The beauty of Black and White Film Photography

Here is a selection of black and white photos I have taken, developed and processed. All photos were taken using Nikon FM10 film camera and Kodak Tmax400 film. I developed the film in VC darkroom and print on photo papers. Then I scanned the printed photos. So the resolution and quality of photos may not be as perfect as printed photos.

Leaf Less

Walkway

Lion

Along Singapore River

In my opinion, Black and white photography deals much more with light. While shooting photos, I need to check the brightness and lightness of the scene. Unlike digital cameras, I cannot review the photo I have taken in film camera. Therefore, I could not tell whether the photos are in correct exposure or not. Moreover, the camera I was using is totally manual. I need to turn the dial to roll the film every time after taking one shot. All shutter speed, aperture size, ISO settings and focus are manual. There is only three signs +, 0 and - to indicate the exposure of the scene. So, it depends on the experience and skill of a photographer to shoot nice shots.

Then, I needed to develop the films in the darkroom. The most difficult stage is the time when I need to roll the films on to film reels to be processed. That process must be done in total darkness. All lights in the darkroom are switched off and I couldn't see any thing at that moment. That darkness makes the reeling process more difficult because I could not see anything and the film de-rails on the reel so many times. It took much time.

After that, the remaining steps are easy and standard. Need to wash the container that contains the film with many chemicals such as developer, stop bath, fixer, etc. in many rounds. It took about an hour to finish.

Then, the real excitement comes when the container was opened. I could see the images on the negative!!! But, the negative was put in the drying machine for about 10 minutes to dry completely.

Then, can print the photos on special papers which contain chemicals on its surface. The printing process also must do in darkness because the photo papers are also sensitive to light. But this time, it is not total darkness. Safe lights (very dim and red or orange in color) can be switched on.

Black and white Film photography deals with light two times. First time, is while shooting when the light passes through the camera lens and hit the film. The second time is while printing. The light from photo enlarger passes through the negative film and hit the photo paper. But, nothing can be seen immediately after that time. Similar to film, the photo paper must be developed using chemicals. It is needed to be soaked in 3 different chemical solutions and the process takes about 3 to 5 minutes. Then, I need to go out of the darkroom and see the printed photo.

Black and white photography improves my understand of exposure time. The brightness of a printed photo also depends on the duration of time that the photo paper was exposed with light. The photo will come out very dark if it was exposed so long and the photo will be very bright if the duration was so short. As I have few experience of darkroom, I need to print a shot several times to get the correct exposure. A black and white photograph cannot strong enough to attract viewers if its brightness and contrast were wrong.

I was not satisfied with the results of the printed shots. I sense that something was lacking. I should learn more about it and gain experience in much more darkroom sessions.

Film Photography requires much skills of a photographer than digital photography...