featured – FILM PHOTOGRAPHY

Interview: Danielle Wrobleski

“I like having a set number of photos I can take; it really makes me focus on what I want to shoot and how to make each exposure count.”

JM – Tell me a bit about yourself.

DW – My name is Danielle Wrobleski. I’m a film photographer located in Milwaukee, WI and I have way, way too many cameras.

JM – Why do you shoot film?

DW – I tripped into film photography just over three years ago. Before that I really didn’t know anything about photography at all, so I really learned photography by shooting film. It’s what I feel most comfortable with, and beyond that film just fits my style a lot better than digital. I like having a set number of photos I can take; it really makes me focus on what I want to shoot and how to make each exposure count. I also just love the look of it. I love getting physical negatives, scanning them into my computer, and seeing them come to life. The colors and style I get out of my film photos have a lot more life to them than any photo taken on my DSLR.

JM – How would you describe your style?

DW – I guess I would say it’s a bit of a mish mash. I like to shoot a bit of everything from landscapes to architecture to night time.

JM – Has your style changed since you first started photography? If so, in what way has it changed and what brought on that change?

DW – When I first started shooting photography a few years back I really mainly focused on shooting nature and landscapes. I love hiking so bringing my camera along on outdoor adventures was most natural to me when I first started shooting. Since then as I’ve learned more about framing and composition I’ve expanded into more urban settings and now I like to hunt out interesting and unique scenes around my city too.

JM – What is your favorite film? Camera?

DW – This is tough. Right now I’m really digging both Lomo 100 and Portra 160. I love a lower ISO film, and both of these fit the mark really well. Sharp as knives and very minimal grain. Plus the colors on both are gorgeous. As for a favorite camera, I don’t know if I can pick from my big collection! But I do feel most drawn to my Bronica ETR at the present moment. It’s just everything I want out of a medium format. I love that I can get 15 photos to a roll. Plus the lens is just gorgeous, and it’s the perfect weight, not too heavy to be able to walk around with unlike some other medium format cameras (coughmamiyarb67cough).

JM – How many cameras do you currently have? Do you find yourself often buying, selling, and/or trading cameras?

DW – I have somewhere in the vicinity of 40 cameras, maybe just slightly more. I’m not buying them *too* often. I think I only bought three in all of 2020. I quickly amassed my collection of 40 when I first started shooting because I would stalk my local thrift stores and snatch up anything I could find. When I first started out I just loved experimenting with different cameras and learning about what they could do. I haven’t parted with any yet – I’m not sure if I could. I’m very sentimental and each one reminds me of a different part of my film journey.

JM – What is a personal goal you have for your photography?

DW – I have a handful of disjointed, unrelated goals. I’d like to start being more creative with my photography. A lot of what I currently shoot is just typical scenes around where I live. I would like to branch out and do more double exposures, experimental films, etc… I would also like to do more portraits and self portraits. Additionally, I just want to document the moments of my everyday life more. I’m worried one day I’ll be 60 and look back and realize I have no photos of my regular life. So right now I’ve made it a mission to capture one black and white shot everyday. Whether it’s just the beautiful view out my living room window, making dinner, or having game night. I just want to capture more of the life moments I love with the people I love.

“The more and more people I meet in this little [film] world the more amazed I am with how friendly and outgoing everyone is. I’ve met so many amazing friends through this community I wouldn’t have otherwise and I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of it.”

JM – How often do you shoot medium format? Do you have a preference between 35mm and 120?

DW – I definitely reach for medium format much more than 35mm. This is the total opposite of like a year or so ago. I find myself feeling more and more comfortable with 12-15 shots per roll. I feel like frequently I’ll start a roll of 35mm and get halfway through it and just peter out. Then I’m just doing throw away shots to finish up the roll, and that annoys me. Plus not to be too stereotypical, but I just love the detail and resolution of medium format.

JM – What is your favorite shot you’ve ever taken? What’s the story behind it?

DW – I think one of my favorite shots I’ve ever taken is a night time shot I captured this past summer of an illuminated door framed by an overhanging tree and fence in the foreground, shot on Ultramax with my Nikon N80. It was my first time ever shooting film at night and I couldn’t believe how well the photo turned out. The fence is just a regular chain link fence, but with the darkness of the night it makes it look almost purple and the green from the tree turns the door and light into this eerie green glow. It’s perfect.

JM – What do you see for the future of film photography?

