 Lesley A. Prentice |
Skin Tones Does anyone know what type of film to use and/or filters to get good skin tones when taking outdoor portraits? Also I would like to ask if anyone knows what settings to use to get double or triple exposures with the Canon Rebel 2000?
|
|
|
|
||
|
Ken Pang |
Lesley, I really love Fuji 160NPS. It's the best film I have ever used for portraits. Personally, I rate it at 100 to get a 2/3 stop over exposure. This gives me natural skin colour, but also saturated clothing/props colour. Just so people don't start thinking that it will only work for Fuji, Kodak Portra is also supposed to be a good film. Never used it though, but I have talked to some photographers who swear by it.
|
|
|
|
||
|
John A. Lind |
Hi Lesley, You didn't state whether you want B/W or color, so color first: Black and White: -- John
|
|
|
|
||
|
Dale |
Dear Lesley, I have used both Kodak Portra 160NC/VC as well as Fuji 160 NPS. Both films provide good color saturation for taking portraits. Between the Kodak Portra and Fuji NPS, it comes down to more of the specific signature of color saturation that each of these films will provide. If you use Kodak Portra, you should use a professional lab that will use Kodak Portra paper to obtain the maxium level of color saturation. Dale
|
|
|
|
||
|
Jon Close |
Using consumer color films, I get good results using Tiffen's "812" color warming filter, though it's a little excessive if you're shooting in later afternoon "golden hour" sunlight. It's meant to absorb blue cast from a flash or in outdoor shade. It adds warmth to pale, washed-out flesh tones. With black & white, besides the Yellow mentioned by John, I also like using a Green filter (#11 or Hoya's X1) to correct skin tones and darken lips.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Chuck |
Lesley, if you use CN film, you're left to the discretion of the person who prints your pictures. A good slide film would be Fuji Astia or Kodak E100S - both are 100 ASA films. By praticing with slide film you can learn what a good exposure is and what good flesh tones look like. Chuck
|
|
|
|
||
|
John A. Lind |
The mention of Kodak E100S, which is the professional equivalent of Elitechrome 100 (*not* the Extra Color!), reminds me of another transparency sometimes used for portraiture: Ektachrome 100 "EPN" which is very neutral and doesn't have as much saturation as E100S which has a modest saturation level. Many photogs want a very neutral response and do not want additional saturation for portraiture. With a very young and smooth-skinned subject, some additional saturation may be OK or even desired. However, with subjects (especially older ones) that may have age related skin blemishes and wrinkles, saturation tends to highlight these more. Not something you want to do if you want the subject to appreciate your portraiture of them! It's a similar issue to image sharpness in portraiture. Obviously you cannot rid a portrait entirely of prominent blemishes without retouching, but downplaying them is often all that's needed. Thus, selecting films with some modest saturation or avoiding it entirely can depend on your subject(s), and how *you* envision the portrait. -- John
|
|
|
|
||
|
Lesley A. Prentice |
Thank you to everyone for your answers, but I'm wondering if all the films mentioned can be used with a 35mm camera?
|
|
|
|
||
|
John A. Lind |
Lesley, They're all available in 35mm size. Some of the names mentioned may be unfamiliar because they are professional films (some are slide and some are negative). Nearly all 35mm pro films are 36 exposure rolls and more expensive than consumer films. You can buy any of them at a major camera store; they will be found in a refrigerator in the film section. You can also buy them mail-order from numerous sources on-line. I mail-order mine in bulk (at least 5 rolls, usually more) to reduce the shipping cost per roll. The reason for the pro film recommendations is only a very few consumer films are optimized for portraiture and skin tone reproduction. Consumer films are "general purpose" and as such tend to be contrastier and more saturated than many portrait photographers want. BTW, professional films are aged to their peak color response before shipping to retail and then refrigerated to keep them at the peak. The expiration date is geared for refrigerated storage. I keep mine stored at home in a Tupperware container in the back of the veggie bin. If you refrigerate any film be certain to let it warm to room temperature at least 45 minutes before opening the plastic cannister. Otherwise you risk condensation on the cold film from the warmer, possibly humid air. Even a month at room temperature will not really affect pro films. -- John
|
|
|
|
||
|
Lesley A. Prentice |
John, That is great information! Thank you very much!!!!!
|
|
|
|
||
|
This old forum is now archived. Use improved Forum here
Report this Thread |
||