“But Tim, he is an environmental portrait photographer you know. What is he doing in a travel blog and why would you want to show us how to photograph like Arnold Newman?”

Yes, okay, you got us! We know that, but while most travel photography revolves around places and landscapes, one of the interesting things about travel are the wonderful (and occasionally weird people that you meet). While most photographs of people we meet when travelling are quick images, there are times when we have the opportunity to create more in-depth photographs. The more you know about different photographers’ styles, the more you can develop your own unique one. This is why we’d like to show you how to photograph like Arnold Newman.

Using Arnold Newman’s style to photograph the Pianist

One of the things that Ally loves, is talking to people. Put her on a train, plane or crowded bus and by the end of the trip she will have made a new friend and know their life history … well almost. I, on the other hand, in spite of spending my life talking to groups of people as a trainer, am not so sociable. This means that Ally is far more inclined to create the instant and spontaneous photographs of people whereas I prefer to get to know them first and then photograph them in a very set up manner, so photographing in the Arnold Newman way just works for me.

If you haven’t seen the other articles in our “How to photograph like …” series, we have Michael Kenna , Edward Weston and Ansel Adams.

Not in the Arnold Newman style, this Cape Town Flower Seller was photographed in under 5 mins by Ally, but you can see the beautiful rapport she has with her subjects.

So, here is how to Photograph like Arnold Newman

Now if you don’t know Arnold Newman’s work, then have a look here. I am sure you will recognise many of his images. Whilst he photographed a few images in colour, he is primarily known for his black and white work. See our thoughts on what makes a good black and white image.

So how do we do that?

Let’s start by looking at what makes an Arnold Newman photograph unique.

On looking at his environmental portraits, the first thing that struck me was the overriding dark and haunting feel  that many of them have. Not that all his images are dark per-se, but they ooze that moody and serious feel that seems to personify a lot of the great artists and political figures that Newman photographed.

The next thing that I noticed in his portraits was a wonderful 3 dimensional look that they have. No long lens, no wide aperture, so, very little bokeh here then! (Bokeh = out of focus-ness for those of you who are not au-fait with super-photographic trendy terms!)

His lighting is another area that is very Newman. Very deliberate light and shadows that are perfectly controlled to create the correct ambience and contrast for the individual subject.

So where to start

Let’s look at the subject in their environment.

There is more to an environmental portrait than popping the subject in a scene related to their hobby or occupation. Arnold Newman is a master at composition so let’s start by composing our subject in a pleasing way.

Design features to look for:

• lines that lead in to the subject
• symmetry
• repetition
• negative space
• rule of thirds.

For my pianist I saw the repetition of the strings leading to her, the reflection of her in the black piano lid and the lines as my main environment composition elements.

I also really like the large white negative space like silence just waiting to be filled by the piano sound.

Subject on the thirds

Lines pointing to main subject

Triangle holds the subject in the negative space

I removed the distracting wall hanging with the content aware fill tools in Photoshop

Lighting

To photograph like Arnold Newman you need to have control over your lighting.

Adding light

If like us you are traveling light you probably don’t have a full lighting kit with you however there are other ways to get light to do what you want it to do. Reflectors. Anything can be a reflector from a travel fold up circle type to an old white shirt you have in your backpack.  A reflector can be highly reflective and harsh ( think tinfoil) or soft and gentle (old white T-Shirt).

These reflectors can be used in your scene to add light to darker areas and augment details you wish to show the viewer.

Subtracting light

This is the opposite effect. Use a black reflector to remove light from overly bright parts of the image or to darken down areas to get that unmistakable Arnold Newman heavy shadow on face signature look.

We used a reflector to add to the face details and then used burning in at the processing stage to darken down some unwanted details. See our tutorial on dodging and burning.

Although we used softer lighting as we didn’t have a full lighting kit with us, these techniques enabled us to increase the image contrast. However, to truly photograph like Arnold Newman, we should have had more side lighting.

Silver reflector to add harsh light to the subject

Subject’s demeanour

Most of Newman’s subjects are serious to the point of being sombre. These images are not ‘happy snaps for the family album’ and the serious look, directly into the camera, helps us to see into the subject’s soul.

We find asking the subject to think about their art, music or profession usually brings a deep look into their eyes and also helps them to relax and not concentrate on what we are doing with the camera.