DW – I really hope it keeps growing! And in my heart I think it will. Film has been around for over 150 years and people keep coming back to it. As I said before there’s just a life to film that I don’t think we can ever truly leave behind. Sometimes it’s hard not to worry when you see headlines like Fuji Pro 400 going away, but I really think film companies are noticing this is more than just a blip and eventually things will start picking up.

JM – What is your favorite part of the film photography community? Do you think that attribute exists only with the film community or does it extend to digital photography community as well?

DW – I love how welcoming and supportive everyone is. I’ve been on Instagram for a year and a half and I was initially very worried to launch my page because I was scared people would think my photos were stupid but it’s been the complete opposite. The more and more people I meet in this little world the more amazed I am with how friendly and outgoing everyone is. I’ve met so many amazing friends through this community I wouldn’t have otherwise and I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of it. As for digital, you know I really can’t say. I don’t shoot digital all that often and don’t know too many digital shooters to be quite honest. But I do wonder if there’s something about the film process and the sentimentality of it that brings people closer together.

You can see more of Danielle’s work below:

Interview: Han Phan

“Shooting film feels more immersive and all-encompassing: I can’t just rapid-fire shoot a roll of film; everything takes forethought. It’s challenging but that’s what makes it fun and when you get a great shot, it makes shooting on film so worthwhile.”

MH – Why do you shoot film?

HP – I’ve only recently started shooting film about 2 years ago. Prior to that, I had a Canon 5D Mark II and Sony A7iii and had been shooting digital since high school. I now exclusively shoot film and made that decision because I absolutely love the challenge of and results from film photography. Shooting film feels more immersive and all-encompassing: I can’t just rapid-fire shoot a roll of film; everything takes forethought. It’s challenging but that’s what makes it fun and when you get a great shot, it makes shooting on film so worthwhile.

MH – How would you describe your style?

HP – I don’t think I have a style yet. I shoot neighborhoods because these are the streets I walk daily so I want to preserve via photographing them; I shoot portraitures because I want to try to capture human rawness; and I shoot landscapes because it’s beautiful. It’s really whatever catches my eye, but absolutely no definitive style.

MH – Has your style changed since you first started photography? If so, in what way has it changed and what brought on that change?

HP – Yes, definitely. I started out with point and shoot cameras: Contax T2, Olympus XA (pretty much p&s, at least how I was using it), Minolta Espios, etc… and I would use them like they were digital cameras. Basically, just walking around and aimlessly taking photos of everything and anything, which basically was me taking photos of nothing. And by that, I mean there wasn’t a purpose behind my taking those photos. They meant nothing because I was just excited that I was shooting film and wanted to get through a roll for the sake of finishing a roll. Things are very different nowadays because I know what I like to photograph. It takes me weeks to finish a roll of medium format and a few months to finish a roll of 35mm. I think that’s due to my slowing down, seeking out subjects to photograph that won’t feel like I’m shooting just to shoot, and I’m happier with the results I’m getting due to this.

MH – What is your favorite film? Camera?

HP – Favourite film in 120 is undoubtedly Portra 400 because it is consistent and for 35mm it’s Colorplus because it’s just as good as Portra but (was) more affordable. And currently, my favourite cameras are the Mamiya 7ii and the Pentax 67ii. Get back to me in a month because I am just starting to shoot with my new (to me) Graflex Series D 4×5 camera and I think that might be my favourite once I see those huge negatives.

“It’s strange, but it isn’t so much what a photograph LOOKS like, but what it makes me feel. The photos that resonate most are the ones that evoke a feeling of awe/surprise/anger/joy/whatever or ones that are able to depict an entire narrative in just a single shot.”

MH – Is there a camera you thought you’d never part with but ultimately did? If so, why did you part with it?

HP – The Leica M6. I think I pined for it for a good month, a friend found one for me for a great deal, I bought it, used it… and I absolutely did not enjoy it. Don’t get me wrong, the ergonomics are cool, it is sleek and such a timeless camera, but it didn’t make my photos any better than my Nikon SLR’s or even my Leica M5 (which, at the time, was a third the price of the M6). I sold it within a month of owning it. Then a few months later, I picked up another one to give it a second try. Same results.

MH – What is a personal goal you have for your photography?

HP – I want to be able to make a zine I am proud of and that means something to me. And I want to be a paid film photographer; I want my work to be good enough that others think it’s worthwhile to hire and pay me to make photographs of/for them.

