We’re amateur cooks. We can bake banana cake when we feel like it, or orange cake when the mood strikes. But artistically, if we decide to take this seriously, maybe we should choose bananas and show the world everything we can create with them — presenting our best banana cakes to the public, to galleries and exhibitions — while quietly baking delicious orange cakes at home just for ourselves.
I agree that both color and black and white serve different purposes and I stand by that. Your photos show a reason why black and white though, is great (as you said) for reconnecting to the heart of photography... never used that film before but thank you for letting me know not to!
I'm with you in not favoring color or B&W. And I recognize the evolution you describe of the ability to 'read light' by photographing in B&W for a long time. I don't think you're bragging when you say you've got an exposure right just by looking at the light. It's natural to develop a strong sense for that (9 out of10 is pretty good though).
What I like about the photos you put in this post, is that they illustrate the things you notice by shooting in B&W for a long time, e.g. the pattern in the 'closed' sunflowers, the combination of the rounded shapes in the many fruits and the neatly distributed checkered parts of the linen canopy, the darkness of the piles of the 'tunnel' under the pier. I shot exclusively B&W negative film for quite a while, and I still enjoy what I've learned from doing so, even if I now shoot digitally (I have a roll of Agfapan 100 in my OM-2N though).
I understand your disappointment about that film, and it's a good thing that it was the last roll.
I love the cleverness of the "under the pier/over the pier" titles. I am glad to have your images to reference when I am considering new film. I often struggle with black and white and find that I much prefer it very high contrast.
Thank you for appreciating my captions! - I prefer contrasty black and white as well. My favorite is Kodak Tri-X. The Darkroom Film Lab has a handy film index that rates contrast, among other things. https://thedarkroom.com/film-index/
i wrote about that film too and yes, you are right - it is flat and (worst) can have manufacturing flaws (i've experience that only once in about 10 rolls). after i learned about being flat i continued to expose it normally but i told the guys in the lab to push it one stop in development - muuuuch better results.
I love the series, Alicia and the "Under The Pier" shot is a strong favourite, though.
B&W has always been my preferred medium. That started when I first became interested in photography as a 13 year old in 1974. For me, the main benefit of digital technology is the option to shoot RAW / DNG and then decide whether the end result will look better in colour or B&W.
Thank you Paul! - I have to explore digital photography more. Honestly, what keeps me away is photo editing. I’m not very good at it and I don’t enjoy it. I keep telling myself I need to learn more than just the basics, but I’m not very motivated.
I get it, 100%, Alicia. I enjoyed taking photographs, whether film or digital, but dreaded the moment when I had to sit in front of a screen and process what I'd taken, digitally.
The answer, for me, was to concentrate and take no more than 3 or 4 photos in one session and really concentrate on not clipping highlights. Pretend you're still shooting film. 12 or 36 on a roll. People take too many digital photos and then panic when faced with having to decide which of the 50 almost identical shots of each scene they will keep and process.
Experiment. Learn what the sliders do - then do as little post-production work on them as you need to get them to look how you want. It's a lot easier than spending hours and hours in a light-tight room with no ventilation and using chemicals that burn through your mucus membrane....!!
You can also have a cup of tea and a biscuit while you pick up tips from YouTube.
It's great to learn about the good and not so good film out there Alicia so thanks for sharing your results here. That tree is pretty amazing and it's a shame that second to last image was damaged with the juxtaposition of the figure on the beach and the sea against the industrial building in the distance.
oranges and bananas , different fruit
But both delicious.
We’re amateur cooks. We can bake banana cake when we feel like it, or orange cake when the mood strikes. But artistically, if we decide to take this seriously, maybe we should choose bananas and show the world everything we can create with them — presenting our best banana cakes to the public, to galleries and exhibitions — while quietly baking delicious orange cakes at home just for ourselves.
Under the Pier gets my strong vote!
Thank you!
