Candy Cigarette, (click on the link to view the image)http://ffffound.com/image/50849f1627bedb597315a2fac1c1e5559ea2edc0
by Sally Mann, makes the case for shooting B&W photography in our age of digital manipulation. Modern color images are often so over worked in photo shop with oversaturation, too much sharpening, and wanked to the point of the absurd, that we lose sight of the subject and story the photographer is telling.
Granted color images are great eye candy for our brain however B&W photography started out as a way to tell a story and not just about pretty colors.
Therefore, in my opinion, if you have never shot film, or more specifically B&W film, do yourself a favor and enroll in a basic photography class at a local Jr. College or community education site to learn this fading art.In addition, there are plenty of inexpensive 35MM point and shoot film cameras at second hand stores (some as little as $3.00) to try your hand.
And...just so you know, some of the most common traditional b/w films still available at good Photo stores are:
Kodak: BW 400CN, T-Max 100, T-Max 400, T-Max 3200, Plus-X (125), Tri-X (400),
Ilford: Pan F Plus (50), FP4 Plus (125), HP5 Plus (400), Delta 100 Pro, Delta 400 Pro, Delta 3200 Fuji Neopan 100 Acros, Neopan 400, Neopan.
Keep in mind that the number that accompanies each film is its ISO, or speed. The higher the number, the "faster" the film, meaning that it is more sensitive to light.
Good hunting.
2 comments:
what about the expense of developing the film? I mean, with digital, you can shoot the heck out of a compact flash card and it doesn't cost anything. With film, whew, it could get pretty pricey, what with the cost of film and processing. Is digital b&w not a good alternative?
Good point and I thought about that after I published the blog. And yes B&W digital is a good alternative as well Kodak's FILM 135 24 BW400CN_Chromogenic film that processes like color film using C-41 so you could use any drug store lab to process on the cheap
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