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Anonymous
Alright /p/, yesterday was my first day of class of color photography. I've almost no experience in color, and any advice you might have would be awesome. How do I obtain rich, saturated colors? Or subtle ones for that? Any tips that will skyrocket me ahead of my classmates?

We're starting off shooting 35mm with Kodak VC 400, with paper recommendations of Kodak Ektacolor Porta. Also, any color photographers I should check out would be very helpful.

In exchange I give you some Joan Sinclair.
>> Anonymous
if you're actually taking classes, and you're already up to color classes, you're already further along than 98% of /p/.

As far as film is concerned, you're already shooting Portra for print film, so you're using the right film. Shoot Velvia slide film for super saturated colors.

Color photographers to check out?
Ernst Haas
William Eggleston
Joel Meyorwitz
Andreas Gursky
Galen Rowell
Miguel Rio Branco
>> Anonymous
Many props for Joan Sinclair. I have her book about sex shops in Japan (in b4 "weeaboo") and it's quite a good read. Great pictures, too. Props, OP.
>> Teus !QbSstcPD6U
>>Shoot Velvia slide film for super saturated colors.
The 50 is the oldest and maybe the best, the 100 is a more modern, faster film. 100F is the least 'velvia' of the three, its more tolerant for portraits.

Use provia if you plan to do portraits, its a bit less saturated, less contrasty and bit more forgiving then Velvia.

keep in mind these are all slide films, you can't print on normal paper (need rare reversal paper), unless you scan and print it digitally.

for saturated C41 films, i dunno, lol
>> Anonymous
filters filters filters

since you're doing film you actually get to use them with real purpose!

I'd start with a polarizer and then start grabbing the primary colors.

Also slide film will give you the best quality photos but I doubt it will work for your class if you have to do all the processing yourself.
>> Anonymous
>>74517
I'm already planning on getting an 80/8 filter( I think that's what it's called. It's designed to filter out the yellow glare of indoor lighting) and also a polarizing filter.

As for slide film, I'm almost certain my school has the capabilities to print it, and if anything we have a large digital lab I either have access to now, or will in the near future.
>> heavyweather !4AIf7oXcbA
Jay Maisel
>> pskaught
the 400VC is great, but I'm not so much a fan in 35mm. Give the 160VC a shot, its a lot less grainy and if its not enough pushing one stop in processing gives a pretty cool look and about the same grain as the 400.
>> Anonymous
>>74582
>>74517

E-6 film is extremely difficult to develop. If you're off by just a few degrees, color shift shows up a lot, even more with velvia.

You really _need_ to get pos. film processed professionally.

C41 is hard to process too (anything with dye-couplers is sensitive to error), but isn't impossible if you try yourself.
>> Anonymous
>>74609
We don't have the facilities to process any film except black and white, so everything gets sent out.Thankfully we get a nice student discount, so my wallet won't be raped if I get shutter happy.

Also, is it standard practice to have a machine do all the print developing in the dark room? I'm assuming it is, it just seems so strange to a B&W veteran.
>> Anonymous
>>74635

c41 is a lot less forgiving than black and white during the processing stage. Ergo, all processing has to be done in prohibitively expensive tabletop machines. Tabletop machines typically don't have the throughput for a photo department, so it's cheaper for the school and usually the students to just send it out to a photofinisher with a 75,000 dollar noritsu minilab.
>> Anonymous
and as far as actual technique is concerned:

1) Get a color wheel. Best $3 accesory you can get. Approach color like a painter would; think in terms of complementary colors, triads, temperature.

2) Shoot in the right conditions. The warmest, most vivid colors occur around sunset. The purest, brightest colors are around noon, but you'll need a polarizer to cut out glare. Cloudy weather can make things very blue on slide film, etc.

3) Get a cheap little watercolor set (or download artrage) and just paint little color swatches that look good together. dozens of swatches, hundreds, thousands. the point is to build up your eye for color relationships, and then to go find them with your camera.
>> Anonymous
>>74512
lol at "actually taking classes" and "up to color photography"
schools are shitty slowpoke ways of snailing your way to something. any jobless schoollless hikikomori here with any level of knack for photography could exceed a curicculum no problem.

of course then again, this is 4chan.
>> Anonymous
>>74517
Has real purpose on digital too, don't fool yourself into thinking a software algorithm will successfully do anything 100% like a real filter. Some strong colors are lost in the process, for one
>> Anonymous
>>74667
Best advice in the whole thread. Listen to him, OP.