A Guide To Filters For Black And White Film Photography - (Part 1&2)
If I were asked to choose between colour and black-and-white film, it would be a callous choice, but in the end, I would give up colours to concentrate solely on all the shades of grey a roll of panchromatic film can produce. After all, my favourite photographer, Sebastião Salgado, exclusively shoots monochrome images. As a hybrid shooter, I often try to match my digital work to my scanned negatives. While it can never be 100% matched, I found it easier with colour film than with black-and-white film. With the latter, I’m never quite happy with the final result when I try to match a digital file with a black-and-white negative such as Ilford HP5.
Of course, you can get fantastic monochrome images with a digital camera, with much more detail and fine contrast, but it’s a different approach. What I love the most about black-and-white film photography is the hands-on concept. So much is done in the camera even before you scan your negatives or bring them to the enlarger.
From the same film stock, you can produce many different results through the use of filters and your development process. I develop my black-and-white negatives at home, and I can experiment with varying development methods. The next step would be to bring those to the darkroom and work and print with an enlarger. And while I have all the equipment, I need more space and a dedicated room to work on my images comfortably. So, for now, I scan the negatives and work on a digital version, printing the final images I like with a photo printer.
But this article is about black-and-white colour filters. That’s right, a coloured filter for monochrome images. What are they? How to use them? Let’s find out.
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