VINTAGE COLOURS!

ledicozza · Nov 1, 2006

Hi!
I hope You'll excuse me for my terrible English but I have a question for You:I would like to obtain vintage colours with mi film camera..how can I do?
I post an example of what I mean...If you are interested in yo can take a look at the flickr pages of this girl..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74766436@N00/

Thank you so much!!

I'm sorry but I can't post only one photo..

terri · Nov 1, 2006

You have a couple of options. First, you could shoot in black & white film, and then scan your images and, if you have access to photoshop or other image software, you can get the colors you want with the program.

You can also have actual prints made of your B&W pictures, and color them yourself, by hand. You can use photo oils, dilute painter's oils, watercolors, chalks, or colored pencils. If you enjoy doing this by hand, it's very easy to learn. Just have your prints printed on matte paper (not glossy paper).

Hope this helps.

ledicozza · Nov 2, 2006

oh thank you very much terri!!
But I meaned..an effect like the one in the link I wrote..with washy and pales colours..do you understand??
Thank you!!! :blushing:

Mohain · Nov 2, 2006

Try a low saturation film like Fuji NPS 160. You can also get some skewed colours by cross processing (slide film in neg dev, or visa versa), e.g. greenish shadows with pinkish highlights. Cross processing is very unpredictable tho

JamesD · Nov 2, 2006

Something you might consider trying is a double exposure with color film. Expose the shot normally, or perhaps with slight underexposure (half a stop or a stop). Then reexpose a diffuse white light source, a couple of stops under. You might have to experiment a bit to get a pleasing effect (if it works at all).

Anyone else think this might work? I'll have to try it myself eventually...

melvi · Nov 3, 2006

I wanna try with freezed film...I think that a termical shock change the reaction of emulsion..
excuse me for this bad English :-#

ledicozza · Nov 4, 2006

Thank you so much!!!
About the x-process,I tried It...It's a nice effect of course but not the one I'm looking for!
I'll try with the NPS but I didn't understand the process explained by james d!What do you mean with "diffuse white light source"?Something like a flash?
And Melvi,I see we are both italian..but freezing a film don't you stop the aging of the film??
Thank you soooo much!

JamesD · Nov 14, 2006

For instance... take the first exposure, of your subject/scene. For the second exposure, reduce the exposure by a couple of stops. Point the camera at a source of white light, with a sheet of paper covering the front of the lens (so all you see in the viewfinder is white). Trip the second exposure.

I don't know whether this would work, but the idea is to add additional white to the image, washing (desaturating) out the colors. Overall, contrast will be reduced, too.

It'd be tons easier to simply scan the photo, reduce the saturation, contrast, and brightness as necessary, and go from there, though.

mysteryscribe · Nov 15, 2006

Not to mention shooting a black and white negative then digitalizing it then color it with a tint program.... then desaturate it. what you get that way is a drastic reduction in the number of colors which is what vintage coloring as in 1930 and 40 style photography was.

I have a portrait of my first wife that was hand tinted that way in 1963 and it is gorgeous. Actually I don't have it any more but I remember it as gorgeous.