MH – What do you look for in a photograph? Is what you find compelling in a photograph different when it’s one of your photographs compared with a photograph taken by someone else?

HP – It’s strange, but it isn’t so much what a photograph LOOKS like, but what it makes me feel. The photos that resonate most are the ones that evoke a feeling of awe/surprise/anger/joy/whatever or ones that are able to depict an entire narrative in just a single shot. I could only wish even one of my photos could affect someone.

MH – What is your favorite shot you’ve ever taken? What’s the story behind it?

HP – My most favourite photo I’ve made is of my mom. I shot it on the Mamiya 6 last year, pre-COVID. I only get to go home maybe three or four times a year, and this was during my summer visit. Right before I left, I shot this photo of my mom and it isn’t even anything great but she’s beautiful and the love of my life and the fact that I got this candid shot of her makes me very happy so it’s my favourite photo.

MH – What do you see for the future of film photography?

HP – There is a huge resurgence. It’s been ongoing for years, but maybe its resurgence isn’t as linear as it has been and more exponential. But my outlook is kind of bleak: cameras are super expensive now (ie: Mamiya RB67 and Mamiya 645 this time last year was HALF the price), Kodak just raised its film prices for the second time this year, the expired stuff will eventually run out so there’s still a ton of film stocks a lot of people won’t ever get to shoot (I’m looking at you, $100/pack FP-100C), etc. However, it is so much fun and anyone who shoots film is so immersed in the community (lifestyle?) will never give it up regardless of these things, and it’s super cool to see more people engaging in shooting film. I hope I am entirely wrong and companies like The Impossible Project invest in the future of film and revive it via new, affordable film cameras and film stocks.

MH – What is your favorite part of the film photography community? Do you think that attribute exists only with the film community or does it extend to digital photography community as well?

HP – I absolutely love how the film community is so supportive. Everyone I’ve met has been nothing but kind and informative and willing to teach an amateur like me. It’s so overwhelmingly positive. I’ve also made some really great friends from it: there are two dudes I talk to at least once a day who are the realest/coolest guys, and we met through the film community. There’s a group of women from all over the world I’m in a groupchat with and we do nothing but uplift one another and give advice, film related or not – it’s beautiful. This community is the coolest thing I have ever been part of and I think this sort of thing exists anywhere in some capacity.

More of Han’s photos can be seen below

Review: Kodak Gold 200

Kodak Gold is hands down the best color negative film that is only made in 35mm. It’s got a bit more grain than the Portra films. If overexposed, it’s light and airy while if shot at box speed outside of direct sunlight, it can get the punchy colors similar to that of Ektar. At the time of writing, it costs $13 for a 3-pack from B&H which is an absolute steal considering how much other 35mm films costs and just how good this film is.

Color

Truth be told, I do struggle to really pin down a consistent color palette with Gold because of just how much the saturation changes depending on whether it’s shot at box speed or whether you’re shooting in direct sun. If it is at all shady or if you’re shooting at dusk, the colors are quite rich and very saturated, however, if you’re shooting at high noon the colors are quite muted and very lovely. It may well be my favorite color palette of all the 35mm color negative film stocks.

Portraits

Because Gold is only offered in 35mm, it doesn’t get quite the heavy rotation for intentional shooting that other films get but because it is so cheap, I definitely go through it and have taken many photos of Dr H and friends here and there. It doesn’t really blow me away for skin tones but it does an alright job. In reference to the above statements, I don’t know that I’ve really given it a fair shake in all kinds of different lighting situations (at least not intentionally) which I suspect would play a large roll in how the colors come out.

Pushing/Pulling

I’ve not done any pushing or pulling with this film and I don’t know that I ever will. At the time of writing, my 35mm game has almost exclusively been my F100 with my Tamron 45mm and the flexibility of that lens to shoot at 1/20th of a second without even a bit of camera shake is practically a miracle. As such, I have no real need of pushing film and so long as I continue to lazily get my film processed at the local shop (which doesn’t do any pushing/pulling), it’s not something I really see myself doing anymore.

Conclusion

If this film was any more available (it’s often on back order) I would say that it would hands down the best 35mm film. It may well be so even with its limited availability… If you haven’t picked up a few rolls, you should definitely do so.

Interview: Jason Hunter

“I like the tactile feeling of shooting with film cameras. Whether that’s the clamshell on the XA, or advancing the film and cocking the shutter on the RB67. This is something that can not be found with digital cameras.”

