How do I get this look?....

[Gislebertus]

Hi fellow photographers, this is my first post

So here's my question: how do I get my pictures to have this very subdued, cool, grainy type look? Is there a specific type of film or process that achieves this sort of effect without having to create/imitate it via photoshop?

http://usera.ImageCave.com/common/autoch1.jpg

THANKS!

 

[ekimeno]

That looks like cross-processing, which is normally done with slide film developed in negative colour chemicals.

Or it could just be very expired film or a very old photograph...

 

[s162216]

It could be colour print film cross processed in slide film chemicals and push processed. I recently tried this with some old Kodak Ultra 800 pushed 3 stops, inside with the right colours i.e browns/beige/greys you can get an effect like that as they absorb the orange colour of the negative mask.

It must be push processed as the cross processing reduces the film speed. Prepare in bright conditions for orange colours due to the negative mask.

 

[Gislebertus]

It could be colour print film cross processed in slide film ...etc

Thank you both very much for your ideas!

However, I've done a long search for "cross processed" colour film, and I'm not seeing exactly what I had in mind. In general, the examples I've found consist of odd, unnatural colour shifts, even when muted, whereas my photo example has a sort of naturalness to it, I think (and not just because it's a still life); I realize there are hundreds of different ways one could cross process, all with different effects, and maybe I'm just not finding the right examples?

I'd be interested in seeing an example of your Kodak Ultra 800 pushed.

 

[RaglanSurf]

To be honest it looks like Truprint film, shot in a basic p&s camera and processed by Truprint. I've got loads of pics that look like that in my box of prints from the 70's

Arthur (Ambermile) has been trying to recreate that look for ages.

 

[Gislebertus]

To be honest it looks like Truprint film, shot in a basic p&s camera and processed by Truprint. I've got loads of pics that look like that in my box of prints from the 70's

Arthur (Ambermile) has been trying to recreate that look for ages.

I'd never heard of Truprint before (what is it?), but I searched for examples on flickr and yes, I can definitely see a resemblance.

 

[colpepper]

So here's my question: how do I get my pictures to have this very subdued, cool, grainy type look?

It would help if you gave us the image source. If it's a scanned colour neg the likelihood is a processing solution. OTOH a third party source could be anything from a photoshopped advert to developing glitches and artifacts through to simple aging of the print.
There are many ways to achieve an autochrome look.

 

[s162216]

T

I'd be interested in seeing an example of your Kodak Ultra 800 pushed.

Unfortunately I don't have a scanner capable of doing slides so I will have to cheat and take a picture of the screen of my slide viewer with my Sony digital P&S. It won't be the most accurate picture but you'll get the idea. I'll charge up the battery and post it later today.

I do have one picture of my Grandma exactly like the example you have shown, very muted colours, quite grainy due to the film speed and cool.

Other pictures are much more wacky, some I exposed at 3200 or 1600 and whilst some are fine, others are like an 'orange and black' picture with only prominent colours like green sticking out. Exposing at 200 gave a nice orange sunset like feel to the clouds in landscape shots much like using an orange filter but a lot lot more subtle.

The only problem you might have is that Kodak Ultra Max 800 has not been made for about four years. Ultra Max is now the 400 speed film. I do however have one expired one left.

 

[Musicman]

I'd never heard of Truprint before (what is it?), but I searched for examples on flickr and yes, I can definitely see a resemblance.

They were a cheap mail-order film process & print outfit popular in the 70s and early 80s.

ISTR they had a slightly sickly green/yellow as their brand colour.

e2a: they seem to be still going as a digital print service http://www.truprint.co.uk/truprint/welcome

 

[Prince-Myshkin]

Hi fellow photographers, this is my first post

So here's my question: how do I get my pictures to have this very subdued, cool, grainy type look? Is there a specific type of film or process that achieves this sort of effect without having to create/imitate it via photoshop?

http://usera.ImageCave.com/common/autoch1.jpg

THANKS!

I'd also vote for cross processing, though as Musicman says, cheap film and processing can create that sort of effect. One of my friends uses a particularly 'bad' type of disposable that creates pictures like this... http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...03_411379706117_502581117_4417174_77449_n.jpg

 

[Ambermile]

An easy way is to cut down the bleach/fix time *significantly* between developer and rinse>stabliser...

 

[Gislebertus]

Thanks for the feedback, people! This is very helpful.

 

[TheBigYin]

An easy way is to cut down the bleach/fix time *significantly* between developer and rinse>stabliser...

May be worth looking at an alternative c41 kit that has separate bleach and fix stages, rather than the Tetenal combined BLIX. iirc, bleach bypass tends to increase the contrast and lighten up the colour density - so with a separate bleach and fix, you could experiment with different bleach times, yet still fix the film properly afterwards. Can't remember any specific chemicals - last time I did this was over 20 years ago