatile variety 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 a lot more light that reaches the film the a lot more 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). Although 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 indicates that it can tolerate some degree of overexposure or underexposure without the need of losing as well considerably detail or tonality. In truth a big quantity of photographers deliberately overexpose or underexpose their black and white film to obtain 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 pretty much non-existent. Even although this was in broad daylight I had an orange filter and polariser on and to obtain the needed depth of field with a affordable shutter speed I had to use a larger EI than the box speed. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Nonetheless overexposing or underexposing black and white film is not adequate to obtain these effects. You also have to have to adjust the improvement time accordingly. This is exactly where the notion of compensated improvement comes in. Compensated improvement is a strategy that includes altering the improvement time primarily based on the exposure level of the film. The common 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 a single cease (i.e. half the quantity of light necessary for a right exposure) you can compensate by rising the improvement time by 20%. This will raise the density of your adverse and make it darker bringing out some shadow detail that would otherwise be lost. If you overexpose your black and white film by a single 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 adverse and make it lighter preserving some highlight detail that would otherwise be blown out.
Regardless of my most effective 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 normally operate wonders for a provided scene. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Of course these are just rough recommendations and distinct films may possibly demand distinct amounts of compensation. You may possibly also want to experiment with distinct degrees of compensation to obtain distinct benefits. For instance some photographers choose to overexpose their black and white film by two stops or a lot more and underdevelop it by 50% or a lot more. This produces a really low-contrast image with pretty much no shadows or highlights generating a dreamy or ethereal impact.
Colour Negative Film
Colour adverse film is a lot more complicated than black and white film when it comes to exposure. It consists of 3 layers of emulsion every single sensitive to a distinct colour of light (blue green and red). Each and every layer also includes chemical substances known as dye couplers that react with the developer to kind dyes that correspond to the opposite colour (yellow magenta and cyan). When colour adverse film is exposed to light some of the silver halide crystals in every single layer are converted into metallic silver forming a latent image that is later created into a visible image. The a lot more light that reaches every single layer the a lot more silver is formed and the a lot more dye is developed. The outcome is a adverse image with an orange hue that requirements to be inverted and colour-corrected to make a optimistic image.
Colour adverse 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 the need of affecting the colour balance and saturation of the image. In common colour adverse film handles overexposure far better than underexposure. Overexposing colour adverse film can outcome in a a lot more saturated and vibrant image with a lot more detail in the shadows. Underexposing colour adverse film can outcome in a a lot more 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 really low native ISO of 6. Nonetheless by cross processing in C41 and pushing 2 stops I was capable to eke out an EI of 200. The grain is rather noticeable and the colour shifts have been challenging to right for but it was feasible. Detail all through is excellent. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Nonetheless overexposing colour adverse film as well considerably can also have some drawbacks. It can raise the grain and noise of the image as properly as introduce colour shifts and casts. For instance overexposing Kodak Portra 400 by a lot more than 3 stops can make the image appear a lot more yellow and green when overexposing Fujifilm Superia 400 by a lot more than 3 stops can make the image appear a lot more red and magenta. These colour shifts can be corrected to some extent throughout scanning or printing but they may possibly also influence the general mood and tone of the image.
On the other hand some photographers deliberately overexpose their colour adverse film to obtain a particular appear. For instance overexposing Kodak Portra 400 by a single or two stops can make beautiful pastel tones with smooth transitions and low contrast. This is specially appropriate for portrait photography as it can make a flattering and soft skin tone. Overexposing Fujifilm Superia 400 by a single or two stops can make vivid and punchy colours with higher contrast. This is specially appropriate for landscape photography as it can make a dramatic and lively scene.
In contrast to black and white film colour adverse film does not advantage considerably from compensated improvement. Altering the improvement time of colour adverse film can influence the colour balance and saturation of the image but not in a predictable or constant way. Thus it is most effective to create colour adverse film according to the common course of action (C-41) and adjust the exposure level throughout shooting or scanning.
Colour Slide Film
Colour slide film is the most challenging and demanding variety of film when it comes to exposure. It consists of 3 layers of emulsion every single sensitive to a distinct colour of light (blue green and red). Each and every layer also includes chemical substances known 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 every single layer are converted into metallic silver forming a latent image that is later created into a visible image. The a lot more light that reaches every single layer the a lot more silver is formed and the much less dye is developed. 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. Although it is not fantastic and I would not attempt to push this film to EI 1000 (specially considering the fact that it is extended discontinued and the examples I located had expiration dates in the early 2000s) it is got a excellent colour balance and shadow detail is not absolutely absent. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Colour slide film has a really narrow exposure latitude which indicates that it can tolerate really tiny degree of overexposure or underexposure without the need of losing detail or tonality. In common colour slide film handles underexposure far better than overexposure. Underexposing colour slide film can outcome in a darker and a lot more contrasty image with a lot more saturated colours. Overexposing colour slide film can outcome in a lighter and a lot more washed-out image with much less saturated colours.
Nonetheless underexposing or overexposing colour slide film as well considerably can also have some drawbacks. It can cut down the dynamic variety and detail of the image as properly as introduce colour shifts and casts. For instance underexposing Kodak Ektachrome 100 by a lot more than a single cease can make the image appear a lot more blue and cyan when overexposing Fujifilm Velvia 50 by a lot more than a single cease can make the image appear a lot more yellow and orange. These colour shifts can be challenging or not possible to right throughout scanning or printing as they are inherent to the film itself.
In contrast to black and white film but like colour adverse 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. Thus it is most effective to create colour slide film according to the common course of action (E-6) and adjust the exposure level throughout shooting. There have been certain films that had been engineered to permit 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 far better to an up-to-2-cease push but it is considerably far better to shoot these at their box speeds.
Conclusion
A s you can see exposing film properly is not a easy or simple process. It depends on several components such as the variety of film the lighting circumstances the topic matter and the artistic vision. Nonetheless it is also not one thing that you have to have to obsess more than or be concerned about as well considerably. Film photography is not about having it proper in camera all the time. It is about experimenting with distinct strategies and effects understanding from your blunders and successes and enjoying the course of action and the benefits.
In this short article I have covered some of the simple principles of exposing black and white colour adverse 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 obtain certain artistic effects. I hope that this short article has provided you some helpful data and inspiration for your subsequent film photography project.