Jason is a film and digital photographer who co-operates Restore From Backup, a film photography specific hub account on Instagram. Jason first reached out to me out of the blue and started off by saying we had a common circle of photographer friends and he couldn’t have been nicer. Since then, his work has inspired me to see buildings and cars in different ways than before.

JM – Tell me a bit about yourself.

JH – I’m from Chesapeake, VA, a pretty dull little suburb between Norfolk and Virginia Beach. I’ve lived here for the majority of my life and have no plans on leaving. I’ve been married for ten years, and we have three cats and no kids. My life is pretty quiet, and that’s exactly how I like it. Also, I really love Math Rock and coffee.

JM – Why do you shoot film?

JH – First and foremost, it’s the community. I’ve been photographing things for a good while now; however, I never really got into it until I started shooting film. Also, I love mechanical things. I like the tactile feeling of shooting with film cameras. Whether that’s the clamshell on the XA, or advancing the film and cocking the shutter on the RB67. This is something that can not be found with digital cameras. Although, I wish they made a digital TLR!

JM – How would you describe your style?

JH – I’m not sure I have one, or I don’t know what to call it if I do. Honestly, that’s not a concern of mine. I like taking pictures of things that catch my eye. To some, that might seem counterproductive; however, I feel like it really helps me. I don’t ever want this to feel like work or feel like I have to shoot a certain way. I’m just having fun, and that’s what is essential.

JM – What is your favorite film? Camera?

JH – My favorite film by far is Portra at any speed, but I prefer 400. As far as my favorite camera, that changes depending on which day you ask me. I’m a firm believer that the Olympus XA2 is a perfect camera. However, my Rolleiflex 2.8C is quickly becoming my favorite camera. It’s an absolute gem of a camera.

JM – Is there a camera you’ve really wanted but don’t think you’ll ever have? Why do you think you won’t ever own it?

JH – I really want a Leica M6, but I don’t think I’ll ever own one. That’s because I’m not too fond of rangefinders. I’ve tried with a couple and can’t get into them. Partly, I think it’s because I have a hard time focusing with them. I know they are nice, but they’re not for me.

JM – Is there a camera you thought you’d never part with but ultimately did? Why did you part with it?

JH – My Olympus OM-4, I loved that camera mainly because I used to be a huge Olympus fanboy. I even sold my Canon 5D mk3 for an Olympus Micro 4/3 kit because I was an idiot. I sold my Olympus OM-4 when I switched to Nikon, but I really should have kept it.

JM – What drives you to photograph?

JH – The need to get out of the house drives me to photograph. Also, I need to create something or be working on something, and photography helps me with that. I’d be a lier if I said it wasn’t for attention as well, or I wouldn’t share my stuff on social media. However, I think that’s a good thing, in some regards, because it forces us to get out there and make new and better photographs.

JM – What is a personal goal you have for your photography?

JH – I want to make a book. I’ve never made a zine until this year, and know I’m hooked. Looking at them now, I already feel like I can do better, so I want to focus on making something special.

JM – What do you look for in a photograph? Is what you find compelling in a photograph different when it’s one of your photographs compared with one from someone else?

JH – I like lines and sharp edges. That’s what typically catches my eye first, so the vast majority of my stuff has some form of sharp lines or corners. However, this typically differs from what I like in other’s works. I like looking at other’s photographs for other forms of influence. Taking elements from them and trying to do it in my way. I love those, “Why didn’t I think of that?” moments.

JM – What is your favorite shot you’ve ever taken? What’s the story behind it?

JH – My favorite shot I’ve taken varies from week to week, but recently it was a photograph of an Auto Zone. I went in there to grab some windshield wipers. Walking out, I noticed the clouds with that sharp corner of the building, so I snapped a photo with the RB67. I didn’t overthink about it really, but when I saw the picture, later on, I thought this is pretty cool, mainly because it’s an Auto Zone. When I put it on Reddit and Instagram, it blew up, which is cool because other people saw what I saw in an ordinary Auto Zone.

JM – In what ways has your photography grown and improved since you started shooting film?

JH – Well, for starters, I’m not shooting everything at f/1.8 or making everything HDR. In the beginning, I thought things had to be complicated or out of the ordinary to be interesting. I hated where I lived because I thought there was nothing to photograph. Now, I’m pretty happy, just being happy with want I got.

