My black and white solution Posted On 20th February 2018 To Magazine, Stories & Film specific

Window Cleaners shot on ILFORD XP2S

An unknown language

When I started in photography I was always put off from film, by the balance (in my mind anyway), between the effort and time taken out of my workflow in developing, and the rolling cost. As well as my dependence and already intimate comprehension of digital systems. Film was an unknown language, and not one I was prepared to learn at the time.

Expanding my understanding

Recently however I have been looking for different ways to expand my understanding of photography as a medium, and have been incorporating film into my personal workflow, as well as some professional applications when appropriate! I haven't yet had the chance to shoot any fashion or commercial projects since starting with film, but I expect to have a lot to talk about on the topic when I finally take the opportunity!

I made a decision early on in my film research that the purpose of film would be to offer an entirely manual experience in my camera, to train my eye in searching for composition and exposure - and also that I would mainly use black and white film. Colour photography is what I prefer in my personal work, and also what is demanded from me from my clients, so I have never really had the need for black and white.

Choices

With film I am not necessarily locked into black and white, and I do have a few rolls of CineStill which I'm looking forward to using in the summer, but after weighing the options I settled on ILFORD film as my Black and White solution.

So far I have been immensely happy with my results, even when shooting in some quite demanding scenarios; ILFORD film has so far delivered exactly what I expect from a scene, despite sometimes pushing/pulling from 200 to 3200.

I started off on HP5+ but soon moved over to the sharper and more detailed XP2s. Which I feel offers better mid-tones which work well for the kind of cinematic lighting I am drawn to. I also love the convenience of the C41 chemistry of XP2S which means I can shoot a roll, have it developed, then scanned and uploaded and archived in the space of a day. This makes me far more comfortable using film in a professional environment, which really was a serious concern for me.

Looking forward

So far I have shot with HP5 Plus and XP2s. Shooting street photography day and night, backstage at London Comic Con, and professional portrait assignments. I know that I've barely stretched these films anywhere near what they're capable of.

I am very certain that I will shoot XP2a for as long as it's available. And I really look forward to sharing more of my results in the future.

XP2S Taking a Break from the World

Images © Simon King