I agree that both color and black and white serve different purposes and I stand by that. Your photos show a reason why black and white though, is great (as you said) for reconnecting to the heart of photography... never used that film before but thank you for letting me know not to!
You’re welcome!
I'm with you in not favoring color or B&W. And I recognize the evolution you describe of the ability to 'read light' by photographing in B&W for a long time. I don't think you're bragging when you say you've got an exposure right just by looking at the light. It's natural to develop a strong sense for that (9 out of10 is pretty good though).
What I like about the photos you put in this post, is that they illustrate the things you notice by shooting in B&W for a long time, e.g. the pattern in the 'closed' sunflowers, the combination of the rounded shapes in the many fruits and the neatly distributed checkered parts of the linen canopy, the darkness of the piles of the 'tunnel' under the pier. I shot exclusively B&W negative film for quite a while, and I still enjoy what I've learned from doing so, even if I now shoot digitally (I have a roll of Agfapan 100 in my OM-2N though).
I understand your disappointment about that film, and it's a good thing that it was the last roll.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment.
Such great images, especially the "upside down" one. I love black and white and color images equally, too, for different reasons.
Why choose a favorite when you can use both?!
I love the cleverness of the "under the pier/over the pier" titles. I am glad to have your images to reference when I am considering new film. I often struggle with black and white and find that I much prefer it very high contrast.
Thank you for appreciating my captions! - I prefer contrasty black and white as well. My favorite is Kodak Tri-X. The Darkroom Film Lab has a handy film index that rates contrast, among other things. https://thedarkroom.com/film-index/
I’m running my first roll of Tri-X right now! Thanks for the link!
i wrote about that film too and yes, you are right - it is flat and (worst) can have manufacturing flaws (i've experience that only once in about 10 rolls). after i learned about being flat i continued to expose it normally but i told the guys in the lab to push it one stop in development - muuuuch better results.
I only bought 2 rolls of it so I’m glad I don’t have to deal with it anymore. Life is too short to waste it on bad film.
I love the series, Alicia and the "Under The Pier" shot is a strong favourite, though.
B&W has always been my preferred medium. That started when I first became interested in photography as a 13 year old in 1974. For me, the main benefit of digital technology is the option to shoot RAW / DNG and then decide whether the end result will look better in colour or B&W.
Thank you Paul! - I have to explore digital photography more. Honestly, what keeps me away is photo editing. I’m not very good at it and I don’t enjoy it. I keep telling myself I need to learn more than just the basics, but I’m not very motivated.
I get it, 100%, Alicia. I enjoyed taking photographs, whether film or digital, but dreaded the moment when I had to sit in front of a screen and process what I'd taken, digitally.
The answer, for me, was to concentrate and take no more than 3 or 4 photos in one session and really concentrate on not clipping highlights. Pretend you're still shooting film. 12 or 36 on a roll. People take too many digital photos and then panic when faced with having to decide which of the 50 almost identical shots of each scene they will keep and process.
Experiment. Learn what the sliders do - then do as little post-production work on them as you need to get them to look how you want. It's a lot easier than spending hours and hours in a light-tight room with no ventilation and using chemicals that burn through your mucus membrane....!!
You can also have a cup of tea and a biscuit while you pick up tips from YouTube.
All that sounds like excellent advise, especially the tea and biscuit!
It's great to learn about the good and not so good film out there Alicia so thanks for sharing your results here. That tree is pretty amazing and it's a shame that second to last image was damaged with the juxtaposition of the figure on the beach and the sea against the industrial building in the distance.
Glad to be your guinea pig! 🤣 I’ll have to go back there with different film. I love the juxtaposition between the oil refinery and the beach.
Your photo of the selfie ladies reminded me of a similar circumstance I came across in Istanbul last year. https://iseelife.substack.com/p/istanbul-is-only-6x3-inches
Yes, very similar. I guess that’s what happens when there’s a picturesque scene. This restaurant has ocean views.