To continue my enquiry into a range of photographic techniques I wanted to experiment with using 3 x 4 Kodak Orthochromatic Film. I had never used this type of film before so was very interested to see the results. From my research I had established that ortho film does not see reds within an image, therefore on the negative any reds within a scene will be clear, and when printed will appear black. I liked this idea and thought this could add a very interesting aesthetic to an image. The other bonus to this film was that it could be handled in red light, as the film doesn’t register it. This was a definite bonus when it came to loading the film, as unlike the 5×4 Panchromatic film used previously, it didn’t have to be loaded in the dark. I had also discovered that this type of film used to be called ‘Blue Sensitive’ film, as any blues within the image turn white. Again this was something which I though could work in my images as it could create a ethereal look. This combination of colour changing made it a popular choice for graphics and document copying.
Another element I had to consider was that the film I was using was out of date stock from July 1975! This could cause several issues, the worst being risk of exploding when opened and the least, the film being less sensitive to light so needed additional exposure time. As I was aware of this before hand I could take this into account when photographing. The film was ASA 64, so it would already be requiring a significant amount of light, therefore would not be ideal for movement, but it would offer a very fine grain which would be good for portraits.
To shoot the film I would be using the Toya 5×4 camera, therefore before I could use the film, I needed to create a mount which allowed me to use the smaller (3×4) film in the 5×4 backs. My tutor came up with the idea of creating one from old used 5×4 films, as shown below. This enable me to use the normal 5×4 back, but was something I would need to keep in mind when composing the image, as the final picture would be cropped in from what I was seeing on the back of the camera.
Once the film was loaded I went to test the film in the studio. A scene was set up which included all the primary colours and subtle colours to test the tonal range of the film and how they translated when printed. Initially I took a digital shot so I had a record of the scene and colours to compare the film with later. I then went onto shoot the Ortho film. The scene was metered at ISO 50 (to accommodate the aging film), f22, at 125 sec and three negatives were taken, bracketing either side of that meter reading.
The film was then processed in the colleges D76 undiluted stock solution developer. Once the film had dried, the negatives were scanned, both as negatives and positive images. When I compared the three exposures it was clear the more exposed shot was the best of the three, confirming the alteration of light sensitivity in older film. I then compared the Ortho film image to the digital film. The results were really interesting. The red fire hose had, as expected, gone almost black, however the blue bucket was grey rather than white, and the green blanket wasn’t that much different in colour to the blue, just a lighter shade of grey. However although being very high contrast and having colour changes the image still had a very good tonal range which was aesthetically pleasing. Therefore I concluded I would like to try the film again for a self portrait.
Lisa Holmes MA Photography 