The challenge of large format colour

[Riverman]

Does anyone else find that shooting large format colour brings with it a particular challenge? I've been musing on this lately. I recently arrived back from my 2 years in the US with a bunch of 5x7 colour film (E6 and C41) that I knew I wouldn't be able to find here in the UK.

Yet now that I'm home and stuffed to the gills with colour film, I can't for the life of me find any inspiration to shoot colour under grey London winter skies. Often I encounter a scene which would make for a strong composition but which would just look weak and washed out in colour.

I think that black and white materials are inherently more flexible. I can shoot b&w in just about any light and the film and paper are not as rare or expensive as colour materials. I also find that in the urban environment (my prime habitat) there are often many more blobs of distracting colour in a given scene (whether it' a street sign, a car, whatever).

So anyway, I now have about 80 sheets or so of colour 5x7 and I can't for the life of me imagine where I'm going to conjure 80 great colour pictures from - particularly in an urban environment in winter.

Does anyone else out there feel this self imposed 'pressure' to do the film justice?

The irony is that if colour 5x7 materials weren't as rare as hens' teeth then I'd probably be shooting it with reckless abandon and picking up the odd hit now and then. Maybe I should forget the cost and scarcity and just go burn through my colour 5x7 and see what I get.

Happy shooting in 2012 everyone.

[kev curry]

If you can handle the expense why not enjoy it with abandon till its gone. If not, sell it on and buy BW film if you think its more suited to your grey habitat;-)

[Justin Cormack]

London at this time of year is very difficult. There were some lovely muted colour pictures on this forum a while back (can't find them right now) of woods and water though, that were quite inspiring for me. Shooting at twilight can add some more blue that adds something, and we have had a few clear evenings. Plus there is some colourful architecture around too... Right now the sky is a giant softbox as usual though and it is hard to be inspired at all...

[Greg Miller]

Overcast conditions make for a wonderful diffuse light for photographing intimate details with color. Bright overcast is better than heavy overcast but both can work well. Work on finding small to mid scale scenes with no. or little, sky in them. Leave the bigger scale scenes for when the sky suits them.

It can be a new way of seeing, but a great skill to develop and have in your tool kit.

[Bruce Watson]

Does anyone else out there feel this self imposed 'pressure' to do the film justice?

Not me. Film is a tool. I have it in my bag of tricks to do my vision justice, not the other way around. If it doesn't do my vision justice, I don't use it. Simple really.

[chassis]

I don't disagree with the OP's comment. I would therefore shoot color materials in the spring, summer and fall when some believe (as I do) that color in nature is most vibrant.

Another suggestion to shoot color materials in winter, is to do cityscapes and capture the colors there (vehicles, signs, lights, people, Royal Mail boxes, telephone booths). Another idea is to visit a botanical garden/greenhouse and shoot whatever is growing there.

Lastly, as I look out my kitchen window into my garden, I note that the bigleaf hydrangeas (hydrangea macrophylla) are a very lovely shade of brown, with highlights coming from filtered low winter sunlight. Adjacent to the hydrangeas are a nicely textured, deeply green boxwood hedge.

So, coming full circle, one could say there is a different color palette in winter as compared with other seasons. Not a better or worse palette, just a different one.

[Brian Ellis]

Sounds like you want to make photographs that look like a Paul Simon song, i.e. photographs that make all the world look like a sunny day. Which is certainly fine, there's nothing wrong with that kind of photography except that your environment apparently doesn't lend itself to it. But since you seem to find b&w film more suitable for what you have available to photograph, why not pretend your color film is b&w film, make the photographs, then convert to b&w when you scan it? Better IMHO to do that than to let the film just sit in the fridge while you wait for your environment and your color interests to coincide.

Of course there's always the travel option too but you certainly know there are other places that look different than London in winter so I assume your job or other circumstances don't allow for that right now.

[Riverman]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. This afternoon I pulled myself out of the rut and decided to explore what was on my doorstep in East London. I ended up shooting a couple of portraits of some regulars at one of the boozers in my neighborhood. Got to hear some good stories of East End past as well.

It's weird, large format on a tripod is probably not the best medium for shooting this kind of stuff but it has worked for me in the past in DC (see link). Now I might have a crack at doing something similar here in the East End.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbk21/sets/72157624396311475/

[Preston]

When the light is muted and soft, challenge yourself to see the intimate details around you. Look for color contrast; warm against cool, with open shadows. E-6 films respond very nicely to such scenes. If the dynamic range is greater, think about using a color negative film. Keeping the sky out of the frame in such conditions is a great suggestion.

Here in California, I often have the opposite problem: Bluebird skies and high contrast. So, rather than give up, I look for scenes that are in the shade and lit by the sky, or by reflected light from something outside the frame.