You are unique

As with all our ‘How to photograph like….’ series, use your favourite photographers to help you find your own style. Learning from them might mean mimicking their work at first, but after a while you will add your own uniqueness to your images. Arnold Newman’s portraits look the way they do, not because of his technique, but because he had an amazing way of seeing his subjects. Every one of us has a unique way of looking at people and we should embrace that difference and use it to create our own unforgettable images.

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So, you’ve bought your beautiful film camera and are ready to take a trip to give it a jolly good work out. Now you need to feed it with Kodak, Ilford or Fujifilm’s finest offering. So what are the best black and white films for travel photography? Going online to Amazon or one of the many photographic stores that sell film can leave you bewildered. So many brands to choose from? What ISO do I need? How many rolls should I buy? If I buy too many will they keep for next year’s trip? Still need to find a camera? Check out our guide.

Fear not. We will lead you out of the quagmire of all these issues. We will also address the questions of what hot weather does to film and even whether x-rays affect it.

Decide on an ISO

Let us start our film buying journey by deciding on what ISO to get.

This is where you need to ask yourself some searching questions. What will the weather be like – sunny, bright, dark, overcast or maybe you’ll even be doing night-photography? Will the subject be moving or stationary – candid, landscape, cityscape people, animals etc?

All these questions will help you decide what speed ISO you require the bulk of your film to be.

If you are from a digital background then you’ll find black and white films don’t have the same ISO range you might be used to. The majority of films come in 50, 125 and 400 ISO with a few at 3200. We can always adjust the ISO with development techniques (‘push’ or ‘pull’ the film) but that is a story for another post.

If in doubt take a range of film. Remember that unless you have 2 film camera bodies you will have to change film when you need to change ISO so it is sometimes wise to buy rolls in 24 exposures rather than 36.

Black and white film for travel photography in Venice on contact sheet

So how many rolls?

In many countries, it’s exceptionally difficult to buy Black and White film now, so take more than you think you will need. Remember it’s not digital, so take your time to compose each image before pressing the shutter button. You will be surprised how few images you actually take compared to digital but you will be even more surprised at the high number of amazing photographs you create. Still not sure about Black & White? Check out what we suggest makes a good black and white photo.

Brands

This is where we come to personal preference. Different brands have different characteristics (looks) so experiment before you go. Completely new to all this? See our guide on how to load film into a camera.

For example Kodak Tri-X has a candid photojournalism and grainy look while Ilford Pan F 50 ISO is excellent for fine grain landscapes. Ilford FP4 125 ISO is a good all rounder.

Of course while the film has a ‘look’, its character changes with different developer chemicals (as well as printing paper and toning chemistry, if you’re not going to go hybrid and scan the negs to your computer).

Here are some more of the more popular black and white films for travel photography

Kentmere –   Kentmere is produced by Harman who also produce Ilford. It was always seen as the budget option.

Rollei RPX – the new Agfa APX fine grain film. They bought the Agfa technology when Agfa went bankrupt.

Rollei Retro 400s – high contrast fine art film – has an IR layer so cuts through haze well. Also ex Agfa technology.

Agfa APX – Lupus, who now sells Agfa, bought trademark but not technology. It’s not the original Agfa and not as good as the original either.

Kodak Tri-X 400 – unique grain characteristics with a good tonal range.

Kodak T-MAX 100 and 400 – T grain structure rather than classic or cuboid grain structure – for people who don’t like grain.

Kodak T-MAX P3200 – low light grainy film

Ilford XP2 super – process with a colour processing called C41. Any D&P lab can do it.

Ilford Delta 100 and 400 – not T grain but similar results.

Ilford Delta 3200 – low light grainy film.

Fujifilm Neopan  Acros 100 – High quality traditional Black and white films.

Fujifilm Neopan 400CN – Processed in C41 chemistry like Ilford XP2. (Unfortunately it is no longer produced)

For something totally different try out Ilford SFX 200. This film has an extended red sensitivity which by using a deep red filter can make the sky go almost black, and green vegetation almost white. For more effects you can get with filters, see our 5 essential filters for black and white photography.

Where to buy these films.

In the UK we use AG-Photographic or Amazon. For the rest of the world we suggest Amazon or a local traditional photographic specialist.

Do we have a preference for the best black and white films for our travel photography? Well, we are rather partial to Ilford FP4 for 125 ISO all round photography. For lower light situations, we tend to use HP5 by Ilford 400 ISO. We are also very fond of Kodak Tri-X as it is 400 ISO and very flexible (forgiving for under and over exposure) It also has a beautiful film grain so loved by old school photojournalists the world over.

Will the weather affect my film?

