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.

An Afternoon Out with a Compact Camera

Recently I wrote a blog about the joys of compact cameras.

In-Praise-of-Compact-Cameras

The compact camera is a great carry around camera and sometimes the thought of carting around a heavy bag full of lenses, camera bodies and all that jazz, it just a bit much.  My 35mm film compact camera of choice at the moment is a Lomo LC-A.  It's definitely not perfect but it produces images that are not dreadful.  This is a very low bar, I know.  

The internet influencers would have you believe that a Yashica T4, Olympus Mju II, Contax T2 or Ricoh GR1S are the best compact cameras for 35mm film and so they may be, but now that the cat is out of the bag the prices match the hype that the influencers create. And that serves no one well, least of all those of us who are on a budget.

The LC-A isn't hyped by anyone, apart from the Lomography people - because they sell them, but that doesn't mean it's no good. Mine is from the early 1980s and is a genuine Soviet built one. You can pick them up for a decent price if you exercise some patience and avoid instant gratification syndrome.  I used the camera for a walk around one of Somersets' prettiest towns Frome a couple of days ago.  Here are the photographs.

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.

Cornwall, a land of drama and mood

Cornwall is a beautiful landscape, from Lands End to Liskeard, there is always something new to discover.  But the light in Cornwall does have an eerie quality and the sea mist will often create a mood. A boiling sea crashing over quays and the wind howling off of the Atlantic, makes an invigorating walk. I love Cornwall in the Autumn, when pubs have their fireplaces lit and an afternoon looking out of a window as nature envelops the landscape. The Cornish beers are great as well and match well with a decent lunch. This selection of photos were all taken on a 6x9 Camera while I was on holiday. We did have a couple of nice days but it was mostly dramatic weather.

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.

London - A work Trip

In January of 2026, I took a train from my home in Somerset to London. There was work to be completed but not by me. My role was to assure the work and ensure the operational priorities of the customer were accounted for.  I stayed in Stratford in the East of London, by the Westfield Centre.  Being January, cold and lacking light, I decided to do my best with my Holga and push the film.  Not every frame was a winner but there were some nice pictures

The Polaroid I-2 - Multiple Exposures

 I will caveat this post by saying that I am by no means a Polaroid Multiple Exposure expert, but I dabble.  There are others on the 'net that are much more into Polaroid cameras and all the good and interesting things that the cameras do. There is a chap called Will Malone who has made multiple exposures a real art form and tried, with some success, to formalise this with some science. It is this kind of geekery that really interests me.

I am not going to reproduce the formalisation here, but, as we all stand on the shoulders of giants, I shall, and have been, be using his work as inspiration for my own.

A multiple exposure is, as I'm sure you will know, the practice of making two or more exposures within one frame and the result will be two pictures (if you take two exposures), somehow mixed together by the universe in a way that is not entirely predictable. The result is random, chaotic even, but wholly unpredictable.

This photo, for example, shows two pictures that have blended in a way that relies on the unpredictability of the film, the camera and the scenery.

Now it is possible to reduce chaos, impose some structure or form and end up with something reasonably intentional.

This was created (Ha Ha!) by taking the first exposure normally then turning the camera through 180 degrees and taking the second image of the same subject as the first.  This technique introduces symmetry, while retaining a level of randomness that is pleasing to the eye. Or at least my eye.

This picture was created  using a technique of taking an exposure of something in shadow (here the tree) and then the second exposure will appear to be bounded in the trees form.  It's weird and random but pleasing nonetheless.

On balance the multiple exposure offers much for the creative photographer. The ability to experiment, see the results "on site" and able to try again if needed really does make for an enjoyable experience.

And after all that is what it's all about, experience.

The Polaroid I-2, more discussion

In the last post about the Polaroid I-2, I discussed the frustrations that I had with the camera and the film. 

I suppose that I should say that the Polaroid I-2 is the flagship camera for Polaroid and is the most expensive and feature laden camera that is currently available. The camera alone is £500 and then there is film on top of that.  The Polaroid Now+ camera at the time I purchased the I-2 was the second most expensive Polaroid camera at £149. Other Polaroid cameras, for example the flip that came out this year, are £200. 

"This camera is the replacement for the SX-70!", they exclaimed.

The I-2 is more expensive by a huge margin and so expectations from this camera were high.

Initial use of the camera produced results that were not in line with expectations set by the high price and cornucopia of features. I shot a pack or three in the camera, each with increasing frustration until I discovered a forum for the I-2 that suggested the firmware might be out of date.  Now call me "Mr Old Fashioned" but surely a newly manufactured and shipped camera should be delivered with the latest firmware. But no! More to the point the camera hadn't been on the market for long so a major firmware update being available was a surprise to say the least.

