Anyone willing to help out an aspiring photographer?

[seaneschen]

I'm in the process of teaching myself the basics of photography at the moment, having just gotten a Canon AE-1 camera that I've been playing around with. I got a picture with it the other day, and I was hoping that someone could tell me how I got it.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrmlbmJwOi1qejlpao1_500.jpg

I took this with a 35mm lens, 800 iso film. Any information on how to get the faded, grainy feel would be great. This is the kind of photo I hope to get more of in the future, intentionally though...

Thanks for any help, and feel free to ask for any other information that may be necessary.

 

[pixilstudio]

well its terribly underexposed and the 8oo iso is the grain.
having shot film for professionally for years and taught photography professionally -you'll save a lot of money and learn a lot faster with digital (que the old timers who will disagree)

 

[Helen B]

It's well underexposed, then an attempt has been made to bring back what little tonal detail there is at the scanning/printing stage. Modern ISO 800 colour neg film is not very grainy, unless it is underexposed.

I suggest doing a test at different degrees of underexposure to learn how your chosen film responds. How do you decide on exposure at the moment? The in-camera meter?

Good luck,
Helen

 

[seaneschen]

Yeah, I use the in-camera meter. I haven't really known what its purpose was, so I typically would always take the shot as close to 5.6 as I could. Would underexposing be higher or lower on the meter?

 

[Helen B]

(I assume that the battery check shows that the battery is good - needle below 5.6 when the battery check button is pressed.)

If you are in AE mode (aperture ring on lens set to A or green circle) then you can underexpose ISO 800 film by one stop by setting the film speed to 1600, or two stops by setting it to 3200. I suggest trying both. The exact amount of underexposure will depend on how you meter - where you point the camera when you press the shutter release half-way to activate the AE lock.

If you are in manual exposure mode (lens aperture ring not at A or green circle) you take a reading by pressing the shutter release half way. Suppose the needle points to 5.6 then you underexpose by setting the lens aperture ring to a higher number like 8 (1 stop under); 11 (2 stops under); 16 (three stops under) etc.

 

[pixilstudio]

i would find a book on exposure and how aperture, shutter and iso work together im sure some one here can suggest one

 

[RacePhoto]

I'm in the process of teaching myself the basics of photography at the moment, having just gotten a Canon AE-1 camera that I've been playing around with. I got a picture with it the other day, and I was hoping that someone could tell me how I got it.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrmlbmJwOi1qejlpao1_500.jpg

I took this with a 35mm lens, 800 iso film. Any information on how to get the faded, grainy feel would be great. This is the kind of photo I hope to get more of in the future, intentionally though...

Thanks for any help, and feel free to ask for any other information that may be necessary.

Not exactly. I'm an old timer and I agree, I also have shot Canon film cameras since the 60s.

For the OP the savings in a few months of shooting digital will surpass the cost of the film and processing, not to forget the time it takes and the waiting to see what happened when "I do this?" You can shoot digital, over expose, experiment and whatever else and if it's bad, push a botton and it's gone. Cost = $0 to erase the image.

I have a suggestion for the economy minded too. Go to the library and get a book Introduction To Photography. Understanding light, the exposure, ISO, shutter speed and aperture are necessary. You can't just shoot without knowing how those three things relate to each other and change how every image looks. The basics of photography are best self taught by reading, not just haphazard trial and error.

 

[Kopernikus]

Well by Reading AND Trial AND Error 

 

[WesternGuy]

For the OP, two books come to mind, Understanding Exposure (latest edition) and Learning to See Creatively (Revised Edition), both by Bryan Peterson. They should help you get an understanding of the basics.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

 

[DiskoJoe]

One suggestion if you want to shoot film is to find a friend with a lab. but I would recommend getting a digital. Learning is much easier and cheaper with a digi as opposed to film. Exposure will work the same. So once you get it down you can use the film camera more effectively.

You can also buy film and let it sit around until it expires and then do funky things with it. Lots of fun.