Farfetched idea?

[Ash]

A long while ago I posted about Kodalith Ortho sheet film... Type 3.

Well of course we all know Ortho film isn't sensitive to red. That's all good apart from portraits with imperfect skin, or red-tinted hair etc etc. I'd asked also whether using a coloured filter on the lens would help.


Another thought popped up.. I fancy trying a few sheets of Kodalith through the Razzle, and since it's hand-held, I considered whacking the Vivitar flashgun on top.

I have a bag full of coloured diffuser boxes for the flash, so here's my question:

If I used a coloured diffuser, will this help capture a fuller range of tones on Ortho film?


My theory (albeit totally wrong I'm sure) is that by using, say, a light green box, everything becomes a shade of green, so the red areas can effectively be picked up by the film, tricked into thinking it's a green tone.

So the (pastel) colours available to me are:

Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink, Peach.


Any idea which of these would be most effective in altering a scene for Ortho film?



I don't mind if I'm shot down and called an idiot for asking, it was a passing thought after all

[Don Wilkes]

No, it will not work. If an emulsion is (by design) insensitive to a colour, there is nothing you can do to "trick" it. If it doesn't see red, it doesn't see red -- that's it, period.

Cheers,
\donw

[Ash]

Hi Don,

Thanks for your response.

I thought that I'd be literally changing the spectrum of light reflecting from the red objects?

[Vaughn]

The problem is red objects primarily reflect red light -- they will absorb the green light, and reflect very little light back at all to the film. It is an interesting thought, though...perhaps a green filter over your flash would make the ortho affect even stronger.

Vaughn

PS...I photographed my boys with some x-ray film (ortho) -- I did not realize how freckled one of my boys was until then!

[Ash]

Vaughn - I have some subtle freckles, but I also have not-so-good skintone, and a lot og ginger beneath the blond in my hair! That's a big reason I wanna pull out the other tones

I understand that using a filter on the lens cuts off light, so it will only enhance the contrast, that's why I was hoping using a coloured light source will affect the reflected light that the film captures.

[SAShruby]

I guess trying would resolve the problem. Maybe you will see what happends. I think if you have red which in not pure red, you should get something out of it. Like brownish or more yellowish would give you something in return. But it won't give you more if you flash it with monocolor. White light contains all three primary colors, so if you change to only one, it won't yield more grey.

I agree with others, pure red won't reflect even you flash it with any color.

[Ash]

Thanks for your response Peter.

Considering I'd like to find the best way to shoot people (or scenes that may involve people) I would have thought that the red areas are not pure red with living things.

As I said above my hair is fairly ginger but previously shooting without any colour-alteration, a fair amount of tone is visible as it isn't a block colour. I'll shoot a sheet or two and see what happens I guess

[SAShruby]

Only I can think of right now, you might try to play how to decrease shadows in your hair. Any color will be whiter if you make it more shiny. For portraitures, somehow, I would try to highlight the hair. Maybe, if you can accomplish it, it might give you less shadows, if that is what you're looking for.

But it sounds very complicated ...

[Vaughn]

Vaughn - I have some subtle freckles, but I also have not-so-good skintone, and a lot og ginger beneath the blond in my hair! That's a big reason I wanna pull out the other tones

Make-up and haircoloring/bleach?

vaughn

[SAShruby]

Make-up and haircoloring/bleach?

vaughn

Maybe you should take some make-up courses in local mall?