JM – How often do you shoot with your digital camera?

JH – I shoot with my Fuji X-T4 just about every day. It’s always with me. I’ve started trying photos out with the Fuji and then coming back another day with a film camera. Honestly, I could see myself shooting digital a lot more in the future, and only shooting film a couple of times a year. I think it’s important to practice and know a camera, but it’s also essential to keep things fresh. So, for now, I’ll keep mixing it up.

You can see more Jason’s work below.

Innsbruck, AT: New City, New Film – Acros II & Ortho Plus

If you’re wondering why I decide to take my annual trip to the mountains between March and April, the answer is simple. It’s generally still very cold so the summer tourists haven’t shown up yet but the height of skiing and snowboarding is past. As a result, the area is bit less packed out and the trails have started reopening (if they were ever closed). Not to mention that at the times the airfare is a good deal less expensive as are the hotels.

Anyhow – on this particular trip, we left for a couple week trip in Germany and western Austria just as the novel corona virus was troubling northern Italy but before it started being so widespread. On the day we were flying back, we learned there were several documented cases of COVID-19 in Innsbruck and luckily for us we were able to be screened a couple days after being back. With the self quarantine that we are still currently in, I’ve been able to get all the B&W and C-41 developed and scanned. On the trip I was able to try out the new Acros and Ilford Ortho in 120 and 35mm.

Fuji Neopan Acros II

I think this emulsion was the best film stock of all the film I went through on my trip. The rolls in 35mm were quite gorgeous and capable of producing some wonderful prints – I shot all of those in the Friedberg and Frankfurt area. The 120 was shot in Innsbruck and man, are the resulting frames just beautiful. Very low grain and high acutance made for some spectacular photographs that I’m very excited to make prints of.

As I mentioned above, I shot 2 rolls of 120 and 2 rolls of 35mm. The 2 35mm rolls were not shot in the Alps but I thought they were splendid. I’ll share some of those frames below.

Ilford Ortho Plus

What an interesting film. If I’m being entirely honest, I was very nervous to shoot this stock. I was excited by the build up around it and some of the 4×5 work I had seen but have heard mixed feelings about the 120 and 35mm emulsions. I can see why too. For an 80 ASA film, the grain was quite a good deal aggressive and very weird. I cannot say that I’m in love with the stock nor that I intend to buy it again any time soon. Of the 2 rolls of 35mm that I took, we only shot through one of them and even that one was shot by my buddy Brandon. To start, I’ll go through some of the 120 shots.

I actually prefer the shots from the 35mm. Perhaps it was the focal length (45mm) or Brandon’s eye that caught such nice frames. Either way – the results were intriguing.

Interview: Monika Murren

“I like to document moments and places that feel both intimate and otherworldly and magical.”

Monika is a photographer that I met on Instagram like many of the other people I’ve interviewed but her body of work is uniquely personal. The work that she publishes on her instagram is inspiring and she even sells some of her prints on her website.

JM: Tell me a bit about yourself.

MM: I am was born and raised in Poland but have spent most of my adult life now in the US. I currently live in the Hudson Valley, about an hour north of New York City. I feel lucky to live in such a beautiful place, surrounded by incredible nature and yet so close to a big city. It inspires my photography daily. I have always been curious about the world having grown up in back-then communist Poland and not having access to the rest of the world. I knew there was a greater world outside and it motivated me to learn to speak other languages and then to travel and eventually photograph the world.

JM: Why do you shoot film?

MM: I started shooting digital first but quickly learned that if you wanted to truly understand photography, you had to go back to the roots and learn about film and manual exposure as well as using manual lenses. I fell in love with the process of shooting photos that way, it required more planning, focus and attention to composition.

JM: How would you describe your style?

MM: I like to document moments and places that feel both intimate and otherworldly and magical. I want to be able to look at a photo and instantly feel transported to that place and be able to imagine the light, smell and sound in the scene. in other words, a photo should be able to activate your senses and your imagination.

JM: What is your favorite film? Camera?

MM: Without question, my Mamiya 7ii medium format 6×7 is my favorite camera. I have been shooting with it for over 12 years and can’t imagine my life as a photographer without it.

JM: What drives you to photograph?

MM: I love the process of creating each photo, it’s both very exciting and carries an element of surprise, especially when you shoot with film.

“I am aware that our natural world is changing around us, many landscapes forever lost and documenting those places to remember them as they are now is so crucial and there is an urgency in that for me here are my images”

JM: What is a personal goal you have for your photography?