I connected the Polaroid 'phone app to the I-2 and blow me if the app didn't say the firmware was out of date.  The app does the download of firmware from the 'net and pushes that firmware to the camera for installation.  Bit of a faff but now I had the latest firmware installed on the camera. Now I could be the best Instant photographer in the world!

But hold on, not so fast. This is where the inconsistent film (remember that from last time?) chucks a huge nut loosening tool into the mix. So another couple of packs of film later (at £17.99 this is getting expensive) and I'm beginning to suspect that someone at Polaroid is laughing at me. As Johnny Rotten asked the audience at the last Sex Pistols gig in America in 1978, "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?". Well yes Polaroid, I do.

I am not a new photographer where either normal negative film or Instant film, in the form of Instax Wide, are concerned. My Chroma Snapshot, Instant Edition with LomoGraflok back is a completely manual camera. This requires me to take a meter reading after entering the ISO of the film into the meter, transfer the aperture and shutter speed to the camera and take the photo.  And Instax Wide is consistent and the ISO is the ISO!

See what I mean? Nothing wrong with my ability.  

It is absolutely infuriating to have an expensive camera, and even more expensive film, not behaving itself. You question yourself "Is it me?". Your confidence slips. It's not nice at all!

So having watched every YouTube video about the I-2 and it's, alleged, capabilities, I decided to have a break from worrying and being frustrated and decided to try some double exposures.  When you put the I-2 into multi exposure mode the camera does everything automatically, so if auto doesn't work then I'm writing a stiff letter to Polaroid in the land of the Dyke.

Well, left to it's own devices the camera did a sterling job of being an automatic camera.  At this juncture in proceedings, strong oaths were sworn, Anglo Saxon phrases used in public and the parentage of the designer of the camera firmware was brought into question in no uncertain terms! Still I had a working camera, so lets consider this turn of events a win!

The Polaroid I-2 and my ups and downs.

 Last Christmas, I bought a Polaroid I-2 camera. There was an offer on, drink was involved and the big boys made me do it (you know who you are!).  I started the year, 2025, with my new I-2 and resolve to become the best instant photographer in the world. A plan with no downsides, I thought.  And it would have gone like that too, if talent and the small matter of temperature hadn't got in the way.

The astute reader may remember that I have a LomoGraflok, Instax Wide back for my Chroma cameras and have had some success with that. In fact, I have never given temperature a second thought while using Instax Wide film. Middle of winter, no problem! Mojave desert in summer, also no issue. No color shifts or delays in developing happened.

There is a reason that Polaroid discounts it's cameras in the middle of winter, because while the cameras work just fine, the film packs do not. Polaroid film packs work over a narrower range of temperatures than Instax Wide. Too cold and the results show a green/blue color cast, too hot and you'll get a red/orange cast.  Cold temperatures mean really long development times with polaroid too.

Let me also tell you that the ISO of polaroid film is a moveable feast, depending on temperature, prevailing winds and the shipping forecast for Dogger. It's written on the film packaging. "ASA 640. Film speed may vary, allow for (plus or minus) 1/3 stops"

Using the first half dozen packs of film with my Polaroid I-2, I fell foul of the less than consistent results from the Polaroid film.  Given that you only get 8 photo's from a pack of Polaroid film, if you get a couple of frames that don't work, it's an issue.  For me also the Black and White film is less consistent than the color film. So my start with my brand new and shiny, flagship, Polaroid I-2 was marred by the experience and made the camera seem like a bit of a white elephant.

Film speed, ISO or ASA, is the element,  that as photographers, we require to be a constant. If you are going to use a manual camera and need to use a meter, you need to input the film speed so that the meter can give you a reading.  Generally speaking, the meter reading will give you a set of parameters (shutter speed and aperture size) that when transferred to the camera, will produce an acceptable result in the negative. This is even more important when using positive (slide) film.  Spot on metering is required to get decent results, but the ISO or ASA is the constant. Yes you can experiment with the settings to optimize the result but the point at which you start is the film speed being consistent from roll to roll.

The I-2 has a manual mode where you can set aperture and shutter speed. This is touted by Polaroid as being a Pro feature but my experience with the inconsistent film meant that the confidence, that comes with trusting your film and equipment, evaporated.  If the ASA of Polaroid film is not consistent the manual mode is pointless in my opinion. I am not alone in thinking this either. More illustrious Polaroid users than I have agreed with my findings and even made a YouTube video or two about the issue.  The camera is fine, it's the film that is inconsistent.

So the Polaroid I-2 was returned to it's packaging for a few months while I waited for warmer weather. Winter turned to Spring and Spring turned to Summer. And the weather went from baltic to sweltering in the blink of an eye.

The Polaroid I-2 was given a run out during the late Spring but the results from using the camera in manual mode were less than encouraging.

And then I discovered multiple exposures using the I-2 and that's where things started to look up.