As you might have noticed, all of my film pictures have been black and white. This is mainly due to the fact that I am able to develop the B&W film myself. All color films I have to send to a store to get developed. During the spring I shot one roll of film in color, just to test it out. I had it developed (costs 6-7 euros + postage) and now that I have my scanner back from repair, I scanned the images (BOO, the scanner is still producing striped scans). And I do have to say I like the feel of the images a lot. I shot the film with Canon EOS 300V camera with a fresh Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 lens. The film was Fuji Superia 400.
The Yongnuo lens is a cheapo alternative to Canon’s nifty fifty. Some reviews have declared the Yongnuo sharper, although not everyone agrees. When shooting film, marginal differences in sharpness don’t really matter though because film is often a lot less sharp than digital.
What I like about the color films is the way they articulate life. The film relays the colors very differently than digital, even though you can apply filters to create film simulations in digital too. Still, there is something organic in film and in color film especially.
B&W feels often like something is missing (the color, d’oh! :)). Don’t get me wrong, I love black and white films, but now that I see what color film can bring to the table, I’m gonna make a habit of shooting an occasional roll, even though it costs some. B&W is still my main film format because I can develop and print it at my camera association’s dark room.
When I’m shooting B&W, I often find myself watching a nice landscape or pretty colors and thinking “I cannot shoot this, as the picture won’t communicate the beauty of those colors”. I often I feel like I’m missing out when shooting B&W. Shooting light or luminance versus shooting visible colours. Though B&W can communicate things a color photo cannot. Black and white is more simple, it strips the distraction of color and brings forth the subject in its pure form. When shooting B&W, you gradually learn what images look nice when stripped of colors. That is a different approach to shooting and one of the reason I shoot B&W.
What do you think, should I shoot more in color?