Or why having it appropriate in camera is not the be all and end all.
Michael Elliott — Fine Art Film Photographer-Flâneur and Londoner at Significant
This was inspired by my answer to the following Quora query:
What is the distinction involving a one particular cease underexposed adverse and a two cease underexposed adverse when employing 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 typical sources of confusion and anxiousness for film photographers is how to expose their film properly. As opposed to digital photography exactly where you can quickly verify your exposure on the LCD screen and adjust it accordingly film photography needs a additional cautious and deliberate strategy. 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 confident if you got it appropriate till you create and scan your film.
But what does it imply to expose film properly? And how do distinctive varieties of film react to distinctive 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 write-up we will attempt to answer these inquiries and additional 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 accomplish 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 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). Although shadow detail is minimal there are nevertheless shadows that can be pulled out of the image. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Black and white film has a wide exposure latitude which implies that it can tolerate some degree of overexposure or underexposure without the need of losing as well significantly detail or tonality. In reality a big quantity of photographers deliberately overexpose or underexpose their black and white film to accomplish specific 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 nearly non-existent. Even even though this was in broad daylight I had an orange filter and polariser on and to accomplish the required depth of field with a affordable shutter speed I had to use a larger EI than the box speed. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Having said that overexposing or underexposing black and white film is not adequate to accomplish these effects. You also require to adjust the improvement time accordingly. This is exactly where the idea 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 one particular cease (i.e. half the quantity of light required for a right exposure) you can compensate by escalating the improvement time by 20%. This will improve 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 one particular cease (i.e. double the quantity of light required 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.
In spite 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 perform wonders for a offered scene. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Of course these are just rough recommendations and distinctive films might demand distinctive amounts of compensation. You might also want to experiment with distinctive degrees of compensation to accomplish distinctive 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 incredibly low-contrast image with nearly no shadows or highlights building a dreamy or ethereal impact.
Colour Negative Film
Colour adverse film is additional complicated than black and white film when it comes to exposure. It consists of 3 layers of emulsion every sensitive to a distinctive colour of light (blue green and red). Every single layer also consists of chemical compounds 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 adverse film is exposed to light some of the silver halide crystals in every layer are converted into metallic silver forming a latent image that is later created into a visible image. The additional light that reaches every layer the additional silver is formed and the additional dye is developed. The outcome is a adverse image with an orange hue that demands to be inverted and colour-corrected to make a good 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 superior than underexposure. Overexposing colour adverse film can outcome in a additional saturated and vibrant image with additional detail in the shadows. Underexposing colour adverse 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 good duplicating film with a incredibly low native ISO of 6. Having said that by cross processing in C41 and pushing 2 stops I was capable to eke out an EI of 200. The grain is pretty noticeable and the colour shifts had been complicated to right for but it was feasible. Detail all through is very good. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Having said that overexposing colour adverse film as well significantly can also have some drawbacks. It can improve the grain and noise of the image as properly 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 throughout scanning or printing but they might also impact the general mood and tone of the image.
On the other hand some photographers deliberately overexpose their colour adverse film to accomplish a specific 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 specially appropriate for portrait photography as it can produce 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 specially appropriate for landscape photography as it can produce a dramatic and lively scene.
As opposed to black and white film colour adverse film does not advantage significantly from compensated improvement. Altering the improvement time of colour adverse film can impact 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 normal procedure (C-41) and adjust the exposure level throughout shooting or scanning.
Colour Slide Film
Colour slide film is the most complicated and demanding variety of film when it comes to exposure. It consists of 3 layers of emulsion every sensitive to a distinctive colour of light (blue green and red). Every single layer also consists of chemical compounds referred to as dye couplers that react with the developer to kind dyes that correspond to the identical colour (blue green and red). When colour slide film is exposed to light some of the silver halide crystals in every layer are converted into metallic silver forming a latent image that is later created into a visible image. The additional light that reaches every layer the additional silver is formed and the much less dye is developed. The outcome is a good 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 initial developer for a 1 cease push. Whilst it really is not fantastic and I would not attempt to push this film to EI 1000 (specially given that it really is lengthy discontinued and the examples I identified had expiration dates in the early 2000s) it really is got a very good colour balance and shadow detail is not totally absent. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Colour slide film has a incredibly narrow exposure latitude which implies that it can tolerate incredibly tiny degree of overexposure or underexposure without the need of losing detail or tonality. In common colour slide film handles underexposure superior 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.
Having said that underexposing or overexposing colour slide film as well significantly can also have some drawbacks. It can lower the dynamic variety and detail of the image as properly 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 complicated or not possible to right throughout scanning or printing as they are inherent to the film itself.
As opposed 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 impact 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 normal procedure (E-6) and adjust the exposure level throughout shooting. There had been certain films that had been engineered to let for some kind of push processing compensation (Fujichrome MS100/1000) but these had been uncommon and now discontinued. Other films like Fujichrome Provia 400X (now discontinued) and 100F lend themselves superior to an up-to-2-cease push but it is significantly superior to shoot these at their box speeds.
Conclusion
A s you can see exposing film properly is not a very simple or simple process. It depends on quite a few elements such as the variety of film the lighting situations the topic matter and the artistic vision. Having said that it is also not a thing that you require to obsess more than or be concerned about as well significantly. Film photography is not about having it appropriate in camera all the time. It is about experimenting with distinctive procedures and effects understanding from your blunders and successes and enjoying the procedure and the outcomes.
In this write-up I have covered some of the standard 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 accomplish certain artistic effects. I hope that this write-up has offered you some beneficial data and inspiration for your subsequent film photography project.