MM: I would love to be able to have my own gallery one day where I could display the photos. They look beautiful when they are printed large and framed. It’s a shame that we mostly look at tiny images on instagram nowadays.

JM: What do you look for in a photograph? Is what you find compelling in a photograph different when it’s one of your photographs compared with one from someone else?

MM: I look for beautiful composition, light, harmony of colors or black and white tones.

JM: What is your favorite shot you’ve ever taken? What’s the story behind it?

MM: It’s very hard to choose one, but one that’s very special for me is my image from the White Sands National Park in New Mexico. I was very much inspired by the work of Gary Winogrand at the time and this image combines both such a beautifully striking landscape with a modern picnic bench. it just looks like it’s from another world and the light and the colors are so vivid and warm in spite of the freezing morning temperatures in the high desert of New Mexico. It feels very timeless to me now.

JM: In what ways has your photography grown and improved since you started shooting film?

MM: I constantly try to improve my technical skills as well as my composition. Photography is ever evolving and changing. I think I am more deliberate in what I photograph now. I used to photograph people more and I still love it, but places and landscapes inspire me more. I am aware that our natural world is changing around us, many landscapes forever lost and documenting those places to remember them as they are now is so crucial and there is an urgency in that for me here are my images. the last one is the one from White Sand

More of Monika’s work can be seen below:

Superstition Mountains: New City, New Film – Ilford FP4 & Fujichrome Velvia 100

This past trip to Arizona was my third time visiting and every time I go, I grow more and more in love with the environment. Last year when we went, we visited Flagstaff but this year we split our time between Sedona and the Superstitions.

Prior to heading out, I picked up several rolls of Ilford FP4 and at a camera shop in Phoenix, I picked up some Velvia 100. In Sedona I was shooting through a lot of Ektar and Provia and didn’t manage to load up the FP4 or Velvia until we rolled into the Superstitions.

Admittedly, I didn’t particularly love either of these film stocks. Since the trip to AZ, I’ve shot through some 4×5 sheets of FP4 and didn’t much care for them either. That said, I’ve started developing my own B&W at home and have found that for some reason I’ve getting a lot more grain than I’m used to getting from the Darkroom so it may well be my own fault for not liking it.

In general, I expect 100ish (it’s 125) ASA film to have extremely fine grain. While I know that FP4 is a traditional grain structure and not T-grain, I still expected a bit less grain than I felt I was getting. In total, I’ve only gone through 3 rolls and 1 box of 4×5 sheets so I know I still need to give it a bit more practice before making a final judgement.

The Velvia produced my least favorite shots of the whole trip. Perhaps I’ve become accustomed to Provia too much and the difference wasn’t to my liking. It’s also possible that I was just shooting it in the wrong lighting. I started/finished the roll in the afternoon started with high sun and ending during the golden hour. There was a HUGE difference in the saturation and tones between those two situations. Perhaps if I shot the entire roll during the golden hour, I’d be singing a different tune. Either way – I’ve since picked up another roll and intend to give it another go.

Experiment 2: Kodak Portra 160 vs. Portra 400 vs. Portra 800

This article is going to compare Kodak films Portra 160, Portra 400, and Portra 800. For exposure testing data on Portra 400, Portra 400 shot and developed at 800, Portra 800, and 8 other film stocks, please refer to this article. For an additional reference of Portra 400 shot and developed at 800, please refer to this article.

To ensure consistency throughout the experiment, all of the shots were taken using the exact same camera/lens combo. To accomplish this, 3 different film backs were used, each loaded with a different Kodak Portra film. The control conditions were as follows:

Camera: Mamiya 645 Pro TL
Lenses: 80mm f/2.8 N, 150mm f/3.5 N, 300mm f/5.6 N-ULD
Lighting (Portrait Only): 2 Profoto B1X with diffusers
Light Meter: LUMU Light Meter iPhone app

All films were developed at a local lab here in Columbus, OH and scanned at home using an Epson v600. All provided images were the converted negatives straight from the scanner software included with the v600.

Results

As perhaps could have been expected, I didn’t prefer one film over the rest in all contexts. Overall, I preferred Portra 800 over 160 and 400 in most situations with a strict exception to portraits.

