First roll of B+W film!

[Karalee]

Id have to agree with photogoddess, and not cos I learnt in black and white either. Its cos things are a lot simpler when your working with black and white, no matter what your subject may be.

 

[ksmattfish]

I love Tmax 100, and use it for landscapes, street, portraits, whatever... It has a wonderfully smooth grain texture that allows big enlargments from 35mm film. Even though I personally don't like to blow 35mm up to more than 8"x12" these days, I have enlarged 35mm Tmax 100 up to 16"x20" with pretty good results (shot on a tripod of course).

The only disadvantage to Tmax 100 (IMHO) is the price. When I'm shooting MF and LF I don't need the super-fine grain, so I usually go for a less costly film, but I still love that Tmax 100. I hate :evil: Tmax 400 though.

 

[Tok]

What I usually do is, when my camera is loaded with B&W film, I will see the world in B&W through the viewfinder everytime I shoot. If I like the image I created through my mind, I would rekease the shutter; otherwise, I'd pass. That's my way, I find it pretty useful. And don't forget to get a mid yellow filtre (Y48) for taking white clouds in a blue sky. Otherwise the clouds and the sky will both look white.

 

[terri]

B&W is beautiful. What can spoil it is if an image comes out too "flat", meaning, you look at it and you DON'T see a good contrast between your white highlights and blackest of blacks, with varying shades of rich grays in between.

So, keep this in mind if you aren't processing your own film and you are less than enchanted when you get your prints back - it could be they were poorly printed from your negatives, which could be FINE. I think a lot of people see their so-called final result (at the hands of others) and think B&W is just too hard. It isn't - but it has to be treated in the darkroom with the respect it deserves.

Have fun with it! Try your roll of TMax 100, then try Ilford FP4, a slightly faster 125 ISO film, then try Ilford HP5, a 400 speed film. Study your negatives and ask for a contact sheet, too. Figure out which film gives you the results you're seeing in your mind's eye. A good photo lab is invaulable if you're not doing your own printing. Enjoy!!!

 

[grooski]

Well if you want to do portraits in B+W then you will need to get some filters. You know about the color filters right. It seperates the colors basically so you can tell more what they are and brings out the same color and the filter. Or in B+W it just makes it a whiter shade. So you will probably need you basic colors of light which are, red, green and blue.

 

[Patrick]

Ansel Adams is rolling in his grave

:shock:

You got that right!

 

[Mr.ReDEyE]

]I havent had that much experience with bw but from what ive done I learned one thing: THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO SHOOT WITH BW IS LANDSCAPES.

no offense kid but you haven't learned much if this is your train of thought....my specialty is BW landscapes and they come out fantastic.....BW captures the true essence of nature....

 

[Sash[DSL]]

Mr.ReDEyE
None taken, although calling people "kid" is very rude. All I was doing is sharing my own experiences, that is what forums are for. Im glad for you and your landscapes that come out fanatastic.

 

[Synergy]

WOW! What a response thanks for all your comments and suggestions!

I don’t know what to say! I ended up going to a National Trust Garden called Clivedon. It was a a really warm sunny day and I tried thinking about contrast, lines, shapes and anything but colour.

I remember shooting the end of a tree trunk thinking the rings in the wood might look good and trying to capture various architectural features that had distinctive shapes as well as shots with perspective like this long thin garden that a had a statue every 20 ft. I also took one picture of my wife set against a beautiful lake that had lilies floating on it, however my wife doesn’t like being photographed but I insisted as it was such a lovely setting!

My only problem was that I didn’t realise you couldn't just take the film into any place to be developed. But Snappy Snaps (what a name!) could do it for next day (£6.50) so here I am waiting. I didn’t want any prints as I intend to scan them in myself (Dimage Dual 4) I’m looking forward to the possibility of the types of contrast and grain free shots I’ve read about…well here’s hoping!

Cheers

Synergy