The results of my first week of my '52 rolls of film in 52 weeks' project are back. I'm quite happy with the outcome of this very specialised Black & White film.
The great thing about film is that I shot these so long ago (over 2 weeks now) that I now have little recollection of what I was photographing. That's the beauty of it - you have a chance to remove yourself emotionally from the image and have a more balanced view of it when you see the final copy.
So, this film is quite special. It has a ridiculously high ISO (in simple terms that means how sensitive the film is to the available light), so it can be used in darker situations (indoors or outdoors) without flash and not come out as a photo of just darkness. I won't go into detail but a "normal" day time ISO is 200, and it goes up exponentially. In a digital camera you change the ISO at the switch of a button (as you have a sensor instead of film). Still, nothing beats film for "that film look" (no pun intended).
It is also Black & White, meaning with a higher ISO you will get more grain. And grain on film looks so much better than the equivalent on digital (also known as "noise").
Night shot where 'grain' looks cool in film photography
So back to the film. I shot these on a walk around Frankfurt on the edge of sunset and right after into the night. I am actually quite pleased with the results, as I was not sure what such a high ISO would do to the photos. Black & White is tricky to master as you need to 'train yourself' to observe what you see in front of you but the different contrasts and textures. But that's the joy of practice and ongoing learning. I'd like to use this film again in future for indoor concerts.
Overall result: PASSED
A selection of my favourite photos from the roll below. I hope you enjoyed reading my first impressions and my first post of 52! Weeks 2 and 3 photos are on their way and I will post the results very soon. Week 2 in particular was a failed experiment using a disposable camera (yes they still make those!).
And as always - stop reading this and go take more photographs!
See you later,
Neil
Images below are clickable for full screen viewing
