I am predominantly a B&W photographer. There is something about the medium that draws me in and its a medium I'm a little opinionated about. However, I'm concluding that not all B&W is equal; the traditional realm of silver halide film and gelatine prints has, in the main, given way to the digital age with its instant gratification and ease of workflows. But after some serious attempts to move away from the traditional approach, I find myself returning with an even stronger passion.
For myself, the search for an alternative was initially about getting time back; work loads and kids were becoming rather demanding, and developing film was an easy target for eradication. The first approach was to shoot C41 colour film and convert; and to a point, this approach can deliver some very pleasant results.
The two shots are converted from the new Kodak Portra 400, which is a very nice film no matter how you use it. As much as I like many of the results I get from a C41 conversion, I've never been 100% happy with them, although the more you use this process the more, I think, you tend to forget what B&W can look like.
I also find with colour film conversions you can very quickly create a tonal mix where something just doesn't look right through over working the colour channels for mixing - I tend to process all my images to a degree so the potential is always there. One way to remove that element in the process is to use a C41 chromogenic, such as Ilford's XP2 - above. As much as I like the way this image turned out, others on the same roll weren't so convincing in my view.
As much as having labs develop my C41 film and being able to use ICE during scanning to clear dust and scratches, there was always an even easier, faster solution lurking out there - D-I-G-I-T-A-L. To date I have 10 cameras, all film based and, outside of what comes in my phone these days, have never owned a digital camera.
Well, after a recent holiday back to Australia, where my wife's Canon G9 died, I decided to replace it with the new Sony Nex 5n. Its primary purpose is to shoot the kids but I also took the opportunity to get a digital camera that I felt I could use to begin getting a feel for digital B&W.
As much as my wife will live on the kit zoom, I splashed out and bought an adaptor for my Leica M lenses and the electronic view finder. All in all, its a nice small kit, however, I dislike what the crop factor does to my FoV. So last week I managed to go out street shooting with Getty Image's top Hollywood entertainment photographer, Kristian Dowling
I spent the day shooting in Singapore's Little India and China town with the Leica 21mm Asph Elmarit as my only lens. In general, the results from this lens, camera combination were outstanding
One in colour to show a general shot; this was with -2EV dialed in
but as for B&W, hmmm...
At a first pass, I felt I could live with this workflow but as day after day progressed I found myself reworking and reworking these images only to end up with either high contrast images with blocked up shadows - which is not my style - or just a collection of mushy mid-tone greys. The latter is how I would describe the previous four examples of the best output.
This last one is probably what I would consider the best of all the conversions but what it tells me is that getting a "good" [in my view] B&W from digital is very hit and miss. Shots in low contrast environments tend to lend themselves better but nothing is guaranteed.
As a comparison, after processing these images I went back and worked a previous B&W image that was, also shot in Little India, and on Ilford HP5+
Although an image I like a lot, I will at least concede its probably nothing special but the tonality and depth it holds is magic. Yes it has grain and no its not as pin sharp as digital but these are the only characteristics of an image. And after some reflection I have come full circle to realise that nothing, NOTHING does B&W like B&W film does...
My final compromise in returning to the medium is a move from powder developers to liquid ...days of HP5+ and DD-X are just around the corner
For myself, the search for an alternative was initially about getting time back; work loads and kids were becoming rather demanding, and developing film was an easy target for eradication. The first approach was to shoot C41 colour film and convert; and to a point, this approach can deliver some very pleasant results.
The two shots are converted from the new Kodak Portra 400, which is a very nice film no matter how you use it. As much as I like many of the results I get from a C41 conversion, I've never been 100% happy with them, although the more you use this process the more, I think, you tend to forget what B&W can look like.
I also find with colour film conversions you can very quickly create a tonal mix where something just doesn't look right through over working the colour channels for mixing - I tend to process all my images to a degree so the potential is always there. One way to remove that element in the process is to use a C41 chromogenic, such as Ilford's XP2 - above. As much as I like the way this image turned out, others on the same roll weren't so convincing in my view.
As much as having labs develop my C41 film and being able to use ICE during scanning to clear dust and scratches, there was always an even easier, faster solution lurking out there - D-I-G-I-T-A-L. To date I have 10 cameras, all film based and, outside of what comes in my phone these days, have never owned a digital camera.
Well, after a recent holiday back to Australia, where my wife's Canon G9 died, I decided to replace it with the new Sony Nex 5n. Its primary purpose is to shoot the kids but I also took the opportunity to get a digital camera that I felt I could use to begin getting a feel for digital B&W.
As much as my wife will live on the kit zoom, I splashed out and bought an adaptor for my Leica M lenses and the electronic view finder. All in all, its a nice small kit, however, I dislike what the crop factor does to my FoV. So last week I managed to go out street shooting with Getty Image's top Hollywood entertainment photographer, Kristian Dowling
Kristian Dowling
One in colour to show a general shot; this was with -2EV dialed in
but as for B&W, hmmm...
At a first pass, I felt I could live with this workflow but as day after day progressed I found myself reworking and reworking these images only to end up with either high contrast images with blocked up shadows - which is not my style - or just a collection of mushy mid-tone greys. The latter is how I would describe the previous four examples of the best output.
This last one is probably what I would consider the best of all the conversions but what it tells me is that getting a "good" [in my view] B&W from digital is very hit and miss. Shots in low contrast environments tend to lend themselves better but nothing is guaranteed.
As a comparison, after processing these images I went back and worked a previous B&W image that was, also shot in Little India, and on Ilford HP5+
Although an image I like a lot, I will at least concede its probably nothing special but the tonality and depth it holds is magic. Yes it has grain and no its not as pin sharp as digital but these are the only characteristics of an image. And after some reflection I have come full circle to realise that nothing, NOTHING does B&W like B&W film does...
My final compromise in returning to the medium is a move from powder developers to liquid ...days of HP5+ and DD-X are just around the corner
