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 Huge
This was inspired by my answer to the following Quora query:
What is the distinction amongst a one particular 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. One particular of the most prevalent sources of confusion and anxiousness for film photographers is how to expose their film properly. As opposed to digital photography exactly where you can immediately verify your exposure on the LCD screen and adjust it accordingly film photography needs a far more cautious and deliberate method. You have to rely on your light meter your expertise 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 properly? And how do distinct forms 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 report we will attempt to answer these inquiries and far 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 reach precise artistic effects.
Black and White Film
Black and white film is the simplest and most versatile sort 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 far more light that reaches the film the far 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). 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 indicates that it can tolerate some degree of overexposure or underexposure with out losing as well considerably detail or tonality. In reality a big quantity of photographers deliberately overexpose or underexpose their black and white film to reach 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 practically non-existent. Even even though this was in broad daylight I had an orange filter and polariser on and to reach the vital 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 reach these effects. You also need 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 requires 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 required for a right exposure) you can compensate by escalating 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 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.
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 generally function wonders for a offered scene. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Of course these are just rough suggestions and distinct films may perhaps demand distinct amounts of compensation. You may perhaps also want to experiment with distinct degrees of compensation to reach distinct benefits. For instance some photographers favor to overexpose their black and white film by two stops or far more and underdevelop it by 50% or far more. This produces a pretty low-contrast image with practically no shadows or highlights building a dreamy or ethereal impact.
Colour Negative Film
Colour adverse film is far more complicated than black and white film when it comes to exposure. It consists of 3 layers of emulsion every sensitive to a distinct colour of light (blue green and red). Each and every layer also consists of 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 layer are converted into metallic silver forming a latent image that is later created into a visible image. The far more light that reaches every layer the far more silver is formed and the far more dye is developed. The outcome is a adverse image with an orange hue that desires 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 with out affecting the colour balance and saturation of the image. In basic colour adverse film handles overexposure greater than underexposure. Overexposing colour adverse film can outcome in a far more saturated and vibrant image with far more detail in the shadows. Underexposing colour adverse film can outcome in a far 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 good duplicating film with a pretty 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 had been challenging to right for but it was achievable. Detail all through is fantastic. 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 far more than 3 stops can make the image appear far more yellow and green when overexposing Fujifilm Superia 400 by far more than 3 stops can make the image appear far more red and magenta. These colour shifts can be corrected to some extent in the course of scanning or printing but they may perhaps also impact the general mood and tone of the image.
On the other hand some photographers deliberately overexpose their colour adverse film to reach 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 particularly appropriate for portrait photography as it can build 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 particularly appropriate for landscape photography as it can build a dramatic and lively scene.
As opposed to black and white film colour adverse film does not advantage considerably 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. Hence it is most effective to create colour adverse film according to the common method (C-41) and adjust the exposure level in the course of shooting or scanning.
Colour Slide Film
Colour slide film is the most challenging and demanding sort of film when it comes to exposure. It consists of 3 layers of emulsion every sensitive to a distinct colour of light (blue green and red). Each and every layer also consists of 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 layer are converted into metallic silver forming a latent image that is later created into a visible image. The far more light that reaches every layer the far more 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 very first developer for a 1 cease push. Even though it really is not ideal and I would not attempt to push this film to EI 1000 (particularly given that it really is lengthy discontinued and the examples I located had expiration dates in the early 2000s) it really is got a fantastic colour balance and shadow detail is not fully absent. Photo credit: Michael Elliott
Colour slide film has a pretty narrow exposure latitude which indicates that it can tolerate pretty tiny degree of overexposure or underexposure with out losing detail or tonality. In basic colour slide film handles underexposure greater than overexposure. Underexposing colour slide film can outcome in a darker and far more contrasty image with far more saturated colours. Overexposing colour slide film can outcome in a lighter and far 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 lower the dynamic variety and detail of the image as properly as introduce colour shifts and casts. For instance underexposing Kodak Ektachrome 100 by far more than one particular cease can make the image appear far more blue and cyan when overexposing Fujifilm Velvia 50 by far more than one particular cease can make the image appear far more yellow and orange. These colour shifts can be challenging or not possible to right in the course of 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. Hence it is most effective to create colour slide film according to the common method (E-6) and adjust the exposure level in the course of shooting. There had been precise films that had been engineered to permit 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 greater to an up-to-2-cease push but it is considerably greater to shoot these at their box speeds.
Conclusion
A s you can see exposing film properly is not a uncomplicated or simple job. It depends on a lot of things such as the sort of film the lighting situations the topic matter and the artistic vision. Nonetheless it is also not one thing that you need to have to obsess more than or be concerned about as well considerably. Film photography is not about having it correct in camera all the time. It is about experimenting with distinct approaches and effects finding out from your blunders and successes and enjoying the method and the benefits.
In this report 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 reach precise artistic effects. I hope that this report has offered you some valuable information and facts and inspiration for your subsequent film photography project.