A Deep Dive Into The Redscale Technique

My recent experiments with converting rolls of colour film to allow the redscale technique to be used has been an unexpectedly enjoyable one. I have taken rolls of colour from my stock of film (all of these rolls have been donated by my friends) and created some really interesting photographs. Redscale is a new palette that allows a creative photographer an extra tool in their arsenal. It also presents questions about other colour film options, but more of that later (possibly in a future blog post).

I was, however, a bit high level in my description of how the redscale technique works by reversing the film in the camera and exposing the colour layers to light, red layer first.  This blog post will correct that and attempt a more "engineering" approach to explaining the process.

Understanding Colour Film

It is probably worth having a quick look at this to understand how RGB works to create a colour picture.

The RGB Color Model 

Most peoples understanding of colour film is that there are a number of layers of emulsion, with each layer contributing to our Red Green and Blue (RGB) view of colour theory.  In film we are dealing with light and therefore things are slightly different.

Figure 1

Looking at figure 1, above, we are able to see that light has to traverse the three layers, each layer being exposed to the light associated with it, starting with blue, then green and finally red. While figure 1 is broadly true there are issues with rendering colour scenes so that they resemble how we experience reality. There are also light physics to contend with.

Figure 2

Figure 2 shows how the emulsion for a colour film is engineered.  Firstly, the ultraviolet part of the light spectrum can be filtered out as it is largely invisible to human perception. Next we have the blue layer, followed by a yellow filter. Yellow filter, what the heck is that for? It turns out that the green layer and red layer are also affected by exposure to blue light. In other words the green layer is blue-green sensitive and the red layer is actually blue-red sensitive. The green layer isn't affected by the red part of the light spectrum and the red layer isn't affected by the green area of the spectrum. So to ensure that the green layer is only exposed to the green part of the spectrum, the blue part of the spectrum must be filtered out using a yellow dye (remember in colour theory a complimentary coloured filter is used to stop light of a particular colour, in this case yellow will stop blue). The principle applies to the red layer.

This is all very technical and I'm sure at this point your brain will be the same as mine

Take a break for a cup of tea and a biscuit, other snacks are available 😊

Back to the Redscale Technique

Looking back at figure 2, we can see that if we are to reverse the film, we also reverse the order in which light exposes the emulsion. Firstly, the light has to penetrate the anti halation layer (ordinarily this stops light bouncing around), the base gelatin before exposing the Red layer. As we've discussed the Red sensitive layer is Blue and Red sensitive. Also there is no yellow filter to stop blue light from affecting the red layer. The light will then carry on to the Green sensitive layer, again no yellow filter to stop blue light from affecting this layer.  The next layer is the yellow filter and so no Blue light can access the blue sensitive layer. 

Why is all this important? Perhaps a quote from Google will help

All photographic film emulsions use silver halides that are inherently sensitive to high-energy blue and violet light, even when sensitized for other colors. If blue light isn't blocked from reaching the green and red layers, it causes "crosstalk", creating overlapping dye exposures. This corrupts color fidelity, producing unnatural, highly shifted colors and muddy hues instead of a clean, accurate image

In Redscale photography we want to shift the colours to be hues of Red, so the crosstalk won't really matter.

It's worth noting that while the main Redscale effect is primarily a function of shooting through the film layers in reverse order, the base film colour can have an effect. With a colour film that utilises an orange film base, firstly the film base will block light more and so a 2 or 3 stop compensation must be used, e,g, if you are using an IOS 400 film then shooting at ISO 100 is recommended. Secondly the film base being orange in colour will enhance the red hues of the final photograph. A colour film stock with a clear film base, e.g. Harman Phoenix, will only require a 0.5-1 stop compensation and will cause the resultig photograph to be buttery yellow in hues. You can find out this information by looking at the datasheet for your film.

So thats a more in depth explanation of how Redscale works, if you ever wondered.

Redscale Harman Phoenix 200

For this blog post I have converted a roll of Harman Phoenix 200 to redscale. Harman technology sell their own version of this as Harman Red 125. Given that this film is officially available as a redscale film, the only other one on the market is Lomography Redscale XR, I was excited to se what this emulsion could do in the redscale space.

Harman Phoenix is supplied in a red box and isn't a general colour film in the same vein as Kodak Gold, for example. Harman have described Phoenix as the initial steps on their colour journey and Harman are inviting photographers to get involved in that journey. Phoenix is a limited run film.

