Strange faded effect?

[pjmuncy]

Hey all, I was wondering if any of you could tell me how to achieve this certain effect, whether it be in-camera, post-processing or digital manipulation. I see a lot of film photos like these that look very faded, and the colors almost warped and darkened. I love it and have never been able to figure out how it's done. I mainly use a Canon AE-1 and have never encountered something like this. Maybe these were taken with a toy camera or an older (and nicer) polaroid camera? Expired film? Thanks.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nishe/9597710417/in/faves-pjmuncy/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilbavvers/9653628266/in/faves-pjmuncy/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilbavvers/5352745369/in/faves-pjmuncy/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sid_black/8333470313/in/faves-pjmuncy/

(links posted, sorry about that)

 

[KmH]

The images you posted all looked under exposed, and shot after sunset or before sunup.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Looks like old photos/slides that as Keith said weren't exposed properly in the first place, and/or were sitting in a shoebox in somebody's basement for years...

I don't think they look like Polaroids, the first one however does remind me of some of the alternative processes being done. You could try expired film or some of the Lomography films, cross processing slide film, etc. if you want to do something creative and get some interesting effects - which I think can work depending on the subject and what you're trying to achieve.

I like experimenting with more unusual films/cameras sometimes but with standard C41 film and processing my film photos look as good as my digital (different paper, gloss etc. so physically different but quality is comparable). Toy/plastic cameras can give more soft ethereal looks and I get something completely different with those type cameras than when I use an SLR or rangefinder with a good lens. I find those to be something just for fun or for specialty effects.

 

[Derrel]

Three of the four (the last three) look sort of like under-exposed Ektachrome slide film to me. The FIRST image appears modern and digital and looks like the cold tone was applied in post. The second shot is badly underexposed for sure. The last two are exposed a stop and a half or so under, more or less. I'd agree about the pre-dawn time giving this kind of look, especially in the last two shots. None of these look at all like any Polaroid process I've seen.

 

[Nahin]

Some are pretty but some are much old collection better will be if you capture some photographs with new camera. And all shots in twilight and in eclipse.

 

[earthmanbuck]

I used to get underexposed-looking shots like this on one of my Pentaxes even in broad daylight. What the issue was (or what I think it was, anyway) was that somehow the zoom lens I was using had become unlocked from the body. By which I mean, the lens was still securely attached enough to be walking around with it all day and not have it fall off, but the lens wasn't actually completely clicked in.

 

[snowbear]

Judging by the keywords and the groups the images appear in, they are shot with expired film; I think the second one is keyworded "Kodacolor VR 200" and "Expired"