Pushing Thorsten
If you are new to film many of the terms and concepts can be a little confusing. It certainly was for me coming from digital. I didn't know what film to buy, how to scan, what tools I need or even how to load my film. Thankfully my film loading has improved and I have gotten a lot of experience now shooting different 35mm films; TMAX, Ilford, Portra, Astia, Ektar, Acros and now starting on Medium Format 120s. A common technique with film is 'pushing'. It simply means to expose a film at a higher ASA than it is rated. For example, if I am using TMAX 400 I can set my camera's light meter to 1600 and set exposures assuming ASA 1600. When I develop the film I tell the lab that it is pushed to 1600 so they develop it like I shot on TMAX 1600 (if it existed).
This can be extremely handy as you don't need to carry a 100, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 film with you. I haven't pushed the limits yet but as you can see I can easily push 400 to0 1600 with good results. If anyone is more experienced with pushing film please leave a comment with your experience.
While I was in Sydney last I met up for a late night coffee with Danish Photographer Thorsten von Overgaard. I have starting travel with just a film camera and we were meeting up very late one evening so it was a great chance to push some film. Even shooting wide open at 1.4 I was getting a shutter speeds of 1/15 of a second or less. Pushing was the only option if I wanted to take a photograph.
Today's Configuration: Leica M6J with a Summilxu 35mm f/1.4 and Kodak TMAX 400 pushed to 1600
I really like how this shot came out... We were shooting a few shots and the moment we finished it started pouring rain. Great timing... I love how much contrast is in these photos. Compare these to the black and white shots from Thorston's type 240. I need to experiment more with this film but I love this look. I need to find my way to a jazz bar or similar...
Thanks for stopping by today...