The answer is yes. Hot weather will slowly change the ISO of your film.

The geeky explanation: When film is manufactured it is done at a specific ISO. This is usually different to the stated ISO on the box as the manufacturers know that the film will receive heat before it gets loaded into your camera. This could be from the shipping in a hot container to the country for sale, or could be from sitting in a hot shop or warehouse. To compensate, the manufacturers make the film at a different ISO to stated. They just guess (albeit an educated one) what it will be when it reaches the camera after “cooking” in the heat of normal shipping.

If you are traveling to a very hot climate with a lot of film it is recommended that you keep your film in a cooler bag to stop the ISO increase. When I used to shoot film professionally we used to buy film marked pro. This wasn’t just a marketing ploy. The pro film was made and shipped at its stated ISO and then kept in a fridge (or frozen) to make sure the ISO did not change.

The only way around the ISO problem if you are being very accurate (read picky) is to develop one roll to see if the film is under or over exposed due to ISO ageing. Then you can adjust the development time of all the rest to compensate. Just make sure all the films are from the same batch.

Should this keep you up at night worrying about your films exposures? No. Most people won’t even notice the ISO difference.

Will X-rays affect my film?

Yes. Every time your film is x-rayed it is exposed a tiny amount. One or 2 x-rays won’t really make too much difference. If you are country hopping through multiple x-rays you could always ask the airport security to hand check the film. Remember that some security personnel are nicer than others and it always helps to smile and ask politely as they don’t have to do it. The higher ISO films will be more affected than the lower ones.

Once again don’t worry too much about this. Most people probably won’t notice the difference.

Let us sum this up now

What are the best black and white films for travel photography? They all are. It just depends on your own requirements but these are a few suggestions to get you going.

Experiment with a few brands and types before you go, to see what your personal preference for the film characteristics are.

Before you start putting tons of film into your Amazon basket take a moment to decide the percentage of high, normal or low light situations you might encounter.

Take more film than you think you need. Keep it cool in a fridge or mini bar at the hotel and the excess should last you till your next trip. You can always keep it in the fridge at home.

Most importantly – just enjoy the whole photographic creation process.

And if you’re not ready for the move over to film yet, check out our guide on converting colour to black and white digitally!

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Everyone has seen the images of scenes where the sky looks really dark and the clouds stand out and look awesome. From a slightly darkened down adjustment to an almost black sky these skies just bring out the cloud formations beautifully. We’d like to show you how you can also make the sky dark in a photo, whether it’s black and white film, black and white digital, colour film a or colour digital. Each requires a slightly different technique but by the end of this post you will be a “dark sky photo-ninja”!

Black and white film

Black and white film uses a full range of colour to create a full range of tones on your black and white negative. What we need to do, is to stop some or most of the blue in the scene from reaching and exposing the film. To do this we use a filter. The filter we need to stop blue is the opposite to blue on the colour spectrum, so a filter that is yellow, orange or red will do the trick. Try out different colours to achieve different amounts of darkness. See our post on what makes a good black and white image. New to film photography? See our guide on best film cameras for beginners.

To make the sky dark in a black and white film image use a yellow filter – Hoya make really good quality filters

A few things to note:

• Anything blue in the scene will also go darker.
• A filter stops light from getting to the film so if you are using a hand held meter you might need to compensate for the exposure. A through the lens meter should give you an accurate reading.
• (You can also use a polarizing filter like in colour film. See below.)
• Experiment with other colour filters. A colour filter in black and white photography will lighten the same colour and darken the opposite one.
• If you are printing your own photographs you can also ‘burn’ in the sky in the darkroom.

Colour Film

You can’t use a red, yellow or orange filter to make the sky dark in a colour film photo, as it will just give you a colour cast. So how do we do it? We use a polarizing filter.

Here is the techy-geek explanation first, and then I’ll do the normal human one after that.

Light reflected from a non-metallic surface becomes polarized. A polarizer allows light to pass in only one direction. This allows us to reduce reflections on non-metallic objects.

Light from the sky is also polarized, so a polarizing filter will polarize the light and reduce how much light enters the camera. As a result this will make the sky dark in a photo.

The normal persons explanation!

A polarizer will darken down blue sky but not affect clouds. (The effect is most prevalent on the area of sky that is at 90 degrees from the sun – Look at the sun and then the darkest sky will be at 90 degrees.). It will also reduce reflections which can make trees etc seem rather vivid in colour. To use the polarizer just turn the filter until the sky goes dark or the reflections disappear.

