Everyone calm down. I can feel the rage brewing through this horrible connection I have at the moment. Film. It has taken on mythical proportions in the consumer, prosumer, and online worlds. For the pros, no, they are busy making a living and digital is the name of the game, but film has such an incredible, funky history I thought it would be fun to share a few of the oddities I’ve learned along the way. I processed my first roll of film in darkroom at San Antonio College in 1988. I rolled the film on top of itself and the emulsion came off in my hand. I knew I was hooked. We built fires to warm chemistry and processed TRIX in straight Dektol. That was the time and the place. Snowflakes beware, not every photographer gets a trophy. Take your lumps and enjoy the process. Get it, process?
Comments 8
Great video…..if only for the nostalgia. I shot hundreds of UK TV magazine covers on EPP. What we needed then was consistency; using the same lab, same lighting, same lenses gave you peace of mind. Clip test it and push or pull a third, perfect. Fabulous skin tones and pretty neutral colours. We must all remember, film was used before the internet, so you couldn’t seek the opinions of a vast amount of users, some good some awful. You had to find a film, find it’s characteristics and follow a consistent line.
Digital is brilliant, and having shot film stills on pushed EPT 35mm, I can testify that it’s a total breeze to shoot digitally. I shoot digitally for work, which I have to and I would choose to, but for my own work, I always shoot Ilford 3200, process in Rodinal in a real carefree manor, scan with my digital camera, dodge and burn and add contrast in photoshop and digitally print up to 3 feet by 2 feet.
So, what is known as a hybrid process works now for me, you just cannot replicate grain digitally.
I have to try the camera scan sometime. I have a flatbed, and I hate scanning. But I’m also lazy, so I’m not sure the camera scan would be any better at overcoming my laziness.
Author
Scott,
Scanning is the real issue. A bottleneck of all bottlenecks.
Author
Neil,
Spot on. Noise and grain are different. Period. Clip tests, snip tests. Digital is so convenient….it’s magic.
Your compare and contrast of Tri-X and TMax was dead on! You even explained why my back always hurt when I was college. I had no idea I was sharing the couch with a roll or two of undeveloped film.
Entertaining and informative as always… thanks
Author
Jon,
Every kid needs a Floyd/TRIX
Hi Dan,
great like always! At the moment I am down here at Visa pour l’image in Perpignan. One day you should come back again an we meet here!
All the best from Leif ( from Germany-at the moment here in France)
Take care!
Author
Leif,
Wow, the fact it is going on is fantastic. It has been years. I would need to bone up on my photography to feel good about it. Enjoy!