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Beginner's Guide To Color Film Photography
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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:32 am
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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:32 am
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Please share your thoughts, experience here for beginners!


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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 4:34 pm
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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 4:34 pm
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No answers ? oh well ^.^

I've began to do b&w only, but since sone months i switched to color. Why ?
Easy photography, life colors, no need to "think" b&w , home developing C41 Very Happy Film gives an unique rendition that digital can't achieve, so why not give it a shot ? ( nice one eh ? ) Wink

my experience is more with developing color than shooting with, which is very easy. but you also have to measure light, and think a bit of what rendition you'd like to achieve. Though color film seems easy compared to b&w, like you think all your pictures wil be great shots, but you can miss your shots the same, so beware and play it cool !

many film types are available for all kinds of photo, portrait, landscapes etc from 100 to 800 iso. fuji and kodak are the main suppliers of film, look also for agfa.


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Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 6:21 pm
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Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 6:21 pm
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What I've been doing with film lately is: take piccies in colour using the usual colour print film, have it processed ONLY and downloaded onto a CD disc, and then once home download disc to PC and using PICASA 3 or ELEMENTS or similar and then manipulate pictures to my satisfaction, can even change into a B+W if the picture is suitable AND I get negs, and disc which I file. Dont half save on PC space that way.


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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 8:55 am
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 8:55 am
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After seriously having a go at using Colour film (I still am)...my advice would be don't give up or get down hearted when things don't turn out as you expect.The one shot that turns out makes it all worth while.... Very Happy

Something that is worthwhile always takes time to do well so no rushing or shortcuts with film..... it can be brutal on your expectations... Very Happy


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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:53 am
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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:53 am
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Colour negative film is so forgiving as you can make mistakes and still get a picture. Everyone should try film (even if it's been there done it) and once your shots are on negative film, store the negs in a cool dry drawer or cupboard and pass them down to your grandchildren in 40 plus years time to get prints.


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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:25 am
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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:25 am
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Excalibur wrote:
Colour negative film is so forgiving as you can make mistakes and still get a picture.
That´s true - but on the other side, it is much more difficult to handle to obtain really good pictures. "Amateur" films forgive you more than "professional" ones, because producers expect amateur users to not expose it precisely - they are simply made for bad exposure (even 2-3stops over or 1stop under!). On the contrary, to achieve great results with "professional" films there is much bigger need of precise exposure.

Generally speaking, overexposure of colour negative film isn´t a big deal - colours just get richer saturation. Problem is underexposure, colours get unnatural tones and grain grows much bigger and uglier. For this reason (and with manual-driven shutter cameras) I always add +1/3EV compensation and measure exposure for darkest place in the image. Using colour slides is just opposite of this process.


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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:45 am
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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:45 am
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berraneck wrote:
Excalibur wrote:
Colour negative film is so forgiving as you can make mistakes and still get a picture.
That´s true - but on the other side, it is much more difficult to handle to obtain really good pictures. "Amateur" films forgive you more than "professional" ones, because producers expect amateur users to not expose it precisely - they are simply made for bad exposure (even 2-3stops over or 1stop under!). On the contrary, to achieve great results with "professional" films there is much bigger need of precise exposure.

Generally speaking, overexposure of colour negative film isn´t a big deal - colours just get richer saturation. Problem is underexposure, colours get unnatural tones and grain grows much bigger and uglier. For this reason (and with manual-driven shutter cameras) I always add +1/3EV compensation and measure exposure for darkest place in the image. Using colour slides is just opposite of this process.


Hey we are suppose to be encouraging beginners Shocked


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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:01 am
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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:01 am
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Excalibur wrote:
berraneck wrote:
Excalibur wrote:
Colour negative film is so forgiving as you can make mistakes and still get a picture.
That´s true - but on the other side, it is much more difficult to handle to obtain really good pictures. "Amateur" films forgive you more than "professional" ones, because producers expect amateur users to not expose it precisely - they are simply made for bad exposure (even 2-3stops over or 1stop under!). On the contrary, to achieve great results with "professional" films there is much bigger need of precise exposure.

Generally speaking, overexposure of colour negative film isn´t a big deal - colours just get richer saturation. Problem is underexposure, colours get unnatural tones and grain grows much bigger and uglier. For this reason (and with manual-driven shutter cameras) I always add +1/3EV compensation and measure exposure for darkest place in the image. Using colour slides is just opposite of this process.


Hey we are suppose to be encouraging beginners Shocked

This, for me, sums up exactly why I like using film much more than digital, and manual focus more than automatic too. It forces you to take more care and judgement.

Everyone who has ever used film has had their disasters. The process of finding out why, and how to avoid them (instead of just adjusting a digital image) is very fulfilling.


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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:40 am
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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:40 am
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Excalibur wrote:
Hey we are suppose to be encouraging beginners Shocked
it might seem too "depressive", but I prefer to say everything important rather than only "nice" things - you´re right that film is forgiving, but it´s honest to add the BUT... Wink

the point of my post is to say, that if you´re beginner there´s no need to buy expensive professional films - because it probably won´t bring results which you´re expecting from film. also, when you shoot digital you are probably used to controlling overexposure - which is no problem with negative films, but underexposure may easy ruin your great capture.


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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:33 pm
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:33 pm
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berraneck wrote:
Excalibur wrote:
Colour negative film is so forgiving as you can make mistakes and still get a picture.
That´s true - but on the other side, it is much more difficult to handle to obtain really good pictures. "Amateur" films forgive you more than "professional" ones, because producers expect amateur users to not expose it precisely - they are simply made for bad exposure (even 2-3stops over or 1stop under!). On the contrary, to achieve great results with "professional" films there is much bigger need of precise exposure.

Generally speaking, overexposure of colour negative film isn´t a big deal - colours just get richer saturation. Problem is underexposure, colours get unnatural tones and grain grows much bigger and uglier. For this reason (and with manual-driven shutter cameras) I always add +1/3EV compensation and measure exposure for darkest place in the image. Using colour slides is just opposite of this process.


This is not quite true. Professional stocks such as Kodak Portra and Fuji's portrait films are actually softer in contrast, giving you more latitude. Amateur films tend to be rather contrasty, giving less latitude..


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Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:57 pm
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Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:57 pm
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berraneck wrote:
Excalibur wrote:
Colour negative film is so forgiving as you can make mistakes and still get a picture.
That´s true - but on the other side, it is much more difficult to handle to obtain really good pictures. "Amateur" films forgive you more than "professional" ones, because producers expect amateur users to not expose it precisely - they are simply made for bad exposure (even 2-3stops over or 1stop under!). On the contrary, to achieve great results with "professional" films there is much bigger need of precise exposure.


Actually, some professional 'portrait' negative films have more latitude than amateur negative films!

Quote:

Generally speaking, overexposure of colour negative film isn´t a big deal - colours just get richer saturation. Problem is underexposure, colours get unnatural tones and grain grows much bigger and uglier. For this reason (and with manual-driven shutter cameras) I always add +1/3EV compensation and measure exposure for darkest place in the image. Using colour slides is just opposite of this process.
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