Harman own the Ilford brand and manufacture some really excellent black and white emulsions in HP5 Plus and FP4 Plus.  They are not known for colour film.  To create a colour film from scratch is a costly business and without the might of a corporation like Kodak behind them, then the research and development of a new emulsion might prove too expensive to even try.  Harman came up with a strategy that they have been completely upfront about.

1. Create a colour film, that may not be perfect but the sale of which will fund the next stage of R&D.
2. Invite photographers to use the imperfect film and provide feedback
3. Use the feedback to improve the chemistry and go to step 1

Harman have since created Phoenix II, which is a refinement of Phoenix  but still not perfect as a general colour film. But photographers are being involved in the development and really enjoying the experience.

Given that Phoenix was a limited run, it has started to run out, but Phoenix II is now available.  Phoenix is also staring to expire at retailers and so there are deals to be had on expired rolls of this emulsion.

My roll of Phoenix was gifted to me by my good friend Dave Whenham. Dave has an excellent blog here --> Dave Whenham Photography.

Dave also, very kindly processed the film for me too. So thank you Dave for your help.  Thats why I see this roll of Redscale as more of a collaboration.

The results from Phoenix redscale are excellent and so I will definitely repeat the experiment.  By the way, I also have a roll of Phoenix II that I may convert to redscale.

In Praise of Compact cameras

There are times when you want a camera that is a serious tool to take properly exposed, beautiful negative frames. However all of the technical activity to get a properly exposed, nicely developed negative makes the whole process really slow. If you are having a trip with a friend to London, for example, as I did recently,  you cannot make your friend ( a non photographer) slow down and stop, while messing around with meters, f stops, apertures and shutter speeds, not to mention intentional composition. No, you want to point and shoot and crack on with enjoying the company of a friend.

Bit shonky due to an expired roll of film that was (accidentally) exposed both sides.

Luckily the trajectory of camera and photographic refinement made much of the technical work automatic, allowing even non photographers to take some nice photographs. Non photographers don't buy SLRs or Medium Format cameras, they buy a little automatic compact camera.  In the early 1980s there were loads on the market and the improvements in automation carried on until the 1990s.

Japan produced some lovely compacts such as the Olympus trip or the Nikon L35AF. 

Here is a trip down memory lane.  In 1991 I bought a Canon Telemax Sure Shot 35mm film camera as a tool for making family memories. The camera we (read my wife) already had was appalling. While I can immerse myself in technical detail and the finer points of photography, my wife wasn't interested. She wanted to make snaps of the kids, our days out and our holidays. We'd send our film off to Truprint for processing and get back negatives, 6x4 prints and a free Truprint film.  The Canon was perfect. An automatic camera with film auto wind, really sharp lens and perfect metering. The Telemax also had a two position zoom, 38mm or  70mm.  The DX encoded films allowed the cameras internal brain to configure the ISO of the film in the camera and use that to calculate the exposure and meter the subject. Finally the camera used a near infrared beam to assist with the focusing of the lens.

It was a great camera and served us well. Interestingly the resulting photographs and negatives are still in the photo albums.

The files from the digital cameras that replaced the Sure Shot in the early 2000s have all been lost. Not one of them still exists, even though they were backed up. The backups I still have but the format cannot be read. (why do I hang on to them?).

It is a matter of regret that the camera was not looked after and was consigned to a drawer. Even after I returned to film photography, I ignored the camera. And then it got lost in a house move.

Looking online today nice examples fetch £100 (but I'm digressing. again!).

The point being that a decent compact film camera will serve the user well and allow nice photographs to be taken without slowing down any social interactions/walks/trips/holidays etc.

It was with this in mind that I took my Lomo LC-A to London.

I won't repeat the information that you can look up on the internet.

Here is a link to save you using Google,

Lomo_LC-A

The LC-A is a compact camera that produces decent results. Not top flight, portfolio ready photographs, but decent pictures. It's automatic and is very quick to use.

The LC-A is becoming a favorite as a walk around camera. I took this with my LC-A at a location local to my home in Somerset.

I'd recommend an LC-A to anyone looking for a dependable, compact automatic camera.  The controls fall easy to hand, it's zone focused, which I'm happy with, and the meter is really accurate. It would make a nice travel camera.

Redscale - Variable results.

 Redscale is an experimental technique and therefore the results are highly dependent on the following

• Film Stock
• Expiry date of film
• ISO that the film is shot at

Looking at the ISO, assuming fresh, in date, film there are several exposure methods

• Underexposure
• Correct exposure
• Overexposure

Redscale film is a method of reversing the film so that the back of the film and red emulsion layer are exposed before the green and blue.  Because the film is exposed the "wrong way around" you need to compensate and allow extra light.