All told, we took 3 different sets of portraits (though only posting one) and in all 3, Portra 800 was far too saturated. To a level that I, personally, looked jaundiced. I honestly expected Portra 160 to shine here but I honestly thought all of the scans turned out equally as pale. So much so that they looked a bit distasteful. I do expect that I could have remedied a good deal of that in settings in the scan or in PS after but again, all of the presented images are straight out of the scanner’s software.

Probably the only example series where I personally preferred Portra 160 over 800 and a little over Portra 400 was in the library. Portra 800 had a tendency to be too saturated in a situation when the color palette was fairly white. Similar to the portraits above, Portra 800 tends to turn whites yellow in a fairly unattractive way. Portra 400 was right in the middle but in a scene I would have preferred to remain bright and airy feeling, I preferred no yellow tint.

As for the other 3 samples, I did strongly prefer Portra 800. In the vines sample, I think 800 blew the other two out of the water. The colors are intense but in a way that accentuates the present colors without changing them into something undesirable. For the tower, all three returned a pretty distinct color palette – so much so that I went back and rescanned each with the expectation of getting more uniformity then but the scans came back virtually the same as the first pass – that all 3 are distinctly different. Finally, for the vertical tunnel at the OSU campus, I really think the saturation of Portra 800 shined. I loved the way those colors turned out.

Conclusion

I’m not sure that my opinion between the three is really going to change. I will continue to shoot more and more 800 in and around Ohio (or at least on trips where I’m not flying) and I will shoot Portra 400 as an old reliable.

Thanks

Special thanks to Matt Seal for being generous with letting us use his studio, Dr. H for being an uncomfortable model, and Nevin Johnson for his help with the scanning.

Banff (In Color): New City, New Film – Ektar & Portra 160

This article shows off some of the color negative film I tried out on my vacation to Banff, CA in April2019. To see some of the black and white negative work, please follow this link. Several of this films in this article have exposure tested and compared to other color negative films – this article is located here.

The Canadian Rockies were calling and we answered. In a moment of spontaneity and luck finding round-trip tickets for only 18k points, we got our tickets and booked a hotel within a couple hours and I immediately started thinking about what film I was going to take. For ease (and out of pure laziness) I needed to make sure everything was ASA 400 or slower so I didn’t have to have the film hand-checked.

For color negative film, I ended up taking a pro pack of Portra 400 (per usual), Ektar, and Portra 160. I also ended up taking a few rolls of Fuji Provia and Ektachrome.

Portra 160

I gave this film a shot after Matt Seal suggested it a few times. I had shot through two rolls previously and didn’t much care for either. I found it to not be very flexible for my shooting style and didn’t much care for the way it rendered colors.

That said… This film took some of my favorite photos AND my least favorite photos of the trip. The ones that worked out really killed it. The ones that didn’t work out reminded me a lot of my first attempts in that the colors weren’t really on point and the shadows were pretty muddied.

Below are my two favorite photos from my trip. Both were taken with Portra 160.

Ektar

Prior to this trip, I had actually shot through a couple rolls of Ektar and hated them both. Admittedly, I think my distaste for them came from the scans from the lab- the lab I was using had a knack for boosting up the saturation to a point beyond my tolerance for it. Since then I’ve seen the work of Pete Gotz and David Chan and decided to give it another shot. I doubt I would have made that first attempt on a vacation I’ve looked forward to so much but in all honesty, it was their pictures of Banff with this film that really turned me on to their work pushed me to try this film again.

Anyhow- I shot through a pro pack of it on this trip and I couldn’t have been happier with the results. It was a lot more versatile than I expected and the colors were really intense.

Below is my favorite photo I took with Ektar.

All in all, I was pretty blown away by the results of this film. Nothing was too bold and the colors were gorgeous. I’ve already picked up a few more rolls of this film and loaded it into my F100 when I went to Montreal.

Below are a few more of my other favorites from Ektar.

Portra 400, Provia, & Ektachrome

As you may know, I’ve shot through plenty of Provia and more than my fair share of Portra 400. And since it came back out again, I’ve been working my way through several rolls of Ektachrome. I know they aren’t new films for me but I thought I’d share a few of my shots from these great stocks. I’m posting the Provia first, then Portra 400, and concluding with Ektachrome.

