How to Push and Pull Film for Creative Effects: A Primer on Tailoring Your Film Improvement Method
How to Push and Pull Film for Creative Effects: A Primer on Tailoring Your Film Improvement Method
Michael Elliott - Fine Art Film Photographer-Flâneur and Londoner at Substantial
If you are a film photographer you may well have heard of the terms “pushing” and “pulling” film. But what do they imply and how can they have an effect on your pictures? In this weblog post we will clarify the fundamentals of pushing and pulling film and give you some strategies on when and how to use them.
Pushing Film
Pushing film suggests to intentionally underexpose your film at the time of shooting and then compensate for it by more than-building it in the darkroom. For instance if you have a roll of ISO 400 film you can set your camera to ISO 800 and shoot as typical. Then when you create the film you raise the improvement time by 1 cease (generally about 20% much more) to bring out the shadows. This normally increases the contrast and compresses the midtones.
Some films are especially formulated to be push processed. For instance Ilford Delta 3200 and Kodak T-Max P3200 (the P standing for “Push”) are really ISO 1000 and ISO 800 films respectively but their composition and grain structure specifically lend themselves to push processing. Similarly in the globe of colour slide film photography Fuji utilized to generate Fujichrome MS100/1000 with certain initially developer timings for processing at EI100 200 400 800 and 1000.
Other slide films like Fujichrome Provia 100F and 400X (now discontinued) also lend themselves to push processing up to 2 stops.
Pulling Film
Pulling film suggests to intentionally overexpose your film at the time of shooting and then compensate for it by beneath-building it in the darkroom. For instance if you have a roll of ISO 400 film you can set your camera to ISO 200 and shoot as typical. Then when you create the film you reduce the improvement time by 1 cease (generally about 20% much less) to lessen the highlights. This normally reduces the contrast and extends the midtones.
Pull processing film is extremely valuable for scenes of higher contrast exactly where you want to preserve printability or scannability - it brings the scene back into a usable dynamic variety. Ansel Adams notably utilized these strategies in the guise of the Zone Program to generate some of his most well-known function.
Why would you want to push or pull film?
There are many causes based on your inventive vision and the lighting situations. Right here are some typical scenarios:
You want to shoot in low-light scenarios with out working with a flash or a tripod. Pushing film can assistance you reach quicker shutter speeds and keep away from camera shake or motion blur. Nevertheless pushing film also increases the contrast and grain of your pictures which may well or may well not be desirable.
You want to generate a moody or dramatic appear with higher contrast and grain. Pushing film can boost these effects in particular with black and white film. You can also experiment with pushing film beyond 1 cease such as two or 3 stops for much more intense benefits.
You want to shoot in vibrant sunlight or with higher-contrast scenes. Pulling film can assistance you retain much more detail in the highlights and keep away from overexposure. Nevertheless pulling film also decreases the contrast and saturation of your pictures which may well make them appear flat or dull. With a suitable digital post-processing workflow this can be fairly straightforward to overcome.
You want to generate a soft or dreamy appear with low contrast and grain. Pulling film can reach these effects in particular with colour film. You can also experiment with pulling film beyond 1 cease such as two or 3 stops for much more subtle benefits. The difficulty with pulling film this far is that the improvement occasions come to be so brief that attaining even and balanced improvement can be not possible major to poor negatives.
Limitations and Drawbacks
Pushing and pulling film can be a enjoyable and inventive way to discover unique appears and types with your film photography. Nevertheless there are some limitations and drawbacks that you must be conscious of:
Pushing and pulling film only impacts the exposure of the complete roll of film not person frames. This suggests that you have to commit to 1 setting for the entire roll and adjust your exposure accordingly.
Pushing and pulling film demands much more precise metering and exposure manage. If you overexpose or underexpose also significantly you may well not be in a position to appropriate it in improvement. It is encouraged that you use a light meter or a camera with manual exposure mode to make sure precise exposure.
Pushing and pulling film may well have an effect on the colour balance of your pictures. Pushing film tends to make the colours warmer and much more saturated though pulling film tends to make them cooler and much more muted. You may well want to adjust the colour temperature or use filters to reach your preferred colour balance.
Pushing and pulling film may well raise the expense and complexity of building your film. Not all labs provide pushing and pulling solutions and they may well charge additional for them. If you create your personal film you will want to adjust the improvement occasions and temperatures according to the manufacturer’s guidelines or your personal practical experience.
Pushing and pulling film is not a magic option for each circumstance but it can be a valuable tool for expanding your inventive possibilities with film photography. By understanding how it performs and when to use it you can generate pictures that reflect your vision and style.
