Kodak 400TX in OM-1

Today I'm sharing a roll of Kodak black and white 400TX that I shot in my Om-1 and scanned myself using this method here. The TX (tri-x) doesn't have quite the same contrast as the kodak t-max but since I process the photos myself, I'm not opposed to adding a little extra contrast in post! I also think the photos show a nice little collection of my happenings this first half of the year (nature, woodwork and cats :P).

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Kodak GC 400 rated at 200

I know I showed you guys some shots of this roll in my Japan film post but I wanted to expand a bit more and then pop that info into my film guide tab above. I've been a bit slack on updating that guide, so this is my push to keep it active and hopefully inspire myself to take more film!

The images are from a roll of kodak GC (ultra max) 400 that I used in my 1000f canon camera (which on a side note, takes my digital camera's lenses - a big plus in my opinion!).  The film is a standard type, jack of all trade, sold to the masses as opposed to something like Kodak's Portra aimed towards professional shooters. I have a horrible memory but I believe I picked up this roll whilst thrifting, so I have no idea of age but I would say colour and grain haven't been negatively affected.

I've come to learn that film loves light and that I have a particular love affair with film photos that fall on the over exposed side. When I shot film, I overexpose the metering by two stops which I have been loving but I decided to push it further and try an extra add on trick. It's a trick I discovered whilst reading about, José Villa's technique and how he creates his beautiful light and dreamy photos. He shoots 400 film but sets the ISO manually in his camera to 200. This means that your camera is going to work out the metering for 200 film, which is going to need more light and therefore you'll hopefully end up with lovely dreamy and bright shots. I've found film to be extremely forgiving, especially with highlights and the only time I've majorly stuffed up is when I've underexposed and my shadows (the blacks in the film) lost all details. Although dark shots might be your thing and a large joy of film is experimenting!

 

I scan my film using this method but I've got some supplies coming so I can try out the DSLR scanning method - I shall report back with how I go!

I'm really happy with this method of rating (in camera) your film at half its ISO and the processing per its original ISO. In other words, I loaded this kodak 400 into my camera, manually changed the ISO in camera to be 200, took it down to get processed and told them to process as normal at the rated 400 ISO.

I also wouldn't hesitate to pick up some more kodak 400 GC (ultramax) knowing it's cheaper than portra but still has pleasing colours and grain :)

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Film Photos of Japan

This post are my fav film shots I took in Japan, mind you I only took 3 rolls and 2 were already half used but I'm still happy I have a bunch of photos to share today with you guys. 

 You'll probably recognise a lot of these locations from my other Japan trip posts so I won't go over all the details but I will say, I used my canon 1000f film camera and three different film types. If you're curious about which film I used for what photo, you can individual click on any photo and it will take you to my Flickr page where I have the relevant tags. I tried a new technique this trip, where you rate a film (in camera) one or two stops under its rated speed and then have it processed at its normal speed. I think I will continue to do this because I found when scanning and editing the photos that they seemed to be lighter and softer, which is something I love about film. I also make sure I overexpose by two stops when I'm taking film too! 

Okay enough technical ranting, time for photos!

note: Those few black and white photos I digitally in lightroom oh and how great is that shot with Ben and those kimono dressed ladies!!!  I may of kind of stalked them for a photo and next thing you know Ben and I spent a good 15 minutes with the group taking there photos on everyone's cameras and phones.  I may even be in a few!

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