One of my commitments to my art this year was that I would return to shooting film. I have missed it so and I have never been happier with what I shoot than when I am working with film. I picked up an Eos 1V last month and did a little 5 minute test shoot with Riley in our front yard. My little test shoot ended up being some of my favorite images I have ever taken of him. Oh how I love the simplicity of film. No editing, just shooting and doing the work in camera. The process just feels so right, and it makes my <3 so happy. I received about 100 questions when I posted some of these images in forums and on my FB page so I promised to share all the details possible! Here ya go!
I shot these with 35mm Fuji Pro400h film. I love Fuji for bright full sun shooting. The tones of the greens and blues are just always so yummy! Typically I rate my film at a lower ISO than it actually is so that I am over exposing it a tad, but this time since I was eyeballing my metering, I left my film rating at 400 and I consistently over exposed one full stop and exposed for the shadows. As with my digital work I love contrast and color, but I don’t like to take it to extreme. I also don’t like my film quite as bright as I have seen the trends leaning towards the last couple of years. Many overexpose portra and fuji 400 up to two full stops to get that airy feel, but to be true to my work I keep things a tad darker and have the lab push the film to add contrast. I probably could have pushed this another stop judging by the grain, but I still love them.
For this roll I sent it off to Indie Film Lab. They blew me away with how they just nailed exactly what I had in mind for post processing. I will definitely be sticking with them! I was so excited I did a happy dance. I had them scan with the frontier scanner. Zero editing done on these other than the few that you see that are black and white, I ran a black to white gradient over them.
Ok so for Camera settings:
ISO 400
SS ranged from 2000-4000
Aperture was consistently set at 1.4
Shot with Canon EOS 1V Camera and the Sigma Art 35mm 1.4 and Canon 50mm 1.4 Lenses
A couple of tips for those just starting to shoot film!:
Don’t be afraid to write to your lab and tell them what you’re looking for, show them examples, send them lots of loving adoration and chocolate and TRUST them! 😉
Keep a film journal of what you shoot. Unlike with digital you don’t get to look back at image data to see what your settings were. In order to grow and improve log what you shot, your settings, and any other details you may want to remember when you shoot it. By the time you get scans back from your lab you may not remember those details. It helps to know your settings if you see things you want to improve or change.
If you have any questions as all feel free to post in the comments below and I will edit to add answers!
QUESTION AND ANSWERS BELOW:
KIM PETERSON: Thank you so much for sharing your settings and tips!! Your images are gorgeous! I am learning to shoot film for the first time after shooting digital for 3 years now. I am curious as to how exactly you meter for the shadows. I am so used to pointing my camera at skin and metering to +1 or using the zone system. I have a Canon Elan 7E which is pretty similar to my Canon 6d. Can I just use my in camera meter and meter off a shadow instead of a highlight until it reads -1 2/3? Or does that not make sense in the film world? I am shooting a roll of Kodak Portra 400 and I did set my ISO in camera to 200 so that I would be sure to overexpose by a stop. Thanks for your generosity in sharing!
Kim! First of all YAY! So excited for you! Typically regardless of what you are shooting I would recommend getting a light meter. Nothing is quite as accurate. HOWEVER, that being said I have not always used one depending on the camera I was shooting with. Right now I am using a combination of a light meter App on my phone and my in camera meter like you mentioned. When I teach exposure, I teach the opposite of the metering for skin. Perhaps it is my landscape shooting background, but I don’t always want my skin exposed the same way every shot. Skin has different shades and shadows too and sometimes you want more mood or contrast in your image. It’s ok for skin to not always look bright and airy!.So I always look for shadows first. I choose which shadows I want exposed and I meter for those. For example with these, because they are back light, I actually used his clothes to meter off of because I knew the camera would be metering too dark for the whole scene otherwise. With film you have more wiggle room on the skin not blowing out, digital if you were to do this all the time you would have blown skin. One of the many reasons I LOVE film. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Do you have any suggestions on how to learn film more efficiently for someone who is low on income?
Rebecca: Absolutely! The great thing about film is that unlike digital there are great bodies out there that are extremely affordable yet still high quality to get started with. Sometimes the simple way to go with 35mm is to get a camera body that you can use your same lenses from your digital system with. For example I shoot 35mm film on a Canon EOS 1v so I can use my good L glass lenses from my digital setup with it. That body can be picked up for about 500.00. You can also start with something as simple as a Holga (about 35.00) with medium format film. My suggestion would be to join a film forum or facebook group devoted to shooting film. You can quickly get an idea of what people are shooting with and what style of image you like. Remember it isn’t the gear, it’s the artist!
