November 2024
Blog #9
Color me Monochrome
In my almost 9 years of being a street photographer I've shot color the majority of the time. Though I've always liked the black and white "look" I've only used it scarcely for aesthetic purposes and 99 precent of time this was made in post.
For the past year and half I've used my beloved Fuji X100V and the wonderful film simulations for Street photography.
In addition to the native film simulation that the Fuji x100v offers I have stored a few personal favorites on my camera... but there is only one that I use and hardly bother to change anymore.
The Kodak Tri X 400.
I love the look of this film recipe and after a few tries I tweaked a bit to get those punchy and deep saturated blacks. So instead of editing my photographs to reflect that look I baked it into the recipe itself. That's one of the many reasons I love my Fuji x100v.
As I mentioned I hardly ever change the film simulations on my camera, it's set on the Kodak Tri-X 400 permanently and my camera setting are also very rarely changed. My Fuji x10ov is setup for Street photography. I shoot at F8, ISO is a range between 500-3200 depending on the light conditions and shutter speed is a set to 1/500 to capture fast moving street photographs.
The camera is essentially a Street photography mean machine, I just pick it up and start shooting.
Enter the real Kodak Tri-X 400 and HP5+ 400
Since I ventured into analog film Street photography in May 2024 when I bought my Leica M6, I was super excited to try out the real film stocks. I was so impressed with the film looks that I was getting from my digital camera that I wanted to experience the real deal.
I couldn't wait to deep dive into understanding the unique characteristics of each film stock and figuring out which ones I would like or dislike and which of them would become my personal favorites.
Not long after I got my Leica and also started to bulk load my own film as film is very expensive and prices are on the rise. Bulk loading was also a good way for me to practice Street photography as newly minted film Street photographer without thinking too much about "cost vs click ratio" (read each frame is costly).
The first bulk film stock (100ft or 30,5m) I bought was the HP5+ 400 not a beginner friendly film stock to start with as it is quite expensive. Then I bought Kentmere 400 and lastly Fomapan 400 which I am yet to bulk load and shoot.
I have more than 100+ rolls in my fridge which is an accumulation of both hand-rolled and commercially bought ones.
The Tri-X 400 in bulk is impossible to find it's been in backorder since I started to track it last year. So I just buy the commercial ones when they are on sale.
A lot has happened since I bought my M6 almost 6 months ago, 9 out of 10 times I pick up a roll of black and white film over color and I've gotten so used to seeing scenes in black and white when I'm out there on the streets.
Sometimes I have to remind myself that I have a color film in the camera when taking a photograph or composing a scene. Because shooting color or black and white requires a different mindset, at least for me it's a different experience albeit mentally.
I see in black and white..
A few months ago I was out on one of my usual photo walks and I randomly came by a Porsche convention at the meatpacking district here in Copenhagen. I had half of roll of Tri-x 400 in the camera, and haven't finished a roll of film that fast since. There were so many gorgeous Porsche lining up that I couldn't help myself.
Sidenote: As a true newbie I didn't bring more rolls of film with me because in my limited experience I never could finish a roll of film when out on photo walks.
That day and experience taught me a lesson for life; Now I always bring extra rolls with me, because you never know when a photo opportunity strikes.
So by the time I finished the roll I was contemplating running home (about 30mins) to get my digital camera as the sun was also setting.
Yes I did indeed go home and came back again to the convention. This time I had my Fuji x100v with me and I instantly started snapping photographs of the vibrant colors of the masterpieces on wheels.
As I was reviewing my photographs between shots and I suddenly had a realization that I didn't like the color photographs.
I don't now why, but they seem "cheap" to me. Thats the word that came to mind as I was looking at the photographs.
I didn't give it much thought then and there and quickly switched film simulations back to Tri-x 400 and the rest is history.
What about color?
For me the Porsche experience solidified my transition into black and white Street photography for good.
I have since then only shot two rolls of color film and both times was a deliberate choice as I was looking to make color photographs. Rest of the time when I go out I shoot black and white.
Shooting in black and white makes me re-think composition, contrast in a potential scene and reminds me of a bygone era.
I talk about much more about black and white in depth in my vlog video: you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/BVZWyLykTtk?si=5YoWUsk35XP9PHfG
But what about color?
Well I like color and as I mentioned earlier I've shot color 95 precent of the time as part of my Street photography journey.
I'm a sucker for high contrast photographs where the separator is in color. I don't think I will ever not like color, but for now I'm enjoying black and white photography to the fullest.
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