Black and white photography

[slakjaw]

About a month ago, I upgraded to the world of digital SLR from a digital point and shoot. I have been having a ball with the new camera and learning a ton. I found that I really enjoy black and white. IMO it has a certain dignity that just does not come through in color. 2 weeks ago my neighborhood had a big garage sale. I picked up an old Minolta SRT 202 with 4 lenses plus a complete darkroom set up including a Besler 23C enlarger and a contact print box for 50 bucks. I also picked up a Mamiya 645 for a song. I think I am learning more with the old Minolta than with my new shiny Nikon. This photo was taken with the Minolta and the 58 F 1.4 lense (the only one I have played with so far) I developed the film myself and put it in the enlarger to see what it looked like. This is the only negative I had scanned…. I have yet to attempt to make any prints but I am having a blast and learning.

[Superman]

My Minolta SRT-201 has been an extension of my eyeball for nearly forty years now. And yes, B&W kicks ass. More texture. More dignity, as you say.

[slakjaw]

Very cool!

[vash]

i can see you holding up your hand in her eyeball. "here girl!"

black and white is the best. i will never forget the smell of an old darkroom. i love it. the 23C was my old standby. i bought a great lens for it, and changed everything. i also remember painting the lightbulb housing white, and gaining a few f-stops of light.

keep it up. i dont have the room for a darkroom. think i'll keep up the bw stuff with a computer.

[vash]

are the chemicals hard to get?

[slakjaw]

You know, I thought the chemicals would be hard to find.. I popped by my local store and they had everything on the shelf. I got the ilford chemicals and it was 8 to 10 bucks per bottle.

[Superman]

You can also get (or....used to be able to get) bulk B&W film. That way, you carefully open the film cartridges, refill them and pop the end back on. Saves dough on film cartridges. You have to do this in complete darkness, though.

[vash]

Originally Posted by Superman

You can also get (or....used to be able to get) bulk B&W film. That way, you carefully open the film cartridges, refill them and pop the end back on. Saves dough on film cartridges. You have to do this in complete darkness, though.

i think you have to use refillable cartridges..the factory ones, i used to crack them with a bottle opener making them worthless.

ah..i'm remembering things. the bulk film was in a winder case..I HAVE ONE! you load it in complete darkness. then a tiny bit pokes out, which you thread into the refill cartridge. and crank. i think one crank has a set number of frames..so you could count the number of frames you could shoot. the ends were exposed to light, and useless. each crank made a click..so you could count. so you dont have to load each cartridge in darkness..just load the bulk in the winder in darkness.

slak. next time i'm back home in texas..i'll box all that stuff up and mail it to you. i'll never use it ever again.

[m21sniper]

I don't like black and white as much as color. Honestly, it reminds of me of looking through a thermal sight.

[slakjaw]

Originally Posted by vash

i think you have to use refillable cartridges..the factory ones, i used to crack them with a bottle opener making them worthless.

ah..i'm remembering things. the bulk film was in a winder case..I HAVE ONE! you load it in complete darkness. then a tiny bit pokes out, which you thread into the refill cartridge. and crank. i think one crank has a set number of frames..so you could count the number of frames you could shoot. the ends were exposed to light, and useless. each crank made a click..so you could count. so you dont have to load each cartridge in darkness..just load the bulk in the winder in darkness.

slak. next time i'm back home in texas..i'll box all that stuff up and mail it to you. i'll never use it ever again.

Vash! cool man! PM Sent.

[nostatic]

shooting film is like waiting to open xmas presents. Not very popular in our "instant gratification" society. I know I don't have the time or space for it, but film is awesome, and black and white is a wonderful abstraction of life.

[cgarr]

I love B&W as long as I am not taking them. Years back cruising around in the bug when we were out looking for farm land my little girl shot some of the areas we were looking into.

[enzo1]

Ansel Adams Photographs

[slodave]

Black and white, done right with digital, can be fantastic.

Not saying this is, but I like it.

[herr_oberst]

I heard that TX has gotten outrageously expensive? They make a yearly batch?

[Hugh R]

I used to shoot BW and remember that a red filter enhances it dramatically. Digital is great, but I don't think you can get the saturation or whatever its called compared to a chemical emulsion at the molecular level with true film. Not a big film buff, but took a class once on it while staying at a Holiday Inn.

[slodave]

You certainly can, Hugh. But you need a high end editor like photoshp and ya need to read up on tips by the pros. The current outdoor photographer is devoted to B&W.

I stared with a green filter on the pic I posted above, but I tweaked the filter.

[slakjaw]

Originally Posted by slodave

Black and white, done right with digital, can be fantastic.

Not saying this is, but I like it.

That is a pretty image slodave! Photoshop is another investment that I will do eventually. All I have right now is a laptop so I am looking at getting a bigger monitor and the software is expensive. I agree black and white CAN look pretty sweet even from a digital camera. I am learning so I will stick to the basics for now. The dog was taken on Fuji Neopan 400 I don’t think it will win any contests but it does register on my cool scale.

[slakjaw]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

I heard that TX has gotten outrageously expensive? They make a yearly batch?

Like 6 bucks a roll

[slakjaw]

Originally Posted by cgarr

i love b&w as long as i am not taking them. Years back cruising around in the bug when we were out looking for farm land my little girl shot some of the areas we were looking into.

like!