To make the sky dark in a colour film image use a polarising filter

A few things to note:

• This polarizing filter technique will work with both film and digital, colour and black and white.
• There are 2 types of polarizer. A linear and a circular. A circular CPL polarizer is best for modern cameras as linear polarizers can affect exposure meters and autofocus adversely.
• In case of a photographic emergency you can even use your polarized sunglasses in front of the lens to achieve a dark sky.

Black and white as well as colour digital

Lightroom or Camera Raw converter to the rescue. Find the HSL / HSB (Hue, Saturation and Lightness/ Brightness) tab in either software package. Choose the Lightness or Brightness tab and move the blue slider over to the left to darken down the blue of the sky. (This technique will also darken down any other blues in the image.) Not sure whether you want to colour or black and white? See our video on how to change colour to black and white in just 30 seconds.

Using Photoshop? See our Top 10 favourite shortcuts.

Use camera Raw to make the sky dark in a photo like this one of the Vatican statues

Anything else?

Do remember that a dark sky, whilst looking awesome, can also give the post–apocalyptic feel to some images that you might not be looking for. Photograph the same image with and without filters to give yourself more final options. If your sky exposures are a little out with the highlights and shadows, check out how you can rescue them with Camera Raw.

There you have it. A few ways to make the sky dark in a photo. Most of all – have fun doing it.

The post How to make the sky dark in a photo appeared first on ImageExplorers.

So you have bought your first ever film camera and want to get a new box of film ready to pop in so you can join the world of analogue photography. Let us show you how to load film into a camera. This guide is for traditional 35mm SLR (single lens reflex) cameras rather than the rangefinder (Leica) style body. If you’re not sure what camera to get, see our guide here.

So what film should I buy?

Photographic film comes in 3 main types. Colour negative, colour transparency (known as “tranny”) and finally black and white. The films also have various sensitivities to light. These are measured in ISO. The higher the number, the more sensitive the photographic film is to light but the more grainy the image will appear. Most black and white film starts from around ISO 50. This is known as a ‘slow’ or a ‘low grain’ film. At the other extreme there are ISO 3200 films. These are very light sensitive but have a very pronounced graininess in the image. These are called ‘fast’ or ‘high grain’ films. Most people tend to choose a ‘normal’ film of around 125 or 400 ISO.

35mm film brands

So what film brand? Well there are quite a few brands available and each has there own subtle characteristic but I would suggest starting with one of the main ones. Kodak Tri-X or T Max, Ilford FP4, Ilford HP5, Ilford Delta or even Fuji Neopan. Any of those will be an excellent start.

How to load film into a 35mm camera

Open the film from its iconic little black plastic container.

Pull the film just a little – about a couple of inches. Now open the back of the camera by pulling up the winder (rewind knob) – normally on the left hand side of the camera. It will give you a satisfying click and the back will pop open.

Now look at the sprocket on the right hand side inside your camera. You will see that there’s a slit in it. Place the cut-off end of the film, into the slit.

Then with your thumb, wind the bottom of that sprocket to the left, or using the film advance lever, just a little to ensure that the film has ‘caught’.

Place the film canister into the slot on the left hand side – you may need to pull it a little more to the left for it to reach.

Close the back of the camera – ensure it ‘clicks’ shut and ensure the winder is down. It’s a good idea to very gently wind the winder clockwise a little, to take up any slack of the film.

Then make sure that the winder is pushed back down in its place.

Now you need to move the film on a few shots to ensure that any exposed film is out of the way. Do this by pushing the shutter and winding on with the winder until the counter shows ‘0’. This will usually be about 3-4 clicks.

So now you know how to load film into a camera, get out there and create some awesome images! And remember … you can’t check the back to see how your image looks! If you’re not sure what makes a great black and white image, read more here.

How to unload film from a 35mm camera

When your film finishes, it will tell you as you won’t be able to wind it on anymore. Depending on how you loaded, occasionally you could get thrifty and manage to get an extra image out of your 35mm film.

To unload your film from a 35mm camera, turn it upside down and push the small button on the bottom right in.

Now wind the rewind knob clockwise until you feel the film release. You can now open the back and remove the film. You can wind the film all the way back in if you wish. BUT, if you do decide to leave a small tail, it’s best to fold it over, so you know it’s been exposed. Leaving a tail can help you or the people who process your film.

If you do shoot any film, do let us know. If you stick with digital, check out our post on converting colour to black and white.

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