b&w film


I am guilty of purchasing many presets in order to discover/lend a certain style to my digital photo editing. The presets I was most often using for personal work were black and white. At one point I tried to only offer black and white files to clients. I reasoned that not only would that aesthetic streamline my editing, but it would also tell a cohesive story when all of their sessions were printed together.


The more I work with film, the more I'm loving the time I'm saving while not editing (in spite of enjoying editing!) as well as the natural style each stock lends. Each season here in New England affects the natural lighting and colors of the environment differently. I'm playing with a variety of films to see which ones I like best at certain times of the year. Yet, when using black and white, I'm leaning towards one film, and that's Ilford's HP5 Plus.


When I loaded Ilford's HP5 Plus film into the Canon AT-1 35mm camera, I was excited to see if this film offered the style I'd been seeking from my digital work. I asked the lab to develop the scans with the sprockets included, which you'll see below. I really like this addition and may ask that they do so for all rolls as I can simply crop them out if I don't want them in the prints.


HP5 does not offer as much contrast as Delta 3200, but I like its softer feel and lovely grain for portraits, especially of children.

canon at-1, illford hp5 plus

canon at-1, illford hp5 plus

canon at-1, illford hp5 plus

canon at-1, illford hp5 plus

canon at-1, illford hp5 plus

canon at-1, illford hp5 plus

canon at-1, illford hp5 plus

canon at-1, illford hp5 plus

canon at-1, illford hp5 plus

canon at-1, illford hp5 plus

canon at-1, illford hp5 plus