If it bugs you to have your color film languishing in the fridge waiting for the perfect conditions, what have you gained? Go out and have fun! :-)

Happy New Year To All!

--P

[John Kasaian]

Dull overcast days and snow makes bright colors, both natural and man made "pop" Why not take advantage of that?

[John Rodriguez]

I find my best BW photos use the same light as my best color photographs. The difference for me is subject matter (interplay of color, textures etc). As a result, I always carry E6, C41 and BW neg, using whatever I need for a particular composition I come across.

I shoot a good amount of color in San Francisco, it's great to contrast urban plant life against dreary gray foggy days.

[Alan Gales]

If it wasn't a challenge then it wouldn't be any fun! :D

[John Brady]

When it's sunny and blue sky I rarely take color images. Some of my favorite color images were made during light drizzle. It's like having the worlds largest soft box.

www.timeandlight.com

[Ari]

I like overcast days for portraits, I save the sunny/brighter days for buildings and such.

[E. von Hoegh]

Dull overcast days and snow makes bright colors, both natural and man made "pop" Why not take advantage of that?

John's right. I spent an April near Coblenz. Every day started out overcast and rainy clearing by early to mid afternoon. I came home with some nice morning shots.

[pdmoylan]

Shooting color film at the edges of light seems always to produce fare more effective results. Focusing with slower lenses along with the calculations for compensating filters, reciprocity failure and exposures slower then 1 second are the real challenge. The results are well worth the mental processes required. Use faster lenses to obtain precise focus. Of course, as mentioned earlier by many, overcast situations can also be desirable.

I tend to keep track of desired locations, seasons (all seasons have their advantages - (Yosemite in all seasons is magic), direction and angle of light, and of course weather conditions all promote that "image of the mind". When you are looking regularly at opportunities, that is situations that excite the spirit, this is the time for color film.

I tend to see B&W as a bit more of an intellectual process whereas color is is inspired by the moment.

[Richard Mahoney]

London at this time of year is very difficult. There were some lovely muted colour pictures on this forum a while back (can't find them right now) of woods and water though, that were quite inspiring for me. Shooting at twilight can add some more blue that adds something, and we have had a few clear evenings. Plus there is some colourful architecture around too... Right now the sky is a giant softbox as usual though and it is hard to be inspired at all...

This snapshot was taken late afternoon in Richmond Park early in November (35mm Portra 400). Despite the nauseating domesticity of it all I found the colours pleasing:

http://camera-antipodea.indica-et-buddhica.com/portfolios/portfolio-one/preparation/sundries/the-icecream.jpg

I'm not sure exactly what colour negative you have to hand but am sure there must be something or other in the UK that's worthy of it.


Kind regards,

Richard

[Brian C. Miller]

This snapshot was taken late afternoon in Richmond Park early in November (35mm Portra 400). Despite the nauseating domesticity of it all ...

And now that you've blabbed, she's going to unleash her legion of trained kakapo parrots upon you!

Personally, I don't find color "challenging," it's just that LF color is expensive. And I have to send it out of state for development. I suppose if I were doing a lot of portraits with it, I'd get the chems and run it through my Jobo. But for what I do, 'taint worth it.

[lenser]

Recalling a long ago National Geographic article on "The Monsoon" I did a Yahoo search (the monsoon national geopgraphic) and then clicked on images in the cross bar menu. I can't imagine a better source of visual inspiration for images made under less than ideal conditions.

You might take a look at this and then search for other images made under foggy, overcast and outright rainy conditions to see what others have accomplished with color films during non-sunny weather.

Then again, I relate to your statement about black and white. The color work of Elliott Porter has been royally praised for decades, yet I don't relate to it at all except in appreciating nature, while the black and white work of Adams, Steiglitz, Weston and so many other have me captivated.

[Robert Hughes]

Apparently Richard Mahoney finds women and children to be nauseating. Guess that explains why he spends his time in the basement...

[Richard Mahoney]

Apparently Richard Mahoney finds women and children to be nauseating. Guess that explains why he spends his time in the basement...

A somewhat odd if not perverse reading so just to clarify.

For: `... Despite the nauseating domesticity of it all I found the colours pleasing ...'

Read: `... Apologies for bothering any of you with one of my overly sentimental family snapshots but I found the colours pleasing ...'

You might like to note the tone of self-depreciation.



Best,

Richard

[Jim Andrada]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17745879/Corn-2-12-18-small.jpg

Well, not large format, but certainly overcast

[Lynn Jones]

For those of you with "grey days", use the technique that I have used for aerials over the decades. Shoot with tungsten balance chrome film, an 85B filter, after filter correction, under expose one stop, and push process one stop. You will be amazed at the color and contrast and may not notice the absence of shadows.

Lynn