Post by John Parry on Oct 12, 2005 3:33:53 GMT -5
Hi Everyone,
I should start by saying that this isn't a technique - it's an effect that I
discovered by accident, and did a little experimentation with. I found
that in strong light, with the aperture as wide open as the film would
take (and a little more), I started to get strong patterns appearing on a
beach that visually appeared to be featureless.
I experimented with a whole roll of film, bracketing above the
maximum aperture indicated on the 'Auto' setting of my BX20, and
found that the patterns came and went. The scene would appear flat and
featureless below the maximum setting, then a graininess would appear,
then the patterns (normally visible only in oblique light as at sunset),
and finally , people on the beach became surreal 'matchstick-men'
figures.
As the mighty Oddball said - "Man I only ride them - I don't know what
makes them work", but I think the effect is caused by the automatic film
processing system in use nowadays. It 'rescues' shots that a few years
ago would have been hopelessly overexposed, but introduces a whole
range of unpredictable artefacts. I say this because the effect doesn't
work with B&W film (which is not automatically processed at the
centre my local pharmacist sends them to), and the pictures invariably
appear in grey scale, the colours leaching out as the aperture is
increased.
What you can do with it is another matter, but it is worth a few shots on
a few films just to experiment. It would be interesting to see if a digital
camera could achieve similar effects in these conditions.
Regards - John