Experiment 1: Exposure Testing 11 Film Stocks

In this experiment, we exposure tested 11 film stocks and Kodak Portra 400 pushed one stop to 800. Among the color films, we tested: Kodak Ektar 100, Kodak Portra 400, Portra 400 Pushed One Stop, Kodak Portra 800, and Fuji Pro 400H. Among the Black and White films, we tested: Ilford PanF, Kodak TMax 100, Kodak TMax 400, Kodak Tri-X, Ilford HP5, Ilford XP2 Super, Ilford Delta 3200.

To ensure consistency throughout the experiment, the film stock was the only experimental condition. The control conditions are as follows:

Camera: Hasselblad 501CM
Lens: 60mm f/3.5 CB
Lighting: 2 Profoto B1X with diffusers
Light meter: Sekonic Lightmaster
Focusing Aid: Schneider Kreuznach 4x loupe

The loupe was used to set the focus at the start of the exposure test for each film stock. To ensure the exposure value (EV) was correct, the light meter (using an incident setting) was used to identify the neutral exposure as well as each EV in the center of the frame.

All B&W film was developed by the Darkroom Lab and all C-41 film was developed at home using a Jobo CPP2. All scans were done at home using an Epson V600. Each frame was scanned flat and adjusted in PS identically for all frames (‘true black’ was set by the darkest part of the record).

Results

The results did not turn out as I expected. Although, for most of films tested, I had no idea what to expect. While there are some sources out there doing some exposure testing, I have not found a source completely satisfactory. I approached Matt Seal about this idea and told him I wanted to do it. His interest, skillset, and appreciation for the scientific method made the compliment to my own intellectual pursuits and scientific rigor. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to learn about how exposure changes an image and how that change differs by film stock.

For those getting into film, with the exception of the famously linear response curve of Acros 100 (R.I.P.), most all film stocks have a logarithmic-type response curve. While every film stock is different, most all of them adhere to this pattern. As such, when you get to a certain point, it becomes more and more difficult to increase exposure by a full stop. In the film world, this is known as reciprocity failure. It generally only affects long exposures and depending on the film stock, can result in some color shifting after a certain point.

Getting back on track – it is because of this behavior in the response curve that allows you to continue to pour in the light without blowing out the highlights. It should be noted that the response curve is what makes film so unique and separates it from digital. Between film stocks, it is not just that colors are rendered different ways but it also interprets light differently. Comparing film with digital, digital has a perfectly linear response curve. This means that it blows out the highlights much faster but conversely, it does not lose details in the shadows near as quickly.

Results – Color Film

Comparing the neutral exposures, the Ektar is good bit more punchy while having a more delicate transition in tones. Portra 800 is noticeably warmer than even the Portra 400 – something I expected as it’s more contrasty but I didn’t expect it to quite the extent that it was.

I think I was most impressed with the Ektar of all the film stocks. I’ve only used it twice and neither time did I like the outcome. Although admittedly, both times I only had the scans from the local film lab in Charleston – and they had a really bad habit of over saturating any and all scans to the Nth degree. After those, I’ve stayed away from it from it until this testing. As soon as I saw these results, I picked up 2 pro packs to take on a trip to Banff.

Between the 2 400 speed films, I think that the Portra 400 held up a bit better than the Pro 400H when it comes to overexposing by more than 2 stops. But if you prefer cooler tones, you would probably conclude the opposite.

Results – Black and White Film

Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of the stocks behaved in a similar way except for the Delta 3200 – which didn’t get crushed blacks near as quickly or dramatically. This isn’t particularly unexpected given the difference in emulsion and the fact that it’s actually just a really flexible 1000 asa film.

Probably the most surprising performance was TMax 100. I think that it stood up to underexposure better than any of the other stocks and while I don’t see myself ever accidentally (or purposefully) overexposing by 5 stops, I think it handled the contrasty parts quite well. All in all, I’m going to have to pick some of this up an shoot it immediately.

As for second place in the biggest surprise, Ilford HP5 did a great job in my opinion. Since I tend to find myself in positions of not having enough light more than too much light, I care a lot about the ability to be underexposed. In this area, I think HP5 did really well.

Last specific thing I’ll touch on – I was genuinely surprised to see how similar T-Max 400 and Tri-X were. The Tri-X had a bit more grit but overall they were pretty similar.

Special Thanks

Of course, a huge thanks to Matt for the encouragement and supplying the all the equipment and his technical know-how to make sure the scientific rigor was above reproach. Could not have done it without him.

Thanks to Pete for his input, insight, and participation in the peer review(-ish) process. His input has been extraordinarily helpful in ensuring everything was reported in a clear and reproducible way.