Hello, 👋 happy Tuesday!

We’re back. 🙌 It’s been a roller coaster the last week, but I was able to get out over the weekend and take some photos. Nothing quiets the mind better than a photo walk.

So here’s what we’ve got today:

1. 🎞️ Film review: Flic Film Elektra 100

2. 🌃 Nighttime photography on film

3. 🟪 Purple street lamps?

🎞️ Film review: Flic Film Elektra 100

Last week, I mentioned that the Flic Film Elektra 100 film that I ordered had arrived. Well, this past weekend, I was able to go around Red Hook in Brooklyn and shoot it.

I have to say, I really like it! It has a very fine grain, and the colors are great. It has a very clean, true-to-life, look to it. I shot it at box speed (ISO 100) during golden hour.🌅 I actually think this film would have done well in the middle of the day. At ISO 100, and shooting handheld towards the end I had to open the aperture more and more. The shallower depth of field caused some of the images to get pretty soft.

I was using a camera I normally don’t use. Usually, my 35mm camera is the Canon A1, but this still has a roll of Flic Film Aurora 800 (I swear I will shoot it at some point).

So instead I used a Canon AE-1. They are very similar, but the AE-1 only has manual and shutter-priority (I shoot manual so it doesn’t really matter for me).

I would definitely shoot this again (fortunately, I have another roll). I’ve been trying to avoid the harsh shadows of mid day, so I would want to shoot it later in the day again. I think I’d need to use a tripod so I can keep things around f8 or f11. Maybe I could push the film a stop?

Anyway, if you’re looking for a clean, fine grain film, I recommend giving Elektra 100 a try. 👍

🌃 Nighttime photography on film

Shooting at night can be cumbersome. You have to use a tripod, it can be tough to see and meter. Plus, finding that window of no cars or people for your minute long shutter can be a loosing battle (there is always that one car that turns at the last second 🤬). This is hard enough shooting digital, but when you shoot at night on film, you have a whole other thing to worry about…reciprocity failure.

Reciprocity what?

Reciprocity failure is a phenomenon that occurs with film during very long (and also very very short) exposure times.⏱️ It varies by film, but usually once you start getting close to 1 minute exposures the film starts to be less sensitive to light. To compensate for this, you have to add additional time to your exposure.

How do you know how much time?

There are apps, like Reciprocity Plus and Lightme that can help you calculate the exposure compensation for various films. You can also look up the film’s data sheet it will usually have a chart or a way to calculate the extra time you need to add.

Here you can see a chart for Portra 160 & 400 which provides how many stops you have to compensate at different metered times. 

So if your meter reading says you need to expose for 60 seconds, then you need to compensate by adding 2 stops of light. 1 stop (doubling the light) would be 120 seconds (60×2) and a 2nd stop would be doubling again (120×2) or 240 seconds.🤓

Why go through all of this?

Nighttime photography provides a whole new way of looking 👀 at the same thing. A spot you’ve shot countless times during the day will be totally different at night. What was boring during the day is now visually striking at night. By going out at night, you’ve basically doubled your playground.

Now that it’s getting darker sooner, you don’t have to put your camera away…just grab your tripod.

🟪 Purple street lamps?

What sparked the inspiration to go out and shoot at night was watching this YouTube video. Willem Verbeeck has a nice YouTube channel (I recommend subscribing) on film photography. I like his work, and he has a very calming presence. In this video he’s going around LA looking for purple street lamps. Apparently LED street lamps turn purple when they fail. Who knew?

Well that’s going to do it for today. I’ll see you Thursday! 🫡

Remember to turn a negative into a positive.

Ben Henschel

📷 Mamiya RB67 / 🎞️ Kodak Portra 400