#flimphotography

When you die, you can’t see sunsets

As part of the ‘Clean White’ project we are asked to have one of our final images shot and printed in film. With this we had a day of practicing film and then processing at a later date.

SHOOTING.

As this was my first time with film I opted to use the 12/FP4 film as it is apparently a little easier in post production and there are more images per film (36).

At first, the idea of film can be quite daunting. You obviously can't see your shots after shooting, you have to load the film into the camera, you need to get the lights correct as you cannot review via histograms or lcd screens.

As a whole, it is not complicated once you get used to it.

This was our setup - directly the same as it would be in digital studio work but just making sure we were even more accurate with the lighting, impossible to try and cut corners with film. Which is a good thing as it makes you pay more attention to each and every shot,

We were using this practice run as an test before we shot our clean white project with film. This allowed us to familiarise ourselves with both the camera and process.

PROCESSING.

Once we had finished taking the shots we kept the film and on Friday got to work on the processing. This was a lot lengthier than I first presumed. 

Firstly we had to get the film fully prepared in the dark and of course this means not being able to see a thing. What was needed for this was;

Scissors to cut the film once it was on the Film Reel/Spool.

Film Reel for the film to be put onto. 2x to help with stability or for multiple film.

Film Tank for the spool to be stored in.

Tank Funnel to allow chemicals to be poured into the film while protecting from light.

Column in order to slot the Reel on and stabilise inside the sealed tank.

FILM - Do not go in the bag without the actual film (first stage can be set up on the Reel before going in).

This is how the finished piece should look once the film is inside the tank and sealed. 

Once this is all complete, we move to the fun of processing it.....

This was near the final stage of processing due to the fact there was lots to do at the time. The processing stage is pretty simple once you are used to it:

1 minute with water in the tank to prep the film.

150ml of Chemical and 150ml of chemical per film. 11 minutes, mixing for 5 second every 30 seconds. Pour out after.

300ml of Stop Bath into tank and roll for 60 seconds, then dispose.

300ml of Fixer into tank for 5 minutes rolling, then dispose.

Quick rinse

Full wash of film (wither in bath or running water) for at least 15 minutes. (as pictured above)

Smallest drop of Photo Flo with water then agitate for 60 seconds.

Remove the negatives from their reels and hang them in a clean dust free area. Lest for at least an hour.

Cut and File your negatives to prepare for print (which we are still to do and will be noted at later date)

Steep learning curve, tricky in certain areas. I am confident that with practice it will hopefully become second nature. 

If anything makes you appreciate how lucky we are to be in the digital world that we are. Teaches me to take care with all my photos as if they were film, very much appreciate what I have at my disposal.