Redscale - Wikipedia

This is where the concepts of over, correct and underexposure can be brought into play.

As an example, suppose the film stock is normally rated at ISO 400, exposing at ISO 400 would give a hugely underexposed negative. 

• Underexposure - 1 stop extra light (ISO 200)
• The resulting photograph should be Dark Red
• Correct exposure - 2 stops extra light (ISO 100)
• The resulting photograph should be Orange
• Overexposure - 3 stops extra light (ISO 50)
• The resulting photograph should be Yellow

Much of this will depend on your camera and it's ability to change ISO from frame to frame.

The experimental nature of this technique means that you shouldn't be too precious until you have dialled in a filmstock with a camera, i.e. you've experimented.

Note the predominantly orange tones.

Note the overall yellow tones.

As a post script to this, I have made a roll of Harman Phoenix colour film into a roll of redscale. Harman do this themselves and sell it as Harman Red 125.

Harman Red 125

They suggest an ISO of 125, which is two thirds of a stop for best (their suggested) results.

My camera, the Lomo LC-A just has ISO 50, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, so I'll set ISO 100 but I can try 200 and 50 as well. Thats the beauty of experimental techniques, you can experiment!

Redscale - A follow up post

If nowt else there is a blog post on the perils of expired C41.. Sometimes you hit the jackpot but other times...

Dave Whenham

When carrying out photography using experimental techniques with expired film and a LOMO LC-A camera, the results are definitely not guaranteed. Recently after rediscovering some Redscale negatives in my archive, I decided to write a blog on how to make Redscale film at home. 

Redscale-film

As I had a trip to London lined up, I compounded the folly by rolling some Redscale and loading it into a LOMO LC-A.  The first roll was expired but boxed and otherwise "new". This first roll was a roll of Kodak UltraMax 400.  Crucially, as it turned out, the provenance was known.

The second roll was a "found" roll of Fujifilm Superia Xtra 400. This roll was vintage 2008/9 and was purchased from 7dayshop.com.  "Found in a box of junk that had all sorts of stuff added the day I moved house. It turns out that the Fujifilm had been exposed normally before at some dim and distant time in the past.  I then made a roll of Redscale out of it.  The results were, um, "interesting".

So beware of rolls of film of unknown provenance.

Or as Dave says "Crimp your shot 35mm"

Thanks to Dave Whenham for providing the processing and scanning services for the C41 films.  His patience is appreciated.

In any case, keeping records might prove useful.

Enjoy the Keepers from the UltraMax.

Natural History Museum

South Kensington with a genuine London bus

Natural History Museum

Street photography in Redscale

Tube station overground

Redscale film

At the risk of upsetting those film manufacturers who sell RedScale film, Redscale film is really not a mystery.  Redscale film is created by shooting a colour film the wrong way. Normally when you load a film into a camera,  the correct procedure is to load the film so that the emulsion faces the lens and is exposed to light directly.  With Redscale the film is orientated so the the emulsion is facing away from the lens and the exposure is made by allowing the light to pass through the orange plastic film before hitting the emulsion. It should be noted that the colour layers of a film are arranged blue, green and red. Normal exposure  will allow the light to start with the blue working its way back to the red layer. With Redscale its the red layer that gets exposed first.

The orange plastic film carrier acts as a colour filter and causes the film to record shades of red or orange or yellow, depending on whether the film is overexposed,  correctly exposed or underexposed.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, you can choose to buy Redscale film, but making your own is much more fun. 

Place a roll of 35mm colour film into a dark bag, along with a roll of sellotape and a pair of scissors.  Once the dark bag is sealed , pull the film out of the canister.  About an inch from the canister cut the film. Then turn the canister through 180° and sellotape the two back together.  Wind the film back into the film canister , leaving the tongue out. Then pull a short length of film from the canister and cut off the tongue.  Reshape the film tongue and voila! You have your own Redscale film.

Ive just made a couple of rolls. Watch this space for the results. 

Exposure of your homemade Redscale film is achieved by rating the film 2 stops slower than box speed. Normally I use an ISO 400 speed film for Redscale and rate it at ISO 100. If you consider how to use an orange filter with black and white film it is the same principle. 

The photos in the blog were taken using homemade Redscale film from Fujifilm Superia 400. The shots were made in Tunisia in 2005.